Robert McCammon – författare

Robert McCammon, James Renner, Kaaron Warren, Brian Hodge, Bill Schweigart, and Mick Garris reveal sinister secrets and unsavory pasts in a haunting anthology of short stories collected by acclaimed horror editors Brian James Freeman and Richard Chizmar. LIZARDMAN by Robert McCammon The lizardman thinks he knows about all the mysterious dangers of the Florida swamps, but there are things lurking in the bayou that are older and deadlier than his wildest dreams. A MONSTER COMES TO ASHDOWN FOREST (IN WHICH CHRISTOPHER ROBIN SAYS GOODBYE) by James Renner Although every child dreams of visiting Hundred-Acre Wood, only one has ever actually frolicked that fabled forest—and survived. FURTHEREST by Kaaron Warren She’s been going to the beach since she was a child, daring the other kids to go out past the dunes where those boys died all those years ago. Now she realizes that the farther out you go, the harder it is to come back. WEST OF MATAMOROS, NORTH OF HELL by Brian Hodge After the success of their latest album, Sebastián, Sofia, and Enrique head to Mexico for a shoot under the statue of Santa Muerte. But they have fans south of the border who’d kill to know where they get their inspiration. THE EXPEDITION by Bill Schweigart On a quest to bring glory to the Führer, Lieutenant Dietrich Drexler leads his team into the ruins of the Carpathian Mountains. But the wolf that’s stalking them is no ordinary predator. UGLY by Mick Garris An arrogant plastic surgeon suffers his worst nightmare when he’s assaulted by a repulsive attacker. But his bizarre and surprising revenge promises to be a thing of beauty. Praise for the Dark Screams series “A wicked treat [featuring] . . . some of the genre’s best.”—Hellnotes, on Volume One “Five fun-to-read stories by top-notch horror scribes. How can you lose? The answer: you can’t.”—Atomic Fangirl, on Volume Two “If you have not tried the series yet, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of any (or all) of the books for yourself.”—Examiner.com, on Volume Three “Fans of horror of every variety will find something to love in these pages.”—LitReactor, on Volume Four “[Volume Five] runs the gamut from throwback horror to lyrical and heartbreaking tales.”—Publishers Weekly

A festival of darkness comes to life in part one of this chilling anthology from Brian James Freeman, the general manager of Cemetery Dance Publications, co-editor of the Dark Screams ebook series, and co-author of The Halloween Children.

His epic masterwork Speaks the Nightbird, a tour de force of witch hunt terror in a colonial town, was hailed by Sandra Brown as "deeply satisfying...told with matchless insight into the human soul." Now, Robert McCammon brings the hero of that spellbinding novel, Matthew Corbett, to eighteenth-century New York, where a killer wields a bloody and terrifying power over a bustling city carving out its identity—and over Matthew''s own uncertain destiny.The unsolved murder of a respected doctor has sent ripples of fear throughout a city teeming with life and noise and commerce. Who snuffed out the good man''s life with the slash of a blade on a midnight street? The local printmaster has labeled the fiend "the Masker," adding fuel to a volatile mystery...and when the Masker claims a new victim, hardworking young law clerk Matthew Corbett is lured into a maze of forensic clues and heart-pounding investigation that will both test his natural penchant for detection and inflame his hunger for justice. In the strangest twist of all, the key to unmasking the Masker may await in an asylum where the Queen of Bedlam reigns—and only a man of Matthew''s reason and empathy can unlock her secrets. From the seaport to Wall Street, from society mansions to gutters glimmering with blood spilled by a deviant, Matthew''s quest will tauntingly reveal the answers he seeks—and the chilling truths he cannot escape.

