COPYRIGHT INFO
The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack is copyright © 2013 by Wildside Press LLC. All rights reserved. Cover art by James Thew / Fotolia. For more information, contact the publisher.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
“Transients” first appeared in Amazing Stories January 1987. Copyright © 1986 by TSR, Inc.
“A Lantern Maker of Ai Hanlo” first appeared in Amazing Stories July 1984. Copryight © 1984 by TSR, Inc.
“The Story of a Dadar” first appeared in Amazing Stories June 1982. Copyright © 1982 by Ultimate Publishing Co., Inc.
“Refugees from an Imaginary Country” first appeared in Interzone #116, February 1997. Copyright © 1997 by Interzone.
“The Sorcerer Evoragdou” first appeared in The Ultimate Witch edited by Byron Preiss and John Betancourt. Copyright © 1993 by Darrell Schweitzer.
“The Mysteries of the Faceless King” first appeared in Weird Tales #290, Spring 1988. Copyright © 1987 by Terminus Publishing Co., Inc.
“King Yvorian’s Wager” first appeared in Weird Tales #295, Winter 1989/1990. Copyright © 1989 BY Terminus Publishing Co., Inc.
“The Spirit of the Back Stairs” first appeared in Fear April 1991. Copyright © 1991 by Fear Ltd. and John Gilbert.
“The Outside Man” first appeared in Narrow Houses edited by Peter Crowther. Copyright © 1992 by Darrell Schweitzer.
“Savages” first appeared in Masques IV edited by J.N. Williamson. Copyright © 1991 by Darrell Schweitzer.
“On the Last Night of the Festival of the Dead” first appeared in Interzone #90, December 1994. Copyright © 1994 by Interzone.
“Vandibar Nasha in the College of Shadows” first appeared in Adventures of Sword and Sorcery #7, Summer 2000. Copyright © 2000 by Double Star Press.
“One of the Secret Masters” first appeared in Dark Destiny: Unseen Architects of the World edited by Edward Kramer. Copyright © 1994) by Darrell Schweitzer.
“Running to Camelot” first appeared in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine #40, Summer 1998. Copyright © 1998 by the Marion Zimmer Bradley Living Trust.
“Kvetchula” first appeared in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine #36, Summer 1997. Copyright © 1997 by the Marion Zimmer Bradley Living Trust.
“Kvetchula’s Daughter” first appeared in Full Moon City edited by Darrell Schweitzer and Martin H. Greenberg. Copyright © 2010 by Darrell Schweitzer
“How It Ended” first appeared in Realms of Fantasy August 2002. Copyright © 2002 by Sovereign Media.
“The Most Beautiful Dead Woman in the World” first appeared in Interzone #189, May-June 2003. Copyright © 2003 by Interzone.
“The Eater of Hours” first appeared in Inhuman #4, Summer 2009. Copyright © 2009 by Darrell Schweitzer.
“Fighting the Zeppelin Gang” first appeared in Postscripts #8 Autumn 2006. Copyright © 2006 by Darrell Schweitzer.
“The Messenger” first appeared in Weird Tales #347, November/December 2007. Copryight © 2007 by Wildside Press.
“The Last Heretic” first appeared in The New and Perfect Man (Postscripts 24/25) edited by Peter Crowther and Nick Gevers. Copyright © 2011 by Darrell Schweitzer.
“The Witch of the World’s End” first appeared in 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg, and Martin H. Greenberg. Copyright © 1995 by Darrell Schweitzer.
“Howling in the Dark” first appeared in Black Wings: Tales of Lovecraftian Horror, edited by S.T. Joshi. Copyright © 2010 by Darrell Schweitzer.
“Peeling It Off” first appeared in Borderlands, edited by Thomas F. Monteleone. Copyright © 1990 by Darrell Schweitzer.
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
Darrell Schweitzer is one of the best kept secrets in the field of the fantastic. He is a writer of amazing and otherworldly tales—sometimes in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, or Robert E. Howard, but more often than not, distinctly his own. Surely no one else could have written “Pennies from Hell,” or “Peeling It Off,” or “Refugees from an Imaginary Country,” or so many other memorable tales in this collection.
He is a frequest guest at East Coast science fiction conventions. And he is a scholarly authority on innumerable obscure subjects. (Just ask him about 3rd century Roman coins. Go on. I dare you! Did I mention he is also a dealer in rare and antiquarian coins?)
It’s hard to believe, but I first met him 36 years ago at Philcon, a science fiction convention in Philadelphia, where he had a dealer’s table. (Did I mention he is also a dealer in rare and antiquarian books?) He sold me dozens of back issues of science fiction magazines at bargain prices. (He didn’t remember me, of course, when we met again the following year; but I kept coming back and giving him my money anyway.) His knowledge of the field is encyclopedic, and he can recommend a book to almost anyone’s taste, no matter how obscure.
