The ultimate collection of weird and frightening American fiction, including tales from Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Stephen King Contains contributions from Edgar Allan Poe, H P Lovecraft, Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and - of course - Stephen King. Acknowledgments v Introduction by S.T. Joshi ix Suggestions for Further Reading xxiii WASHINGTON IRVING (1783-1859) 1 The Adventure of the German Student (1824) 3 NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE (1804-1864) 9 Edward Randolph's Portrait (1838) 11 EDGAR ALLAN POE (1809-1849) 23 The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) 25 FITZ-JAMES O'BRIEN (1828-1862) 45 What Was It? (1859) 47 AMBROSE BIERCE (1842-1914?) 61 The Death of Halpin Frayser (1891) 63 ROBERT W. CHAMBERS (1865-1933) 79 The Yellow Sign (1895) 81 HENRY JAMES (1843-1933) 101 The Real Right Thing (1899) 103 H.P. LOVECRAFT (1890-1937) 117 The Call of Cthulhu (1928) 119 CLARK ASHTON SMITH (1893-1961) 151 The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis (1932) 153 ROBERT E. HOWARD (1906-1936) 175 Old Garfield's Heart (1933) 177 ROBERT BLOCH (1917-1944) 189 Black Bargain (1942) 191 AUGUST DERLETH (1909-1971) 209 The Lonesome Place (1948) 211 FRITZ LEIBER (1910-1992) 221 The Girl with the Hungry Eyes (1949) 223 RAY BRADBURY (b. 1920) 239 The Fog Horn (1952) 241 SHIRLEY JACKSON (1916-1965) 251 A Visit (1952) 253 RICHARD MATHESON (b. 1926) 277 Long Distance Call (1953) 279 CHARLES BEAUMONT (1929-1967) 293 The Vanishing American (1955) 295 T.E.D. KLEIN (b. 1947) 307 The Events at Poroth Farm (1972) 309 STEPHEN KING (b. 1947) 359 Night Surf (1974) 361 DENNIS ETCHISON (b. 1943) 371 The Late Shift (1980) 373 THOMAS LIGOTTI (b. 1953) 391 Vastarien (1987) 393 KARL EDWARD WAGNER (1945-1994) 409 Endless Night (1987) 411 NORMAN PARTRIDGE (b. 1958) 421 The Hollow Man (1991) 423 DAVID J. SCHOW (b. 1955) 431 Last Call for the Sons of Shock (1994) 433 JOYCE CAROL OATES (b. 1938) 451 Demon (1996) 453 CAITLIN R. KIERNAN (b. 1964) 457 In the Water Works (Birmingham, Alabama 1888) 459 Sources 473