Foundations of Fear

Horror fiction is a special and enduring pleasure, invoking fear and wonder. For centuries, writers have struggled to achieve the sublime through these tales, at times creating works of enduring interest. Horror novels have become one of the major bestselling forms of fiction in recent years, and Hollywood has given us a huge and varied supply of popular films, which has created an audience in the millions for horror. But throughout history, many of the finest achievements in horror have been in short fiction. From these masterpieces have been selected the contents of Foundations of Fear. This anthology presents an international selection of the strongest work by writers such as Clive Barker, H.P. Lovecraft, and Arthur Machen, who have been identified as category horror writers, and by writers such as Carlos Fuentes, Gerald Durrell, and Daphne Du Maurier, whose literary reputations transcend category. For horror in literature cuts across all category boundaries. Thus the reader will find in this volume domestic horror stories by Thomas Hardy, Violet Hunt and Mary Wilkins Freeman; and stories by Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick, masters of science fiction. The Introduction to Foundations of Fear takes particular note of women writers, who have made important contributions to the development of the horrific in literature; in addition to those already mentioned the collection includes works by Madeline Yale Wynne, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Gertrude Atherton, and others. Foundations of Fear challenges the notion that the supernatural in fiction has in modern times been supplanted by the psychological, the idea that horror is dead. Horror is one of the dominant literary modes of our time, a vigorous and living body of literature that continues to thrill us with the mystery and wonder of the unknown. Contents 1 • Introduction (Foundations of Fear) • (1992) • essay by David G. Hartwell 12 • Don't Look Now • (1966) • novella by Daphne du Maurier 41 • They • (1941) • shortstory by Robert A. Heinlein 52 • At the Mountains of Madness • [Cthulhu Mythos] • (1936) • novel by H. P. Lovecraft 115 • The Little Room • (1895) • shortstory by Madeline Yale Wynne 124 • The Shadowy Street • (1965) • novelette by Jean Ray (aka La ruelle ténébreuse 1932 ) 145 • Passengers • (1968) • shortstory by Robert Silverberg 154 • The Moonstone Mass • (1868) • shortstory by Harriet Prescott Spofford 163 • The Blue Rose • [Blue Rose] • (1985) • novella by Peter Straub (aka Blue Rose) 197 • Sandkings • (1979) • novelette by George R. R. Martin 223 • The Great God Pan • (1894) • novella by Arthur Machen 256 • Aura • (1965) • novelette by Carlos Fuentes 276 • Barbara, of the House of Grebe • (1890) • novelette by Thomas Hardy 295 • Torturing Mr. Amberwell • (1985) • novelette by Thomas M. Disch 317 • The Prayer • (1895) • novelette by Violet Hunt 334 • Who Goes There? • (1938) • novella by John W. Campbell, Jr. [as by John W. Campbell ] 370 • . . . and my fear is great • (1953) • novella by Theodore Sturgeon (aka . . . And My Fear Is Great . . .) 409 • When Darkness Loves Us • (1985) • novelette by Elizabeth Engstrom 439 • We Purchased People • (1974) • shortstory by Frederik Pohl 449 • The Striding Place • (1896) • shortstory by Gertrude Atherton 454 • In the Hills, the Cities • (1984) • novelette by Clive Barker 474 • Faith of Our Fathers • (1967) • novelette by Philip K. Dick 495 • The Bell in the Fog • (1905) • novelette by Gertrude Atherton 509 • The Sand-Man • (1816) • novelette by E. T. A. Hoffmann (aka Der Sandmann) 530 • Bloodchild • (1984) • novelette by Octavia E. Butler [as by Octavia Butler ] 543 • Duel • (1971) • novelette by Richard Matheson 558 • Longtooth • (1970) • novelette by Edgar Pangborn 580 • Luella Miller • (1902) • shortstory by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman [as by Mary Wilkins Freeman ] 589 • The Entrance • (1979) • novelette by Gerald Durrell 619 • The Lurking Duck • (1992) • shortfiction by Scott Baker 649 • Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story • (1985) • novelette by Thomas Ligotti