Robert McCammon delivers “a tour de force of storytelling” (BookPage) in this award-winning masterpiece, a novel of Southern boyhood, growing up in the 1960s, that reaches far beyond that evocative landscape to touch readers universally.Robert McCammon delivers “a tour de force of storytelling” (BookPage) in this award-winning masterpiece, a novel of Southern boyhood, growing up in the 1960s, that reaches far beyond that evocative landscape to touch readers universally. Boy’s Life is a richly imagined, spellbinding portrait of the magical worldview of the young—and of innocence lost. Zephyr, Alabama, is an idyllic hometown for eleven-year-old Cory Mackenson—a place where monsters swim the river deep and friends are forever. Then, one cold spring morning, Cory and his father witness a car plunge into a lake—and a desperate rescue attempt brings his father face-to-face with a terrible, haunting vision of death. As Cory struggles to understand his father’s pain, his eyes are slowly opened to the forces of good and evil that surround him. From an ancient mystic who can hear the dead and bewitch the living, to a violent clan of moonshiners, Cory must confront the secrets that hide in the shadows of his hometown—for his father’s sanity and his own life hang in the balance…

It was hell''s season, and the air smelled of burning children.... With “one of the most arresting first sentences in contemporary writing” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution), Robert McCammon unfurls his visionary masterpiece of survival, redemption, and the astonishing transformations love can create.Gone South chronicles a desperate man’s journey through a desperate land, in “a gothic picaresque that mixes gritty plot and black comedy...a smoothly constructed and satisfying story” (The Wall Street Journal). Flooded by memories, poisoned by Agent Orange, Dan Lambert kills a man in a moment of fear and fury—and changes his life forever. Pursued by police and bounty hunters, Dan flees south toward the Louisiana bayous. In the swamplands he meets Arden Halliday, a young woman who bears the vivid burdens of her own past, and who is searching for a legendary faith healer called the Bright Girl. Looking for simple kindness in a world that rarely shows it, bound by a loyalty stronger than love, Dan and Arden set off on a journey of relentless suspense and impassioned discovery...over dark, twisting waterways into the mysterious depths of the human heart.

From #1 New York Times bestselling award winning author Robert McCammon, a novel that Publishers Weekly calls “both a mystery that will satisfy the most finicky aficionado and a boisterous travelogue.”Zephyr, Alabama, is an idyllic hometown for eleven-year-old Cory Mackenson—a place where monsters swim the river deep and friends are forever. Then, one cold spring morning, Cory and his father witness a car plunge into a lake—and a desperate rescue attempt brings his father face-to-face with a terrible vision of death that will haunt him forever. As Cory struggles to understand his father’s pain, his eyes are slowly opened to the forces of good and evil that are manifested in Zephyr. From an ancient, mystical woman who can hear the dead and bewitch the living, to a violent clan of moonshiners, Cory must confront the secrets that hide in the shadows of his hometown—for his father’s sanity and his own life hang in the balance.

It was hell''s season, and the air smelled of burning children.... With “one of the most arresting first sentences in contemporary writing” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution), Robert McCammon unfurls his visionary masterpiece of survival, redemption, and the astonishing transformations love can create.Gone South chronicles a desperate man’s journey through a desperate land, in “a gothic picaresque that mixes gritty plot and black comedy...a smoothly constructed and satisfying story” (The Wall Street Journal). Flooded by memories, poisoned by Agent Orange, Dan Lambert kills a man in a moment of fear and fury—and changes his life forever. Pursued by police and bounty hunters, Dan flees south toward the Louisiana bayous. In the swamplands he meets Arden Halliday, a young woman who bears the vivid burdens of her own past, and who is searching for a legendary faith healer called the Bright Girl. Looking for simple kindness in a world that rarely shows it, bound by a loyalty stronger than love, Dan and Arden set off on a journey of relentless suspense and impassioned discovery...over dark, twisting waterways into the mysterious depths of the human heart.

A child of evil follows his terrifying destiny in this cult horror classic from the New York Times–bestselling "master of the Gothic novel" (Booklist).World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Award–Winning AuthorMary Kate is an ordinary waitress stuck in a loveless marriage. But after surviving a brutal assault on the streets of New York, she finds herself pregnant with her attacker''s child—a boy who will prove to be anything but ordinary . . .Mary and her husband try to give their son Jeffrey a good life, but they are no match for the mysterious forces at play. Jeffrey soon renames himself Baal and sets about cultivating his terrible power. From a deadly cult in California to an orgy of violence in Kuwait, Baal is there, leading the madness. But it is in the hellish wasteland of the Arctic that Baal will unleash the crowning triumph of his evil . . . and meet his ultimate fate.

