During a hot summer night in 1934, tragedy strikes when two local boys search for the truth behind a local legend. They stumble upon the Underground, a network of uncharted caverns just below the surface of Coal Hollow. Time holds no sway in the Underground. People no longer age and their wounds heal as if by magic. By morning, one boy is murdered, while the other never returns home.

The Underground is hidden for a reason. Certain locals want to keep their lair secret, no matter the cost.

After learning a long-held family secret, Theodore Cooper is set adrift. Once well off and set in his ways, he is no longer sure of his role in society. He leaves his comfortable life in Chicago to tramp the countryside, searching for meaning in this new context. During his travels, he’s drawn to an abandoned house in Coal Hollow and impulsively buys it.

Cooper doesn’t know that a massacre had taken place in his new house. In 1851, a group of bounty hunters tracked a family of runaway slaves to the home. They wound up killing the homeowners as conspirators, then chased the runaways into a cellar tunnel leading to the Underground. The bounty hunters cornered the slaves and killed them. To everyone’s astonishment, the slaves then rose from the dead. Over time, the bounty hunters chose to stay below ground, taking advantage of their new slave labor to build what they term “Paradise.”

Their numbers are augmented by deathbed miners who are offered immorality in exchange for their subservience and labor.

Below a town struggling to survive both the Great Depression and the closing of the local coal mine, there lives an immortal society built on the backs of slavery and pervasive immorality.

I always approach reading a book by an author I haven’t read or heard of before  with a bit of excitement and a bit of trepidation. Will I discover a new talent that gets it right or will I stumble upon something that is awful. I have experienced both sides of the coin.

Once I started reading “Where Darkness Dwells” I immediately knew that this was going to be a good read. The more I read the more I liked it. I was immediately drawn into the story from the beginning when two young local boys go off one last adventure to discover a creature of legend, instead discovering a horror that would kill one of them and bound the other into an unearthly slavery.

Glen’s storyline was really interesting and fresh, his depiction of a small coal mining town during the Great Depression was very believable. There is a bleak atmosphere to the story as he paints a somewhat depressing picture of the town of Coal Hollow, but there is also a sense of hope, community and self worth within the characters that adds a touch of realism and depth. It is readily apparent that he did a lot of research on this time period and it definitely pays off.

He also delves into America’s greatest sin…slavery. Coal Hollow is still populated with some that see slavery as nothing out of the ordinary and populated with those that know it for the sacrilege it is, and are willing to forfeit everything, including their lives to fight it.

What really makes the book work for me is Glen’s varied and large cast of characters. Both the good and the bad are life-like and believable, peppered with human qualities, faults and frailties that add to the depth of the story. I came to care about what happened to them.

“Where Darkness Dwells”, is fast paced with a lot of twists and turns that will keep you turning the pages, wanting to find out what happens next. Even with such a large and varied group of characters as well as all the twists and turns I never felt that Glen lost focus as the story moved along quickly, and didn’t lag for me at all.

I for one will be reading more from Glen, he has a great imagination and tells a hell of a story. Use the links at the top to discover more about this new and upcoming author as well as order a copy of “Where Darkness Dwells”, you will not be disappointed and I highly recommend it.

The Providence Rider is the fourth standalone installment in the extraordinary series of historical thrillers featuring Matthew Corbett, professional problem solver. The narrative begins in the winter of 1703, with Matthew still haunted by his lethal encounter with notorious mass murderer Tyranthus Slaughter. When an unexplained series of explosions rocks his Manhattan neighborhood, Matthew finds himself forced to confront a new and unexpected problem. Someone is trying—and trying very hard—to get his attention. That someone is a shadowy figure from out of Matthew’s past: the elusive Professor Fell. The professor, it turns out, has a problem of his own, one that requires the exclusive services of Matthew Corbett.

The ensuing narrative moves swiftly and gracefully from the emerging metropolis of New York City to Pendulum Island in the remote Bermudas. In the course of his journey, Matthew encounters a truly Dickensian assortment of memorable, often grotesque, antagonists. These include Sirki, the giant, deceptively soft-spoken East Indian killer, Dr. Jonathan Gentry, an expert in exotic potions with a substance abuse problem of his own, the beautiful but murderous Aria Chillany, and, of course, the master manipulator and “Emperor of Crime” on two continents, Professor Fell himself. The result is both an exquisitely constructed novel of suspense and a meticulous recreation of a bygone era.

