Book excerpt: The stories in this collection deal with apparitions of various sorts, five featuring ghosts produced by the troubled consciences of their protagonists, and three imagining harassments of a more tangible -- and hence more brutal -- stripe. One or two of the characters obtain some benefit from the apparitions they experience, reflecting the supposition that it is sometimes good for us to feel guilt, shame, and remorse. Included are: "Seer," "O Goat-Foot God of Arcady!," "Chacun sa goule," "The Haunted Bookshop," "Beyond Bliss," "All You Inherit," "The Will," "Danny's Inferno," "Can't Live Without You," "Community Service," and "Denial." These horror and fantasy tales have never before been collected into book form.