Grant, Charles L. Nightmares. NY: Playboy Press, 1979
Overall rating: 6/10
Grant combines ten new stories with nine recent reprints. In his introduction, he writes that the reprints selected have "relatively low profiles," but since they had only been published recently, in some cases a year earlier, they hadn't had a change to gain much readership. Regardless, his efforts in selecting the reprints are laudable, as I found the reprints to be consistently superior to the new entries. The two stories that were familiar to me prior to my reading the anthology were "Camps," by Jack Dann (1979), and "I Can't Help Saying Goodbye," by Ann Mackenzie (1978), both of which I'd read many years ago in year's best styled anthologies (Nebula and Ellery Queen, respectively). I enjoyed them both back in the day, and perhaps even more revisiting them here. Other enjoyable reprints are Stephen King's "Suffer the Little Children" (1972), Dennis Etchison's "Daughter of the Golden West" (originally as "A Feast for Cathy," 1973), Ray Russell's "The Runaway Lovers" (1967), and William F. Nolan's wonderfully titled "He Kilt it with a Stick" (1979). Of the new stories I especially liked "The Anchoress," a tragedy by Beverly Evans, and I also enjoyed Ramsey Campbell's "Midnight Hobo," while Bill Pronzini's "Peekaboo" was amusing, mostly due to Pronzini's ability to make something so brief, fun. Most of the others are forgettable.
Not an anthology I would recommend, as the good stories can be found in better collections. (With the exception of "The Anchoress," which seems to not have been reprinted.) In addition, the many, many typos mar the reading experience, giving the impression that no one cared about how it all came together. At least Grant took the time to include a brief intro for each story, which I appreciate.
Suffer the Little Children by Stephen King 7/10
Cavalier, February 1972
Miss Sydley is a disciplinarian high school teacher who is able to see what her students are doing behind her back. Her trick is that she spies on them in the reflection of her glasses. But when she sees troublemaker Robert transform into something horrible, she is left shaken. Robert later reveals to her that there are many among the students who are just like him.
A highly entertaining and suspenseful story that sways between being ambiguous, and being flat-out about monsters--is Miss Sydley finally cracking under the pressures of teaching, or are there monsters in her midst? The story shifts our idea as to who the real monster is, the disciplinarian or the students, with a nice, creepy finish.
Though published originally in 1972, it was not included in a King collection until Nightmares & Dreamscapes in 1993, for some reason being omitted from both Night Shift and Skeleton Crew, and in favour of far weaker stories where the latter is concerned. I wonder if it was left out due to there already being so many early King stories about high schools and high schoolers included in the earlier collections.
Peekaboo by Bill Pronzini 7/10
Nightmares, ed. Charles L. Grant, Playboy Press, 1979
Roper is awakened in the middle of the night with the feeling that someone is in the house. He'd leased the house eight days before, following a botched robbery and needing an empty house in an isolated area to lay low for a while. The agent had said the previous owner was into devilish rites, and that the last tenant had been murdered in the house. But Roper doesn't believe in demons or ghosts, and whatever is in the house is a human intruder. Armed with flashlight and gun, he searches the house for the human he is certain is there.
We can figure out the ending, but getting there is still a bit of fun.
Daughter of the Golden West by Dennis Etchison 7/10
As "A Feast for Cathy," Cavalier, July 1973
Shortly after graduation, three inseparable high school seniors' lives are changed when one of them is found dead on the side of a road. The body is unrecognizable, and the remaining pair set off to investigate, learning there were two other such discoveries nearby in the past several weeks.
A suspenseful story, well written (aside from an awkward couple of remarks about Mountain Dew). It reads like a mystery with an ending of a classic horror.
The Duppy Tree by Steven Edward McDonald 6/10
Nightmares, ed. Charles L. Grant, Playboy Press, 1979
A Jamaican woman, Miss Bell, tells her daughter of colonialist Major Philip Laird-Hamlyn who, between the world wars, arrived in the town of Mandeville. The Major came to head the police department, and at the time our narrator was a maid at his house. Trouble began when the Major asked Charlie, the gardener, to cut down an old cottonwood tree that "haunted" him, and Charlie confided to the narrator that he didn't want to cut the tree down, as it is a duppy tree, and something bad will befall him if he were to cut it down. The duppy is an evil spirit, and it lived in the cottonwood tree. As expected, the tree was cut down to ensure there be a story.