This signed, limited edition of this generous volume also contains a new, utterly compelling Matthew Corbett adventure, “Death Comes for the Rich Man.” This 11,500-word novella, which has never before been published and will not be reprinted anywhere else for at least two years, takes place between the events of Mister Slaughter and The Providence Rider. In the course of this startling tale, Matthew is approached by a wealthy, dying man with an urgent, if impossible, request: to keep Death itself at bay. Filled with danger, mystery, and an almost tangible sense of place, these superbly crafted narratives represent Robert McCammon at his best and historical fiction at its finest and most developed. Many devoted readers have been waiting for this book.

Whenever I hear that Robert McCammon is coming out with a new book I can’t help but get terribly excited.  It seems it wasn’t that long ago when a new Robert McCammon book was out of the question. He had stopped writing books and it seemed to his many fans that we would just have to reread his collection to get our McCammon fix in lieu of anything new.

Then about 10 years ago, Robert McCammon jumped back into the game in a big way, with the absolutely astounding historical thriller “Speaks The Nightbird”. A tale of witchcraft in the late 1600′s, it seemed to be right up my alley. At the time I didn’t really care what the book was about, all I knew is that there was a new book from Mr. McCammon coming out and I was going to read it as soon as it did. In “Speaks The Nightbird” Mr. McCammon introduced us to one of the most interesting and compelling characters in modern fiction, Matthew Corbett and further cemented his legacy as one of, if not the best author on the planet today.

Since that first Matthew Corbett tale Mr. McCammon has treated us to “The Queen Of Bedlam” and “Mr. Slaughter”. Two brilliant stories in and of themselves and worthy predecessors to “Speaks The Nightbird”. Which brings us to his latest and quite possibly his best book to date “The Providence Rider.”

“The Providence Rider” begins where “Mr. Slaughter” left off. Matthew Corbett’s confrontation with the insidious Mr. Slaughter has left him a changed man, but the mysterious and evil Professor Fell has plans for our young hero and goes about getting his attention by blowing up buildings in New York.

“The Providence Rider” is an absolutely brilliant historical thriller that will keep you turning the pages at a feverish pace as Mr. McCammon takes you along on a grand adventure full of action, intrigue, violence, love and friendship.

Up until “The Providence Rider”, Professor Fell has been somewhat reclusive, a shadowy character that we knew very little about. In “The Providence Rider” Mr. McCammon finally pulls back the curtain on Professor Fell and allows us into his criminal domain, giving us an unadulterated look at the nefarious Professor. Professor Fell proves to be as evil and villainous as he was hinted at in previous books. He has also surrounded himself with a group of despicable life like characters that add realism and depth to the story.

What really makes this series work for me is the continuing growth of Matthew Corbett as a character. Matthew continues to grow into his role as a “problem solver” and a man, with all the faults that accompany it. I can think of no character in modern fiction that I look more forward to reading about than Matthew Corbett.

Mr. McCammon is also able to brilliantly capture the time period. His descriptive prose makes you feel as if you are walking side by side with Matthew in early 1700 New York City. The sites, smells and people come to life gloriously in New York and on Pendulum Island.

Does “The Providence Rider” measure up to the first three books in the series? I say yes and then some. It contains the best of what I liked about the first three books, while adding substance and depth to Matthew, and introducing us to some new and interesting characters that I will be looking forward to getting to know better in future tales.

If you liked the first three Matthew Corbett tales you will absolutely love this one. I think it is the best one yet. If you haven’t yet read any of these books you can most certainly start with this one but I feel you would be robbing yourself of experiencing the continuing growth of Matthew Corbett and miss out on a lot of back story.

Either way, Mr. McCammon continues to bring us historical fiction as it is meant to be written, you must simply read this book and I give it my highest recommendation.

When three teenagers disappear in the redwood forest of the Pacific northwest, private detective John Jeffers is hired by the families to find out why the local police seem to be covering things up. Jeffers travels to the shore town of Coastal Green to investigate…and learns of a terrible secret in the process…

“Skullbelly” by Ronald Malfi is just about everything a good novella should be. An interesting life like main character, a small town with secrets, a mystery and a local legend meant to keep young children out of the woods.

