Arkham's Masters of Horror is an anthology of fantasy and horror

Horror fiction

Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

 stories edited by Peter Ruber

Peter Ruber

Peter Ruber is a United States author, editor and publisher. He has been an advertising executive, book publisher, and for the past two decades, a consultant and free-lance journalist for many leading business information technology magazines...

. It was released by Arkham House

Arkham House

Arkham House is a publishing house specializing in weird fiction founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to preserve in hardcover the best fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. The company's name is derived from Lovecraft's fictional New England city, Arkham. Arkham House...

 in an edition of approximately 4,000 copies in 2000

2000 in literature

The year 2000 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published...

. The book includes an introductory essay by Ruber before each story and about its author.

Ruber has drawn criticism from the horror/fantasy community for the hostility with which he introduces some authors within the volume - for instance, his accusation that H.P. Lovecraft "had a schizoid personality" and could be labelled "a genuine crackpot."

Contents

Arkham's Masters of Horror contains the following stories:

1. "Foreword"
2. "Introduction: The 'Un-Demonizing' of August Derleth'", by Peter Ruber
   Peter Ruber
   Peter Ruber is a United States author, editor and publisher. He has been an advertising executive, book publisher, and for the past two decades, a consultant and free-lance journalist for many leading business information technology magazines...
   
   
3. "H. P. Lovecraft" (essay)
4. Excerpts from the H. P. Lovecraft
   H. P. Lovecraft
   Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
   
    Letters to August Derleth
   August Derleth
   August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...
   
   
5. "Clark Ashton Smith" (essay)
6. "Prince Alcouz and the Magician", by Clark Ashton Smith
   Clark Ashton Smith
   Clark Ashton Smith was a self-educated American poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne...
   
   
7. "Donald Wandrei" (essay)
8. "Man-Hunt", by Donald Wandrei
   Donald Wandrei
   Donald Albert Wandrei was an American science fiction, fantasy and weird fiction writer, poet and editor. He wrote as Donald Wandrei. He was the older brother of science fiction writer and artist Howard Wandrei...
   
   
9. "Robert E. Howard" (essay)
10. "The Valley of the Lost", by Robert E. Howard
    Robert E. Howard
    Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
    
    
11. "Robert Bloch" (essay)
12. "The Bat is My Brother", by Robert Bloch
    Robert Bloch
    Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
    
    
13. "H. Russell Wakefield" (essay)
14. "The Latch-Key", by H. Russell Wakefield
    H. Russell Wakefield
    Herbert Russell Wakefield was an English short story writer, novelist, publisher, and civil servant chiefly remembered today for his ghost stories.-Life:...
    
    
15. "Carl Jacobi" (essay)
16. "Dyak Reward", by Carl Jacobi
    Carl Richard Jacobi
    Carl Richard Jacobi was an American author. He wrote short stories in the horror, fantasy, science fiction and crime genres for the pulp magazine market.-Biography:...
    
    
17. "Henry S. Whitehead" (essay)
18. "Sea-Tiger", by Henry S. Whitehead
    Henry S. Whitehead
    Rev. Henry St. Clair Whitehead was an American writer of horror fiction and fantasy.- Biography :Henry S. Whitehead was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey on March 5, 1882. He graduated from Harvard University in 1904. He led an active and worldly life, playing football at Harvard...
    
    
19. "Frank Belknap Long" (essay)
20. "The Dog-Eared God", by Frank Belknap Long
    Frank Belknap Long
    Frank Belknap Long was a prolific American writer of horror fiction, fantasy, science fiction, poetry, gothic romance, comic books, and non-fiction. Though his writing career spanned seven decades, he is best known for his horror and science fiction short stories, including early contributions to...
    
    
21. "David H. Keller" (essay)
22. "The Beautiful Lady", by David H. Keller
    David H. Keller
    David H. Keller was a writer for pulp magazines in the mid-twentieth century who wrote science fiction, fantasy and horror. He was the first psychiatrist to write for the genre, and was most often published as David H...
    
    
23. "E. Hoffman Price" (essay)
24. "Sweetheart from the Tomb", by E. Hoffmann Price
25. "Greye La Spina" (essay)
26. "Wolf of the Steppes", by Greye La Spina
    Greye La Spina
    Greye La Spina was an American writer who published over one hundred short stories, serials, novelettes, one-act plays and short stories....
    
    
27. "Arthur J. Burks" (essay)
28. "Rhythmic Formula", by Arthur J. Burks
    Arthur J. Burks
    Arthur J. Burks was an American writer and a Marine colonel.- Biography :Burks was born to a farming family in Waterville, Washington. He married Blanche Fidelia Lane on March 23, 1918 in Sacramento, California and was the father of four children: Phillip Charles, Wasle Carmen, Arline Mary and...
    
    
29. "Ray Douglas Bradbury" (essay)
30. "The Small Assassin", by Ray Bradbury
    Ray Bradbury
    Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
    
    
31. "Howard Wandrei" (essay)
32. "George Is All Right", by Howard Wandrei
    Howard Wandrei
    Howard Elmer Wandrei was a US artist and writer. He wrote over 200 stories that appeared in the magazines Weird Tales. Astounding, Esquire, Black Mask and others. He wrote under his own name and as by Robert Coley and H.W...
    
    
33. "Mary Elizabeth Counselman" (essay)
34. "Something Old", by Mary Elizabeth Counselman
    Mary Elizabeth Counselman
    Mary Elizabeth Counselman was an American writer of short stories and poetry.- Biography :Mary Elizabeth Counselman was born on November 19, 1911 in Birmingham, AL and began writing poetry as a child. She later moved to Gainesville, Georgia where her father was a faculty member at the Riverside...
    
    
35. "John Ramsey Campbell" (essay)
36. "Property of the Ring", by John Ramsey Campbell
    Ramsey Campbell
    John Ramsey Campbell is an English horror fiction author.Since he first came to prominence in the mid-1960s, critics have cited Campbell as one of the leading writers in his field: T. E. D. Klein has written that "Campbell reigns supreme in the field today", while S. T...
    
    
37. "Seabury Quinn" (essay)
38. "Bon Voyage, Michele", by Seabury Quinn
    Seabury Quinn
    Seabury Grandin Quinn was an American pulp magazine author, most famous for his stories of the occult detective Jules de Grandin, published in Weird Tales.-Biography:...
    
    
39. "Nelson Bond" (essay)
40. "The Master of Cotswold", by Nelson Bond
    Nelson S. Bond
    Nelson Slade Bond was an American author who wrote extensively for books, magazines, radio, television and the stage....
    
    
41. "Vincent Starrett" (essay)
42. "The Open Window", by Vincent Starrett
    Vincent Starrett
    Charles Vincent Emerson Starrett , known as Vincent Starrett, was an American writer and newspaperman.- Biography :...
    
    
43. "August Derleth & Mark Schorer" (essay)
44. "A Visitor from Outside", by August Derleth
    August Derleth
    August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...
    
     & Mark Schorer
    Mark Schorer
    Mark Schorer was an American writer, critic, and scholar born in Sauk City, Wisconsin.-Biography:Schorer earned an MA at Harvard and his Ph.D. in English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1936...