The Summer, 1998 issue of WEIRD TALES presents 9 great fantasy & horror stories, plus the usual features and poems. A strong issue, with the following stories: FLOWER WATER, by Tanith Lee THE RENFIELDS, by Christopher Lee Walters THE GAME, by Melanie Tem ON THE LAST NIGHT OF THE FESTIVAL OF THE DEAD, by Darrell Schweitzer BEDDY-BYE, by F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre TO FAST IN FIRES, by Charles D. Edkert RING RING! by Seth Hill STEPMOTHER, by Valerie J. Friereich THE BIBLE IN BLOOD, by Ian Watson

Zsallia Marieko is a solitary immortal, very much the pagan barbarian at heart, but tempered by her centuries amongst a growing Christian influence in Western Europe. Her tale is by turns pathetic, endearing, unnerving and horrifying as the reader witnesses her climb from nameless slave to terrifying goddess, then her plunge into murderous insanity until she emerges humbled and remade- all this in just her first 1500 years. Concomitant with that tale is the modern narrative where Zsallia is forced to confront what it means to cease living outside society and join the world around her, to take up the benefits and responsibilities of living openly and asking people to simply accept who and what she is.

The bigger they are… When Skye Fargo foils a band of pirates from bushwhacking a cargo boat in east Texas, he’s rewarded with a fortune in trouble. There are two rival logging companies fighting for the big trees—and the big profits. But Red Mike McShane and his bayou brigands are only attacking lumber deliveries on one side. Now, the Trailsman has to locate the swamp snake’s lair—and do some clear-cutting of his own…

The habits of the lion and the elephant, with anecdotes of their pursuit, mainly in South Africa.