A family moves to a small town dominated by a murderous cult Despite its eerie name, Bethany’s Sin is a pleasant place. After a life of grim poverty, this new community seems like heaven to Evan Reid and his family. With its quaint shops, manicured lawns, and fresh summer smell, the town charms the Vietnam veteran, his wife, and their daughter like nowhere else they have ever been. But beneath that cheerful façade lurks something deadly. As soon as they enter their new house, Evan is consumed by fear. He can’t place its source, but there is something about the town’s mayor, Kathryn Drago, which makes him uneasy. By day she is a harmless retired archaeologist. But at night she leads an Amazonian cult whose next ritual calls for a secret ingredient: the blood of Evan Reid.

A scuba diver unearths a sunken Nazi U-boat—manned by an undead crew—in this horror novel from a New York Times–bestselling author.World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Award–winning authorRobert Moore had a cushy life in Baltimore. The son of a bank president, he could have had the old man''s job if he''d just waited in line. But Moore isn''t the patient type, and rather than spend his life trapped behind a desk, he decamped for the Caribbean, to pass his days diving beneath the perfect blue sea. One day, diving deeper than usual, he spies a sunken ship. His investigations disrupt an unexploded depth charge, which hurls Robert to the surface with the sunken ship not far behind.The U-boat, still seaworthy after all these decades, drifts towards the island and gets caught on the reef. A strange knocking echoes from inside the hull, as though something within is still alive. When Robert opens the long-closed hatch, he''ll learn that some sunken treasure is better left undisturbed.

A vampire turns Los Angeles into a city of the dead in this novel by the New York Times–bestselling and Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Swan Song.The Kronsteen castle, a gothic monstrosity, looms over Los Angeles. Built during Hollywood''s golden age for a long-dead screen idol with a taste for the macabre, it stands as a decaying reminder of the past. Since the owner''s murder, no living thing has ever again taken up residence. But it isn''t abandoned. Prince Conrad Vulkan, Hungarian master of the vampires, as old as the centuries, calls it home. His plan is to replace all humankind with his kind. And he''s starting with the psychotic dregs of society in the City of Angels.The number of victims is growing night after night, and so is Vulkan''s legion of the dead. As a glittering city bleeds into a necropolis, a band of vampire hunters takes action: an avenging young boy who saw his parents devoured; a television star whose lover has an affinity for the supernatural; a dying priest chosen by God to defend the world; a female reporter investigating a rash of cemetery desecrations; and LAPD homicide detective Andy Palatazin, an immigrant who survived a vampire attack in his native Hungary when he was child and has been hunting evil across the globe for decades.Palatazin knows that to stop the Prince of Darkness, one must invade his nest. He knows it''s also a suicide mission. But it''s the only way to save the city—and the world—from vampire domination.They Thirst is a "suspenseful, exciting, and visceral" novel from World Fantasy Award winner Robert R. McCammon (Kirkus Reviews).

A novel of psychic power, Native American mysticism, and an ancient evil in Alabama, from the New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song."If grisly is your favorite flavor, you will find Mystery Walk delicious." —CosmopolitanBorn and raised in rural Alabama, Billy Creekmore was destined to be a psychic. His mother, a Choctaw Indian schooled in her tribe''s ancient mysticism, understands the permeable barrier between life and death—and can cross it. She taught the power to Billy and now he helps the dead rest in peace.Wayne Falconer, son of one of the most fervent tent evangelists in the South, travels the country serving his father''s healing ministry. Using his unique powers to cure the flock, Little Wayne is on his way to becoming one of the popular and successful miracle workers in the country. He helps the living survive.Billy and Wayne share more than a gift. They share a dream—and a common enemy. They are on separate journeys, mystery walks that will lead them toward a crossroad where the evil of their dreams has taken shape. One of them will reject the dark. The other will be consumed by it. But neither imagined just how monstrous and far-reaching the dark was, or that mankind''s fate would rest in their hands during an epic showdown of good versus evil.From the author of Gone South, Boy''s Life, and the Matthew Corbett series, a master of suspense who has won the World Fantasy and Bram Stoker awards, Mystery Walk offers "creepy, subtle touches throughout [and] splendid Southern-town atmosphere" (Kirkus Reviews).