When I was 19, I joined him as an assistant editor of Amazing Stories magazine, which was at the time edited from Philadelphia, under the leadership of George Scithers. I learned a fantastic amount of how a magazine should run from Darrell, who was never too busy to answer questions, explain the procedures our boss had in place, and hone my editorial skills. And he patiently read my own early manuscripts and commented on them (often to my dismay!) with a razor-sharp editorial eye.
After Amazing Stories, Darrell helped revive the classic pulp magazine Weird Tales (with assistance from George Scithers and me—we formed an editorial triumvirate). With its first issue, Weird Tales surpassed the circulation of Amazing Stories...quite a feat!
Some years later, after I left Weird Tales for an editorial career in New York, George Scithers assumed the publisher role at WT and Darrell became the titular editor. He is a World Fantasy Award-winner (as co-editor of Weird Tales, an honor shared with George Scithers), as well as a World Fantasy Award-nominee for his own fiction.
He continues to live in Philadelphia, surrounded by cats, coins, books, and a wife of infinite patience who also happens to be a very talented writer herself (Marilyn “Mattie” Brahen).
—John Betancourt
Publisher, Wildside Press LLC
www.wildsidepress.com
ABOUT THE MEGAPACKS
Over the last few years, our “Megapack” series of ebook anthologies has proved to be one of our most popular endeavors. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”
The Megapacks (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt, Mary Wickizer Burgess, Sam Cooper, Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, Robert Reginald. A. E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!).
A NOTE FOR KINDLE READERS
The Kindle versions of our Megapacks employ active tables of contents for easy navigation…please look for one before writing reviews on Amazon that complain about the lack! (They are sometimes at the ends of ebooks, depending on your reader.)
RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?
Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the Megapack series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).
Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.
TYPOS
Unfortunat
ely, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.
If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at [email protected] or use the message boards above.
THE MEGAPACK SERIES
MYSTERY
The Achmed Abdullah Megapack
The Charlie Chan Megapack
The Craig Kennedy Scientific Detective Megapack
The Detective Megapack
The Father Brown Megapack
The Girl Detective Megapack
The Jacques Futrelle Megapack
The Anna Katharine Green Mystery Megapack
The First Mystery Megapack
The Penny Parker Megapack
The Pulp Fiction Megapack
The Raffles Megapack
The Sherlock Holmes Megapack
The Victorian Mystery Megapack
The Wilkie Collins Megapack
GENERAL INTEREST
The Adventure Megapack
The Baseball Megapack
The Cat Story Megapack
The Second Cat Story Megapack
The Third Cat Story Megapack
The Christmas Megapack
The Second Christmas Megapack
The Classic American Short Stories Megapack, Vol. 1.
The Classic Humor Megapack
The Dog Story Megapack
The Doll Story Megapack
The Horse Story Megapack
The Sea-Story Megapack
The Military Megapack
SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
The Edward Bellamy Megapack
The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack
The Fredric Brown Megapack
The Ray Cummings Megapack
The Philip K. Dick Megapack
The Randall Garrett Megapack
The Second Randall Garrett Megapack
The Edmond Hamilton Megapack
The C.J. Henderson Megapack
The Murray Leinster Megapack
The Second Murray Leinster Megapack
The Martian Megapack
The Andre Norton Megapack
The H. Beam Piper Megapack
The Pulp Fiction Megapack
The Mack Reynolds Megapack
The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack
The Science-Fantasy Megapack
The First Science Fiction Megapack
The Second Science Fiction Megapack
The Third Science Fiction Megapack
The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack
The Fifth Science Fiction Megapack
The Sixth Science Fiction Megapack
The Seventh Science Fiction Megapack
The Eighth Science Fiction Megapack
The Robert Sheckley Megapack
The Steampunk Megapack
The Time Travel Megapack
The Wizard of Oz Megapack
HORROR
The Achmed Abdullah Megapack
The Second Achmed Abdullah Megapack
The E.F. Benson Megapack
The Second E.F. Benson Megapack
The Algernon Blackwood Megapack
The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack
The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack
The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack
The Ghost Story Megapack
The Second Ghost Story Megapack
The Third Ghost Story Megapack
The Haunts & Horrors Megapack
The Horror Megapack
The M.R. James Megapack
The Macabre Megapack
The Second Macabre Megapack
The Mummy Megapack
The Occult Detective Megapack
The Vampire Megapack
The Werewolf Megapack
WESTERNS
The B.M. Bower Megapack
The Max Brand Megapack
The Buffalo Bill Megapack
The Cowboy Megapack
The Zane Grey Megapack
The Western Megapack
The Second Western Megapack
The Wizard of Oz Megapack
YOUNG ADULT
The Boys’ Adventure Megapack
The Dan Carter, Cub Scout Megapack
The Doll Story Megapack
The G.A. Henty Megapack
The Girl Detectives Megapack
The Penny Parker Megapack
The Pinocchio Megapack
The Rover Boys Megapack
The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Megapack
The Tom Swift Megapack
AUTHOR MEGAPACKS
The Achmed Abdullah Megapack
The Edward Bellamy Megapack
The E.F. Benson Megapack
