Phobias: Stories of Your Deepest Fears: Phobias: Stories of Your Deepest Fears

This gripping anthology of original stories about people tangled in terror will leave readers wondering if their own fears could one day grow into paralyzing phobias. Kathryn Ptacek presents a professional woman with a burgeoning fear of body hair: what begins as a compulsion to shave her legs and underarms eventually has Maggie plucking and shaving her entire body, then even the golden locks of her young daughter. Jerry and Sharon Ahern's tale features a man obsessed with a fear of dying in his sleep. He kidnaps a hypnotherapist, whom he plans to kill after he forces her to treat him; in revenge for her imminent death, she plants an even more dangerous phobia in his mind. In Nancy Collins's story, sinister incidents unfold behind closed doors: Mrs. Meredith, the narrator's neighbor, refuses to leave her house for years after her son is born; the situation deteriorates until Mr. Meredith finally leaves town. After years of seclusion with his mother, the son comes to the narrator's family for help, and they find Mrs. Meredith has died in childbirth. Greenberg and Gilliam are veteran anthology editors; Kramer is a writer and psychiatric consultant; Webb is a writer and nurse. (Jan.)