A SLIVER OF GLASS AND OTHER UNCOMMON TALES

Eleven ``horror'' tales that are not as uncommon as the title would have it. Mazer (Going Where I'm Coming From, 1995, etc.) retells the King Midas story in ``The Golden Touch,'' with a new ending that's not much of an improvement over the original. A version of the tale of the princess and the pea, ``The Perfect Bed,'' lacks the pesky pea and this time, the bed is too comfortable. ``Swan Sister'' is another familiar tale about the girl whose seven brothers turn into swans each evening and fly away for the night. ``Thin,'' about a boy who is always ravenously hungry, is pretty thin as a story, and the tale that gives rise to the book's title, ``Glass Heart,'' is nearly incomprehensible—a good idea that is left unfinished. ``Sleeping Beau,'' about a boy in bed forever, is also an intriguing premise that ends with a whimper. A few stories rise above general mediocrity: ``Hello, Darling'' is a creepy piece with dark philosophical underpinnings, ``Call Me Sometime'' is an unsettling tale of triple identity, and ``Stuck'' is a neat little chiller about a boy between two worlds who is afraid to escape into either of them. An uneven collection, with some eerie high points. (Fiction. 9-11)