An albino girl wanders the sun-scorched back roads of a south Georgia summer, following the bidding of an angel or perhaps only voices in her head, searching out and slaying ancient monsters who have hidden themselves away in the lonely places of the world. Caitlin R. Kiernan first introduced Dancy Flammarion in the pages of her award-winning second novel, Threshold (2001), then went on to write several more short stories and a novella about this unlikely heroine, each a piece of what has become an epic dark fantasy narrative. Featuring illustrations by Ted Naifeh, Alabaster: Pale Horse reprints all these tales from the original hardcover collection and adds one more, ''Highway 97.''