Poe’s classic tale lives on in this gothic novel of ancestral madness in the mountains of modern-day North Carolina, from a New York Times–bestselling author.   Ever since Edgar Allan Poe looted a family’s ignoble secret history for his classic story “The Fall of the House of Usher,” living in the shadow of that sick dynasty has been an inescapable scourge for generations of Usher descendants. But not for horror novelist Rix Usher.   Years ago, he fled the isolated family estate of Usherland in the menacing North Carolina hills to pursue his writing career. He promised never to return. But his father’s impending death has brought Rix back home to assume the role of Usher patriarch—and face his worst fears.   His arrival forces him to confront a devious and impassive family and his vulnerable sister’s slow descent into insanity. Stirring memories of the grim folktales born out of the surrounding Briartop Mountains and the terrifying legends of missing children, Rix knows that in the dark, twisted corridors of Usherland, that dreadful something he saw as a young boy is still there. It’s waiting for him, as decayed and undying as the Usher heritage, and more depraved than anything Poe could have imagined.   This eerie novel by the Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Swan Song and Boy’s Life is “a frightening pleasure” and a worthy tribute to the master who inspired it (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).  

New York Times Bestseller: A young girl''s visions offer the last hope in a postapocalyptic wasteland in this "grand and disturbing adventure" (Dean Koontz).Bram Stoker Award-WinnerWorld Fantasy Award FinalistSwan is a nine-year-old Idaho girl following her struggling mother from one trailer park to the next when she receives visions of doom—something far wider than the narrow scope of her own beleaguered life. In a blinding flash, nuclear bombs annihilate civilization, leaving only a few buried survivors to crawl onto a scorched landscape that was once America.In Manhattan, a homeless woman stumbles from the sewers, guided by the prophecies of a mysterious amulet, and pursued by something wicked; on Idaho''s Blue Dome Mountain, an orphaned boy falls under the influence of depraved survivalists and discovers the value of a killer instinct; and amid the devastating dust storms on the Great Plains of Nebraska, Swan forms a heart-and-soul bond with an unlikely new companion. Soon they will cross paths. But only Swan knows that they must endure more than just a trek across an irradiated country of mutated animals, starvation, madmen, and wasteland warriors.Swan''s visions tell of a coming malevolent force. It''s a shape-shifting embodiment of the apocalypse, and of all that is evil and despairing. And it''s hell-bent on destroying the last hope of goodness and purity in the world. Swan is that hope. Now, she must fight not only for her own survival, but for that of all mankind."A chilling vision that keeps you turning pages to the shocking end." —John Saul, New York Times–bestselling author

The basis for the Peacock TV series Teacup: An extraterrestrial bounty hunter turns a Southern community into its private hunting ground in “the ultimate horror novel” (The Philadelphia Inquirer).   The West Texas desert towns of Inferno and Bordertown have been slowly dying. The Snake River isn’t the only thing that divides them. Racism and gang wars have turned the sun-scorched flatlands into a powder keg. If anything can unite them now, it’s the UFO that comes crashing through the clouds.   It brings with it a young alien named Daufin, a fugitive who has taken human form. She knows the terror that awaits this planet—because it’s looking for her. Stinger is an alien bounty hunter with an infinite capacity for death and a devious plan to find Daufin. Entombing the region in an inescapable dome, Stinger unleashes a violent fury unknown to humankind. Now, the few remaining survivors must come together to protect Daufin, themselves, and the world beyond.   From Robert McCammon, the New York Times–bestselling and Bram Stoker Award–winning author, Stinger is “one of the best suspense novels of recent years” (Science Fiction Chronicle). It has now been adapted into one of the most hotly anticipated horror series on television: Teacup, premiering on Peacock this October.

