by Neil Gaiman
“You may not like it,” Lady Neville said. She felt very calm, though she could hear her old heart pounding in her chest and feel it in the tips of her fingers. “You may not like it after a while,” she said.
“Perhaps not.” Death’s smile was very close to her now. “I will not be as beautiful as I am, and perhaps people will not love me as much as they do now. But I will be human for a while, and at last I will die. I have done my penance.”
“What penance?” the old woman asked the beautiful girl. “What was it you did? Why did you become Death?”
“I don’t remember,” said the Lady Death. “And you too will forget in time.” She was smaller than Lady Neville, and so much younger. In her white dress she might have been the daughter that Lady Neville had never had, who would have been with her always and held her mother’s head lightly in the crook of her arm when she felt old and sad. Now she lifted her head to kiss Lady Neville’s cheek, and as she did so she whispered in her ear, “You will still be beautiful when I am ugly. Be kind to me then.”
Behind Lady Neville the handsome gentlemen and ladies murmured and sighed, fluttering like moths in their evening dress, in their elegant gowns. “I promise,” she said, and then she pursed her dry lips to kiss the soft, sweet-smelling cheek of the young Lady Death.
CREATURE CONTRIBUTORS
BEAGLE, Peter S. (1939– ) is the author of The Last Unicorn, and more than twenty-five other books, both fiction and nonfiction. He’s also a poet, screenwriter, and songwriter, and the winner of a World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2011.
“Come Lady Death” was first published in 1963.
BOUCHER, Anthony, aka William Anthony Parker White, aka H. H. Holmes, (1911–1968) was a science-fiction author, respected literary critic, and writer of mysteries and short stories. He was also the first English translator of Jorge Luis Borges, the author of numerous radio plays, and a founder of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
“The Compleat Werewolf” was first published in 1942.
DAVIDSON, Avram (1923–1993) was the author of dozens of short stories and novels. He wrote everything from space opera to science fiction to detective novels, along with a series of alternate history novels about the medieval magician Vergil Magus (derived from Virgil).
“Or All the Seas with Oysters” was first published in 1958.
DELANY, Samuel R. (1942– ) is an author, professor, and critic. He’s written a number of award-winning books in a variety of genres, including science fiction, fantasy, memoir, and criticism, the first (The Jewels of Aptor) published when he was twenty. He is a member of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
“Prismatica” was first published in 1977.
GAIMAN, Neil (1960– ) is the author of many novels and short stories, including Coraline and The Graveyard Book, as well as screenplays, graphic novels, songs, and television scripts. He’s the winner of a Newbery Medal.
“Sunbird” was first published in 2005.
HEADLEY, Maria Dahvana (1977– ) is the author of The Year of Yes: A Memoir, and the historical fantasy novel, Queen of Kings, as well as many short stories and plays.
“Moveable Beast” was first published in this anthology.
HOPKINSON, Nalo (1960– ) is the World Fantasy Award–winning author of four novels (Brown Girl in the Ring, Midnight Robber, The Salt Roads, The New Moon’s Arms), a short-story collection (Skin Folk), and editor of several anthologies.
“The Smile on the Face” was first published in 2004.
JONES, Diana Wynne (1934–2011) was the British science-fiction and fantasy author responsible for, among many other things, the novel Howl’s Moving Castle and the Chrestomanci series. She won a World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2011.
“The Sage of Theare” was first published in 1982.
KURASHIGE, Megan (1983– ) is a professional dancer and writer. She and her sister, Shannon Kurashige, collaborate on wild and quixotic dance projects under the name Sharp & Fine in San Francisco. Her fiction and poetry have previously appeared in Sybil’s Garage, Strange Horizons, and Electric Velocipede.
“The Manticore, The Mermaid, and Me” was first published in this anthology.
NESBIT, E., aka Edith Nesbit, (1858–1924) was the author of more than sixty books for children, most famously The Railway Children, along with many short stories and poems.
“The Cockatoucan” was first published in 1900.
NIVEN, Larry (1938– ) is the author of many works of science fiction and fantasy, including the novel Ringworld. He’s also a humorist, particularly known for the Superman spoof “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex.”
