Scare Care

by Graham Masterton (Editor)

For most people, getting frightened is fun. But for thousands of children, being frightened is a daily and nightly reality. Scare Care's imaginary nightmares hope to help relieve real ones. All of the anthology's profits will go to charities that specialize in caring for abused and needy children; the writers have donated their fees as well. Hair-raising horror for a good cause!

Mommy / Kit Reed --
Things not seen / James Robert Smith --
The ferries / Ramsey Campbell --
Good night, sweet prince / D.W. Taylor --
Printer's devil / Celeste Paul Sefranek --
Mammy and the flies / Bruce Boston --
The tourists / John Burke --
The wish / Roald Dahl --
Monstrum / J.N. Williamson --
Breakfast / James Herbert --
Clocks / Darrell Schweitzer --
The strangers / Steve Rasnic Tem --
Table for none / William Relling Jr. --
Little Miss Muffet / Peter Valentine Timlett --
Night watch / C. Dean Andersson --
The last gift / Peter Tremayne --
Manny Agonistes / James Kisner --
Family man / Jeff Gelb --
A towpath tale / Giles Gordon --
Mars will have blood / Marc Laidlaw --
My name is dolly / William F. Nolan --
The night Gil Rhys first met his love / Alan Rodgers --
Models / John Maclay --
Crustacean revenge / Guy N. Sith --
Sarah's song / Roderick Hudgins --
The avenger of death / Harlen Ellison --
Cable / Frank Coffey --
Spices of the world / Felice Picano --
Down to the core / David B. Silva --
Junk / Stephen Laws --
The woman in the wall / John Daniel --
Loopy / Ruth Rendell --
Time heals / Gary A. Braunbeck --
David's worm / Brian Lumley --
The pet door / Chris B. Lacher --
By the sea / Charles L. Grant --
Changeling / Graham Masterton --
In the West Wing / Roland Masterton

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Graham Masterton was born in Edinburgh in 1946. His grandfather was Thomas Thorne Baker, the eminent scientist who invented DayGlo and was the first man to transmit news photographs by wireless. After training as a newspaper reporter, Graham went on to edit the new British men's magazine Mayfair, where he encouraged William Burroughs to develop a series of scientific and philosophical articles which eventually became Burroughs' novel The Wild Boys.

At the age of 24, Graham was appointed executive editor of both Penthouse and Penthouse Forum magazines. At this time he started to write a bestselling series of sex 'how-to' books including How To Drive Your Man Wild In Bed which has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. His latest, Wild Sex For New Lovers is published by Penguin Putnam in January, 2001. He is a regular contributor to Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Woman, Woman's Own and other mass-market self-improvement magazines.

Graham Masterton's debut as a horror author began with The Manitou in 1976, a chilling tale of a Native American medicine man reborn in the present day to exact his revenge on the white man. It became an instant bestseller and was filmed with Tony Curtis, Susan Strasberg, Burgess Meredith, Michael Ansara, Stella Stevens and Ann Sothern.

Altogether Graham has written more than a hundred novels ranging from thrillers (The Sweetman Curve, Ikon) to disaster novels (Plague, Famine) to historical sagas (Rich and Maiden Voyage - both appeared in the New York Times bestseller list). He has published four collections of short stories, Fortnight of Fear, Flights of Fear, Faces of Fear and Feelings of Fear.

He has also written horror novels for children (House of Bones, Hair-Raiser) and has just finished the fifth volume in a very popular series for young adults, Rook, based on the adventures of an idiosyncratic remedial English teacher in a Los Angeles community college who has the facility to see ghosts.

Since then Graham has published more than 35 horror novels, including Charnel House, which was awarded a Special Edgar by Mystery Writers of America; Mirror, which was awarded a Silver Medal by West Coast Review of Books; and Family Portrait, an update of Oscar Wilde's tale, The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was the only non-French winner of the prestigious Prix Julia Verlanger in France.

He and his wife Wiescka live in a Gothic Victorian mansion high above the River Lee in Cork, Ireland.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the earliest charity anthologies the horror field produced, with the proceeds going to benefit children's welfare. Most of the stories were original to the volume, though a few were reprints. It's a big book, with nearly forty short stories, most of them quite enjoyable. The authors include many of the best-known names of the field at the time, including Charles L. Grant, Kit Reed, Ramsey Campbell, J.N. Williamson, James Herbert, William F. Nolan, Guy N. Smith, Roald Dahl, Brian Lumley, and on and on. My favorites were from Gary A. Braunbeck, Harlan Ellison, and Masterton himself. It's a fine book and was for a good cause.

[Cameron Trost · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scare Care contains dozens of horror stories donated for a children's charity. The tales that stood out were few, but there were some real gems amongst them. I am a huge fan of Ruth Rendell, so I was not surprised that I found her tale "Loopy" to be the absolute highlight of this collection. Without giving too much away, one of Rendell's fetish themes is at the centre of this tale; the relationship between mother and son. "A Towpath Tale" by Giles Gordon was also a wonderfully written and highly chilling tale of domestic suspense. There were a number of other good tales in this collection, but also plenty of unoriginal and predictable ones.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent collection. I bought this a long time ago and read a story here and there over years. Finally, I started reading it consistently. The stories were rather hit and miss for me. I liked some, didn't care that much for others. My favorite was probably Ruth Rendell's "Loopy." Everything was well written. Just some tales worked better for me than others.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

really fantastic collection - turned me on to so many new writers! no surprise that graham masterton is an excellent editor.

[Kurt Dahlke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly fine, relatively average collection of stories presented for a good cause that is now decades in the past. I was pleased to find this in a used bookstore, I remember reading it when it first came out.

[Andrea Nicaretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

una buona raccolta di classico horror americano

[Fred Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection certainly gets high marks for its purpose. The writers donated their stories and any profits to benefit charities to combat child abuse. I'm not famliar with most of the writers, but that may be my own ignorance. Familiar names include Roald Dahl, Graham Masterton, and James Herbert.

There are many stories in the collection and, as usual with a collection of short horror stories (I find), it's a mixed bag. You are sure to find stories that you like in a collection this large, and also quite a few with a great premise but a let-down of an ending. Every once in a while there's one that really grabs you. I particularly enjoyed D.W. Taylor's "Good Night, Sweet Prince" (about how to deal with an evil child), Peter Valentine Timlett's "Little Miss Muffet" (about a woman tortured by arachnophobia), and Graham Masterton's "Changeling" (about a man who finds himself trapped in a woman's body).

[Kevin Lucia · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I really enjoyed this. A great cross-section of very diverse horror - atmospheric, "quiet horror," some more graphic and visceral horror, thought-provoking horror, emotional horror, and some just fun reads. Excellent read.

[Brett]

Horror,Anthology

[Emi Yoshida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic collection of shorts, donated by writers so all proceeds would to to a fund for abused children. Stephen King not included.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice collection of newer (up to the 80's) horror fiction, and for a good cause.