Angel in Black

 

The "Angel in Black" fantasy stories were some of my earliest sales. The first three were sold to a small, hard-to-find publication called Magazine of Horror, although I don't really consider these horror stories in a classic sense. Funny, another writer named Stephen (King) also sold some of his early stories at about the same time to Magazine of Horror, although he and I were never in the same issues. I wonder whatever happened to him.

The stories concern people who have supernatural problems, and go to a place known simply as the Shop, where the mysterious proprietor endeavors to help them out--for a price. But these people are never in a position to haggle.

These stories gave me a chance to explore some interesting mythologies from around the world, myths that weren't part of the standard Western Civilization traditions. The five stories included in this collection are:

• For Services Rendered
• Bride of the Wind
• The Chenoo
• In the Land of Angra Mainyu
• The Masai Witch

"In the Land of Angra Mainyu" was my first foray into Persian mythology. I returned to it later in more depth with the Parsina Saga.