Book Review: Masques V

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Masques V     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
J. N. Williamson , Gary A. Braunbeck
Class/Genre:   Fiction   Horror   [Short Stories]
Gauntlet, May 2006, $50.00

This is one of the year’s best anthologies of the year with twenty eight new chilling horror thrillers and one reprint from 1985 Playboy magazine (“The Black Wench” by Ray Russell). Each of these well written tales will grip the reader as few short story collections do. The compilation runs the gamut from strange happenings in normal environs to ghost stories to the grisly and finally visits to death in the arcane, tombs, and a few other creepy locales. A who’s who of dark side authors like Tom Piccirilli, Richard Matheson, Poppy Z. Brite, Christopher Conlan, Joe Nassise, and the editors, etc. contribute top tales. There are no losers in the first MASQUES V to be published in almost fifteen years. Horror genre readers will agree that MASQUE V is a fitting tribute to editor J. N. Williamson who passed away before the compilation was printed.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner