Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2412710 in Books
• Published on: 1996-01-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 406 pages

From Library Journal
David Robinson-despondent over his daughter's death, his recent divorce, and his unsuccessful writing career-commits suicide and awakens in the Shadowlands. He is ignorant of his powers as a wraith to contact the living but must warn his former wife about her murderous lover and acquire the lover's powerfully evil knife to free his dead daughter from the sinister Shadowlands. This dark fantasy explores the dead's connection to the living in a realistic and frightening way reminiscent of Stephen King's Insomnia. Recommended for fantasy/horror collections.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Spooky
Can't put it down. The intro promises that all the stories will be related to Dante's Inferno theme of Hellish portals on Earth, but they aren't all on that theme (in fact, one is a remake of the Christmas Carol). Scary and thought-provoking none-the-less.

Truly scary
I can't agree with the other reviewer. I found many of these stories scary precisely *because* they were based in metaphorical hells - hells we might actually live in, rather than encounter after death. Also, many stories were set in hells that were not on Earth but were also far from the fire-and-brimstone stereotype. The story "Office Space" alone makes this book worth buying.

A few diamonds among the rough
I had seen this book at the library, and being a fan of Dante's Inferno, I checked it out. I was a bit disconcerted when I realized not all the stories take place in or near Hell, as the title suggests. Most of them occur here on Earth, where the characters are in a metaphorical hell. Surprise! Only a handful of the stories are worthy of note, including Gene Wolfe's and James Longrove's. The stories take place either in Hell, Chicago, or London. I found this last fact sometimes discouraging--i.e., I ended up skimming the story.

I recommend you get this book from the library before you spend the cash at a store.