The Darrell Schweitzer MEGAPACK ®. Darrell Schweitzer

      COPYRIGHT INFO

      The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack is copyright © 2013 by Wildside Press LLC. All rights reserved. Cover art by James Thew / Fotolia. For more information, contact the publisher.

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      “Transients” first appeared in Amazing Stories January 1987. Copyright © 1986 by TSR, Inc.

      “A Lantern Maker of Ai Hanlo” first appeared in Amazing Stories July 1984. Copryight © 1984 by TSR, Inc.

      “The Story of a Dadar” first appeared in Amazing Stories June 1982. Copyright © 1982 by Ultimate Publishing Co., Inc.

      “Refugees from an Imaginary Country” first appeared in Interzone #116, February 1997. Copyright © 1997 by Interzone.

      “The Sorcerer Evoragdou” first appeared in The Ultimate Witch edited by Byron Preiss and John Betancourt. Copyright © 1993 by Darrell Schweitzer.

      “The Mysteries of the Faceless King” first appeared in Weird Tales #290, Spring 1988. Copyright © 1987 by Terminus Publishing Co., Inc.

      “King Yvorian’s Wager” first appeared in Weird Tales #295, Winter 1989/1990. Copyright © 1989 BY Terminus Publishing Co., Inc.

      “The Spirit of the Back Stairs” first appeared in Fear April 1991. Copyright © 1991 by Fear Ltd. and John Gilbert.

      “The Outside Man” first appeared in Narrow Houses edited by Peter Crowther. Copyright © 1992 by Darrell Schweitzer.

      “Savages” first appeared in Masques IV edited by J.N. Williamson. Copyright © 1991 by Darrell Schweitzer.

      “On the Last Night of the Festival of the Dead” first appeared in Interzone #90, December 1994. Copyright © 1994 by Interzone.

      “Vandibar Nasha in the College of Shadows” first appeared in Adventures of Sword and Sorcery #7, Summer 2000. Copyright © 2000 by Double Star Press.

      “One of the Secret Masters” first appeared in Dark Destiny: Unseen Architects of the World edited by Edward Kramer. Copyright © 1994) by Darrell Schweitzer.

      “Running to Camelot” first appeared in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine #40, Summer 1998. Copyright © 1998 by the Marion Zimmer Bradley Living Trust.

      “Kvetchula” first appeared in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine #36, Summer 1997. Copyright © 1997 by the Marion Zimmer Bradley Living Trust.

      “Kvetchula’s Daughter” first appeared in Full Moon City edited by Darrell Schweitzer and Martin H. Greenberg. Copyright © 2010 by Darrell Schweitzer

      “How It Ended” first appeared in Realms of Fantasy August 2002. Copyright © 2002 by Sovereign Media.

      “The Most Beautiful Dead Woman in the World” first appeared in Interzone #189, May-June 2003. Copyright © 2003 by Interzone.

      “The Eater of Hours” first appeared in Inhuman #4, Summer 2009. Copyright © 2009 by Darrell Schweitzer.

      “Fighting the Zeppelin Gang” first appeared in Postscripts #8 Autumn 2006. Copyright © 2006 by Darrell Schweitzer.

      “The Messenger” first appeared in Weird Tales #347, November/December 2007. Copryight © 2007 by Wildside Press.

      “The Last Heretic” first appeared in The New and Perfect Man (Postscripts 24/25) edited by Peter Crowther and Nick Gevers. Copyright © 2011 by Darrell Schweitzer.

      “The Witch of the World’s End” first appeared in 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg, and Martin H. Greenberg. Copyright © 1995 by Darrell Schweitzer.

      “Howling in the Dark” first appeared in Black Wings: Tales of Lovecraftian Horror, edited by S.T. Joshi. Copyright © 2010 by Darrell Schweitzer.

      “Peeling It Off” first appeared in Borderlands, edited by Thomas F. Monteleone. Copyright © 1990 by Darrell Schweitzer.

      A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

      Darrell Schweitzer is one of the best kept secrets in the field of the fantastic. He is a writer of amazing and otherworldly tales—sometimes in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, or Robert E. Howard, but more often than not, distinctly his own. Surely no one else could have written “Pennies from Hell,” or “Peeling It Off,” or “Refugees from an Imaginary Country,” or so many other memorable tales in this collection.

      He is a frequest guest at East Coast science fiction conventions. And he is a scholarly authority on innumerable obscure subjects. (Just ask him about 3rd century Roman coins. Go on. I dare you! Did I mention he is also a dealer in rare and antiquarian coins?)

      It’s hard to believe, but I first met him 36 years ago at Philcon, a science fiction convention in Philadelphia, where he had a dealer’s table. (Did I mention he is also a dealer in rare and antiquarian books?) He sold me dozens of back issues of science fiction magazines at bargain prices. (He didn’t remember me, of course, when we met again the following year; but I kept coming back and giving him my money anyway.) His knowledge of the field is encyclopedic, and he can recommend a book to almost anyone’s taste, no matter how obscure.

      When I was 19, I joined him as an assistant editor of Amazing Stories magazine, which was at the time edited from Philadelphia, under the leadership of George Scithers. I learned a fantastic amount of how a magazine should run from Darrell, who was never too busy to answer questions, explain the procedures our boss had in place, and hone my editorial skills. And he patiently read my own early manuscripts and commented on them (often to my dismay!) with a razor-sharp editorial eye.

      After Amazing Stories, Darrell helped revive the classic pulp magazine Weird Tales (with assistance from George Scithers and me—we formed an editorial triumvirate). With its first issue, Weird Tales surpassed the circulation of Amazing Stories...quite a feat!

      Some years later, after I left Weird Tales for an editorial career in New York, George Scithers assumed the publisher role at WT and Darrell became the titular editor. He is a World Fantasy Award-winner (as co-editor of Weird Tales, an honor shared with George Scithers), as well as a World Fantasy Award-nominee for his own fiction.

      He continues to live in Philadelphia, surrounded by cats, coins, books, and a wife of infinite patience who also happens to be a very talented writer herself (Marilyn “Mattie” Brahen).

      —John Betancourt

      Publisher, Wildside Press LLC

      www.wildsidepress.com

      ABOUT THE MEGAPACKS

      Over the last few years, our “Megapack” series of ebook anthologies has proved to be one of our most popular endeavors. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”

      The Megapacks (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt, Mary Wickizer Burgess, Sam Cooper, Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, Robert Reginald. A. E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!).

      A NOTE FOR KINDLE READERS

      The Kindle versions of our Megapacks employ active tables of contents for easy navigation…please look for one before writing reviews on Amazon that complain about the lack! (They are sometimes at the ends of ebooks, depending on your reader.)

      RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?

      Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the Megapack series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).

      Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.

      TYPOS