A fairly average story of an outsider who believes not in the local hocus pocus. The story starts well enough, then absorbs all the tropes we expect, and spends too much time on the spells and the shaman and the like, so the short story is unnecessarily elongated to an epic, and the suspense is lost as I find myself rushing through the second half of the story.
Naples by Avram Davidson 7/10
Shadows, ed. Charles L. Grant, NY: Doubleday, 1978
A traveller walks the streets of old Naples, noticing the poverty of the locals. A local guide takes him through various alleys and through buildings until they reach run-down room and a man in a dirt bed. There an unusual exchange takes place. Most of the story is essentially preamble, descriptive jaunt through Old Naples, but well written preamble. The story itself is brief, the last three pages, and the unusual combination makes for a good read.
Interesting that Grant chose to recycle this from his anthology Shadows, published one year earlier. He likely recognized its unique power and wanted it to reach a wider audience.
Seat Partner by Chelsea Quinn Yarbo 5/10
Nightmares, ed. Charles L. Grant, Playboy Press, 1979
Young Jillian Walker is upgraded to first class on her return flight from Italy to America. There she is seated beside an actual European Count. The direction of this one is obvious from the start, and gives us no surprises. Competently enough constructed, but flat. Part of the Count of Saint-Germain series (possibly an excerpt from a longer work?).
Camps by Jack Dann 8/10
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May 1979
Hospitalized Stephen inexplicably dreams of being a Jew in a concentration camp. The story moves between both realities, and does so effectively and suspensefully, paralleling both men in their fight for survival. I've commented in the past that novelettes are frequently overlong, but this is an example of a thirty-page story that reads fluidly, earning its length.
I first read this story years ago in Nebula Winners Fifteen (edited by Frank Herbert, Harper & Row, 1981), and remember being affected by it. This is my first re-read since, and it remains a strong story. Gardner Dozois included the novelette in his Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: ninth Annual Collection (Dutton, 1980). Nominated for both a British Science Fiction Award (Best Short Fiction), and a Nebular Award (Best Novelette). It has been frequently reprinted.
The Anchoress by Beverly Evans 8/10
Nightmares, ed. Charles L. Grant, Playboy Press, 1979
A recently widowed woman is isolated on her farm, finding it difficult to cope with her husband's absence. A tragic, heartbreaking story, dealing with mental health in light of extreme suffering. I am surprised it hasn't been reprinted anywhere else.
Transfer by Barry N. Malzberg 6/10
Fantastic, August 1975
A man tells of the tentacled monster inside him that is let loose and kills innocent people in the nighttime streets. Some contradictions weaken this one, as does the narrator's claim that he tries to get the monster to stop, and a moment later he says he enjoys the thrill of the hunt. The clunkiness makes for uneven reading, but the ending is good.
Unknown Drives by Richard Christian Matheson 6/10
Nightmares, ed. Charles L. Grant, Playboy Press, 1979
A couple on a rural road get stuck behind a slow-moving local delivery truck. Impatient to get to their destination, the husband is willing to take risks to get around the truck. A quick story, simply yet well enough written, with a little twist that the reader can just beat the narrator getting to.
The Night of the Piasa by J. C. Green & Geo. W. Proctor 6/10
Nightmares, ed. Charles L. Grant, Playboy Press, 1979
Susan Avery, formerly Su-Ni-Ta Aguilar, is an Indian (or, in more appropriate terms, Indigenous) woman who has left the hardships of living in a white man's world by masquerading as Caucasian. Yet her past follows her in the guise of the spirit of the Changing Woman.
While stories in this vein can get dated fairly quickly, this was a surprisingly enjoyable read.
