Poe's Progeny

Poe's Progeny: An Anthology of Contemporary Stories Inspired by Classic Dark Fiction.

Edited by Gary Fry.

Too often contemporary horror fiction denies, forgets or is even unaware of its roots in classic dark literature. The man legitimately called the father of the genre, Edgar Allan Poe, thrust terror into the soul of humanity, while his illegitimate descendants located it in the cosmos, across nations, in science, through history, in nature, in the city — in short, wherever people come together and invariably attempt to dull their imaginations. But experience is always too cruel.

These themes are of course relevant today.

This book aims to show how the ideas and techniques of the greats might be utilised to explore the modern world. Here you'll find neither pastiche nor period prose, rather thoroughly contemporary visions whose aging, tell-tale heart still beats with dismaying memory of the past and irrepressible fear for the future...

30 original stories from some of the finest practitioners in the field, including a brand new tale from modern master Ramsey Campbell.

Contents:

• Introduction by Michael Marshall Smith
• The Pale Lover by Richard Gavin
• The Hurting House by Mike O'Driscoll
• The Places They Hide by Mark Morris
• Save the Snutch by Antony Mann
• Bottom Feeders by Melvin Cartagena
• A Ripple in the Veil by Tim Lebbon
• Idiot Hearts by Steve Savile
• A Night on Fire by Joel Lane
• Dr. Jackman's Lens by Greg Beatty
• Unfinished Business by Chico Kidd
• Once Seen by Conrad Williams
• Earth, Water, Oil by Jon Hartless
• Sitting Tenant by Nicholas Royle
• Making Ivy by Kathy Sedia
• The Cubicle Wall by Dominick Cancilla
• The Good Unknown by Stephen Volk
• The Strange Case of Jack Myride and Company by Gary Fry
• The Pregnant Sky by Andrew Hook
• Evidence by Gene Stewart
• The Jam of Hypnos by Rhys Hughes
• While My Guitar Gently Weeps by Gary McMahon
• Where Angels Come In by Adam L. G. Nevill
• The Volkendorf Exhibition by John L. Probert
• Turbulent Times by Allen Ashley
• Living Room Zombies by Kevin L. Donihe
• The Scent of Nostalgia by Neil Ayres
• Goodbye by Robert Swartwood
• One Man Show by Simon Clark
• Papa Loaty by Donald R. Burleson
• Just Behind You by Ramsey Campbell