John Jeffers is a private detective that is hired to find out what happened to four teenagers on a camping trip. Three have disappeared and one was found covered in blood and catatonic. Mr. Malfi has infused John with a life like quality, that enables John to carry the story through to the end.

The story is fast paced, written well and short enough to be read in one sitting. I liked the ancillary characters as well, they were diverse and believable, and helped round out the storyline wonderfully.

If I had one complaint, it would be the ending. It seemed a bit abrupt for me and it seemed that the story could have been helped by increasing the length a little.

Though quite not up to some of Mr. Malfi’s previous endeavors like “Snow” and “Borealis”, “Skullbelly” is still very much worth the time to read and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Strange things are happening in the small, isolated town of Edgar, Maine. Mysterious lights dot the night skies. A local farmer is found dead at the summit of a hill with no evidence as to how his body got there. Livestock is disappearing, only to be discovered later, dead and mutilated with precision-like wounds. And despite the coming of an enormous winter storm, odd men identifying themselves simply as ‘federal agents’ have converged on Edgar in government vehicles as if in anticipation of some greater event.

Newcomer Lane Boyce, a recently divorced schoolteacher with a questionable past, believes there must be reasonable explanations for what is taking place, yet seems inexplicably tied to the events. Haunted by his own demons and drowning in loneliness and regret, Lane had hoped Edgar might be a quiet refuge and a place to begin again. Instead, there is madness here, an evil that is slowly making itself known. And as the snowstorm hits town, Lane finds himself trapped in his small house in the middle of nowhere, alone with his puppy…and something else.

There, just beyond the trees, hidden in shadow, something watches, waits and whispers, ushering in a new age, a time of something else. Something other. Something close. Reality is no longer ours. It belongs to them.

It belong to the LORDS OF TWILIGHT.

With “Lords Of Twilight” Greg further cements his place as one of, if not the best author working in dark literature today.

“Lords Of Twilight” is a simply brilliant book that oozes atmosphere, loneliness and dread. Greg takes you on one man’s journey through heartbreak, guilt and remorse, a journey that will leave you profoundly shaken.

“Lords Of Twilight” starts off as a seemingly innocent sci-fi/alien tale that turns into so much more as it delves into dark deep matters of the human mind and heart, with enough twists and turns that make you feel as if you had just gotten off the worlds largest roller coaster.

As I’ve come accustomed to with Greg’s writing over the last year or so, nothing is ever what it appears to be. If you think you have it all figured out, all you have to do is turn to the next page and wham….Greg hits you over the head with a brick and throws you for a loop.

When you read “Lords Of Twilight” be prepared to have Greg play your emotional strings like a concert violinist, a true master at work.

It is probably safe to say that Greg is the only author that can actually scare me before I even turn the first page.

If you like your fiction smart, deep, bleak, scary and most of all emotionally draining, then I suggest you use the links above to purchase “Lords Of Twilight”, or anything else that Greg has written.

“Lord’s Of Twilight” gets my highest recommendation.

In the dead of night, there are footsteps in the hall
In the dead of night, your past mistakes will haunt you
In the dead of night, you hear a discordant tune
In the dead of night, the nightingale sings

Simon Strantzas, master of the subtle and the bizarre, returns with a dozen strange tales and eerie mysteries. From the shores of a remote oil-stained sound to deep within the familiar heart of suburbia, these are the songs of broken people who cannot find a way to fix themselves, who must search the dark for salvation. Like a siren, the nightingale sings them onward to face their end. But it sings for you too. A requiem in your honor. Because, for you, it is already too late.

Table of Contents

In the Nightingale, Waiting for the Curtain to Rise, an Introduction by John Langan
Out of Touch
Her Father’s Daughter
The Deafening Sound of Slumber
Unreasonable Doubt
Tend Your Own Garden
The Nightingale
Pale Light in the Jungle
An Indelible Stain upon the Sky
Something New
Mr. Kneale
Everything Floats
When Sorrows Come
Afterword

I love starting off the new year with a collection of short stories by an author I haven’t had the pleasure of reading yet. The wonderful people at Dark Regions Press sent me a nice group of books right before the holiday season. Included in that group was “Nightingale Songs” by Simon Strantzas. As is usual with Dark Regions books the edition is beautifully done.

