The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack Is Copyright © 2013 by Wild- Side Press LLC

Contents

A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER ...... 7 . .

THE MEGAPACK SERIES ...... 10

TRANSIENTS ...... 15

A LANTERN MAKER OF AI HANLO ...... 29

THE STORY OF A DADAR ...... 41 . .

REFUGEES FROM AN IMAGINARY COUNTRY ...... 65. .

THE SORCERER EVORAGDOU ...... 84 . .

THE MYSTERIES OF THE FACELESS KING ...... 100 . .

KING YVORIAN’S WAGER ...... 123 . .

THE SPIRIT OF THE BACK STAIRS ...... 143 . . THE OUTSIDE MAN . . .Sample ...... file ...... 158 SAVAGES ...... 168 . . .

ON THE LAST NIGHT OF THE FESTIVAL OF THE DEAD ...... 184

VANDIBAR NASHA IN THE COLLEGE OF SHADOWS . . . . . 205. .

ONE OF THE SECRET MASTERS ...... 229 . .

RUNNING TO CAMELOT ...... 244 . .

KVETCHULA ...... 259

KVETCHULA’S DAUGHTER ...... 271. . .

HOW IT ENDED ...... 287 . .

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DEAD WOMAN IN THE WORLD . . . . 298.

Contents | 2 THE EATER OF HOURS ...... 309. . .

FIGHTING THE ZEPPELIN GANG ...... 322 . .

THE MESSENGER ...... 334 . . .

THE LAST HERETIC ...... 347

THE WITCH OF THE WORLD’S END ...... 364. .

HOWLING IN THE DARK ...... 376

PEELING IT OFF ...... 388 . .

Sample file

Contents | 3 COPYRIGHT INFO

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “Transients” first appeared in Amazing Stories January 1987 . Copyright © 1986 by TSR, Inc . “A Lantern Maker of Ai Hanlo” first appeared in Amazing Sto- ries July 1984 . Copryight © 1984 by TSR, Inc . “The Story of a Dadar” first appeared in Amazing Stories June 1982 . Copyright © 1982 by Ultimate Publishing Co ., Inc . “Refugees from an Imaginary Country” first appeared in Inter- zone #116, February 1997 . Copyright © 1997 by Interzone . “The Sorcerer Evoragdou” first appeared in The Ultimate Witch edited by Byron Preiss and John Betancourt . Copyright © 1993 by Darrell Schweitzer . “The Mysteries of theSample Faceless King” file first appeared in Weird Tales #290, Spring 1988 . Copyright © 1987 by Terminus Publishing Co ., Inc . “King Yvorian’s Wager” first appeared in Weird Tales #295, Winter 1989/1990 . Copyright © 1989 BY Terminus Publishing Co ., Inc . “The Spirit of the Back Stairs” first appeared inFear April 1991 . Copyright © 1991 by Fear Ltd . and John Gilbert . “The Outside Man” first appeared in Narrow Houses edited by Peter Crowther . Copyright © 1992 by Darrell Schweitzer . “Savages” first appeared in Masques IV edited by J .N . William- son . Copyright © 1991 by Darrell Schweitzer .

COPYRIGHT INFO | 4 “On the Last Night of the Festival of the Dead” first appeared in Interzone #90, December 1994 . Copyright © 1994 by Interzone . “Vandibar Nasha in the College of Shadows” first appeared in Adventures of Sword and Sorcery #7, Summer 2000 . Copyright © 2000 by Double Star Press . “One of the Secret Masters” first appeared inDark Destiny: Un- seen Architects of the World edited by Edward Kramer . Copyright © 1994) by Darrell Schweitzer . “Running to Camelot” first appeared in Marion Zimmer Brad- ley’s Fantasy Magazine #40, Summer 1998 . Copyright © 1998 by the Marion Zimmer Bradley Living Trust . “Kvetchula” first appeared in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fan- tasy Magazine #36, Summer 1997 . Copyright © 1997 by the Marion Zimmer Bradley Living Trust . “Kvetchula’s Daughter” first appeared in Full Moon City edited by Darrell Schweitzer and Martin H . Greenberg . Copyright © 2010 by Darrell Schweitzer “How It Ended” first appeared in Realms of Fantasy August 2002 . Copyright © 2002 by Sovereign Media . “The Most Beautiful Dead Woman in the World” first appeared in Interzone #189, May-June 2003 . Copyright © 2003 by Interzone . “The Eater of Hours”Sample first appeared file in Inhuman #4, Summer 2009 . Copyright © 2009 by Darrell Schweitzer . “Fighting the Zeppelin Gang” first appeared in Postscripts #8 Autumn 2006 . Copyright © 2006 by Darrell Schweitzer . “The Messenger” first appeared inWeird Tales #347, November/ December 2007 . Copryight © 2007 by Wildside Press . “The Last Heretic” first appeared in The New and Perfect Man (Postscripts 24/25) edited by Peter Crowther and Nick Gevers . Copyright © 2011 by Darrell Schweitzer . “The Witch of the World’s End” first appeared in 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Wein- berg, and Martin H . Greenberg . Copyright © 1995 by Darrell Sch- weitzer .

COPYRIGHT INFO | 5 “Howling in the Dark” first appeared in Black Wings: Tales of Lovecraftian Horror, edited by S .T . Joshi . Copyright © 2010 by Darrell Schweitzer . “Peeling It Off” first appeared inBorderlands , edited by Thomas F . Monteleone . Copyright © 1990 by Darrell Schweitzer .

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Darrell Schweitzer is one of the best kept secrets in the field of the fantastic . He is a writer of amazing and otherworldly tales— sometimes in the vein of H .P . Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, or Robert E . Howard, but more often than not, distinctly his own . Sure- ly no one else could have written “Pennies from Hell,” or “Peeling It Off,” or “Refugees from an Imaginary Country,” or so many other memorable tales in this collection . He is a frequest guest at East Coast science fiction conventions. And he is a scholarly authority on innumerable obscure subjects . (Just ask him about 3rd century Roman coins . Go on . I dare you! Did I mention he is also a dealer in rare and antiquarian coins?) It’s hard to believe, but I first met him 36 years ago at Philcon, a science fiction convention in Philadelphia, where he had a dealer’s table . (Did I mention he is also a dealer in rare and antiquarian books?) He sold me dozens of back issues of science fiction maga- zines at bargain prices . (He didn’t remember me, of course, when we met again the followingSample year; but I filekept coming back and giving him my money anyway.) His knowledge of the field is encyclopedic, and he can recommend a book to almost anyone’s taste, no matter how obscure . When I was 19, I joined him as an assistant editor of Amazing Stories magazine, which was at the time edited from Philadelphia, under the leadership of George Scithers . I learned a fantastic amount of how a magazine should run from Darrell, who was never too busy to answer questions, explain the procedures our boss had in place, and hone my editorial skills . And he patiently read my own early manuscripts and commented on them (often to my dismay!) with a razor-sharp editorial eye .

A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER | 7