Devotion invests power in the object adored. Of course, so does fear. A childhood doll, an adolescent crush, or the stranger downstairs-any of these might become imbued with godlike significance, or with monstrous power. In this quirky collection of short tales, David C. Kopaska-Merkel (former "Star*Line" editor; current "Dreams & Nightmares" publisher) presents an assemblage of supernaturally endowed subjects that by turns amuse or amaze-and somehow always perturb.