ABOUT THIS BOOK The six volumes in the Black Wings series, from which these Best of tales are selected, stand as a monument to H. P. Lovecraft s incalculable and unassailable influence on contemporary weird fiction, and so the time seemed right for a retrospective volume that exhibits the choicest items from the series. The task of selection was not a simple or straightforward one, for every tale in the series had some claim to be chosen; let it then be said that this volume does not contain necessarily the best stories, but rather the most representative stories in the series. If this selection leads readers back to the many other tales featured in those volumes, then its purpose will have been adequately served. S. T. Joshi Contents Lesser Demons Norman Partridge Howling in the Dark Darrell Schweitzer Passing Spirits Sam Gafford When Death Wakes Me to Myself John Shirley The Abject Richard Gavin Dahlias Melanie Tem Bloom John Langan Thistle s Find Simon Strantzas Houdini Fish Jonathan Thomas Artifact Fred Chappell Cult of the Dead Lois H. Gresh The Dark Sea Within Jason V Brock Night of the Piper Ann K. Schwader The Woman in the Attic Robert H. Waugh The Walker in the Night Jason C. Eckhardt The Organ of Chaos Donald Tyson Voodoo Stephen Woodworth The Shard Don Webb To Move Beneath Autumnal Oaks W. H. Pugmire Lore Wade Germa