Don't let the name fool you: these are *not* the best stories. Maybe the best unpublished stories that Greenberg read, but by no means the 'best of all time'. Child of an Ancient City was my favorite of all of them. It's something to pick up and read when you can't find anything better, but I don't think I'd go out of my way to buy it. I think the fancy cover is probably the thing about it that would best attract people. 2.5 out of 5 ideas in The Cookie Lady that were ripped off from a Gummi Bears episode. ( )

Excellent selection of stories, with vampires portrayed as villain, hero, terrifying, sympathetic, or simply odd. Wide variety of styles, none "ticky-tacky": the plot and character development are never simplistic - although in a couple of the stories they barely miss being so. Some of the endings are diverted from the story itself to make a philosophical point, occasionally trite but never wholly inappropriate or uninteresting. Of the 15 stories, I greatly enjoyed 12 and was deeply moved by one.

A couple of the vampires barely fit the definition - by virtue of only a single vampiric trait, such as drinking human blood or reproducing by conversion of humans. I would have arranged the mix differently - for example, I the final story makes for a weak finale for the anthology; the next-to-last would have been better in that position.

The overall quality of story selection and writing was such that I stayed up well past my bedtime reading - and woke in the middle of the night to read some more.