I am looking for the name of the short story where the children of a neighborhood become the conduit for an invasion by aliens. I thought it was "Peek-a-boo" but I think that was the last line of the story.Thx.

The story you are looking for is "Zero Hour". I believe it is collected in THE ILLUSTRATED MAN. (And you are right: "peek-a-boo" is the last line of the story. Those poor parents!)

Yes, I checked, and it is in The Illustrated Man, and what a chilling, creepy story ending!! (Loved it!)

Wasn't there one about kids raising mushrooms in their basements?

Yes, in The Machineries of Joy is a story called "Boys!Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar!" It's fairly creepy, too.

Both about children innocently/unwittingly assisting alien invasions. In the first the parents are TOTALLY unsuspecting until the way-too-late "peek-a-boo." In the second, the father has suspicions but can't do much about them.

I have an audio copy of Zero Hour as well a video version from the original RB Theater.
I always present these after we have read and discussed the story from an Ill. Man lit. unit.

I read somewhere that Zero Hour was the most frequently requested episode during the days of the old Suspense Radio series. Get a copy of the story, turn down the ligths a little some night, and begin reading - and listening also if you can get a tape of the story! It is not difficult to understand why such a stir. My h.s. students seem "mesmerized" by what transpires by the end of the.......

See and listen @ http://www.genericradio.com/smarttags/library.htm
Scroll down to:
Suspense -"ZH" and X Minus One -"Mars is Heaven"

Mention of "Boys! Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar" brought a wonderful flashback to when I was about 12 years old and read that story for the first time. It scared the heck out of me! I had a difficult time wandering down into a dark cellar for some time after that. Ray has a wonderful way, in so many of his stories, of taking what seem to be the most innocent of childhood activities, and turning them into something very different and frightening for his readers.

"The thing on top of the stairs" is a great story - from one of the older short story collections....Long After Midnight I think. But anyways I've recently read it and it sort of scares me now.............At night I go down stairs for a midnight drink, on my way down in the dark I'm afraid of whats there and usually run up the stairs, once again afraid of what might be there. Silly yes, in my mind? Maybe....

Ray has said that, as a child, he was susceptible to many of the childhood terrors which affect so many kids (which includes me). It was his memory of those childhood nightmares that later in life inspired so many of his wonderful (and often scary) stories. Moreover, his charming children's book, SWITCH ON THE NIGHT, about a little boy that conquers his fear of the dark, was written for his daughter so that she would not suffer the same fears he did as a child.

[This message has been edited by Richard (edited 01-24-2004).]

"The Thing at the Top of the Stairs" is actually relatively recent...from "The Toynbee Convector." I love it and was so glad to see Ray still doing this type of story rather than only tales, no matter how well done, of adult contemporary life.