Lawrence Block’s latest theme anthology from Subterranean Press just arrived. All the stories involve games. Patti Abbott’s “Seek and You will Find” concerns a menacing twist on that classic game. “Paladin” by Tod Goldberg takes Dungeons and Dragons to a murderous level.
My favorite story in Playing Games is “Red Billie” by Joe R. Lansdale. An unusual girl moves into town and challenges the boys to a game of marbles. Needless to say, she beats them all. But, more than marbles are at stake as Lansdale slowly reveals who the girl really is.
Robert Silverberg’s “A Tip on a Turtle” features a man who wins every bet. “Chance” by Wallace Stroby involves Russian Roulette. And Lawrence Block closes the anthology with a cunning variation on a classic story with “Strangers on a Handball Court.” I’ve enjoyed all of Lawrence Block’s anthologies. Playing Games is one of his best. GRADE: B+
Table of Contents:
- Shut Up and Deal (an introduction) — Lawrence Block — 9
- Seek and You Will Find — Patricia Abbott — 13
- Game Over — Charles Ardai — 31
- King’s Row — S. A. Cosby — 49
- The Babysitter — Jeffery Deaver — 59
- Paladin — Tod Goldberg — 91
- Psychiatrist — Jane Hamilton — 117
- Knock — James D. F. Hannah — 133
- With the Right Bait — Gar Anthony Haywood — 147
- Two Norths, Two Souths, Two East, Two West, Two Reds, Two Whites, and Two Greens — Elaine Kagan — 163
- A Crokinole Tale — Avri Klemer — 189
- Red Billie — Joe R. Lansdale — 203
- Lightning Round — Warren Moore — 225
- The Puzzle Master — David Morrell — 237
- Challenge Cube — Kevin Quigley — 249
- A Tip on a Turtle — Robert Silverberg — 267
- Chance — Wallace Stroby — 295
- Strangers on a Handball Court — Lawrence Block — 307
- ABOUT OUR CONTRIBUTORS — 321
I bought that last week. As soon as I finish the Lafferty and Christie collections I’m reading, this will be next. I always enjoy Block’s anthologies.
Jeff, I’m a fan of Lawrence Block’s works and his anthologies.
I look forward to reading this…I’ll have to Go Look, but would guess the Silverberg is a reprint?
Ah, yes. From the FMI:
A Tip on a Turtle, (nv) Amazing Stories May 1991
The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Ninth Annual Collection ed. Gardner Dozois, St. Martin’s, 1992
We Are for the Dark: 1987-90, Subterranean Press, 2012
Todd, nice job with that research! I only had the year and you had AMAZING and the year!
In this case, William Contento and Phil Stephensen-Payne’s research and posting to the rescue!
Here’s the first publication source for the Block:
Strangers on a Handball Court, (ss) [i]Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine[/i] January 1977
Strangers on a Handball Court, (ss) ,Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine January 1977
–how quickly the memory fades, with the Little Things, such as italics indicators!
Todd, I loved “Strangers on a Handball Court”! I hadn’t read it before despite my many collections of Lawrence Bloch stories.
Todd, all the stories are copyrighted 2023 except for Silverberg’s story–copyright 1991–and Block’s story–copyright 1977.
George, you may not’ve read it elsewhere as it might not’ve been reprinted in a Block collection as yet, though he did offer it as an electronic chapbook recently, with this posted on Fantastic Fiction:
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/lawrence-block/strangers-on-a-handball-court.htm
“Strangers on a Handball Court” was written sometime in 1975-6; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine was the first publication to see it, and they bought it straight off and ran it in the January 1977 issue. So the story must have been during my wanderjahr, a year or so when I drove from New York to Los Angeles, taking six months or so to get there, then stayed there for another six months, and then drove back. I always think of the first eight months of that year as an unproductive time, because I kept starting books and throwing them away when they went flat. But I did write a batch of short stories during that lost time, and they all found homes.
“Strangers on a Handball Court” drew inspiration from the Hitchcock film, “Strangers on a Train,” itself based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel. (I’ve never read the novel, and probably won’t; I’ll remember the film forever if only for the shot at the tennis match, with Farley Granger’s gaze never wavering while everyone else in the stadium follows the ball back and forth.) The situation in my story is a little more complicated, and the players have their agendas.
The story periodically draws interest from young filmmakers, and I’ve sold non-exclusive film rights a couple of times. It seems to me that at least one short film was made from this story, and I seem to recall that the sport morphed from handball to something else, but don’t press me for the details.
OTOH, if you’re interested in basing a film on any of my short fiction, feel free to get in touch…