New Traditions In Terror is a new and ambitious horror fiction anthology. Why ambitious? Because the whole of the book is comprised of stories dealing with subject matter already much overdone: we're talking vampires, werewolves, vengeful spirits, ghouls, demons, and evil people here. A risky proposition indeed, as nowadays I dread reading vampire or werewolf stories for knowing that while the characters may change, the basic storyline is one that I've read hundreds of times before. That in itself would be acceptable, if not compounded by the fact that I usually also will have gotten absolutely nothing out of the story by its conclusion: no emotion, no involvement with any of the characters, not even the consolation of knowing that while nothing new may have been brought to the table, at least I'd had the pleasure of reading a gripping, page-turning story.

And so, New Traditions In Terror delivers sixteen stories and one poem, by authors the readers of Horror-Wood may not be familiar with. Seventeen fresh voices accepting the daunting challenge of writing tales containing characters that are increasingly looked down upon in the field as being passé.

For the most part, the authors vindicate themselves extremely well. While admittedly, few stories really do break any new ground (a story concerning a cyber werewolf is a notable exception), as a whole the stories are well-written, and do manage to sweep the reader up and carry them along for a short, but enjoyable ride. Many evoke a well-defined and appropriate atmosphere, almost tangible, as well as creating developed characters that I came to care about, hoping they would come to a good - or deceivingly bad - end. On at least one occasion I compared a story (favorably) to some classics I fondly remember from my decades of reading.

A few stories in this collection deserve mention. "Afraid Of The Water", by Robynn Clairday, does such a good job of evoking concrete images in her tale, that it brought back some very unpleasant memories of my own fear of water as a young child. "Monster", by Peter N. Dudar, is a great example of a tale that can build suspense and keep a reader on edge through merely hinting at the horror, rather than through any blatant or graphic depiction of it. A wonderful example of "less is more." The ending has a wonderful, Lovecraftian/Cthulhu feel to it. Lastly, there is "Kiowa Wells", by R. A. Cox. The highlight of the book, Cox's tale takes an old idea (vengeful Indian spirit), and weaves it into an enthralling classic. Heavily atmospheric, well-developed and written, perfect pacing, ever-increasing chills. I predict a deserved, enduring popularity for this one.

The only aspect of the book that I feel doesn't work is one story, only because it reads more like a "The Shadow"-type detective tale, with a monster casually thrown in at the end because one was needed, than as a horror story. It's a good tale, mind you, but definitely feels out of place with respect to the rest of the collection.

That said, New Traditions In Terror is a fine read, and a welcome addition to a horror fiction library. A collection of well-crafted and entertaining tales, from 17 talented writers from whom I hope we'll be fortunate enough to hear from again. It's encouraging to know that the future of horror fiction is in such capable hands.

Bill Purcell has collected many satisfying stories (about creatures thought to be passe or no longer frightening) in this book. Vampires, werewolves and ghosts are nothing new. But the stories in NTIT are not your granddad's WEIRD TALES stories. The authors of these stories get inside the monster and look out at the world. They do mre than go boo. Why do vampires drink blood? Would a werewolf even want to stop killing people?

Personal favorites: "Cargo" by Sean Logan, "Kiowa Wells" by R. A. Cox, "The Last Wolf" by Lester Thees and "Dogs" by Michael Beai.

If you are a fan of the old monsters, buy this book. If you are a fan of current horror, buy this book. If you are a fan of both, I envy you. (Oh, and buy this book.)

Usually when I pick up a themed anthology, I'm disappointed that all the stories seem the same. This book contains a good variety, loosly based around the theme of "traditional" monsters. The differant stories, and the unique writing styles, kept me entertained throughout the book. As I said above, some of the stories scared me, some just grossed me out, but all in all, I thought this was a great collection. My hat's off to the people who put this one together.