Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions is a collection of short stories and poems by Neil Gaiman. It was first published in the United States in 1998, and in the United Kingdom in 1999.
Many of the stories in this book are reprints from other sources, such as magazines, anthologies, and collections (including ten stories and poems from Gaiman's earlier small press miscellany Angels and Visitations).
The included stories and poems are different between some of the editions. The US, UK, and eBook editions have some differences in the stories they contain (see table to right):
Reading the Entrails - A Rondel about the pleasures and perils of fortune-telling
The Wedding Present - A story included in the introduction
Chivalry - A story about the Holy Grail written for an anthology by Martin H. Greenberg
Nicholas Was... - A very short story (100 words) used for a Christmas card
The Price - on the subject of cats, angels, and an unwanted visitor
Troll Bridge - An adult retelling of The Three Billy Goats Gruff written for the anthology Snow White, Blood Red by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Don't Ask Jack - Inspired by a demonic jack-in-the-box sculpture by Lisa Snellings
The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories - A brief reflection on a certain pool containing a trio of goldfish
Eaten (Scenes from a Moving picture) †‡
The White Road - A narrative poem retelling some old English folktales
Queen of Knives (for Eric Stern's opera of the same name see Queen of Knives) - A narrative poem about stage magic
The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch †‡ - A story about how a visit to an underground circus led to an unexpected change
Changes - written for Lisa Tuttle about gender reflection
The Daughter of Owls - Written in the style of John Aubrey
Shoggoth's Old Peculiar - A return to the New England settings of H.P. Lovecraft where a visitor arrives at a pub and partakes in a jovially mysterious conversation and an eldritch concoction
Virus - Written for the anthology Digital Dreams by David Barrett about computer fiction
Looking for the Girl - Commissioned by Penthouse for their 20th anniversary issue
Only the End of the World Again
Bay Wolf - A story poem retelling Beowulf as a futuristic episode of "Baywatch"
Fifteen Painted Cards from a Vampire Tarot † - A series of short stories titled by each card of the Major Arcana
We Can Get Them For You Wholesale - An assassin's tale
One Life, Furnished in Early Moorcock - Written for an anthology of Elric stories by Michael Moorcock
Cold Colors - Inspired by computers and black magic
The Sweeper of Dreams - Inspired by a Lisa Snellings statue
Foreign Parts
Vampire Sestina - A poem originally published in Fantasy Tales and later reprinted in the Mammoth Book of Vampires by Stephen Jones
Mouse - A short story inspired by Raymond Carver and written for Touch Wood, edited by Pete Crowther
The Sea Change
How Do You Think It Feels? †‡ - A man recalls his first sexual encounter with a supernatural twist
When We Went to See the End of the World by Dawnie Morningside, age 11¼ - A brief short told from the point-of-view of a young child at what might be the very last picnic her family will ever have
Desert Wind - Written for Robin Anders of Boiled in Lead to accompany one of his tracks
Tastings - Included in the anthology of erotic fantasy stories, Sirens by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
In the End †* - A reversal of the story of the Genesis Creative Narrative
Babycakes - Written to include in a benefit for PETA
Murder Mysteries - A detective story written for the anthology Midnight Graffiti by Jessie Horsting
Snow, Glass, Apples - A familiar story told from a different perspective
Dym i lustra (Polish), ISBN 83-87968-54-4
Дым и Зеркала [Dym i Zerkala] (Russian)
Fumaça e Espelhos (Portuguese), ISBN 85-86932-62-0
Tükör és Füst (Hungarian), ISBN 963-85914-9-8
Die Messerkönigin (German), ISBN 3-453-17798-3 (named after the translated title of the included short story Queen of Knives); also released a 3-disc audio-book of the same title (containing 6 of the short stories), ISBN 978-3-7857-3746-0
