Monsters

Two new collections of lycanthrope-themed short stories turned up in a recent visit to Barnes & Noble Booksellers. First up is Full Moon City, edited by Darrel Schweitzer and Martin H. Greenberg (in paperback, from Pocket Editions). Here’s the publisher’s description from Amazon.com: “From New York to Los Angeles to Bucharest, fifteen never-before-published tales by some of the world’s finest fantasy and horror writers celebrate the newest incarnations of an age-old terror that strikes when the moon is full . . . the werewolf. No longer confined to the forests, these modern monsters can be found in places you frequent every day—and never before thought to fear. Carrie Vaughn’s popular werewolf radio host Kitty Norville is drawn into a controversy as to whether it’s fair to ban lycanthropy from professional sports. New York’s famous Plaza Hotel is the setting for  Esther M. Friesner’s tale of one very grisly little girl, while Beverly Hills may never quite recover from Ron Goulart’s middle-aged Hollywood screenwriter who falls prey to a most unusual problem. Celebrated fantasy author Peter S Beagle tells a chillingly lyrical story of three Louisiana loup garoux locked into a deadly dance of death. Plus many more biting tales from award-winning authors Holly Black, P.D. Cacek, Gregory Frost, Tanith Lee, Holly Phillips, Mike Resnick, Darrel Schweitzer, Lisa Tuttle, Ian Watson, Gene Wolfe, and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Then there’s Running with the Pack, edited by Ekaterina Sedia (this one in paperback from Prime Books). The description goes: “Remember the werewolves of classic stories and films, those bloodthirsty monsters that transformed under the full moon, reminding us of the terrible nature that lives within all of us? Today’s werewolves are much more suave – and even sexy – and they’ve moved from British moors to New York City lofts, shaved, and got jobs. But as the tales of these writers will show you, they remain no less wild and passionate, and they still tug at the part of our being where a wild animal used to be. Running With the Pack includes stories from Carrie Vaughn, Laura Anne Gilman, and C.E. Murphy [and others — ye ed-otter] and they will convince you that despite their gentrification, werewolves remain as fascinating and terrifying as ever.” You heard ’em.