Stalking the Nightmare

1982

Another grab bag of fiction, essays and oddities, some old, some new. Selections previously appeared, or were later included, in Phoenix Without Ashes ("Somehow, I Don't Think We're In Kansas Toto"), Over the Edge (four stories), The Harlan Ellison Hornbook and An Edge in My Voice (one selection each) in one form or another. That, and the lack of a killer story along the lines of "Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans" or "Jeffty is Five," makes Stalking the Nightmare enjoyable but hardly mandatory reading.

Included as part of Edgeworks 2 in 1996.

Collector's note

Two limited editions were published concurrently with the first edition: a signed, slipcased and numbered edition of 750; and an extremely rare and unusual lettered edition of just 40 copies in gilt-stamped goatskin, contained in a cast resin antiqued grimoire box with carvings depicting characters from the book, an interior lined in velvet and finished with antiqued brass fittings and lock, with two keys. No, really. Copies go for $1,000 and up at auction.

Contents

• Foreword (by Stephen King)
• Introduction: Quiet Lies the Locust Tells
• Grail
• The Outpost Undiscovered by Tourists
• Blank ...
• Scenes From the Real World I: The 3 Most Important Things in Life
• Visionary (with Joe L. Hensley)
• Djinn, No Chaser
• Invasion Footnote
• Scenes From the Real World II: Saturn, November 11th
• Night of Black Glass
• Final Trophy
• !!!The!!Teddy!Crazy!!Show!!!
• The Cheese Stands Alone
• Scenes From the Real World III: Somehow, I Don't Think We're In Kansas, Toto
• Transcending Destiny
• The Hour That Stretches
• The Day I Died
• 3 Tales from the Mountains of Madness:
  • Tracking Level
  • Tiny Alley
  • The Goddess in the Ice
• Scenes From the Real World IV: Gopher in the Gilly