''Dark Visions'' is a horror fiction compilation, with three short stories by Stephen King, three by

Dan Simmons Dan Simmons (born April 4, 1948) is an American science fiction and horror writer. He is the author of the Hyperion Cantos and the Ilium/Olympos cycles, among other works which span the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, sometimes wi ...

and a novella by

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

. It was published by Orion on August 10, 1989. The collection was first published, with the same seven stories, under the title ''Night Visions 5'', by Dark Harvest on July 1, 1988. The book was also issued under the titles ''Dark Love'' and ''The Skin Trade''. Two of the stories by King, "Sneakers" and "Dedication", were later included in his 1993 anthology ''

Nightmares & Dreamscapes ''Nightmares & Dreamscapes'' is a short story collection by American author Stephen King, published in 1993. Stories Dedication King dedicated this collection of stories to Thomas Williams, a writing instructor who taught for many years at t ...

''. All three stories by Simmons were later included in his 1990 collection ''

Prayers to Broken Stones ''Prayers to Broken Stones'' is a short story collection by American author Dan Simmons. It includes 13 of his earlier works, along with an introduction by Harlan Ellison in which the latter relates how he "discovered" Dan Simmons at the Colora ...

''. Martin's ''The Skin Trade'' was later included in '' Quartet: Four Tales from the Crossroads'' (2001) and '' Dreamsongs: A RRetrospective'' (2003).

Stories

Stephen King

The Reploids "The Reploids" is a science fiction short story by American writer Stephen King. It was first published in the 1988 book '' Night Visions 5''. Plot summary The story takes place on 29 November 1989. A mysterious man named Edward Paladin shows ...

": Edward Paladin shows up in place of Johnny Carson on the ''

Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 2010� ...

'', while Carson is nowhere to be found. A subsequent investigation by detective Richard Cheyney finds strange items in Paladin's possession, hinting that he may not be from our reality: His passes for the studio are the wrong color, and he has a bright blue dollar bill with a picture of

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

on it. *" Sneakers": John keeps seeing a pair of old sneakers in the same toilet stall every time he enters the restroom. As time passes, flies build up around the sneakers, but no one else seems to know what is going on or even to notice anything. But he is certain that there is a ghost in the stall. *" Dedication": A black house maid working in a hotel cleans the room of an eccentric alcoholic writer who is a frequent guest there. The maid consumes some of the writer's semen, left on his sheets, as part of a possible black magic spell in the hope that it will pass talent and ability along to her unborn son.

Dan Simmons

*"Metastasis": A man suffers a near-death experience in a car crash on the way to visit dying relative. After his crash, he finds he has acquired the ability to see "cancer vampires", hideous creatures which are responsible for the spread of cancer in our world. *"Vanna Fucci Is Alive and Well and Living in Hell": The godless truth behind Brother Freddy's Hallelujah Breakfast Club. *"Iverson's Pits": Dealing with horrors from the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

George R. R. Martin

*''The Skin Trade'': Martin's

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely ...

novella won the

World Fantasy Award for Best Novella In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

in 1989, and was nominated for a

Bram Stoker Award The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing. History The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since ...

. In September 2013,

Avatar Press Avatar Press is an independent American comic book publisher founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois. Avatar Press is most notable for publishing Bad girl art, bad girl comics, such as ''Faust (Avatar Press), Fau ...

began publishing a four-issue ''Skin Trade''

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series, written by Martin and Daniel Abraham, with illustrated color covers and interiors by Mike Wolfer; it was completed in December of that year, followed by a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

collected hardcover volume. In October 2013,

WSFA Press The Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) is the oldest science fiction club in the Washington, D.C. area. It is also one of the oldest science fiction clubs, founded in 1947 by seven fans who met at that year's Worldcon in Philadelphia, the ...

published ''The Skin Trade'' in both a standard hardcover and a 500-copy signed and numbered limited edition. ''The Skin Trade'' has been optioned for film and television by Mike the Pike Productions.Werewolves Running The Skin Trade
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References

{{George R. R. Martin 1988 anthologies American anthologies Horror anthologies