Black Cats and Broken Mirrors

From the Back Cover of the DAW Books First Edition: Ever since humankind first realized there was reason to fear - whether that fear was of the dark, the unknown, people who seemed different, the unexpected violence of nature, or death itself - we have created rituals and talismans to insure good fortune and keep away evil spirits. And though many superstitions have fallen by the wayside over the years, there are still any number of folks who won't take chances with anything from spilled salt to sneezes. Now some of today's most imaginative writers explore both the lighter and darker sides of superstitions from the simple to the strange, the benign to the baffling, offering their own unique answers to such questions as: Who created superstitions in the first place? Does a black cat crossing your path really bring dire consequences? If you break a mirror to destroy a link to evil, will the bad luck incurred bring the evil to you?