Best known as a writer of supernatural horror, T.E.D. Klein, author of The Ceremonies and Dark Gods, has also written essays, articles, op-ed pieces, and reviews that are provocative, erudite, occasionally splenetic, and always highly opinionated. This book, compiled by S. T. Joshi, presents a wide selection of Klein's nonfiction, including:
- A lively account of the first World Fantasy Convention, where the field's most colorful personalities gathered in Providence to honor its native son, H. P. Lovecraft.
- Klein's introduction to the Arkham House edition of Lovecraft's shorter tales... His lists of the 13 most terrifying horror stories and the 25 most familiar horror plots.
- Memoirs of his college days in Providence, under Lovecraft's spell... His triumphs and blunders as a Paramount script reader... His influential tenure as editor of Twilight Zone magazine... What it was like to work with eccentric (and notorious) director Dario Argento on his first full-length American film.
- A pair of groundbreaking New York Times features on cruelty to animals in the movies... A skeptical take on Woody Allen at the turning point in his career... The hitherto unremarked secret of Stanley Kubrick's 2001.
- Personal encounters with legendary weird-tale writers Robert Aickman and Donald Wandrei... Appreciations of Arthur Machen, Lord Dunsany, Rod Serling, Ramsey Campbell, and Mark Twain... Reviews of Ruth Rendell, Christopher Priest, William Peter Blatty, and a quartet of Gene Roddenberry biographies.
- Plus candid interviews, impassioned editorials for CrimeBeat magazine, and even a couple of poems.