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If there’s a better title for a collection of horror stories than Worse Things Waiting (1973), I’ve not seen it. This is one of four excellent collections issued by Carcosa and one of two they produced of Wellman’s work (the other is Lonely Vigils, which collects the Wellman’s supernatural detective stories featuring John Thunstone, Judge Pursuviant and Professor Enderby). If you have those, plus a John the Balladeer collection and Valley So Low, you’ve got the vast majority of Wellman’s horror works.
Just about every story in this one is a banger. There’s the story featuring the gardinel, a kind of carnivorous plant that looks like a house in order to tempt human prey. There’s a vampire soldier (this story has had its original, downbeat ending restored), an evil piece of paper, a vengeful frog god, at least two appearances by a hand of glory and a satanic school, among others. Dracula even shows up to eat a bunch of Nazi scum. I think my favorite, though, is a semi-autobiographical tale called “Up Under the Roof,” which convincingly portrays a number of childhood fears, both real and imagined. Reading that story, I think, will inform your understanding of many of Wellman’s other tales.
Lee Brown Coye illustrates the book, nearly a drawing for every story. His trademark sticks hover here and there, as do some severed heads and at least one bleeding heart. Cartoonish, but ghoulish! |
