For your nightmares...

I'm not one to judge the "Borderlands" series. After all, as stated in the introduction by editors Elizabeth and Thomas Monteleone, when the last "Borderlands" collection was published I was getting my kicks by reading "Goosebumps." That being said, I AM able to judge this collection: and I say it's one hell of a read!

The great thing about this collection is its uniqueness and diversity. Gone are the vampire/werewolf/ghost stories; in place are tales, some supernatural, some horror (and a couple that aren't), about the tricks the human mind can play. Some of these tricks stay within the mind itself; some of them manifest in the physical world, in the way we interpret our surroundings. These stories are psychological horror stories; in my opinion, the best kind.

Diversity. There are some big name people in here: Stephen King takes a horrific look at exercise in his novella "Stationary Bike;" in "Father Bob and Bobby," Whitley Strieber tells of a priest who is having a horrific controntation with his reality. You'll never read a bedtime story again after looking through John Farris's "Story Time with the Bluefield Stranger." David J. Schow's "The Thing too Hideous to Describe" is a comedic, yet tragic, look at the life of our world's hidden monsters. Bentley Little's "The Planting" is just as macabre, outrageous, and hideously enjoyable as the author's novels; while Tom Piccirilli's "Around it Still the Sumac Grows" details a man returning to his old high school, and reliving the horrors he once experienced.

There are some new names, however. Lon Prater's "Head Music," a poetic story about a man who becomes kin with a strange sea creature, is the author's first professional sale. Adam Fusco's story is a terrifying glimpse into the future of scientific research, while John Mertz's "Prisoner 392" is a great mixture of "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Silence of the Lambs." A man faces the alternative realities he's created for himself in Bill Gauthier's tale; Bev Vincent weaves a tale of irony and tragedy; a man confronts his past and his daughter in John McIlveen's "Infliction"; and a woman has the perfect family--three real beautiful daughters, and her favorite, the imaginary one--in L. Lynn Young's story.

You think listing those names you don't know was a waste of time. I tell you: those are some highlites of this collection, and future stars of the literary world. "From the Borderlands" is a great, unique, thought-provoking, and at times downright terrifying collection of short stories by some of dark fiction's superstars, and others who are bound to become one. This is one you must add to your fiction collection.