Masters of Horror, Vol. One, Allison V. Harding, the Forgotten Queen of Horror

"Allison V. Harding, the Forgotten Queen of Horror" features some of the best horror tales of the 1940s and 1950s. Who was Allison V. Harding? She was, frankly, Weird Tales' best kept secret. Her real name was Jean Milligan; she was born in in 1919 and passed away in 2004. She was a virtual unknown during her career and little is known about her personal life, but the one thing we do know is that you almost couldn't pick up an issue of Weird Tales from 1943 through the beginning of 1951 and not come across one of her stories. And if you were a Weird Tales aficionado during those years, you were treated to some of the most imaginative, terrifying, and downright entertaining horror stories of the day. During that span Harding gave us 33 tales of terror. In fact, from 1943 through 1949, a Harding story graced the pages of 31 of the 42 Weird Tales issues published. Harding's horror writings touched many subjects-some of her stories delve into science fiction, some into adventure, some into mystery, etc.; but no matter what the sub-genre was, all were well-written tales of terror. Harding was a master at building a sense of growing, impending horror that would creep right under your skin and up your spine-a powerful telescope that slowly reveals a terrible secret; a steam shovel that seems to have a life of its own; an "imaginary" friend that lives under the ground; an odd hill that refuses to be excavated; or a moviemaker whose films seem to have a sinister sense of premonition. Many of Harding's stories are true forgotten classics, so aim your reading glasses upon tales like "The Frightened Engineer," "The Coming of M. Alkerhaus," "Scope," "The Underbody," "Ride the El to Doom," "Night of Impossible Shadows," "The City of Lost People," "The Damp Man," or "The Murderous Steam Shovel," and you'll understand why. This is the first published collection of Allison V. Harding's works, but it certainly won't be the last. Have a bite of her scrumptious entrées-16 chilling tales of terror.