Prolific horror author Houarner (The Oz Suite ) assembles a disturbing collection of 13 reprints and 12 originals. Most of the tales highlighting his twisted supernatural assassin, Max (featured in 2001ís The Beast That Was Max ), are brief, but ìLike Smoke Rising from the Burning Ghatsî offers detailed descriptions of a young boy in Calcutta becoming something monstrous, and the novella ìDancing with the Skeletons at the Feast of the Deadî is almost symphonic in its depiction of brutality in a small Mexican village. The other stories are no less dark: in ìLet Me Tell You a Story,î a babysitter manipulates her charges into committing acts of evil, while ìThe Shapeî is a harsh tale of mental illness and abuse. The bleakness might turn off some readers, but fans of intense, psychology-driven horror and sharp writing will be more than satisfied.
