The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Story—and 8-time Bram Stoker Award winner—gathers 24 bone-chilling, nail-biting, frightfully imaginative stories that represent the best of contemporary horror writing. “Revelatory.... A remarkably consistent, frequently unsettling book.” —The Washington Post“[Straub] collects the best scary short stories out there.” —TimeDan Chaon “The Bees” Elizabeth Hand “Cleopatra Brimstone” Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem “The Man on the Ceiling” M. John Harrison “The Great God Plan” Ramsey Campbell “The Voice of the Beach” Brian Evenson “Body” Kelly Link “Louise's Ghost” Jonathan Carroll “The Sadness of Detail” M. Rickert “Leda” Thomas Tessier “In Praise of Folly”David J. Schow “Plot Twist” Glen Hirshberg “The Two Sams” Thomas Ligotti “Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story” Benjamin Percy “Unearthed” Bradford Morrow'Gardener of Heart” Peter Straub “Little Red's Tango” Stephen King “The Ballad of a Flexible Bullet” Joe Hill “20th Century Ghost” Ellen Klages “The Green Glass Sea” Tia V. Travis “The Kiss” Graham Joyce “Black Dust”John Crowley “Missolonghi 1824” Rosalind Palermo Stevenson “Insect Dreams”

Straub, Peter, 1943-

Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers

Random House, Incorporated

New York: Doubleday

Delacorte Press

United States, United States of America

First edition, New York, 2008

1st Anchor books ed, ©2008

1st ed, New York, ©2008

Reprint, 2008-10-14

Reprint, PS, 2008

From the incomparable master of horror and suspense comes an electrifying collection of contemporary literary horror, with stories from twenty-five writers representing todays most talented voices in the genre.
Horror writing is usually associated with formulaic gore, but New Wave horror writers have more in common with the wildly inventive, evocative spookiness of Edgar Allan Poe than with the sometimes-predictable hallmarks of their peers. Showcasing this cutting-edge talent, Poes Children now brings the best of the genres stories to a wider audience. Featuring tales from such writers as Neil Gaiman and Jonathan Carroll, Poes Children is Peter Straubs tribute to the imaginative power of storytelling. Each previously published story has been selected by Straub to represent what he thinks is the most interesting development in our literature during the last two decades.
Selections range from the early Stephen King psychological thriller The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet, in which an editor confronts an authors belief that his typewriter is inhabited by supernatural creatures, to The Man on the Ceiling, Melanie and Steve Rasnic Tems award-winning surreal tale of night terrors, woven with daylight fears that haunt a family. Other selections include National Book Award finalist Dan Chaons The Bees; Peter Straubs Little Reds Tango, the legend of a music aficionado whose past is as mysterious as the ghostly visitors to his Manhattan apartment; Elizabeth Hands visionary and shocking Cleopatra Brimstone; Thomas Ligottis brilliant, mind-stretching Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story; and Body, Brian Evensons disturbing twist on correctional facilities.
Crossing boundaries and packed with imaginative chills, Poes Children bears all the telltale signs of fearless, addictive fiction.

x, 534 p. ; 25 cm
The bees / Dan Chaon -- Cleopatra Brimstone / Elizabeth Hand -- The man on the ceiling / Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem -- The great god Pan / M. John Harrison -- The voice on the beach / Ramsey Campbell -- Body / Brian Evenson -- Louise's ghost / Kelly Link -- The sadness of detail / Jonathan Carroll -- Leda / M. Rickert -- In praise of folly / Thomas Tessier -- Plot twist / David J. Schow -- The two Sams / Glen Hirshberg -- Notes on the writing of horror: a story / Thomas Ligotti -- Unearthed / Benjamin Percy -- Gardener of heart / Bradford Morrow -- Little red's tango / Peter Straub -- The ballad of the flexible bullet / Stephen King -- 20th century ghost / Joe Hill -- The green glass sea / Ellen Klages -- The kiss / Tia V. Travis -- Black dust / Graham Joyce -- October in the chair / Neil Gaiman -- Missolonghi 1824 / John Crowley -- Insect dreams / Rosalind Palermo Stevenson

""Peter Straub--bestselling author and 8-time Bram Stoker Award winner--has gathered here 24 bone-chilling, nail-biting, frightfully imaginative stories that represent the best of contemporary horror writing.""--Publisher's description

An anthology of modern horror fiction features tales from twenty-five masters of the genre, with such selections as Stephen King's "The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet," Dan Chaon's "The Bees," and Peter Straub's "Little Red's Tango."

2023-06-28