The Year's Best Horror Stories 19 (1991) edited by Karl Edward Wagner

“The old ghosts are gone—long live the new demons”

Judas: 30

  Running from the tomb, where Jesus stood, resurrected, Judas stole a length of rope from a nearby home. Coming upon a tall tree, he cast it upon a sturdy branch. Putting to the end of the rope a noose, he climbed to a branch high above the ground, fixed the rope to his neck, and leapt, hanging himself.

  Finding him thus, the people spoke against him, led by Simon, called Peter, saying, "He has taken his life from shame, for he betrayed his Lord.”

  Mary Magdalene, running to where the disciples were gathered, said, “I have seen the Lord, and he is risen.”

  And Jesus appeared other times to his disciples, speaking words of comfort and salvation, and was raised once more to his throne in Heaven. We, who hunger, remain. The rope has failed to relieve me of my burden. In the bark of the tree where we left the rope, Mary inscribed the words, “Here hung one who loves beyond life.”

  May God forgive us.

“A Candle in the Sun” by David Niall

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Readers unfamiliar with The Year's Best Horror Stories 19 may prefer to read these notes only after reading the anthology.