Poe's Children

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, POE'S CHILDREN now brings the best of the genre's stories to a wider audience. Featuring tales from such writers as Neil Gaiman and Jonathan Carroll,POE'S CHILDRENis Peter Straub's 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 author's belief that his typewriter is inhabited by menacing creatures, to "The Man on the Ceiling," Melanie and Steve Rasnic Tem's award-winning surreal tale of night terrors, woven with daylight fears that haunt a family. Other selections include National Book Award finalist Dan Chaon's "The Bees"; Peter Straub's "Little Red," the legend of a music aficionado whose past is as mysterious as the ghostly visitors to his Manhattan apartment; "Insect Dreams"; and "Body," Brian Evenson's disturbing new twist on correctional facilities. Crossing boundaries and packed with imaginative chills, POE'S CHILDRENbears all the telltale signs of fearless, addictive fiction.