The front cover would be perfect for "The River of Night’s Dreaming", a story in the first volume. Who cares? It's awesome & I like the picture of the corridor on the back cover even better.

The introduction by [a:Peter Straub|6941|Peter Straub|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1200468903p2/6941.jpg] was depressing & not worth much time. He also did the introduction to [b:In a Lonely Place|823909|In a Lonely Place|Karl Edward Wagner|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347751725s/823909.jpg|809695] & recaps it here along with some other well known facts. Straub mentions that there are some authors & subjects that he just can't read, which amused me since I've never been able to get into any of his books. Worse, he said he never tried to read any of the Kane stories because he had read Conan. Seriously? In the last page or so, he wrote about how devastating it was to see Wagner drinking himself to death, but mostly he gushed.

I don't understand Straub's comment about misunderstanding one of the stories he liked best in [b:In a Lonely Place|823909|In a Lonely Place|Karl Edward Wagner|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347751725s/823909.jpg|809695], though. Of the 3 stories he likes best, only ".220 Swift" has a male protagonist & I don't recall Brandon seeing himself in a window. Does anyone else know?

Each story has a wonderful full page picture preceding it. They are shorter than the ones in the other book, though. Darker & weirder, too. The stories are arranged in published order.

"The Last Wolf" was an interesting commentary on where the art of writing is going. Too depressing & true to be horror, if that makes any sense. Just morbid. Not my favorite.

"Into Whose Hands" is perfect. I remembered it well from a previous read & still chuckled at the end. What a twist!

"More Sinned Against" is a wonderful tale & comes to a fitting conclusion.

"Shrapnel" has the B&W version of the back cover of the first volume of this collection for some reason. It's perfect for this story, though. And what a story. If only karma really worked like this.

"Silted In" is copyrighted in 1985, earlier than I thought it would be given KEW's personal life. It is a descent into the worst kind of horror, too real & morbid.

"Lost Exits" stretches reality out of shape into a bewildering & horrible look at what might be.

"Endless Night" I don't get at all. Weird.

"An Awareness of Angels" is a different take on Jack the Ripper & his legacy.

**** To this point, I'm not enjoying most of the stories quite as much as those in the first volume. They're much shorter, weirder, & pretty good, but I think KEW did better when he more time to set the mood.

"But You’ll Never Follow Me" (1991) started off with a lot of potential, but the last few paragraphs pretty much turned it into a train wreck. First, a big deal has been made out him not liking to kill, even when he shot the security guard, but he left 4 lbs of C4 in the building? WTF?!!! Dead is dead, whether by a bullet to the brain or an explosion that destroys the entire building & for what? Second, because I would have liked a little more info on what he was or am I just dense? He lived through the war & bullets didn't seem to harm him, but he's graying & getting a beer belly, obvious signs of aging, so he's not immortal. It's mentioned that he has no choices, just keeps trying to hold down a job & do his 'duty'. A word that is never used, just implied. Just what was or is he supposed to be?

"Cedar Lane" is much like "Lost Exits", but better, IMO. Kind of a reverse haunting.

"The Kind Men Like" was over the top & pretty obvious.

"The Slug" was pretty good, especially the end. The afterword wasn't necessary, but was fun.

"Did They Get You to Trade?" was OK, but I didn't care for the way it ended. It would have been more horrible without the supernatural element or maybe ending a bit more like "The Slug".

"Little Lessons in Gardening" was great! Perfect! I've known people like that & wish I could have found such a perfect solution.

"A Walk on the Wild Side" is somewhat inspired by Lou Reed. Very surprising ending.

"Passages" has the picture of the corridor from the back cover. It's actually 3 old friends at their 25th class reunion catching up. Wow. The ending is great.

"In the Middle of a Snow Dream" not bad, but the girl-girl relationship & sex gratuitous.

KEW died in October of 1994. All the stories from here on were published after his death.

"Gremlin" was just fun. A new take on an old tale.

"Prince of the Punks" a new take on Dracula. Cool ending.

"The Picture of Jonathan Collins" not bad, but the sex was again gratuitous nor was the ending any surprise. Dorian Gray reprised.

"Locked Away" used sex as the vehicle again. Pretty gross stuff, with a surprise ending. The narrator was very unreliable, so what we at first think of as a supernatural element turns out to actually be madness. It was very effective & well done.

"I’ve Come to Talk with You Again" was very eerie. Kind of a Lovecraftian vampire tale. Excellent.

"Final Cut" makes me wonder how much of the author's own experience is in the story. Again, excellent.

"Brushed Away" again descends into madness in an understandable way. Our sympathies are shifted until the horror of the end seems quite appropriate. Super.

"Old Loves" was a fun horror spoof on The Avengers TV show of the 60's. Reality & the supernatural are well blended.

"Lacunae" is a Kane story. He really is a cold-hearted, evil bastard. So why do I still like & root for him?

Afterword by David Drake is a very raw account of KEW that seems closer to the truth than many of the other biographical stories I've read. I never knew KEW, but I've known a lot of alcoholics & Drake's account makes far more sense than those of the apologists. It's a damn shame, but instructive & well worth reading.

Overall, this book's stories didn't impress me as much as the first book. If you're not a real KEW fan, it might not be worth it to you. If you are, it's a must-read. I think it gives a great picture of the real man & the way his mind worked. There is no doubt he was a genius in the field of horror & very influential. ( )