Steve Bryant lurks on the dark side of magic. Deep in Little Egypt, in the remote region of southern Illinois where the towns in the mist bear the ancient names of Thebes and Karnak and Cairo, Steve grew up on the drive-in horror movies of the 1950s, on the gothic cartoons of Charles Addams, and on the ghost stories he and his friends used to tell on dark bus rides to high school football games. If a boy such as that grew up to do card tricks, what would he do Here in 230 haunted pages lie the answers-part home spook shows developed for children and their parents, part ghoulish Halloween extravaganzas developed for adult performance in a seedy river town bar. If you've ever wanted to host a séance, put on a midnight ghost show, or haunt a house, you need this macabre compendium of the world's scariest magic tricks. Be afraid, be very afraid ...

A brief look at the contents ...

Introduction: Invitation to a Ghost Show. A review of fifty years on the dark side of magic.

Chapter 1: Haunted Deck. Thirteen scary card tricks. If you have access to the October 2008 issue of MUM, take a sneak peek: one of them appears there.

Chapter 2: Future Shocks. Two spooky approaches to telling fortunes, quite accurately. Be warned: not all futures are rosy.

Chapter 3: Parlor Tricks. Six parlor tricks, including a spirit slate routine that is the eeriest item in this or any book. No card tricks in this chapter.

Chapter 4: Apparitions. Four ghost materializations, a dark "Pseudo Psychometry," and an in-depth look at Nelson's Phantom Ghost Projector.

Chapter 5: Cabarets de la Mort. Two spirit cabinet routines, one "normal" and one titled "The World's Sexiest Spirit Cabinet Routine." Fun to do!

Chapter 6: Grand Illusions. Ten more stand-up items. Guaranteed screams.

Chapter 7: The Others. Sixteen spooky takes on tricks belonging to others. Some you have to go to the original source, some are complete in this book.

Chapter 8: Let's Put on a (Ghost) Show. Sample programs based on the material in the first seven chapters.

Addendum: The Black Arts Book List. A list of recommended reading.