Dreadful Tales

On a hot, summer night in West L.A., Shane Malone sits sweltering in front of the computer, thinking how easy it should be to write a contribution for an anthology; an anthology in which every chilling tale must end in the death of a twenty-two-year-old woman in her apartment.

Ideas swirl, but it has to be a grabber—Shane doesn't want to look like a slouch. And the deafening music blaring from next door is not helping. Shane furiously bangs on the neighbour's door, ready to let rip. But Francine just happens to be a twenty-two-year-old woman who will not be argued with... and Shane is about to find out that life can really imitate art.

So begins the first tale in this terrifying collection of short stories—a delicious cornucopia of homicidal maniacs, vampires and lust-crazed teenagers—that showcase the macabre genius of Richard Laymon.