As I stated, I hadn’t yet read anything by Mr. Strantzas until now and I am glad I did. This is such an amazing group of stories.  Relationships play a big part in his stories, his writing is subtle, unsettling and eerie. This group of stories will get under your skin. You will sweat, you will cry, you will become unnerved and these tales will stay with you long after you put this book down.

These stories are full of vividly disturbing images, bleak gloomy atmosphere and haunting prose. A perfect companion for a stormy cold winter’s night. This book will chill you to the bone and then some.

There is not a weak story in the bunch but their are two stories that just walloped me in the stomach.

“Everything Floats” is the best short story I have read in a while. What starts off as a seemingly simple haunted house tale turns into something so much more. This story will scare you, twist and turn you, and if you don’t cry at the end of this tale you are probably not amongst the living.

“When Sorrows Come” is another great short story that will leave you considerably shaken. It is a story of love, loss and heartbreak that will leave you gasping for air. I love when stories do that to me.

Simon Strantzas has definitely caught my attention and is someone I will be watching and waiting for new material, as well as reading his first two short story collections.

“Nightingale Songs” is not to be missed and is a must read for anyone who loves the art of short stories. Simon Strantzas gets it right and I give it my highest recommendation.

True crime writer Elle Bramasol is drawn into a macabre mystery when incarcerated Hollywood producer Eliot Kingman asks her to write a book about his case. As she delves deeper into Kingman’s murder conviction, she discovers that he possesses a centuries old diary written by an elusive vampire named Verland. Uncovering the transformative secrets held within the diary’s pages, Elle is drawn deeper into both Kingman’s deadly schemes and Verland’s dark world of shadows. When the two finally collide, the stage is set for a climactic battle over mankind’s ultimate prize: eternal triumph over death. But will the Holy Grail of immortality turn out to be
the cruelest curse of all?

I always approach a new vampire novel with a little trepidation. Those of you who are gracious enough to follow my reviews know I love vampires, hence the apprehension of starting a new vampire novel and finding out that if is just another in a long line of failed attempts.

My apprehension was put completely at rest after reading the first few pages of B.E. Scully’s “Verland: The Transformation”.  This is vampire fiction at its finest.

The story follows true crime writer Elle Bramasol as she is asked by Hollywood’s most notorious producer Eliot Kingman to write a book about his case. He is in prison for the murder of an assistant at his mansion.

Elle soon discovers that there is a lot more behind his story than just a simple murder. An ancient diary she is allowed to read draws her into a world that she never believed existed. Throughout the story Elle is torn between whether or not she really believes the diary or if it is just some ploy by Eliot Kingman. A really exquisite touch.

B.E. Scully pulls out all the stops with this book. From the subtle way he slowly reveals the vampiric aspect to the story, to Verland himself. He does a masterful job blending the two worlds together.

Part detective thriller, horror story and one man’s (vampire) journey through time, “Verland: The Transformation” shows that vampire fiction is far from dead in the hands of a great writer.

I don’t know if it was a homage to Bram Stoker’s original tale or not, but I especially loved how he used the diary to tell Verland’s tale.

“Verland: The Transformation has taken its place along side such modern vampire classics as Salem’s Lot, They Thirst, The Vampire Hunters, Lost Souls, Carrion Comfort and The Traveling Vampire Show, and also along side the granddaddy of them all Dracula. It is that good.

If you love vampire fiction this is one book you absolutely have to read and I give it my highest recommendation.

At 2:31 a.m., seismic monitoring stations in China and South Korea detect a magnitude-4 event consistent with a nuclear detonation in the southeastern corner of North Korea, within the Korean Demilitarized Zone. With the threat of full-scale war escalating by the minute, the United Nations Security Council dispatches an elite unit of peacekeepers to cross the border, penetrate the cloud of dust hanging over the site, and determine the exact nature of the seismic disturbance. What they find triggers a series of events that culminates in a civilian biomedical engineer boarding a transport carrier at Ft. Detrick, Maryland, bound for the Far East.

His name is Dr. Parker Ramsey and he is uniquely qualified for this mission.

He is the brains behind a secret project–Code Name Hindsight–developed under the oversight of the United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. Hindsight has never been field-tested, but with global catastrophe looming on the horizon, the only chance of averting it lies in utilizing the project’s extraordinary capabilities. If it works, Dr. Ramsey will be able to unravel the mystery behind the detonation and identify the responsible party.

