Fiction and Essays (view Full Listing)

• xiii • Introduction: The Second Most Serious Page in This Book • (1999) • essay by Mike Ashley
• 1 • Neander-Tale • (1980) • short story by James P. Hogan
• 8 • Uncle Henry Passes • (1999) • short story by Esther M. Friesner [as by Esther Friesner]
• 23 • A Dealing with Demons • [Ebenezum] • (1981) • novelette by Craig Shaw Gardner
• 52 • The Case of Jack the Clipper or A Fimbulwinter's Tale • (1997) • short story by David Langford
• 60 • The Shoemaker and the Elvis • (1997) • short story by Lawrence Schimel
• 71 • Dances with Elves • (1995) • short story by Cynthia Ward
• 76 • A Hedge Against Alchemy • [Kedrigern] • (1981) • short story by John Morressy
• 92 • A Slow Day in Hell • (1997) • short story by Julia S. Mandala
• 100 • How I Got Three Zip Codes • (1999) • short story by Gene Wolfe
• 106 • The Failure of Hope & Wandel • non-genre • (1874) • short story by Ambrose Bierce
• 110 • The Birthday Gift • (1992) • short story by Elisabeth Waters
• 119 • Captain Honario Harpplayer, R. N. • (1963) • short story by Harry Harrison
• 131 • The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything • (1984) • short story by George Alec Effinger
• 149 • History Book: A Thog the Mighty Text • (1994) • novelette by John Grant
• 173 • Elijah P. Jopp and the Dragon • (1898) • short story by Archibald Marshall
• 184 • The Dragon Doctor's Apprentice • (1999) • novelette by Charles Partington
• 224 • Rules of Engagement • (1995) • short story by Molly Brown
• 230 • The Triumph of Vice • (1867) • short story by W. S. Gilbert (variant of The Triumph of Vice: A Fairy Tale)
• 244 • The Top 50 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord • (1999) • essay by Peter Anspach
• 250 • How to Be Fantastic • (1995) • short fiction by Elizabeth Counihan
• 256 • Hershey's Kisses • (1992) • short story by Ron Goulart
• 277 • Escape from the Planet of the Bears • (1999) • short story by Tom Holt
• 295 • Quest • (1999) • short story by Sue Anderson
• 305 • The Hills Behind Hollywood High • (1983) • novelette by Avram Davidson and Grania Davis
• 328 • The Affliction of Baron Humpfelhimmel • (1901) • short story by John Kendrick Bangs
• 337 • The Case of the Four and Twenty Blackbirds • (1984) • short story by Neil Gaiman
• 349 • The Man Who Hated Cadillacs • (1999) • novelette by E. K. Grant
• 372 • The Ultimate • (1999) • novelette by Seamus Cullen
• 401 • The Star of the Farmyard • (1992) • short story by Terry Jones
• 408 • Diamonds – Black and White • (1932) • short story by Anthony Armstrong (1897-1976)
• 424 • Malocchio • (1999) • short story by Eliot Fintushel
• 439 • The Metrognome • (1979) • novelette by Alan Dean Foster
• 461 • The Eye of Tandyla • [Pusadian] • (1951) • novelette by L. Sprague de Camp
• 489 • The Outpost Undiscovered by Tourists • (1982) • short story by Harlan Ellison