The weaving of fictional suspense and terror is as ancient as humankind itself. But where does this age-old tradition stand at the cusp of a new decade, a new century, a new millennium? This mammoth volume seeks to answer that question. You hold in your hands the state of the art -- of fear.

To prepare this groundbreaking anthology, writer and editor Al Sarrantonio challenged a distinguished roster of authors to demonstrate with all-new stories the shape of horror/suspense literature as we enter the twenty-first century. As you will read the twenty-nine contributors responded by displaying the infinite variety which is the very hallmark of this field. Some of these stories will startle you or fill you with terror. Some will haunt you long after you finish reading them. There is even an eerily echoing chuckle or two found inside. But together, these weirdest of tales join to form a great literary mosaic, a vivid contemporary portrait of a genre which is proud, potent, and irresistible.

Not only is this the largest anthology of original horror/suspense fiction of all time -- not one story in 999 has ever been published before -- but it is also the finest. Here is a major publishing event with an attitude: to shake you up and scare you silly.

Contents:

• Amerikanski Dead at the Moscow Morgue by Kim Newman
• The Ruins of Contracoeur by Joyce Carol Oates
• The Owl and the Pussycat by Thomas M. Disch
• The Road Virus Heads North by Stephen King
• Keepsakes and Treasures: A Love Story by Neil Gaiman
• Growing Things by T. E. D. Klein
• Good Friday by F. Paul Wilson
• Excerpts from the Records of the New Zodiac and the Diaries of Henry Watson Fairfax by Chet Williamson
• An Exaltation of Termagants by Eric Van Lustbader
• Itinerary by Tim Powers
• Catfish Gal Blues by Nancy A. Collins
• The Entertainment by Ramsey Campbell
• ICU by Edward Lee
• The Grave by P. D. Cacek
• The Shadow, The Darkness by Thomas Ligotti
• Knocking by Rick Hautala
• Rio Grande Gothic by David Morrell
• Des Saucisses, Sans Doute by Peter Schneider
• Angie by Ed Gorman
• The Ropy Thing by Al Sarrantonio
• The Tree Is My Hat by Gene Wolfe
• Styx and Bones by Edward Bryant
• Hemophage by Steven Spruill
• The Book of Irrational Numbers by Michael Marshall Smith
• Mad Dog Summer by Joe R. Lansdale
• The Theatre by Bentley Little
• Rehearsals by Thomas F. Monteleone
• Darkness by Dennis L. McKiernan
• Elsewhere by William Peter Blatty