This is an irresistable title that made me snap this book up at the recent Haunted America conference in Decatur (IL). Prolific editor Martin H. Greenberg has produced 16 tales of horror that use the American Presidency as a setting. A can’t miss theme and this book delivers.

Not every story is a gem, but that’s okay. No collection is perfect, not every story appeals to everyone, and many of the stories are outstanding.

The authors include Graham Masterton, Brian Hodge, Max Allan Collins and Barbara Collins, Bill Crider, Robert J. Randisi, and others.

The stories include real presidents like Harry Truman and the White House ghost (one specific ghost, the White House reportedly has 16 different hauntings), Abraham Lincoln who becomes the target of a voodoo houngan in one tale and of a cloning experiment in another, an alternate theory on the John F. Kennedy assassination which is more sensible than some that are out there, William McKinley, Warren G. Harding, William Henry Harrison, and even Thomas Jefferson.

There are the fictional presidents of the other stories with plot elements that rely on Faustian deals, tragic obligations, murder, and more. Throw in a few for laughs involving offended monsters in one case and vegetable contamination in another.

Definitely worth reading if you come across it. The out-of-print book is also available at Half.com and Amazon, new or used.