Besides, Elastic Press anthologies display a refreshing originality in the choice of themes to be developed, now a mysterious word generated by a typing error (‘The Alsiso Project’), now the complex and fascinating subject of numbers, as in the present book.

But when an editor assembles a fiction anthology by calling for submissions, I guess he has to make the best of what he gets and, inevitably, once selected what seems to be the most accomplished material, he has to resign himself to the fact that also some second-rate stories must be included. Which explains why, while reading this book, I had the feeling of riding a rollercoaster, one moment enjoying top-notch fiction and after a few pages crashing down into triviality and dullness.

Let me stick, then, to what is worth mentioning, starting out with the opening story ‘Approaching Zero’ by newcomer John Lucas, a cute nightmare where the world gets progressively obsessed with the need of getting rid of anything not wholly indispensable.

In ‘Where None is the Number’ Joel Lane describes the continuous downfall towards nothingness by a man who, after accidentally winning the lottery, deludes himself into thinking he is a successful person.

In Jeff Gardiner's ‘351073’ numerology becomes the life reason to the daughter of a distressed clergyman, whereas in Eric Shapiro's enjoyable story ‘3:21’ a man is fixated with the numbers reproducing the time of his wife's death.

Neil Williamson's ‘The One Millionth Smile’ is an excellent, moving tale about family matters, a book where the days of every relative's life are numbered, and the love that makes you surrender your own life for the sake of your children.

Mark Patrick Lynch contributes with ‘Breach of Contract, Clause 6A,’ an offbeat, ingenuous story describing a very peculiar job which every day forces a man to understand and sort out the contents of a strange briefcase.

‘Dial 1-800-2-to-Live’ by Donald Pulker is a compelling, brief parable about the impersonal, cruel nature of modern - and sometimes deceptive - technology. Phil Locascio's ‘The Square Root of 2,’ a captivating tale by one of the finest writers of dark fantasy, portrays a man pursuing his obsession of order, symmetry and numerical perfection.

In Sam Hayes' ‘Sixty Thousand Pieces of Glass,’ an unsettling, superlative piece of quiet horror with an undercurrent of deep sadness, numbers become the silent witnesses of a love tragedy. Marion Arnott's ‘When We Were Five’ a tale set in Soviet Russia is probably a good story, provided you are able to follow the fragmentary, confusing plot. I didn't, so I'll refrain from passing judgement.

All in all the anthology provides some good reading, although alternating with moments of irritation and boredom. I have the distinct feeling, however, that the enormous potential offered by the intriguing subject of numbers and of their influence on human life has not been fully explored by most of the contributors to this book. A ‘Book of Numbers Vol.2’ anyone?

Mario Guslandi was born and raised in Milan, Italy, where he’s currently living. He became addicted to horror and supernatural fiction more than twenty years ago, after accidentally reading a reprint anthology of stories by MR James, JS Le Fanu, HP Lovecraft and A Machen. Since then his collection of horror books has expanded to the point of requiring continuous addictions of new shelves to his library, in order to avoid the collapse of the whole structure. Most likely the only Italian who regularly reads (and reviews) dark fiction in English, he’s always tempted to hide his true identity under feigned English or american pen-names, just for the fun of it, but then he keeps forgetting to do that.

© 2005 Laura Hird All rights reserved.