Gallagher, Diana G.

The Casefiles: Volume 2 (Angel)

In the tradition of the bestselling Buffy Watcher's Guides, this is the official companion to the cult hit show, complete with exclusive interviews and 32 pages of full colour photos. This is the book that Angel fans have been waiting for: the first two seasons covered in fact-packed detail, with episode guides, behind-the-scenes secrets, interviews, quotes and profiles of characters, cast and crew. In a similar format to the much-praised Buffy the Vampire Slayer Watcher's Guides, The Angel Casefiles has some unique features of its own, with information arranged in the style of a case file from Angel Investigations and an exclusive introduction from series producer and scriptwriter Tim Minnear. With its darker adult tone and its themes of the lost and the dispossessed, Angel has firmly established an identity of its own. Now this essential guide enables viewers to follow their favourite vampire every step of the way on his sometimes rocky but always adventurous road to redemption.

Bad Bargain (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

"Off the rack gives me hives."

-- Cordelia, "Out of Mind, Out of Sight"

The Scoobies are used to being personally affected when demonic nasties come to Sunnydale. And they're used to strange things happening at Sunnydale High -- after all, the place is built over the Hellmouth. But they've sealed the Hellmouth, so they don't think anything's out of the ordinary when items to be sold at the first annual band fund-raising rummage sale are stored in the school basement...which, one might recall, is directly above that Hellmouth.

Once the rummage sale begins, it's clear the stuff for sale is far from ordinary. People seem to be strangely affected by the items they're buying -- things from undemonic homes, donated by undemonic people. So the reactions these items are producing are, to say the least, unexpected. Willow's acting weird. So's Xander. And even Buffy's mom bought something....

The situation quickly spins out of control, and the school has to be quarantined...leaving Buffy and Giles to sort things out before whatever demon this is sells them down the river.

Dark Vengeance

And should the Trinity of Evil be awakened

The Champions of Virtue must defend

The Light of ages past or be forsaken

As the warriors of darkness were before them.

The Charmed Ones are feeling out of sorts. Phoebe misses Cole, who's gone away for a week of solitary reflection. Piper is overwhelmed with the responsibilities of overseeing her household, Charmed affairs, and P3, her nightclub. Paige is still adjusting to her role as a savior of innocents, and is increasingly sensitive to all levels of human pain.

Soon, though, Piper is distracted by an energetic musician auditioning to play at the club, Phoebe is making a new friend in her Web design class, and Paige is meeting new people at the homeless shelter where she volunteers. But it isn't long before the girls discover that a sinister force is working against them; Phoebe's short-term memory is shot, Piper can't control her emotions, and Paige feels thoroughly exhausted. At the same time, their powers are diminished. Could their new acquaintances be connected to the threat? It's a real-life family feud -- one that could have deadly results....

Spark and Burn (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

What is the true measure of a champion? In the nineteenth century a boy named William was born. A sweet, gentle boy -- no one could have guessed the suffering he'd cause, the pain he'd inflict. When, as a young man, he meets a woman called Drusilla -- a strange woman, a woman unlike anyone William has ever known -- he is fundamentally changed. She has turned him. There will be no more William. He is Spike now. As Spike, he travels Europe with a band of vagabond vampires. Dru, Darla, and Angelus instruct him on his new nature, and from them he learns about that greatest of vampiric enemies, the girl who is chosen to stand up against them, trained to kill them, endowed with the strength it takes to defeat them: the Slayer. Then and there, Spike decides he'll hunt down those slayers. He'll see how many he can find. Who would have thought then that he'd fight on the Slayer's side? Who would have guessed that Spike, once William, would go out and seek his soul for a slayer? Who would have dared dream he'd fall in love with one?

Arcade: ARCADE (Star Trek : Deep Space Nine, No 5)

There's a new player on the Promenade, a Ferengi shop-owner named Bokat. His Games Bazaar specializes in hard-to-find virtual reality computer games. He approaches Jake Sisko and Nog with a tempting offer to play a hot new game called the Zhodran Crystal Quest. No non-Zhodran player has ever won this game, but then Jake and Nog have the best scores on all the other games at the Games Bazaar. And Bokat is willing to bet on their ability to win the game, and, as a result, win Bokat a lucrative business deal with the Zhodrans.

But soon, kids all over the station are falling into comas, their minds trapped in an ever-changing game. Suddenly, it's up to Jake to go into the game and rescue them. If he wins, so does the Federation. If he loses, he'll be trapped forever in a deadly game with a very real Borg.

Prime Evil (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

When attractive, youthful Crystal Gregory takes a teaching position at Sunnydale High, she also takes what seems to be an instant dislike to Buffy Summers. Buffy's Slayer sense doesn't detect anything unusual about the teacher. But when you're living on a Hellmouth, nothing is what it seems.

Crystal isn't above playing favorites, and her pets -- including Willow, Michael, and Anya -- are loyal to her in the extreme. This wouldn't bother Buffy...but for the fact that she has found a fresh burn mark on two of the students' necks. Giles immediately recognizes the symbol as the mark of a powerful witch whose existence predates the Salem Witch Trials.

The primal witch will continue to wreak havoc until she successfully gathers a coven of thirteen people who have magickal ability. Once the group is created, she will perform a moonlit ritual to endow herself with infinite power, at which point all members of her clan -- indeed, all human beings -- will be subject to her will. Buffy's going to need her Wicca girl, Willow, to save the world this time -- but can Willow be persuaded by reason before it's too late?

Obsidian Fate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Eternal Night

On the outskirts of Sunnydale, recent rains have uncovered the remains of a five hundred-year-old Spanish expedition. But one of the artifacts, a smoky mirror with an ornately carved obsidian frame, goes missing, along with the history teacher who found it. And when Buffy narrowly escapes the attack of a black jaguar while on patrol, Giles puts the gang into research mode.

An ancient volume identifies the missing mirror as a magical object formed by the Aztec god of darkness. A mortal who looks into the mirror will see his or her fate -- and can be manipulated by the evil god, who is scheming to regain his power. Taking their destinies into their own hands, the Slayer and her friends rush into a ferocious battle between light and darkness in the shadows of a massive Aztec temple, a battle against perpetual night -- and the evil that thrives in the dark hours.

Doomsday Deck (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

The gang have been preparing for the Sunnydale Sidewalk Art and Craft Festival. It sees the arrival of Justine, who specialises in Tarot paintings and Buffy has a nagging suspicion that Justine is not all she seems. Then one by one, the gang start to surrender their free will to some unseen force.

Mist and Stone

Shadows of tomorrow

from the past are sown.

On shifting sands and sorrows,

veiled in mist or set in stone....

Paige Matthews is accustomed to the requirements of her job as a social worker, and she's willing to endure substandard pay, long hours, and emotional drain. After all, she wants to make a difference -- sometimes in a non-Charmed capacity. But she is unprepared for the anger and rage she encounters in Todd Corman, a young boy who has been bounced from caregiver to caregiver for so long that he doesn't trust authority. Still, Paige is sympathetic and determined to break through.

But when Phoebe stops by the agency for a quick hello, she is rocked by a vision that involves Todd. Strangely, the vision is shrouded in fog. After some investigation, Leo explains that this particular mist has nothing to do with the weather, but rather suggests that Todd's fate may not be set in stone. Todd has been targeted, and if the Charmed Ones are going to reverse destiny, they're going to have to race against the clock!

The TALE OF THE PULSATING GATE ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK 18 (ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK)

Scott Fong discovers the dangers of alternate dimensions. (Digest) .