The author has written an excellent story taking us back in time to 1790 and the murder of Ichabod Crane. What really happened to him, was he killed or did the headless horseman take him and leave his hat as a warning to others.

The main character has been expertly created and with an air of mystery surrounding him and his intentions absorbs the reader into the novel.

Masterful descriptions and an excellent historic background draw the reader into a past era that you can easily imagine yourself being there. All the way through the quest to find out what has happened to Crane and the obstructions and people unwillingness to tell the truth make for an excellent ghost story.

This author and his writing takes me back to my youth when I was interestd legends and loved reading about Dick Turpin, Werewolves and of course Dracula, praise of the author.

Introduction:- Whatever Happened to Horror? Stephen Jones
The Little Green God of Agony - Stephen King
Charcloth, Firesteel and Flint - Caitlin R. Kiernan
Ghosts with Teeth - Peter Crowther
The Coffin-Maker's Daughter - Angela Slatter
Roots and All - Brian Hodge
Tell Me I'll See You Again - Dennis Etchison
The Music of Bengt Karlsson, Murderer - John Ajvide Lindqvist
Getting it Wrong - Ramset Campbell
Alice Through the Plastic Sheet - Robert Shearman
The Man in the Ditch - Lisa Tuttle
A Child's Problem - Reggie Oliver
Sad, Dark Thing - Michael Marshall Smith
Near Zennor - Elizabeth Hand
Last Words - Richard Christian Matheson

"In his introduction to A Book of Horrors, editor Stephen Jones rails against the ’horror-lite’ nature of today’s genre fiction, decrying the likes of ‘paranormal romance’, ‘urban fantasy’, and ‘steampunk’, possibly with a lit torch in hand. “The time has come to reclaim horror,” he declares, presumably from high atop a mountain of skulls. “If you enjoy the stories within these pages, you can say that you were there when the fight began.” If Jones’s valiant attempt at inspiration has properly stirred your shit up, you may enjoy a few of these honorable mentions:

The Little Green God of Agony, by Stephen King

Although this brand new piece by King was originally published in A Book of Horrors, editor Ellen Datlow included it in Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 4, which received a U.S. release back in May. Green God is vintage King, a gothic healer/exorcism story that commands your full attention for 30 pages before ending so abruptly, it seems like half a story. Oh, those Stephen King endings.

Ghosts with Teeth, by Peter Crowther

Crowther has a way of taking everyday life and tweaking it every so slightly, until you feel like you might be going a little bit crazy. It’s a novella that lies somewhere between the hallucinatory delirium of In the Mouth of Madness and Dead & Buried.

The Music of Bengt Karlsson, Murderer, by John Ajvide Lindqvist

An old fashioned ghost story, expertly penned by the author of Let Me In. After a widower bribes his young son to take piano lessons––well, the title says it all, really. Like much of Lindqvist’s work, the less spoiled, the better. Just read it.

Alice Through the Plastic Sheet, by Robert Shearman

It’s hard to complain about irritating neighbors when you’ve never laid eyes on them, an idea that Robert Shearman explores to surreal, nightmarish effect in this nominee for both the World Fantasy Award and the British Fantasy Award. A strangely disturbing story considering its lack of violence or gore.

Sad, Dark Thing, by Michael Marshall Smith

Another excellent, haunting short story by the author of The Straw Men. Aimlessly driving down country roads, a troubled man stumbles across an unusual tourist attraction––a plywood cabin, covered in moss, that houses a “sad, dark thing”. And for only a $1, you can take a peek. Although I loved more than a few of these stories, this one emerged as the clear favorite.

There’s something refreshing about an unthemed anthology like A Book of Horrors. With every page turn, you never know what you’re going to get. With angry ghosts, fire succubae, psychic premonitions, even tree monsters, this anthology is pleasantly all over the place. What’s most notable is the overall strength of the stories Jones has selected––at least half of the tales rank anywhere from great to excellent. Don’t miss this one."

http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3192055/book-review-a-book-of-horrors-yet-another-excellent-anthology-from-mammoth-editor-stephen-jones/

Excellent collection with my favourite being the unsettling Victorian Gothic A Child's Problem by Reggie Oliver

I'm a big fan of Stephen Jones' anthologies. In fact, I was weaned on them, and discovered many of the authors I still read today through his BEST NEW HORROR series. This one, however, was curiously uneven. For a collection whose sole purpose (according to the intro by Jones) is to make horror horror again, there's a distinct absence of scares, or indeed, much horror at all. Standouts include "Ghosts With Teeth" by Peter Crowther, which, while not particularly original, manages under Crowther's always capable hand to be extremely well-developed and frightening, "Roots and All" by the always reliable Brian Hodge, "Getting it Wrong" by Ramsey Campbell, "The Man in the Ditch" by Lisa Tuttle, "Sad, Dark Thing" by Michael Marshall Smith", and "Last Words" by Richard Christian Matheson. Entries by some of the biggest names fall flat, especially King's "The Little Green God of Agony", which reads like a Tales from the Crypt story, which would have been more acceptable back in the Night Shift era, but just seems weak here. Dennis Etchison, perhaps one of the finest practitioners of the short form, delivers an uncharacteristically disappointing entry too with "Tell Me I'll See You Again", which aims to be poignant, but ultimately fails to be anything but confusing.

Overall, not a bad anthology, but far from the stellar volume I've come to expect from one of the best editors in the genre.

when you see this wonderful, happy thing:

 

 

and find this:

 

the story has a happy ending, as amazon has sent me a new copy.

but.

it will take days to arrive.

DAYS.

 

The first half is the build-up and backstory to the action. After that, boy-howdy! This is definitely the most violent of the series so far, high body count in this one. Cormac is out! Yeah!!! Nice setup for the next couple (or several?) books.