Alfred Hitchcock's Fear and Trembling

by Alfred Hitchcock (Editor), Henry S. Whitehead, Hugh Walpole

Anthology. Contains the following:

Forward
The Forms of Fear - Alfred Hitchcock

Cassius - Henry S Whitehead
The Tarn - Hugh Walpole
Little Memento - John Collier
Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come To You, My Lad - M R James
One Summer Night - Ambrose Bierce
Telling - Elizabeth Bowen
The Jar - Ray Bradbury
The Bad Lands - John Metcalfe
Ghost Hunt - H R Wakefield
Skule Skerry - John Buchan
The Red Room - H G Wells
The Sack of Emeralds - Lord Dunsany
The Night Reveals - William Irish

Acknowledgements

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Anthologies, Ebooks

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (1899-1980) was an iconic and highly influential film director and producer, who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres.

Following a very substantial career in his native Britain in both silent films and talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood and became an American citizen with dual nationality in 1956, thus he also remained a British subject.

Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career which spanned six decades, from the silent film era, through the invention of sound films, and far into the era of colour films. For a complete list of his films, see Alfred Hitchcock filmography.

Hitchcock was among the most consistently recognizable directors to the general public, and was one of the most successful film directors during his lifetime. He continues to be one of the best known and most popular filmmakers of all time.

Reviews

[[on hiatus, probably forever] The rockabilly werewolf from Mars · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a 1948 edition, making it the oldest book in my collection. With the exception of the first story, which has aged very badly, this is a good collection of horror fiction. Four of my favourite stories of the classic era of horror are represented (The Tarn, The Red Room, Oh Whistle And I'll Come To You My Lad, and The Jar), and I also discovered two other (switch it off) stories that I (switch it off you fool) thoroughly enjoyed; namely The Bad Lands (switch it off now) and Ghost Hunt, which has one(SWITCH IT OFF) of the most unnerving endings I have yet encountered. It is worth noting that another story (SWITCH IT OFF YOU FOOL), namely Skule Skerry, has an effective atmosphere through most of it, but has an ending (switch it off) that is anticlimactic and outright ridiculous. Worth (switch it off) reading if you find it for cheap, but I wouldn't bother (SWITCH IT OFF YOU FOOL) with the first story.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

an anthology that collects stories from some fantastic writers, it would make a wonderful introduction to genre fiction. the ambrose bierce story will make you wish for more of his words, and features stories by other favourites like m.r. james and william irish (aka cornell woolrich). i would say that "telling" by elizabeth bowen is the creepiest story in the collection, and that it was a mistake to lead off with cassius (which has a great concept, and was probably better served by the x-files episode called humbug (yeah, the one that featured jim rose and the enigma and saw scully eat a bug. :)

[Shawn]

PLACEHOLDER REVIEW

"Skule Skerry" by John Buchan - A birding enthusiast figures out that yearly migrants must alight on a particular island off the Scottish coast, and so plans to camp there, despite warnings of the locals. The island proves remote, abandoned and soon after arriving the weather turns for the worse... This is a rather cool story - essentially a cross between Jack London, Bradbury's "The Lighthouse" (but without the sentiment) and a general "Natural - near Cosmic - Horror". The natural descriptions are excellent (loved that line about the "milky" light of the North) and the payoff - which finds our protagonist doubting whether he can ever believe in science again, until the question is resolved accidentally - is great, being both satisfying but not absolute and hitting a particular cultural moment in time as well. Great stuff.

[Tim Deforest · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of scary tales, some with a supernatural slant, some with an implied supernatural slant and some simply an examination of the worst of human nature.

Stand-outs include the super-creepy "The Jar" by Ray Bradbury; Henry Whitfield's bizarre variation of the Evil Twin theme titled "Cassius"; and two short but very effective tales-- "The Sack of Emeralds" by Lord Dunsany & "One Summer Night" by Ambrose Bierce.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories are good old-fashioned scary, thankfully lacking the overt attempts of modern "horror". Others . . . not so much. And Alfred Hitchcock's introduction calling Ray Bradbury promising made me smile.

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent collection. The Woolrich tale is devastating.

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed this one! So many brilliant stories and The Night Reveals had me gripping the chair all the way to the end

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

K, since these are all by different authors, I kept a note page open on my phone when I was reading bc I have no memory. Like, literally do not remember what some of these notes mean, like, 2 weeks post writing them

Cassius - Wow white people are racist as shit
The Tarn - Yo these two dudes just needed to bone
Little Memento - That hoarder played that dude
Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad - Ya had me til "crumpled linen." people thought weird shit was scary pre-internet
One Summer Night- jesus christ
Telling- uhhhhhhhh........
The Jar- Ray Bradbury had to have been one super weird dude
The Bad Lands- I thought this one would NEVER END
Ghost Hunt- What is this, GhostFacers? Amateur hour up in here
Skule Skerry- What is the German word for "I don't want to be reading this story anymore?"
The Red Room- If I thought my shit was haunted every time I ran into stuff in the dark I would be in TROUBLE
The Sack of Emeralds- Ok it's not scary if you set up a bad joke intended to be scary but then just never explain anything. I don't have enough information to be afraid a of horse and jewels
The Night Reveals- Solid choice to end on this one. Def liked the pace the best, disregarding the fact that this wasn't actually scary but just kinda MESSED

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with any anthology, some short stories were more compelling than others. My personal favorites include “Oh Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” by MR James (this sent shivers down my spine when the distressed boy described what he had seen) and “The Red Room” by HG Wells (a skeptic spends the night in a reportedly haunted room and makes a profound discovery). Other short stories were less so about the supernatural and more about the horror that is the dark side of the human condition, such as “The Tarn” by Hugh Walpole. Others explore other facets of the horror genre, such as extreme isolation from others, unreliable narrators, and parallel universes. This collection has been a gateway for me to explore more authors less familiar to me but who have made their contributions to the horror genre.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of 13 short stories, as gathered by Alfred Hitchcock, runs the gamut of scary stories. My enjoyment for almost any anthology varies considerably depending on the story I happen to be reading at the time and this group includes 1 star to 5 star stories. Because it was published back in 1948, I had not heard of most of the authors represented here. Two notable exceptions (and with 5 star stories in here) are HG Wells with "The Red Room" and Ray Bradbury with the best story in the collection, "The Jar".

[Katrina Atienza · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great read for commuting. Uneven quality though --- some stories make you go "Wha?! That's it? That's the big twist?" While others, like HP Lovecraft's "The Red Room" and William Irish's "The Night Reveals" are masterclasses in short story writing: palpably tense, fabulous atmosphere and killer endings.

[Sonia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wasn't able to finish the book. I'm not a native english speaker and although I usually read stuff written in English, most of the vocabulary was unknown for me and it was hard to get it from the context. It was quite frustrating.

[BC Batcheshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I got past the archaic racial terms of the first story, I fell pleasantly into the following tales. Loved it, and I'm looking for more of Hitchcock's anthologies.

[Stefu Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite story in the collection is The Jar by Ray Bradbury (R.I.P.)