Reviews

The author of Psycho , which spawned a legion of homicidal maniacs in modern horror fiction, returns as an anthologist with a sequel to last year's Psycho-Paths . Once again inviting some of the field's finest writers to explore the subject of deranged evil, Bloch has elicited 17 terrifying, brilliantly conceived characters, each one disturbingly credible and original. Among the most memorable: an ungrateful grandson-in-law whose chosen weapon is a garbage disposal in Ray Bradbury's darkly humorous ``Fee Fie Fo Fum''; a gas station attendant and frustrated inventor whose homemade gasoline additive makes for cleaner air and countless mysterious deaths in Robert E. Vardeman's ``A Gentle Breeze Blowing''; an overzealous animal rights activist in Lawrence Block's ``How Would You Like It?''; and a neurotic young actress who feels she doesn't get enough messages on her answering machine in ``The Lick of Time'' by Jonathan Carroll. As Bloch promises in his introduction, the selections consistently explore--with chilling success--``the why , as well as the way'' psychopaths operate, adeptly mapping the fine line between human and inhuman, sane and insane. As unsettling as they are entertaining, many of these forays into the psyche's dark side are sure to become classics. (Nov.)

Billed as an assortment of unforgettably chilling horror stories by masters of the genre, this sequel to Psycho-Paths (Tor, 1991) is actually a rather lackluster compilation of 17 surprisingly tame short stories. Bloch's introduction explains that ``suggestion, subtlety, selectivity--these are major criteria which helped govern the selection,'' but some works are so subtle that they're almost dull. However, there are some bright spots: Ray Bradbury's ``Fee, Fie, Foe, Fum,'' a wickedly amusing modern fairy tale; S.P. Somtow's ``Fish Are Jumpin', and the Cotton Is High,'' a fully developed horror tale only 26 pages long; and Bloch's own ``It Takes One To Know One,'' top-notch suspense with an ending O. Henry would be proud to claim. For larger collections.-- Rebecca House Stankowski, Pur due Univ. Calumet Lib . , Hammond, Ind.