Veteran British horror writer Gallagher (The Kingdom of Bones
) shows off his versatility in this collection of 11 stories and a review of Joseph Payne Brennan's Nine Horrors and a Dream
. Among the best are “The Back of His Hand,” a shocking description of the unexpected dangers involved in tattoo removal; “The Plot,” a Victorian tale in which a mill girl enacts a bizarre revenge on the kindly priest who refuses to let her illegitimate baby be buried in sacred ground; “Doctor Hood,” a touching ghost story concerning a world-famous physicist, his daughter and the recently deceased loved one haunting their family home; and “My Repeater,” a grim science fiction story about the fruitlessness of using time travel to correct one's past errors. Capable of being either subtle or blunt depending upon the needs of his plot, Gallagher has assembled a fine and varied collection of weird fiction that should find many admirers. (Oct.)
