(1983), “The Dancing Foot” (1986), and “The
Trail of the Chromium Bandits” (1989). He has
also edited two major anthologies: 999 (1999) is
horror fiction, and Flights(2004) is fantasy.
“Satan and Sam Shay”Robert Arthur(1942)
One of the most underrated authors from the pulp
era was Robert Arthur, whose clever tales of horror
and fantasy had a peculiarly American flavor and
whose gift for narrative has ensured his lasting rep-
utation in the field. Perhaps his most famous story
is this clever account of an encounter with Satan
and the consequences of beating the devil at his
own game. Sam Shay is a likeable man, generous,
good hearted, and thoughtful, but he has a major
shortcoming, at least in the eyes of Shannon Mal-
loy, who hoped to marry him. Sam is a gambler, a
fairly successful one who takes chances for the joy
of it rather than just to win. Not a day passes that
he fails to place at least one bet, and his success is
such that he has no need to actually work for a liv-
ing. Unfortunately, Shannon objects to gambling,
and when she finally abandons all hope of reform-
ing him, she returns his ring and resigns herself to
finding someone else to marry.
Sam’s good fortune continues. His skill at
beating the odds is such that several of his friends
have insisted that he could place three bets with
the devil and win them all, and Satan, intrigued,
shows up to find out if it is true. Sam quickly de-
feats him through some clever word play, and the
devil, infuriated, vows that all the forces of hell
will be invoked to prevent him from ever winning
another bet in his life. Although Sam thinks it was
all just a dream when he wakens the following
morning, events prove that it was not, as the most
unlikely series of circumstances arise to prevent
him from winning even the safest of wagers.
There ensues a struggle between Sam and the
legions of hell. Sam constructs complex, multilay-
ered, and contradictory bets, all of which fail. The
strain is considerable on the other side, however,
and so many of the devil’s minions are occupied
with the task that the general level of temptation
in the world drops noticeably. Even worse, the
often miraculous interventions required to ensure
Sam loses have generated a religious revival. Satan
stubbornly refuses to revoke his vow, but eventu-
ally Sam figures out how to profit from it, opening
an insurance company and placing bets against his
clients, thereby ensuring that they will never need
to collect. Shannon agrees to marry him, although
only after a bit of connivance on Sam’s part, and
everyone except the devil lives happily ever after.
“Satan and Sam Shay” is a clever story, succinctly
told, and has become an acknowledged classic of
its type.Saul, John(1942– )
John Saul’s first horror novel appeared in the same
year as THE SHINING(1977) by Stephen KING, and
his subsequent work has often been compared to
that of King and Dean R. KOONTZ. Although Saul
is generally considered the least original and inter-
esting of the three, he has enjoyed best-seller sta-
tus for many of his books. He almost always
provides a satisfying story, although from time to
time his plots do not hold up under close scrutiny.
His first novel was Suffer the Children(1977), the
story of a ghostly child who returns after a century,
influencing living children and driving them to
commit horrible acts. The wrathful child ghost
proved to be a common device in Saul’s early nov-
els. His follow-up was Punish the Sinners(1978), in
which another secret from the past strikes among
the students at a girls’ school, driving several of
them to commit suicide. This proved to be the
most suspenseful and convincing of Saul’s novels
until the 1990s. His third, Cry for the Strangers
(1979), is only marginally horror and deals with a
town so hostile to outsiders that they frequently
end up dead. Is it the townspeople or a supernatu-
ral force?
Comes the Blind Fury(1980) revisits the con-
cept of the ghost child. This time the angry spirit
can assume physical form and pretends to be a visi-
tor, slowly insinuating herself into the community
in order to wreak vengeance for her own acciden-
tal death years earlier. Saul’s young ghosts had
used children to strike at adults, but in his next,
When the Wind Blows(1981), the angry spirit kills
her childish allies as well as their parents. The God
Project(1982, also published as All Fall Down) in-
volves children once again, but this time SaulSaul, John 307