For, thanks to Hindsight, Dr. Ramsey will be able to see something that no one has ever seen before…

He’ll be able to see the moment of death through the eyes of the dead.

If he’s able to survive long enough to do so.

I was terribly excited when I received this from my good friends over at Dark Regions Press in the mail. I have become a big fan of Michael McBride’s books over the past year or so. His books are a hell of a lot of fun to read with great characters and story lines.

Michael continues his run of great books with his latest novella “Blindspot”. It is a taught, fast paced thrill ride that packs quite the punch in such a quick read.

The story is based on a scientific discovery that the last thing a dead person saw can be retrieved and viewed.

What I like I about Michael’s writing is his uncanny ability to draw me into the story right from the beginning. I am able to lose myself in his fictional worlds, experiencing what the characters do.

“Blindspot” is another great novella from Mr. McBride and another beautiful edition from Dark Regions Press and I highly recommend it.

I finally broke down and bought a Kindle this year and no the world didn’t end. In fact I am very happy I did. I will first and foremost always love the feel of a real book; the fragrance, the crisp clean pages being turned and the weight of it gently held in my hands.

The Kindle has allowed me to read the back catalogs of many authors I love that I wouldn’t have otherwise been able afford to do. Plus, a lot of publishers and authors are sending me Kindle books for review, which is a lot better than PDF’s. As I had to print the PDF books out. So all in all, I believe the two mediums can co-exist in my life.

Now, I would like to thank all the publishers and authors that sent and continue to send me review copies. It is greatly appreciated as I seem to have a never ending supply of books to read.

I would also like to thank my readers who continue to follow my reviews, as well as follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

Without all of you this would not be worth it. I do what I can to give back to the genre that has kept me entertained for many a year, kept me sane, got me through some very tough times and continues to be my entertainment medium of choice. BOOKS RULE!!!!

I do have to say that 2011 was a banner year for horror fiction in my opinion. I read some simply amazing books this year. What follows is a list of every book I read during 2011. I read 64 books of varying lengths along with various magazines, newspapers, on-line articles etc. As you can tell reading is a big part of my life and who I am.

I probably started another 20-30 books or so,  but for some reason or another I didn’t like them. There are various reasons for this; I just didn’t like the story, poor spelling, grammar and punctuation, not my type of book etc. I will not read a book I don’t like just for the sake of doing a review on it. I have a huge TBR pile and don’t want to waste time on something I am not enjoying. I am not saying that they were all bad books I just didn’t like them and as we all know we can’t like everything.

I will also be publishing my Top Books of 2011 List in the next week or so, once I finalize my selections.

Garden’s Of Night – Greg F. Gifune
Lord Of The Mountain – William Ollie
Valley Of The Scarecrow – Gord Rollo
A Matrix Of Angels – Christopher Conlon
Regret – Gabrielle Faust
What The Night Knows – Dean Koontz
As I Embrace My Jagged Edges – Lee Thompson
The Bone Tree – Christopher Fulbright
Alice On The Shelf – Bill Gauthier
The Disappeared – David B. Silva
Willy – Robert Dunbar
The Pumpkin Man – John Everson
Fifteen Minutes – William Ollie
Dreams The Ragman – Greg F. Gifune
Vampire Hunters 2 – Scott M. Baker
It Drinks Blood – J.F. Gonzalez
The Gaki & Other Hungry Spirits- Stephen Mark Rainey
Bloodrush – Bryan Smith
Frankenstein- Dead City - Dean Koontz
Arena Of The Wolf – Jim Gavin
Midnights Angels – Tony Richards
Hunting The Moon Tribe – Darvid Arganoff
Heart Of Glass – David Winnick
Ursa Major – John R. Little
A View From The Lake – Greg F. Gifune
The Blackest Heart – Vince Churchill
The Five – Robert McCammon
Predatory Instinct – Michel McBride
Descent – Sandy Deluca
The Red Empire – Joe McKinney
The Kult by Shaun Jeffrey
Halloween Spirits – Edited by Lisa Morton (Anthology)
Little Boy Lost – TM Wright
Voyeurs of Death – Shaun Jeffrey
Kingdom Of Shadows – Greg F. Gifune
Martyrs & Monsters – Robert Dunbar
Valley Of The Dragons – K.H. Koehler
Iron Butterflies Rust – Lee Thompson
Beautiful Hell – Jeffrey Thomas
Planet Of The Dinosaurs – K.H. Koehler
Sea Of Serpents – K.H. Koheler
Into Hell – William Ollie
Midnight Solitaire – Greg F. Gifune
Dead Of Winter – Brian Moreland
Take The Long Way Home – Brian Keene
The Creeping Kelp – William Meikle
Kayla & The Devil – Brian Smith
Blood Harvest – James A. Moore
Fangboy – Jeff Strand
The Night Eternal – Hogan  – Del Toro
Subject Seven – James A. Moore
Verland; The Transformation – B.E. Scully
Catching Hell – Greg F. Gifune
Vampire Hunters 3 – Scott M. Baker
11/22/63 – Stephen King
Borealis – Ronald Malfi
Waiting Out Winter – Kelli Owen
Heretics – Greg F. Gifune
When The Leaves Fall – Paul Melniczek
Apartment 7 – Greg F. Gifune
Darkness Falls – Allan Leverone
In Poes Shadow – Anthology
Blindspot – Michael McBride
Where Darkness Dwells – Glen Krisch