Master spy, Nazi hunter—and werewolf on the prowl—in occupied Paris: A classic of dark fantasy from the New York Times–bestselling author.Allied Intelligence has been warned: A Nazi strategy designed to thwart the D-Day invasion is underway. A Russian émigré turned operative for the British Secret Service, Michael Gallatin has been brought out of retirement as a personal courier. His mission: Parachute into Nazi-occupied France, search out the informant under close watch by the Gestapo, and recover the vital information necessary to subvert the mysterious Nazi plan called Iron Fist. Fearlessly devoted to the challenge, Gallatin is the one agent uniquely qualified to meet it—he''s a werewolf.Now, as shifting as the shadows on the dangerous streets of Paris, a master spy is on the scent of unimaginable evil. But with the Normandy landings only hours away, it''s going to be a race against time. For Gallatin, caught in the dark heart of the Third Reich''s twisted death machine, there is only one way to succeed. He must unleash his own internal demons and redefine the meaning of the horror of war.From the World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Swan Song and Boy''s Life, this is a "powerful novel [that] fuses WWII espionage thriller and dark fantasy. Richly detailed, intricately plotted, fast-paced historical suspense is enhanced by McCammon''s unique take on the werewolf myth" (Publishers Weekly).

A psychopathic female fugitive provokes a mother’s vengeance in this terrifying thriller by the New York Times–bestselling author of Gone South and Boy’s Life.   Back in the 1960s, Mary Terrell shot and killed a man. A former member of the fanatical Storm Front Brigade—a splinter group of the notorious Weathermen—Terrell has stayed one step ahead of the FBI for decades. Living with numerous identities and menial jobs, Terrell’s only constants in life have been LSD, psychotic delusions of motherhood, and murderous rage. The sixties are long gone, but Mary is still out there. Now, provoked by a message she reads in Rolling Stone, she’s convinced that the surviving leader of her old band of radicals wants to build a life with her. So one night, Mary sneaks into the maternity ward of an Atlanta hospital. Laura Clayborne has a successful career and now, a newborn baby. She’s the type of person who is sensitive to suffering and injustice. But the kidnapping of her infant son has brought out a white-hot fury. She’s not going to sit and wait while the FBI investigates. She’s going after Mary herself—headlong and relentless—on a twisting and violent cross-country pursuit to get her child back. But to track a madwoman, Laura will have to think like one . . . A Bram Stoker Award winner, this “expertly constructed novel of suspense and horror” (Publishers Weekly) from the author of Swan Song, Speaks the Nightbird, and other acclaimed works is “feverishly exciting . . . a page-whipping thriller” (Kirkus Reviews).

In Zephyr, Alabama, a bizarre murder is only the beginning Small town boys see weird sights, and Zephyr has provided Cory Jay Mackenson with his fair share of oddities. He knows the bootleggers who lurk in the dark places outside of town. On moonless nights, he’s heard spirits congregate in the churchyard to reminisce about the good old days. He’s seen rain that flooded Main Street and left it crawling with snakes. Cory knows magic, and relishes it as only a young boy can. One frosty winter morning, he and his father watch a car jump the curb and sail into the fathomless town lake. His father dives into the icy water to rescue the driver, and finds a naked corpse handcuffed to the wheel. This chilling sight is only the start of the strangest period of Cory’s life, when the magic of his town will transform him into a man.

A moment of madness forces a Vietnam veteran to run for his life Two decades after he finished serving his country in the jungles of Southeast Asia, Dan Lambert still pays the price. As he hustles for construction work in the heat of a brutal Louisiana summer, Dan tries to ignore the pounding in his head—a constant reminder of the Agent Orange–caused leukemia which will soon end his life. And now the bank wants to repossess his truck. His attempt to reason with the loan officer does not get him far. Dan loses himself in rage, and for a moment is back in the jungle again. When he comes out of his bloodlust, he has shot the banker through the chest. There is nothing to do but run. On his trail are two peculiar bounty hunters: a onetime Siamese twin and a heavyset Elvis impersonator. To save his own life, Dan is going to have to remember why it was worth living in the first place.

A World Fantasy Award Finalist: Masterful and macabre short fiction from the New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song. Father John has lived his whole life without knowing a woman’s touch. Hard at first, his self-denial grew easier over time, as he learned to master his urges with a regimen of prayer, cold showers, and jigsaw puzzles. That changed the day that Debra Rocks entered his confessional. A rough-talking adult film actress, she has come to ask him to pray for a murdered costar. Her cinnamon perfume infects Father John, and after she departs he becomes obsessed. Around the corner from his church is a neon-lit alley of sin. He goes there hoping to save her life before he damns himself.   That is “Blue World,” the novella that anchors this collection of chilling stories by Robert R. McCammon. Although monsters, demons, and murderers fill these pages, in McCammon’s world the most terrifying landscape of all is the barren wasteland of a lost man’s soul.

