"Whether she was writing about travel or over-protective mothers, unicorns or Pre-Raphaelite painters, Susan Casper always had something new and fascinating to say. She'll be sadly missed. Thank goodness we have this new and compelling collection to remember her by!" --Connie Willis, SFWA Grand Master, member of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, winner of 7 Nebula Awards and 11 Hugo Awards"What a vivid and compelling range of stories! Terrors from childhood nightmares made disturbingly real. Wistful glimpses of a past that never was. Sly, sideways looks at venerable fictions: Oz, Middle Earth, Rumpelstiltskin, Sherlock Holmes. Casper writes with meticulous attention to detail, putting you deep into time and place. A wonderful collection." --Nancy Kress, 6-time Nebula and 2-time Hugo Award winner"Susan Casper is one of my favorite writers. Her work is witty, well-observed, with a bite that you can never quite forget, much like John Collier. I come away from her stories thinking, 'I wish I'd written that.'" --Pat Cadigan, Hugo- and World Fantasy Award-winner"I have only one problem with Susan Casper's fiction: there isn't enough of it. I have loved every story of hers that I've read, and, as it turns out, I've read quite a few of them. Personal favorites include 'The Stray' and 'Why Do You Think They Call It Middle Earth?', but to be fair, that's like picking the best chocolate from a Paris chocolate shop. They're all good. I simply prefer some to others. This long-overdue collection, edited by her husband, multiple Hugo Award-winner Gardner Dozois, is an act of love--and love this deep should be shared. If you've never read Susan's work, you're in for a treat. If you have, you'll be visiting old favorites and finding new favorites along the way." --Kristine Kathyrn Rusch, Hugo- and World Fantasy Award-winner"Susan Casper lived in the real world, and so did her characters. The fantastic impinges gently on the familiar in her fiction. We recognize the bedrooms and the kitchens, the insistent mothers and the impatient children. But wait, is that really a ghost? Is it trying to tell us something? Is that woman really a vampire? Is there a way to get to Oz? With a sly sense of humor and a profound sense of the tragic, Susan Casper crafted stories that show us the wonder and terror of our everyday lives." --James Patrick Kelly, Nebula- and Hugo Award-winner"An impressive collection by an even more impressive lady." --Mike Resnick, Nebula- and 5-time Hugo Award-winner"From the dark and disturbing to the amusing and uplifting, this collection of tales reveals the evocative depths of Susan Casper's vivid imagination." --Sheila Williams, Editor of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, 2-time Hugo Award-winner"Beautifully written and beautifully observed." ("The Cleaning Lady") --Samuel R. Delany, SFWA Grand Master, member of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, winner of 4 Nebula Awards and 2 Hugo Awards"Finally, Susan Casper's powerful, wry, and provocative short fiction is available in one volume: a must-have collection that captures the essence of her brilliant, wild talent." --Jack Dann, Nebula- and World Fantasy Award-winner"Susan's stories capture you with the first word and hold on with bloody claws until the last." --Eileen Gunn, Nebula Award-winner