Ghost Quartet

Do you believe in ghosts? You will after reading these original short novels from four of today's best writers of the fantastic. Brian Lumley, a Grand Master of Horror and author of the popular Necroscope series, opens the collection with the tense "A Place of Waiting." The moors of Devon, England, are home to many ghosts, but none as fearsome as the red-eyed specter that refuses to accept his death. His only chance of release, however, comes at a terrible cost. Orson Scott Card puts a new spin on one of literature's most famous ghosts in "Hamlet's Father." What if the former King of Denmark was not killed by his treacherous brother for his crown, but by someone entirely unexpected as punishment for the darkest of crimes? Would his troubled son still seek revenge? The patrons of an Edinburgh tavern are introduced to a beverage with an unusual history in "The Haunted Single Malt" by Marvin Kaye, a clever and spooky story about ghost stories and the people who love them. Tanith Lee offers "Strindberg's Ghost Sonata," a chilling tale set in an alternate Russia. When a poor man is rescued from certain death by hospitable strangers, he discovers that he is not a guest in their haunted tenement building--he is a prisoner destined to become a sacrifice. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Ghost Quartet is a stunning exploration of love and ambition, sexual identity, and spiritual purpose. Set in the contemporary classical music world of New York and Tanglewood, the novel centers around the Faustian struggles of Ray Stoneson, a thirty-two-year-old composer, talented yet unrecognized. When Ray meets Perry Green, an internationally renowned, considerably older gay conductor and composer who is desperately attracted to him, both of their lives change inexorably. Perry offers to further Ray's career in exchange for a relationship; Ray eventually complies, but his secret sexual encounters with Perry threaten his relationship with Joy, the beautiful singer he longs to marry, and with Bobby, the idealistic but troubled young actor who is in love with Perry. With relentless suspense and profound psychological insight, Ghost Quartet moves toward a surprising, ironic, and powerful conclusion. Ghost Quartet is a compelling novel of aspiration and moral compromise, a finely crafted exploration of the boundaries that preserve the psyche and the damage that results when those boundaries are breached.

A behind-the-scenes look at the making of an award-winning musical! Here is the official, fascinating, behind-the scenes journey of the new musical Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, from its inception, to Off-Off Broadway, to Off-Broadway, to its premiere at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway. The musical is based on a dramatic 70-page slice of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. Profusely illustrated, the book also includes an annotated script and a special CD with three songs from the Off-Broadway production and two all-new recordings for the Broadway production featuring Josh Groban with a 25-piece orchestra.

A unique guide to enhance and enrich your enjoyment of classical music, this book is for music lovers who want to better understand the works of the masters.

Million Dollar Quartet’ is the name given to recordings made on Tuesday December 4, 1956 in the Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. The recordings were of an impromptu jam session among Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash.The events of the session. Very few participants survive. Includes interviews with the drummer and the sound engineer. A detailed analysis of the music played – and its relevance to subsequent popular music. The early lives and careers of the quartet – where they were in 1956. Relevant social and economic factors which meant that a massive audience of young people were keenly looking for a new kind of music they could call their own. The “reunions” of surviving members of the quartet. The emergence of the tapes, first on bootleg and then on legitimate CDs. The genesis of the stage show and its reception – the enduring appeal of the music.

FEATURES: The weird animation of Bill Plympton; Viktor Koen's biomechanical visions; Exclusive excerpt: The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia. INTERNATIONAL FICTION SPOTLIGHT: "First Photograph" by Zoran Zivkovic; "The Gong" by Sara Genge; "The Dream of the Blue Man" by Nir Yaniv; "The Wordeaters" by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz; "Out of Sacred Water" by Juraj Cervenak; "Time and the Orpheus" by chiles samaniego; more. POETRY: "The Monster With the Shape of Me" by Brian J. Hatcher. NONFICTION: The Library: Elizabeth Genco talks with author Lauren Groff about writing The Monsters of Templeton; The Bazaar: Jessica Joslin's crazy steampunk critters; Weirdism: Robert Isenberg on the cinema's latest obsession with apocalyptic futures; Lost in Lovecraft: Kenneth Hite dives literarily into the Pacific Ocean and pulls up H.P. Lovecraft; Harvey Pelican & Co.: special offers from the esoterica king.

"Ancient ideals and modern musings rub up against each other in Blue Wizard / Black Wizard, a philosophical musical fantasia. Two referees adjudicate the proceedings as the Black and Blue Wizards battle to save themselves and humanity from the Great Mediocrity. Warping the conventions of musical theatre and classical art song to intersect with the sensibilities of electronic music, Blue Wizard / Black Wizard is a pop culture smash-up of fantasy language and contemporary parlance. What unfolds is a ritualistic sporting event, the likes of which audiences have never seen"-- Back cover.

Since she was a little girl, Melinda Gordon could talk to the dead: "earthbound spirits" as her grandmother called them. Melinda came to understand that the spirits are trapped, and in need. She listens, tries to understand what keeps them from crossing over, and helps them find what they need to be free. It's not easy, but with time and patience her gift allows her to come to bring those spirits to peace. The sound of a mournful lullaby has been haunting Melinda in her sleep, the song of a ghost who doesn't seem ready or willing to accept her help. Knowing that earthbound spirits are often confused and troubled, Melinda feels that with time she will make a connection. But there is no time; the melodic tapestry that the ghostly singer is weaving with her words -- meant to comfort a child -- has become a trap, lulling the young listeners into such a deep sleep that no one can ever awaken them. It takes one child, then another and another, until all across the town children are drawn in by the gentle song, their lives slowly slipping away. Even Melinda, with her knowledge of the spirit world, finds herself being pulled into the beautiful snare, where she nearly loses herself. Only then does Melinda begin to worry that this is a spirit so troubled, so heartsick, that it may be beyond her help.