Faces of Fear

by Graham Masterton

Anthologies of short stories -- especially those written by one author -- tend to be mixed bags, with stories ranging from the exceptional to the pretty lame. This Masterton collection is actually better than average, with mostly exceptional stories, including two standouts about a man who, after his involvement in a hit-and-run accident, keeps encountering what appears to the same woman again and again ("Grief"), and about an ambitious chef who is given the opportunity to make a dish from a forbidden recipe book ("The Secret Shih-Tan"). These stories provide morals about death and justice.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Collections

320 pages, Unknown Binding

First published November 1, 1995

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

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with pretty much every short story/anthology I've read, this was a mixed bag. Overall I enjoyed this book, with the final story Spirit-Jump being the highlight.

[Alexander Draganov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Уникални, интригуващи, понякога погнусяващи, но винаги интересни разкази.
http://citadelata.com/faces-of-fear/

[Elusive · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Faces of Fear' features eight short stories in which the multifacetedness of fear is explored. My favourites were:

- 'The Secret Shih-Tan': A renowned chef finally gets his hands on a book of classified recipes… on one condition. Such unforgettable recipes and his decision was commendable.

- 'The Hungry Moon': It all started with a cereal box. Moral of the story? Some things are best left unknown. I would've liked to find out more about Hastings House.

- 'Grief': The pain of losing a loved one was well conveyed and put on repeat.

- 'Spirit-Jump': This tied in with the Manitou series. It was strong for the most part save the showdown scene. I would've preferred a tad more of a challenge.

The other stories were mediocre and lacking. The end of 'Evidence of Angels' had me going that's it? As for 'Fairy Story', I liked the premise but the content was mostly dull and the main character was idiotic.

All in all, 'Faces of Fear' was an average read with a few standout tales.

[Serge Bouvet · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a surprise. Frankly, I had grown tired of Graham Masterton's novels. I found it more suited to the 80s, where the devil and other demons were used as a narrative framework. Morals have changed, the Christian faith and the fear of the devil are no longer as popular.
That is why reading the short stories in 'Faces of fear' was a real surprise.
One tragic short story that moved me deeply was 'Grief'. I re-read it twice. I thought, of all the Scottish author's works, this was an anthology of impossible love. The pitch of the story rides on the wave of eternal renewal. I won't say more.
The news alone is a good reason to buy the book.

[Chip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some really good stories in this set, ranging from standard ghost stories to straight-up horror.
After reading Spirit-Jump, I want to re-read The Manitou series.

[Jason Greensides · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection of horror shorts. Worth reading for 'Suffer Kate'. Totally bonkers

[Richard Rich · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short story collection, and I only read the story “Spirit Jump’ which is part of the ‘Harry Erskine/Manitou’ series that I’m currently making my way through.

[Ewa · Rating 4 out of 5]

szczerze, to były bardzo dobre opowiadania. Nooo może jakieś dwa słabsze się trafiły, ale większość rewelacja - klimat horroru z przekazem - perfect!

[Fred Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthologies of short stories -- especially those written by one author -- tend to be mixed bags, with stories ranging from the exceptional to the pretty lame. This Masterton collection is actually better than average, with mostly exceptional stories, including two standouts about a man who, after his involvement in a hit-and-run accident, keeps encountering what appears to the same woman again and again ("Grief"), and about an ambitious chef who is given the opportunity to make a dish from a forbidden recipe book ("The Secret Shih-Tan"). These stories provide morals about death and justice.

This collection also includes an important story for fans of The Manitou series. Harry Erskine, the protagonist of that series, was, for a brief time -- in between Burial and Manitou Blood -- married to Misquamacus's original victim and they were raising a daughter together. "Spirit-Jump" is, to my knowledge, the only Masterton work in which we get to meet Harry's daughter. This is not the outstanding story in this collection, but it's significant to the series.

The weakest story in this collection is "Fairy Story", and, unfortunately, it's also the longest. (Creepy Irish spirit of some kind is able to play games with people's existence and different dimensions. Yawn.)

[L.L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bardzo fajny zbiorek opowiadań (no ok, raczej 4.5/5 ale i tak wysoko). Zacząłem go czytać w 2009r i na lata zapomniałem, teraz musiałem przejrzeć wcześniejsze opowiadania i doczytać resztę (tak z połowę) ale było warto. Pierwsze opowiadanie słodkie, kolejne w porządku, "Sekretna księga Shih Tan" zapada w pamięć (to pamiętałem nieźle nawet po latach :D ), "Nieprawdopodobna historia" bardzo mi się podobało! (moim zdaniem to najlepsze opowiadanie ze zbiorku), nawet Manitou na końcu bardzo w porządku. Takie książki właśnie czyta się z przyjemnością :)

[Bill Borre]

"The Hungry Moon" - Marcus cuts off his own hand in order to escape a Thessalian witch-creature.

[Paul Channing · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of stories.