Because time isn’t always kind: economic reviews in a world full of waste!

When a book like NAUGHTY SPANKING STORIES FROM A TO Z, VOLUME 2 comes across my desk, I have to think, “Hey, everyone’s got a fetish. This just isn’t mine.” But for those who quiver at the thought of a paddle slapping their bare buttocks, I suppose this heavily niched anthology is right up their alley (no pun intended). Editor Rachel Kramer Bussel has organized this collection of 26 tails tales (if you don’t count the four “bonus stories” at the end) into alphabetical order, although they’re rather interchangeable. Each follows a strict code of sexual fantasy: 1) Someone gets spanked. 2) Someone gets wet. And that alone pretty much provides both the setup and the climax (literally). Thumb through this one at random and you may find a tale of reddened asscheeks between a married couple, a lesbian couple or a stripper and her clientele. Some are funny, on purpose, and some just accidental.

Edited by Robert J. Randisi, the anthology LONE STAR LAW gives major props to the Texas Rangers, and it’s completely WALKER-free. Boasting a dozen yarns from top Western writers like Elmer Kelton and James Reasoner, it begins with its only reprint: the quasi-mystery “A Job for a Ranger” by Louis L’Amour. Much of the other 11 pieces follow a standard formulaic course, but a couple of contributors realize that gunfights can be secondary to telling a compelling story. In that group are Ed Gorman, exploring guilt and a cursed weapon in “Dead Man’s Gun,” and Marcus Galloway, whose lovestruck protagonist gives chase to Bonnie and Clyde in “One Hundred and Two Days.” All in all, LONE STAR LAW makes about half its shots.

Tor reprints the late Avram Davidson’s ADVENTURES IN UNHISTORY: CONJECTURES ON THE FACTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF SEVERAL ANCIENT LEGENDS, a 1993 work in which the author examined, debunked and made considerable fun of a host of popular myths, from Sindbad the Sailor and sexy mermaids to werewolves and woolly mammoths. With lengthy paragraphs, lots of ellipses and prodigious footnotes, it’s a little too dense to digest all at once, but those who like fantasy with a touch of the professorial and a heap of the satiric should enjoy these offbeat and admittedly unique mini-lectures. They’re certainly good-humored, even when not always all that good.

I simply can’t get enough of Steve Niles’ comics. He takes well-worn conventions – and even characters – of the horror genre and completely turns them on their disembodied head. STEVE NILES’ CELLAR OF NASTINESS shows you how and why, collecting three of his celebrated one-shots, all from 2005. Its centerpiece is HYDE, his version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, and it’s a modern reworking rather than a retelling. For one thing, the Jekyll of this tale is actually two brothers, both of whom are pharmaceutical researchers; Nick Stakal provides art that demands your attention. In line with his CRYPTICS one-shot, the kiddie-oriented A VERY BIG MONSTER SHOW is sly, satirical and even Bradburyian in bent, with a Butch Addams-esque protagonist. And finally, HORRORCIDE spins four E.C.-style terror tales to varying degrees of success (mostly high), with art from Ben Templesmith, Chee and Josh Medors. Essential for Niles fans. –Rod Lott

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