Phantoms of Venice

Edited by David A. Sutton. Cover art by Harry O. Morris.

An anthology of dark and ghastly tales set in Venice, by such award winning masters of the terror tale as Eddy C. Bertin, Peter Tremayne, Brian Stableford, Cherry Wilder, Tim Lebbon and others.

“Unease and a vague repulsion are usually mixed with a profound, even obsessive fascination with the city’s shrouded history and buried secrets. Like sex, the streets of Venice inspire both intense joy and severe anxiety. Something in the air, and more especially the water, seems not quite wholesome. The reflections of the ancient buildings in the still water promise entry to a forbidden world.”

There have been ghost and horror stories located in just about every country of the world, and in many of their cities. There have been fabled lands and invented locales in which terrors have stalked the unwary traveller. But none of those places, however evocative their names, has the resonance of the 'Serene Republic' — Venice. The byways of this city — unnamed, narrow footpaths and passageways, and dark canals — dislocate the explorer from reality. There are strangely ephemeral sounds, snatches of music, odd cries... shadowy, half-glimpsed figures passing over crumbling bridges... and always the omnipresent lapping of black water to accompany the explorations of its many visitors. And perhaps some of those visitors are not simply tourists, but something far less healthy... Phantoms... serial killers... revenge... possession... plague victims... and the devil incarnate... Join the throng of shades and monsters in ten disturbing tales of Venice by masters of the macabre.

Contents:

• Foreword: A Dream by the Old Canal by Joel Lane
• Venice: A Phantom City: Introduction by David A. Sutton
• The Bridge of Sighs by Peter Tremayne
• Alive in Venice by Cherry Wilder
• Rose Nere by Eddy C. Bertin
• City in Aspic by Conrad Williams
• Façades by Mike Chinn
• Last Exit for the Lost by Tim Lebbon
• La Serenissima by David A. Sutton
• Bride of the Sea by Anne Gay
• Angelo’s Bar by Pauline E. Dungate
• The Devil’s Comedy by Brian Stableford