An “impressive” tale of psychic power, Native American mysticism, and an ancient evil in Alabama, from the New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song (Associated Press).   Born and raised in rural Alabama, Billy Creekmore was destined to be a psychic. His mother, a Choctaw Indian schooled in her tribe’s ancient mysticism, understands the permeable barrier between life and death—and can cross it. She taught the power to Billy and now he helps the dead rest in peace.   Wayne Falconer, son of one of the most fervent tent evangelists in the South, travels the country serving his father’s healing ministry. Using his unique powers to cure the flock, Little Wayne is on his way to becoming one of the popular and successful miracle workers in the country. He helps the living survive.   Billy and Wayne share more than a gift. They share a dream—and a common enemy. They are on separate journeys, mystery walks that will lead them toward a crossroad where the evil of their dreams has taken shape. One of them will reject the dark. The other will be consumed by it. But neither imagined just how monstrous and far-reaching the dark was, or that mankind’s fate would rest in their hands during an epic showdown of good versus evil.   From the author of Gone South, Boy’s Life, and the Matthew Corbett series, a master of suspense who has won the World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Awards, Mystery Walk offers “creepy, subtle touches throughout [and] splendid Southern-town atmosphere” (Kirkus Reviews).

Murder sparks witchcraft hysteria in this "entertaining" seventeenth-century historical mystery from the New York Times–bestselling author (Stephen King).It''s 1699 in the coastal settlement of Fount Royal in the Carolinas when Rachel Howarth is sentenced to be hanged as a witch. She''s been accused of murder, deviltry, and blasphemous sexual congress, and the beleaguered, God-fearing colonial village wants her dead. But Matthew Corbett, young clerk to the traveling magistrate summoned to Fount Royal to weigh the accusations, soon finds himself persuaded in favor of the beguiling young widow.Struck first by her beauty, Matthew believes Rachel to be too dignified, courageous, and intelligent for such obscene charges. The testimony against her is fanatical and unreliable. Clues to the crimes seem too convenient and contrived. A number of her accusers appear to gain by her execution. And, if Rachel is a witch, why hasn''t she used her powers to fly away from the gaol on the wings of a nightbird?God and Satan are indeed at war. Something really is happening in the newly established settlement—of that Corbett is certain. As his investigation draws him into the darkness of a town gone mad, and deeper into its many secrets, Corbett realizes that time is running out for him, for Rachel, and for the hope that good could possibly win out over evil in Fount Royal.From the World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Boy''s Life and Gone South, Speaks the Nightbird is an "absorbing historical mystery" (Publishers Weekly).

Four chilling tales from the New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song and the “true master of the Gothic novel” (Booklist).   From rural Alabama to the Louisiana bayou to the North Carolina mountains, World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Award–winning author Robert R. McCammon has made the American South his own Gothic playground in these four unforgettable novels.  A Boy’s Life: “Strongly echoing the childhood-elegies of King and Bradbury, and every bit their equal,” McCammon’s World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Award–winning novel takes place in 1964 Alabama, where a twelve-year-old boy’s idyllic life takes an abrupt turn into a dark world of mystery when he and his father witness a car roll into a lake—only to discover a corpse handcuffed to the steering wheel (Kirkus Reviews).   “It’s McCammon’s The Prince of Tides. . . . Incredibly moving.” —Peter Straub  Mystery Walk: Two boys with mysterious powers—a psychic who speaks with the dead and a faith healer—share a common bond and hold mankind’s fate in their hands in an epic showdown of good versus evil.   “As finely a turned tale of horror as the best of them.” —Houston Chronicle  Gone South: A veteran’s moment of rage leads to a grisly murder and a heated chase deep into the bayou, where he encounters a pair of bizarre bounty hunters—and a strange new friend, who might help him find redemption.   “A gothic picaresque that mixes gritty plot and black comedy.” —The Wall Street Journal  Usher’s Passing: Edgar Allan Poe’s classic tale, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” is no fiction in this Gothic novel of ancestral madness in the mountains of modern-day North Carolina, as the heir to the Usher legacy—a horror novelist—confronts his terrifying inheritance.   “A frightening pleasure.” —St. Louis Dispatch