For more than a decade, writer/editor Grant has collected and published dark fantasy and horror in the "Shadows" anthologies. In this, the final volume, he amasses 36 original tales by the genre's old, new, and occasional contributors. From Tanith Lee's eerie tale of an encounter with the enigmatic siren of the sea ("The Mermaid") to Michael Bishop's chilling story of a love affair based on lies ("Thirteen Lies About Hummingbirds"), the stories in this collection attest to the vigor of the literature of the macabre.