Silver Scream

Schow, whose first novel, The Kill Riff, was published last month, has assembled an exceptional anthology of 19 stories and one vignette, all dealing in some way with the movies, moviemaking, movie houses, etc. Robert McCammon's ``Night Calls the Green Falcon,'' is a beautifully constructed, funny, touching story about an old man who had been the star of adventure serials decades before, and who now dons his ridiculous superhero costume and goes forth to avenge the murder of a friend. Joe Lansdale demonstrates quantum growth in his spare, blood-chilling ``Night They Missed the Horror Show,'' a tale of cruelty and death in redneck territory. John M. Ford's tense ``Pre-Flash'' tells of a man who recovers from a near-fatal shooting with the ability to foresee how people will meet their deaths. There are also excellent stories by Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, Jay Sheckley, Douglas Winter, Chet Williamson and Edward Bryant. Tobe Hooper has contributed a clever introduction. (June)