Maclay - John Maclay MEGAPACK (R): 15 Great Tales of Darkness & Suspense: 15 Great Tales of Darkness & Suspense

Contents

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

The John Maclay MEGAPACK is copyright 2017 by John Maclay. All rights reserved.

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The MEGAPACK series name is a registered trademark of Wildside Press LLC. All rights reserved.

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These stories originally appeared in the following publications:

New York Night originally appeared in Urban Horrors, Dark Harvest , DAW Books. Copyright 1990 by John Maclay.

A Younger Woman originally appeared in Borderlands I , Avon, 1990. Copyright 1990 by John Maclay.

Lynn originally appeared in Dreadful Delineations , Delirium Press. Copyright 2004 by John Maclay.

The One Thing to Fear originally appeared in Footsteps VII . copyright 1986 by John Maclay.

Widowed originally appeared in Divagations, Delirium . Copyright 2008 by John Maclay.

Tom Rudolphs Last Tape originally appeared in Vampire Detectives , DAW Books. Copyright 1995 by John Maclay.

Max originally appeared in Shadow Show , Morrow. Copyright 2012 by John Maclay.

The Hole originally appeared in Shivers 3 , CD Publications. Copyright 2004 by John Maclay.

Who Walks at Night originally appeared in The Horror Show , Summer 1986. Copyright 1986 by John Maclay.

The Green Glass Bottle originally appeared in Weirdbook 28 . Copyright 1993 by John Maclay.

Late Last Night originally appeared in Night Screams , Roc Books. Copyright 1996 by John Maclay.

If Its All the Same to You: Grue 7 , Spring 1998. Copyright 1998 by John Maclay.

Nikki, Stardom, and An Iron Maiden are published here for the first time and are copyright 2017 by John Maclay.

A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

I first became aware of John Maclay not as a writer, but as a publisherof the now-classic Masques horror anthology series, edited by the late, great J.N. Williamson, and a number of other books. When the original Masques appeared, I remember looking at the spine and noting that it was published a company called Maclay that I had never heard of before. But that name stuck, and soon I began noting John Maclays stories in various anthologies and magazines. Helike many of the dark fantasists who emerged in the late 1980shad a distinctive voice, very different from the authors who came before. He still writes that way, fusing horror, fantasy, and suspense (often with an erotic element).

Over the years, John has steadily built up an impressing body of work, and I am delighted that he accepted my invitation to contribute a volume to the MEGAPACK series. So here are 15 modern classics of dark fiction. Mix horror, fantasy, and suspense, and you get John Maclay!

Enjoy!

John Betancourt

Publisher, Wildside Press LLC

www.wildsidepress.com

ABOUT THE SERIES

Over the last few years, our MEGAPACK ebook series has grown to be our most popular endeavor. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, Whos the editor?

The MEGAPACK ebook series (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt (me), Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Shawn Garrett, Helen McGee, Bonner Menking, Sam Cooper, Helen McGee and many of Wildsides authorswho often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!)

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 ebook series? Wed love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://wildsidepress.forumotion.com/ (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

Unfortunately, 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 its been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.

If you spot a new typo, please let us know. Well fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at wildsidepress@yahoo.com or use the message boards above.

INTRODUCTION, by John Maclay

I was a late starter in writingand, I hope, a late bloomer. My first story sale was in 1984, when I was forty, and Ive averaged four a year ever since. Ive been honored to have appeared in mass market alongside some of the greats, and just as honored to have done so in specialty press.

Most of my work has been horror and fantasy, with a dash of the supernatural, which Ive found to be most congenial to my general outlook on life. And Ive found the short story form to be most congenial as well.

In horror, Ive favored the reality-based kind, with its possible direct influence on the reader and the daily world at large. I once stated my rationale as follows: horror as cathartic; as highly moral since it usually involves good against evil; as having freedom, edge, and depth; and as being a fiction of rebellion, iconoclasm and discomfort, as all good fiction should be.

In fantasy, I suppose Ive always been a dreamer, valuing visions that go beyond the everyday. In my recent afterword to a story of mine in a Ray Bradbury tribute anthology, I stressed his, and my, sense of wonder.

And in both genres, my work tends toward the erotic: in horror, because of the eternal dichotomy of sex and death; and in fantasy, because of the wellspring of possibilities that is in the romantic and sexual urge.

But enough said. I just hope youll enjoy reading these stories as much as I enjoyed writing themfor you.

NEW YORK NIGHT

I was out digging in the garden the other day, watching Alice hang up the sheets to air in the spring sun, when the memory came back again. It had been years since the last time; the kids had still been home, I thought, but it was as if no time had passed since then, or the thing itself. So it hit me hard, like lightning on that clear day. I stopped shoveling, leaned on the handle, and looked up at the trees above the house. Everything seemed so peacefulthat was what Id earned, I reflected, for spending my time with my family, the company, the small town where I lived. What Joe Morrison, 55, half-bald and looking toward retirement, had earned, and built. But at my age, in my position, I guessed, the mind had strange ways of leading you backto your adventures, your departures from the everyday. The flight to Europe, maybe, or the hiking trip in the Grand Canyon. But for me, I suddenly knew as I felt the memory flood my mind, it was much more than that.

It was the closest to hell I would ever come.

In the early Eighties, when business was booming, the company used to send me to New York. I liked everything about the Big Applethe early morning train ride up, the feeling of arriving somewhere important, the whole crazy city that somehow worked. Id spring up the dingy stairs at Penn Station, into the bustle of the terminaland there Id meet Jeb Ewell, the guy from the home office.

He was about my age, heavy-set, with wavy hair and a handlebar mustache, and a bluff, hearty manner that always carried me along. A transplanted Southerner, his easy drawl seemed to calm my doubts, tell me everything was all right.

WeIll, Joe! hed say shaking hands, a twinkle in his eye. Been a dogs age. Ready to take er onhed gesture around himagain?

Id be ready. And off wed go, out to his double-parked Buick, the sunlight of Sixth Avenue, the tall buildings, a couple of appointments on Madisonthen a little place on Third, and the late lunch that went on all afternoon, and into the night.

Jeb was a bourbon man, and so was I. Wed have two or three before the foodHeres to the first one! my friend would sayand more after, while we talked in the dark restaurant bar.