“Flight of the Horse” was first published in 1969, under the variant title “Get a Horse!”
OKORAFOR, Nnedi (1974– ) is the author of three young-adult novels, two children’s books, and the 2010 World Fantasy Award–winning novel Who Fears Death.
“Ozioma the Wicked” was first published in this anthology.
SAKI, aka H. H. Munro, (1870–1916) was born in British Burma (now Myanmar), and worked in England for most of his life. He wrote political sketches, plays, a novel, and a quantity of short stories, many of which deal with the notion of feral adolescence.
“Gabriel-Ernest,” Saki’s werewolf plus Lost Boy tale, was first published in 1909.
STOCKTON, Frank R. (1834–1902) was an American writer and humorist particularly known for his children’s fairy tales. He was, for years, a wood engraver, and then a newspaper journalist. Interestingly, his fable The Lady or the Tiger—neither fairy tale nor humorous, is his most famous work and a classroom staple.
“The Griffin and the Minor Canon” was first published in 1885.
WILSON, Gahan (1930– ) is an American author, cartoonist, and illustrator best known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy scenarios. His work has been seen in publications ranging from The New Yorker to National Lampoon.
was first published in 1972.
YU, E. Lily (1990– ) was born in Oregon and raised in New Jersey. Her stories have appeared in Kenyon Review Online, Clarkesworld, and The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year. She received the 2012 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.
“The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees” was first published in 2011.
CREATURE ILLUSTRATOR
MORROW-CRIBBS, Briony (1982– ) is a fine artist who has also illustrated two New York Times bestsellers: Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities and Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon’s Army and Other Diabolical Insects. Currently Briony teaches etching at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
www.brionymorrow-cribbs.com
ABOUT THE EDITOR
NEIL GAIMAN
is the author of The Graveyard Book, which is the only novel to be awarded both the Newbery and Carnegie Medals. He is also the winner of the Nebula and Hugo Awards. You can visit him online at www.mousecircus.com.
826DC
is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students with their creative and expository writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Its storefront, the Museum of Unnatural History, showcases some of the rarest wonders of the world. You can visit them online at www.826dc.org.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
CREDITS
Cover art and handlettering by Iacopo Bruno
COPYRIGHT
“Inksplot” copyright © Gahan Wilson, first published in Again, Dangerous Visions, 1972.
“The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees” © E. Lily Yu, 2011.
“Ozioma the Wicked” copyright © Nnedi Okorafor.
“Sunbird” copyright © 2006 by Neil Gaiman. First appeared in Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders, 2006.
“The Sage of Theare” © 1982 Diana Wynne Jones, first published in Hecate’s Cauldron, by Daw, 1982.
�
�Moveable Beast” copyright © Maria Dahvana Headley, 2012.
“The Flight of the Horse” © 1969, 1999 by Larry Niven.
PRISMATICA Copyright © 1977 by Mercury Press, Inc. for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction; renewed Copyright © 2004 by Samuel R. Delany. Used by permission of the author and Henry Morrison, Inc., his agents.
“The Manticore, the Mermaid, and Me” copyright © Megan Kurashige.
“The Compleat Werewolf” Copyright © 1942 by Anthony Boucher. First appeared in Unknown Worlds, published by Street & Smith Publications, Inc. Now appears in Unnatural Creatures. Reprinted by permissions of Curtis Brown, Ltd.
“The Smile on the Face” copyright © Nalo Hopkinson.
“Or All the Seas with Oysters” Originally published in GALAXY May 1958. Copyright © 1958 by Galaxy Publishing Corporation. Reprinted by arrangement with Owlswick Literary Agency, on behalf of the Estate of Avram Davidson.
“Come Lady Death” copyright © 1963 by Peter S. Beagle; copyright renewed 1991 by Peter S. Beagle. First appeared in Atlantic, September 1963. Used by permission of Avicenna Development Corporation.
Interior illustrations copyright © Briony Morrow-Cribbs.
UNNATURAL CREATURES
Collection copyright © 2013 by Neil Gaiman
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ISBN: 978-0-06-223629-6 (trade bdg.)
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FIRST EDITION
EPub Edition © APRIL 2013 ISBN: 9780062236319
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