The B.M. Bower Megapack
The E.F. Benson Megapack
The Second E.F. Benson Megapack
The Algernon Blackwood Megapack
The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack
The Max Brand Megapack
The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack
The Fredric Brown Megapack
The Wilkie Collins Megapack
The Ray Cummings Megapack
The Guy de Maupassant Megapack
The Philip K. Dick Megapack
The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack
The Jacques Futrelle Megapack
The Randall Garrett Megapack
The Second Randall Garrett Megapack
The Anna Katharine Green Megapack
The Zane Grey Megapack
The Edmond Hamilton Megapack
The Dashiell Hammett Megapack
The C.J. Henderson Megapack
The M.R. James Megapack
The Selma Lagerlof Megapack
The Murray Leinster Megapack
The Second Murray Leinster Megapack
The Arthur Machen Megapack**
The George Barr McCutcheon Megapack
The Talbot Mundy Megapack
The Andre Norton Megapack
The H. Beam Piper Megapack
The Mack Reynolds Megapack
The Rafael Sabatini Megapack
The Saki Megapack
The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack
The Robert Sheckley Megapack
* Not available in the United States
** Not available in the European Union
OTHER COLLECTIONS YOU MAY ENJOY
The Great Book of Wonder, by Lord Dunsany (it should have been called “The Lord Dunsany Megapack”)
The Wildside Book of Fantasy
The Wildside Book of Science Fiction
Yondering: The First Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
To the Stars—And Beyond! The Second Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
Once Upon a Future: The Third Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
Whodunit?—The First Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories
More Whodunits—The Second Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories
X is for Xmas: Christmas Mysteries
AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION
Hello, everyone—
C.J. Henderson here.
First off, thanks for making this fine purchase. I’m going to be doing my best not to disappoint anyone.
When you’re asked to pick 25 stories that might give people a good idea of what you’re all about, it can be quite daunting. I’ve been a published author for over thirty-five years. There are hundreds and hundreds of stories to choose from and, yes, it’s true, it really is like trying to pick a favorite from out of all your children.
There are some stories of mine that are—for lack of a better term—considered my classics. I’m not that full of myself. Honest. I’m just trying to explain my thought process here. What I’m saying is, I didn’t want to stick stories in here that everyone has seen. After all, I wasn’t asked to put together a “best of” really, but more of an “introduction to” kind of package.
So with that notion in mind, yes, okay—sure—I did put in a couple of stories that have seen print numerous times because, well, ya gotta have some of those—right? But then, after that, I tried to get the most rounded lineup I could together. There are a lot of hardboiled detectives—supernatural investigators and just ordinary joes—because a large part of my canon is made up of such tales.
But, after that, anything goes.
I have grabbed some of my science fiction, sword & sorcery, comedy (romantic and non-) and just plain stories to fill in around all the tough guys. No trunk stories allowed. I’m not going to waste anyone’s time with things I couldn’t sell (actually, to be a little full of myself, I don’t have any stories I couldn’t sell [hey, I’m allowed to brag a little…right? {oh, they tell me I can’t. Okay, back to business}]).
So, what you have here are the 25 tales I and a lot of Facebook friends chose for this volume. The first one to appear was the hands-down fan favorite. And, since it’s always been one of my favorites I thought, what the hell? And, since all of you out there bought this book to read the fiction, not to listen to me dodder along, perhaps I should shut up and allow you to get on with things.
Thanks again for your purchase. If you want to ask questions or make comments about anything you read here, feel free to drop in at www.cjhenderson.com. I answer all my mail, and I love to hear what people have to say about my work.
And now…on with the show.
INTRODUTION TO “HOPE”
To start us out, I thought, let’s go right to the core of what a C.J. Henderson story is all about. This story is one of my shortest, but I think it should get across what I’m all about as a story-teller.
HOPE
“People will not readily bear pain unless there is hope.”
—Michael Edwards
Most people did not have the imagination to see anything other than flames. True, as time spun along endlessly they incorporated their own variations on the eternal theme—rivers of lava, belching pits that hurled smoke and magma and burning oils into the air, fiery rains, volcanic animals that vomited fire—human beings could be quite clever. But, the grand majority of the damned persisted in seeing their personal eternities in simplistic terms of licking red tongues that merely charred their flesh and consumed their vitals endlessly. For the keepers of the abyss, most of their charges did not offer much in the way of entertainment.
The man currently wandering the western heights of the Stygian depths was different, however. Throughout his centuries within
