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While at the library over the weekend I stumbled upon this little forgotten gem, Gallery of Horror from 1983. It contains twenty stories from, as it puts it, “modern masters of dread.” Over the week leading to Halloween I’m going to review one of these spooky stories each day. The question is, which stories do I read? I’m only going to review seven, but there are twenty total…

There are three authors I’m leaning towards, but that still leaves four. Here’s the complete list:

Something Nasty by William F. Nolan

Canavan’s Back Yard by Joseph Payne Brennan

The Conqueror Worm by Stephen R. Donaldson

Death to the Easter Bunny! by Alan Ryan

The Rubber Room by Robert Bloch

Petey by T.E.D. Klein

Out of Sorts by Bernard Taylor

The Sunshine Club by Ramsey Campbell

Down Among the Dead Men by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

The Crazy Chinaman by  John Coyne

Gravid Babies by Michael Bishop

The Chair by Dennis Etchison

The Typewriter by David Morrell*

Nunc Dimittis by Tanith Lee*

Derelicts by Steve Rasnic Tem

In Darkness, Angels by Eric Van Lustbader

The Arrows by Chelsea Quinn Yarbo

Talent by Theodore Sturgeon

Aim for the Heart by Craig Shaw Gardner

Nona by Stephen King*

Several of these authors are familiar but there are many I’ve never heard of at all. I’m curious where they are now, what they are doing. Are they still writing? Also, how will these stories compare to contemporary horror fiction? I could have picked something more recent to read but sometimes it’s refreshing to take a different direction — not follow the crowd.

Now I need your help to decide which stories I should read. You can pick 3 of your top choices and on October 22nd I will go with the top 7 in order of votes.

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