With this third compilation of new and reprinted horror stories, Chizmar (Shivers II
) establishes the Shivers series as the first nonretrospective horror annual in nearly a decade. There are selections to satisfy all tastes in terror, ranging from Meggan C. Wilson and F. Paul Wilson's "Itsy Bitsy Spider...," a giant spider infestation tale with overtones of 1950s B-movies, to Kealan Patrick Burke's "Underneath," a psychological suspenser spun from teenage angst. Thomas F. Monteleone's "Horn of Plenty," about a musical instrument that preys vampirically on a jazz musician, is a gracefully subtle dark fantasy at the opposite extreme from Edward Lee's "Please Let Me Out," a shamelessly puerile romp of erotic horror. There are highlights of both supernatural and nonsupernatural horror, including Tom Piccirilli's "This, and That's the End of It," a haunting afterlife fantasy fueled by powerful expressions of grief and loss, and Douglas Clegg's "Becoming Men," which evokes The Lord of the Flies
in its gripping depiction of juveniles in revolt against authorities at a tough-love disciplinary boot camp. In contrast to previous volumes, this one leans more heavily on reprints, which represent most of the book's best selections. Nevertheless, the core horror audience for whom this anthology is intended will appreciate a series that has become as dependable for horror as Halloween. (Nov.)
