Obsessions

The 30 horror stories in this fine collection, all original save Dean R. Koontz's ``The Interrogation,'' trace the connection between wholesome habits and over-the-edge compulsions. Some characters begin with good intentions but cannot control the dangerous urge to overdo. The natty homosexual, in Nicholas Royle's ``Crispy Notes,'' cannot tolerate creases on anything, i.e., money, clothing or his new lover. His remedy creates considerably worse problems than untidiness. ``In the Cold, Dark Time'' by Joe R. Lansdale chronicles the hospital stay of a wounded soldier whose will to live revives because he can't bear to see the children who are victims of the war suffer for lack of the ultimate anesthetic. In Dan Simmons's ``The Counselor,'' the terror of the young people is assuaged as the eponymous advisor dispenses justice to abusive parents, creating a phalanx of youthful allies in the process. Each of these effective tales illustrates the menace inherent in obsessive behaviors. (Apr.)