Joseph Payne Brennan 
Nine Horrors and a Dream 

Acclaimed by Stephen King as "a master of the unashamed horror tale, " Joseph Payne Brennan wrote hundreds of tales of terror, suspense, and fantasy. Collectors and fans will delight in this inexpensive reissue of Brennan’s hard-to-find classic, Nine Horrors and a Dream. This collection, originally published by Arkham House in 1958, features stories published by Weird Tales and other pulp magazines of the 1950s — including the much-anthologized "Slime, " which inspired the ever-popular thriller The Blob. Less familiar but equally gripping tales include "Levitation, " in which a carnival-goer has an unfortunate encounter with a hypnotist; "The Calamander Chest, " the story of a low-priced antique that turns out to be no bargain; "Death in Peru, " involving a lethal curse; the darkly humorous "On the Elevator"; and "The Green Parrot, " which recounts a Good Samaritan’s bad timing. Other selections include "Canavan’s Back Yard, " featuring a property with a gruesome history; "I’m Murdering Mr. Massington, " which tells of a bizarre grasp at immortality; "The Hunt, " a playfully creepy yarn about an obsessive chase; and "The Mail for Juniper Hill, " in which a tipsy but determined postman refuses to let anything — even death — keep him from his appointed rounds.