With the hilarious "Happy Valley," a story originally written by John Cleese and Connie Booth for Monty Python's Flying Circus, this third volume in an extraordinarily popular Mammoth Book series gets off to a suitably silly start. It continues merrily apace with "Attack of the Charlie Chaplins" by Garry Kilworth, visits "The Strawhouse Pavilion" by Ron Goulart, and takes in "A Bad Day on Mount Olympus" with Marilyn Todd. Along the way it introduces Esther Eisner's "Gunsel and Gretel" and Cherith Baldry's "Broadway Barbarian" and renews acquaintance with F. Anstey's "Ferdie." It bemuses as well as amuses with "A Case of Four Fingers" concocted by John Grant, not to mention "The Absolute and Utter Impossibility of the Facts in the Case of the Vanishing of Henning Vok" from Jack Adrian. And before this wildly comic romp ends, it discovers "Math Takes a Holiday" (Paul Di Filippo) and "Mother Duck Strikes Again" (Craig Shaw Gardner). Fantasy finds broad definition in this wackily comic tour. While some of the stories approach the domain of science fiction, others are lodged in an everyday reality. None of them, though, fails to entertain. Together, the more than thirty selections -- thirteen of them brand-new and the balance of them often rare finds or forgotten gems -- provide a fresh sampling of comic genius in the sphere of fantasy fiction and a wide range of tales to suit every taste in humor.

Another Introduction · Mike Ashley
Happy Valley · John Cleese & Connie Booth
Attack of the Charlie Chaplins · Garry Kilworth
Mother Duck Strikes Again [from An Excess of Enchantments; Ebenezum and Wuntvor] · Craig Shaw Gardner
The Blackbird · Jack Sharkey
Pale Assassin · James Bibby
The Strawhouse Pavilion [Max Kearny] · Ron Goulart
Dragonet · Esther M. Friesner
The Diplodocus · Porter Emerson Browne
Nothing in the Rules [Squaredeal Sam] · Nelson S. Bond
Bad Day on Mount Olympus · Marilyn Todd
How Much Would You Pay? · Craig Shaw Gardner
The Devil Times Three · Fredric Brown
Fair-Weather Fiend [Kedrigern] · John Morressy
The Byrds · Michael G. Coney
Polly Put the Mockers On · Stan Nicholls
Ferdie · F. Anstey
The Queen’s Triplets · Israel Zangwill
Crispin the Turnspit · Anthony Armstrong
Touched by a Salesman · Tom Holt
Math Takes a Holiday · Paul Di Filippo
Broadway Barbarian · Cherith Baldry
The Winds of Fate · Tony Rath
Not Ours to See · David Langford
The Caliber of the Sword · Larry Lawrence
Gunsel and Gretel · Esther Friesner
Frog · Tina Rath
The Swords and the Stones · E. K. Grant
A Case of Four Fingers · John Grant
The Absolute and Utter Impossibility of the Facts in the Case of the Vanishing of Henning Vok (a.k.a. The Amazing Blitzen) (r.n. Jack Ralph Cole) · Jack Adrian
Milord Sir Smiht, the English Wizard [Dr. Eszterhazy] · Avram Davidson
“Put Back That Universe!” [Smedley Faversham] · F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre
You’ll Never Walk Alone · Scott Edelman