J.N. Williamson's Masques Vol. 1 (1992) Innovation Paperback Book

In the introduction to his Masques series, J.N. Williamson gives a brief history of the term "masque." He traces it to 16th century England explaining that masques were dramatic performances which "probed the roots of evil." He sets the same goal for his horror anthology and goes about achieving it with four stories in the first issue. In "Rail Rider" Wayne Allen Sallee relates a tale of murder in a subway station, echoing the gritty realism of urban life and exploiting the tension between sex, violence, and anxiety. Robert R. McCammon's "Nightcrawlers" focuses on a Vietnam vet who brought back more than just memories of the war. "A Billion Monstrosities" by Mort Castle and Bob Weinberg's "The Crushing Death" hearken back to the classic EC comics with their ironic endings and ghoulish characters. The stories run the gamut from neo-realism to classic nightmare horror and make Masques an anthology worth reading.