Jameston Harlan, Sphere Jockey. Sounds glamorous, interesting, fun. But working miles below the surface all alone in a sphere can get to a person over time. When the unknown intrudes upon this miniature world, Jameston has to decide, what and who he can trust. Is Perception reality? Views: 53
A busload of captives on an express ride to terror!It's the summer of 1995, and the passengers of the Sunday bus into town have realized that something is very, very wrong with their driver. They don't know that she began her day planning to kill herself. But they know that she's threatening to kill them. They began the ride as her passengers, but now they're her captives. She's already shown she won't hesitate to use that gun in her hand, and no one wants to be the next to die. They have no idea where she's taking them, who will be left alive when they get there, or what's in store for the survivors. With a madwoman at the wheel, the bus has gone far off its route, deep into insanity. And for most of the passengers, the next stop will be their last. Views: 53
When her dad and his annoying girlfriend announce their engagement, Chris Wilson isn't exactly thrilled. As if getting roped into bridesmaid duty for a future step-mom she can't stand isn't bad enough, Chris is stunned when Marsha accuses Chris's deceased mother of trying to ruin the wedding.Certain their mother moved on to the Great Beyond long ago, the Wilson sisters investigate who—or what—is really out to get Marsha. With marriage fever making everyone crazy, can the sisters get to the bottom of this haunting in time to save the wedding? And do they even want to? Views: 53
Nominated for an Edgar Award: When Marc and his friends discover an Indian grave in a long-abandoned cavern, they begin to wonder if it's hauntedIt's the summer of 1954, and Marc Schaller expects to spend his days playing baseball, swimming in the river, and reading comic books. But when he hears about a fifty-dollar reward for the discovery of any local Indian graves, his summer plans suddenly get a lot more exciting. Marc gathers his best friends, Eddie and Hermie, and they decide to search for the artifacts together. The three boys soon stumble across a grave in a large abandoned grotto, and they know they've struck gold. That reward will soon be theirs! But something about the find is unsettling to Marc, and they decide to hold off on telling anyone about it for a few days. However, as the boys explore the cave further, Marc starts to suspect that they might not be the only ones in there. Views: 53
### From Publishers Weekly This patchwork anthology of 13 new vampire stories proves that heavyweight contributors can give some substance to a relatively slight theme. Harris (the Sookie Stackhouse novels), Kelner (the Laura Fleming mysteries) and 11 other writers with serious vamp credentials craft stories around the concept of birthdays for bloodsuckers. Most of the tales only blow out candles in passing, as with P.N. Elrod's Grave-Robbed, which mixes pathos and comedy as vampire PI Jack Fleming busts a phony medium mid-séance, and Tanya Huff's Blood Wrapped, in which Henry Fitzroy's search for the ideal gift for a vampire's 40th mixes with his pursuit of a human kidnapper. Christopher Golden takes birthdays to heart in his poignant coming-of-age story, The Mournful Cry of Owls, while Kelley Armstrong proposes in Twilight that a vampire's real birthday is the date of transformation from mortal to immortal. Fans of the many series vampires on parade here will be undeterred by the variable quality of their adventures. _(Sept.)_ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ### From Experienced genre hands ensure the high quality of 13 stories about birthdays and vampires. The opening story uses Charlaine Harris' series star Sookie Stackhouse, who, as the only nonvampire at a Dracula's birthday ball, finds herself on the menu. Dropping by a role-playing party with his brother's present, Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden must deal with deadly party crashers. A pair of vampires tracks down a serial killer in Toni L. P. Kelner's "How Stella Got Her Grave Back." More chillingly, a vampire knows she must kill to live another year but is strangely reluctant in Kelly Armstrong's "Twilight," and in Elaine Viets' humorous "Vampire Hours," a woman deliberately chooses damnation. Murray, Frieda Views: 53