In this tale of creeping horror, down-on-his-luck novelist Tyler Beckman returns to his old hometown of Darkness Falls, New Hampshire, hoping to resurrect his career. Tyler fled the town of his youth nearly two decades earlier following the brutal triple murder of his parents and sister, landing in New York and eventually writing six bestselling gothic horror novels, achieving fame and fortune before losing it all in a blizzard of drugs, booze and women.

Now, in a desperate last-ditch effort to regain what he has lost, Tyler rents the home of his family’s imprisoned killer, determined to confront demons best left buried. Immediately his writing flourishes, and in a frenzy of activity, Tyler begins pounding out the novel that will put him back on top.

But a malevolent force is at work in Darkness Falls, one which is timeless and evil and unstoppable. And it has Tyler Beckman in its sights.

Fast-paced and eerily seductive, Darkness Falls is a well-told and atmospheric tale of loss and obsession, of madness and revenge.

This is the first book I read by Allan Leverone, I never heard of him before to tell you the truth. He lives in Londonderry, NH and I live in Manchester, NH, so I am pretty amazed that I never came across his name before.

I do know that after reading “Darkness Falls” I will be paying attention to Allan and looking into his back catalog.

I really enjoyed “Darkness Falls”, I found the characters to be compelling, the storyline was haunting and creepy. I came to really feel for Tyler and what he went through as a child and what he went through coming back to his hometown. Being a novella it is a quick read, and the pacing is very well done. I really enjoyed the ending, definitely didn’t see that coming.

My only complaint would be that I wish Allan would have delved more into the history of what haunted the house/town. I felt it would have been an overall better story with more information. Other than that I would recommend “Darkness Falls” to anyone who enjoys a really nightmarish tale.

Dark Opus Press Presents: “In Poe’s Shadow” a collection of short stories inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Edited by A. W. Gifford and Jennifer L. Gifford.

The Resurrectionist – AP Diggs
Merryl – James S. Dorr
De’Atherton House – Sorrel Wood
Visions – Neil Kloster
The Final Sculpture – Ian Shoebridge
Sufletul Mortii – Tom Sawyer
Vanity – Kristi Petersen Schoonover
The Mumbai Malaise – SS Hampton, Sr.
The Apprentices Tale – Jennifer L. Gifford
Until the Heart Betrays – A. W. Gifford
Loving the Dead – Dorian Dawes
Once Upon a Midnight – Scott Overton
The Amazing Vlademar – Linda Donahue
Read First – Davin Creed

I received “In Poe’s Shadow” from Kristi Petersen Schoonover when I was at Anthocon in Portsmouth NH this past November.

I have been a Poe fan for as long as I have liked reading dark literature and was very intrigued in what these authors would come up with. I am very glad to say Poe would have been proud.

Each author does their own take, or interpretation if you will of a Poe story. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised at what they came up with.

I enjoyed reading all the stories, seeing how each author handled their Poe interpretations. As with all anthologies there were some that I enjoyed better than others, not to take away from any of the other stories my favorites were;

The Resurrectionist – AP Diggs
The Final Sculpture – Ian Shoebridge
Vanity – Kristi Petersen Schoonover
Once Upon a Midnight – Scott Overton

If you are a Poe fan I think you will enjoy this collection, I know I did and I wholeheartedly recommend it.