The Runaway Lovers by Ray Russell 7/10
Escapade 12:6, September 1967
A pair of lovers, a troubadour and a duchesse, are captured as they attempt to flee the duchy. The duke has strong ties to the church and is reputed to rule with leniency. However, he sentences the pair of lovers to seven days of torture: one day for each of the sins. An enjoyable conte cruel from the author of "Sardonicus," it features a handful of little twists. Russell was fiction editor at Playboy for a few years, and this short story was also first published in an American men's magazine, Escapade.
Fisherman's Log by Peter D. Pautz 3/10
Nightmares, ed. Charles L. Grant, Playboy Press, 1979
A pair of young brothers are fishing in a nearby pond. They fish and tease each other for about five pages, and then an old man comes to clear them off what he insists is his land. And there is a twist, but by the time that arrives, and despite the story being short, we just don't care as we want it to end. Easily the weakest story in the collection, and really the only bad story of the bunch.
I am unfamiliar with the author. From Grant's story introduction: "Peter D. Pautz is a psychologist and Executive Secretary of the Science Fiction Writers of America and is currently completing his first novel, The Cicatrix." That novel does not appear to have ever been published. Pautz published very little fiction, though Grant appears to have been a supporter, having included a story in each of Nightmares and Shadows 2.
I Can't Help Saying Goodbye by Ann Mackenzie 8/10
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, May 1978
Nine year-old Karen Anders can't help saying goodbye, yet when she does say goodbye to someone, shortly afterwards they die. Told through the point of view of the little girl, this is a truly creepy and at the same time, sad short story. I first came across it many years ago in Ellery Queen's Circumstantial Evidence, and it has stayed with me. The story was adapted for Tales from the Darkside, but unfortunately not well and is among my least favourite episodes of the series.
Editor Grant states the story first appeared in the March issue of EQMM, but in fact it appeared in the May issue (pp. 38-40). He also writes of Ann Mackenzie: "Ms. Mackenzie is a citizen of Rhodesia, which is all any of know about her--except that she definitely knows what true horror is..."
Midnight Hobo by Ramsey Campbell 7/10
Nightmares, ed. Charles L. Grant, Playboy Press, 1979
Radio interviewer Roy is dealing with a temporary co-host, Derrick, who is giving him trouble at work. He is also dealing with some ominous creature that seems to be living in the arch of the railway bridge outside his apartment. Some nice ambiguity, and the build-up of Roy's psychological breakdown is well done.
Snakes and Snails by Jack C. Haldeman II 6/10
Nightmares, ed. Charles L. Grant, Playboy Press, 1979
Lisa accompanies husband Mark out to his isolated childhood island home to get away from work and focus on his painting. Mark recalls a young girl, Deirdre Esworthy, he played with while growing up, and is surprised to learn she still lives in the area.
Mass Without Voices by Arthur L. Samuels 6/10
Nightmares, ed. Charles L. Grant, Playboy Press, 1979
On his deathbed, a violinist reminds Craigus of their pact, and the man promises he will go through with it. A very short story told through a quartet of quick scenes. I am not familiar with the author, and according to editor Grant's story intro, "Arthur L. Samuels is a professional violinist and currently concertmaster of the New Jersey Regional Orchestra." It is one of only two stories by Samuels included in the ISFdb.
He Kilt It with a Stick by William F. Nolan 7/10
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1968
Fred Baxter does not like cats. In fact, he despises them so much that, since a boy, he's been killing them regularly. This need proves difficult when, in his thirties, he is diagnosed with a heart condition and told not to get too excited. The story could easily have been flat had it been written as straightforward horror, but it is elevated by its tone and energy. Not to mention that great title.
The Ghouls by R. Chetwynd-Hayes 6/10
The Night Ghouls and Other Grisly Tales, London: Fontana, 1975
Mr. Edward J. Goldsmith is visited one evening by a man who tells him he is dead. In a panic, Goldsmith flees and informs a police officer of the visit, but when they return to the flat, it is empty. Shortly thereafter, Goldsmith finds himself enmeshed in the world of the dead, where a group of living attempt to re-animate the dead as a cost-effective business venture. The story's comedic elements are tiresome, and it is longer than it should be, but the end did surprise me a little and there was enough to keep me interested. I have yet to read anything by Chetwynd-Hayes that has impressed me.
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