cover image Best New Horror

Best New Horror

. Carroll & Graf Publishers, $18.95 (390pp) ISBN 978-0-88184-630-0

Enhancing their credibility, many of the 20 horror stories in this annual collection are shaped by a hard-edged realism. The forces of evil come in several guises. The young German teenager in Cherry Wilder's ``The House on Cemetery Street'' confronts the unspeakable after learning that her aunt, who hid their Jewish neighbors from the Nazis, later callously caused their deaths. In Ramsay Campbell's futuristic ``It Helps If You Sing,'' the protagonist awaits emasculation by the agents of a fanatic evangelist who wants to rid the world of demon lust. In another story set in the future, ``At First Just Ghostly'' by Karl Edward Wagner, an alcoholic writer sees that he must remain sober in order to combat Satan and prevent nuclear annihilation. ``Snow Cancellations'' by Donald R. Burlesson features a young boy who watches the town disappear as a mysteriously malevolent blizzard advances toward his home. A snowstorm also figures in ``The Horn,'' a tense story by Stephen Gallagher. In others of these tales corpses make love to former lovers and long-dead rapists disinter themselves in order to attack new victims. Ian Watson, Kim Newman and Chet Williamson also contribute chilling tales. (Dec.)