The Second E.F. Benson Megapack
The Algernon Blackwood Megapack
The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack
The B.M. Bower Megapack
The Max Brand Megapack
The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack
The Fredric Brown Megapack
The Wilkie Collins Megapack
The Ray Cummings Megapack
The Guy de Maupassant Megapack
The Philip K. Dick Megapack
The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack
The Jacques Futrelle Megapack
The Randall Garrett Megapack
The C.J. Henderson Megapack
The Second Randall Garrett Megapack
The Anna Katharine Green Megapack
The Zane Grey Megapack
The Edmond Hamilton Megapack
The Dashiell Hammett Megapack
The M.R. James Megapack
The Selma Lagerlof Megapack
The Murray Leinster Megapack
The Second Murray Leinster Megapack
The George Barr McCutcheon Megapack
The Talbot Mundy Megapack
The Andre Norton Megapack
The H. Beam Piper Megapack
The Mack Reynolds Megapack
The Rafael Sabatini Megapack
The Saki Megapack
The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack
The Robert Sheckley Megapack
OTHER COLLECTIONS YOU MAY ENJOY
The Great Book of Wonder, by Lord Dunsany (it should have been called “The Lord Dunsany Megapack”)
The Wildside Book of Fantasy
The Wildside Book of Science Fiction
Yondering: The First Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
To the Stars—And Beyond! The Second Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
Once Upon a Future: The Third Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
Whodunit?—The First Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories
More Whodunits—The Second Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories
X is for Xmas: Christmas Mysteries
TRANSIENTS
I remember—
I remember a rowhouse in West Philadelphia where the stained wooden paneling and reproduction antique furniture and the fire in the fireplace on a dark November evening all conspired to produce the pleasant, if incongruous, atmosphere of an Olde Countrie Inne. I remember sitting by that fire so many times in a padded chair, listening to the flames crackling, and the sounds of my wife preparing dinner in the kitchen at the back of the house.
I remember my wife, too. Her name was Martina, but at times it seems I have only one image of her remaining: that of her bringing me my slippers and the newspaper as I sit in that chair by the fireplace after a long day’s work. That isn’t right. It makes her seem more like a faithful dog than a person, but she really did do those things, from her own sense of routine, infusing order into the world around her. I remember the repeated things. Most of the rest melts away, like mist before the sun.
I remember, finally, the pair of slippers she brought me on a particular, foul November evening. They were made of brown leathe
r, with white fur around the edges, and were very worn.
I held them up.
“But these aren’t mine.”
She shrugged. “Whose are they then? It’s your feet that have been going in them all this time.”
“All what time?”
Now she looked at me strangely. “Since the summer before last, when we got them at that Indian place in Maine. Don’t you remember?”
I put the slippers on. They certainly felt as if I’d been wearing them since the summer before last. I retreated into making a joke about it.
“Ah, yes, the Squash-a-ma-quoddy Indians. How could I forget?”
She didn’t laugh. She just said, “Alan, your brain is going soft,” and went into the kitchen to resume her cooking, leaving me sitting there, staring down at the slippers. Now there is little terror in a pair of slippers, but I felt a touch of unease just then, like that first, subtle, downward jolt when the elevator cable begins to fray.
I must have known somehow that right there it began. From that instant, we began to drift apart.
I try to remember.
* * * *
“Gabby stayed late at school for band practice,” Martina said over dinner. “Then she’ll be at Alice Conover’s for a while.”
Gabrielle was our daughter, aged eleven, and Alice Conover was her best friend. I still remember that much, although I can barely call them to mind.
“Oh, and by the way, Joe Meese called from work after you left, and said he’s hosting another of his poker parties tonight. Why don’t you go? I wanted to watch something on PBS anyway.”
I went. By the time we had finished eating and the dishes were cleared away, the wind was gusting outside, and rain and sleet rattled against the windows, but I had decided that, yes, a night of gambling away pocket change and telling dirty jokes was the very thing for the indefinable unease which had come over me. I put on a coat and a thin plastic raincoat over that and went to the door.
“Don’t be out too late,” Martina called. “It may be Friday, but we have that flea market tomorrow.”
“Yes, yes, I remember. See you about eleven.”
I stepped out onto the porch and locked the door. It was as I turned and reached for the iron porch gate that I noticed a man standing on the sidewalk in front of the house, huddled in a shapeless coat, bareheaded and dripping in the savage weather.
He was old, perhaps sixty-five, and disheveled, but he wasn’t threadbare or filthy, and he lacked that empty look the city’s population of homeless lunatics usually have. He wasn’t a bag person. He just looked…lost as he stood there, not exactly staring at me, or anything in particular. The thought came to me that he might be a burglar scouting out the neighborhood, but I flinched inwardly at the sheer absurdity of the idea.
The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack: 25 Weird Tales of Fantasy and Horror Page 1