THE SIEGE OF 318: THIRTEEN MYSTICAL STORIES.
Webster Springs, West Virginia: Back Fork Books, Inc., [1978]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. A number of these stories take place in Glory, Grubb's imaginary town in West Virginia. Several of the fantastic tales "are quasi-allegorical, including the title story, in which a toy soldier collection magically crystalizes prowar and antiwar sentiments between a young boy and his father, and "The Blue Spectacles," in which the eyeglasses of a benevolent doctor convey a vision of humanity's basic goodness to the hellfire preacher who inherits them." - Barron (ed), Fantasy and Horror (1999) 6-154. "In addition to the stories described by Barron, the most notable stories first published in this collection include 'Bitter Almonds,' a somber tale of a small-town sheriff investigating a murder committed via a hollow tooth and cyanide; 'The Burlap Bag,' a macabre Christmas fantasy about two five-year-old twins playing with the corpse of their stillborn half-brother because there are no toys in their house; and 'The Baby-Sitter,' a dark thriller of a teenage girl confronted during the night by two five-year-old brothers fighting over their father’s M-16, one of the most remarkable pieces of fiction to grow out of the social and political turmoil of the Vietnam War." - Boyd White. A fine copy in fine dust jacket. (30249). Item #30249
Price: $100.00