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The Moonlight Traveler: Great Tales of Fantasy and Imagination
Anthology of fantasy and supernatural short stories including: The Celestial Omnibus by E. M. Forster; Desire by James Stephens; Enoch Soames by Max Beerbohm; The Man Who Could Work Miracles by H. G. Wells; The Bottle Imp by Robert Louis Stevenson; Adam and Eve and Pinch Me by A.E. Coppard; Lord Mountdrago by W. Somerset Maugham; All Hallows by Walter de la Mare; Our Distant Cousins by Lord Dunsany; Cobbler, Cobbler, Mend My Shoe by Jan Struther; The Man Who Missed the Bus by Stella Benson; Sam Small's Better Half by Eric Knight; Mr. Arcularis by Conrad Aiken; the Diamond as Big as the Ritz by F. Scott Fitzgerald; William Wilson by Edgar Allan Poe; The Curfew Tolls by Stephen Vincent Benét; The Most Maddening Story in the World by Ralph Straus; Phantas by Oliver Onions; Roads of Destiny by O. Henry; Wireless by Rudyard Kipling; and The Music on the Hill by Saki (H.H. Munro).
488 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1943
About the author
Philip van Doren Stern
182 books24 followersPhilip van Doren Stern (September 10, 1900 - July 31, 1984) was an American author, editor, and Civil War historian whose story "The Greatest Gift," published in 1943, inspired the classic Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life (1946).
Philip van Doren Stern was born in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania into a family of humble means. His Pennsylvania-born father was a traveling merchant of Bavarian descent, who came to Wyalusing from West Virginia with his New Jersey-born wife. Stern grew up in Brooklyn, New York and New Jersey, and graduated from Rutgers University.
After graduating from Rutgers in 1924, Philip van Doren Stern worked in advertising before switching to a career as a designer and editor in publishing.
He was a historian and author of some 40 books and editor most known for his books on the Civil War[1] that a New York Times obituary called "authoritative" and "widely respected by scholars". As an editor, he worked at Pocket Books, Simon and Schuster, and Alfred A. Knopf. He compiled and annotated short story collections and the writings and letters of Abraham Lincoln, Edgar Allan Poe, and Henry David Thoreau.
During World War II, he was a member of the planning board of the United States Office of War Information. He was the general manager of Editions for the Armed Services, which resized popular books so Americans serving in the military could store them in the pockets of their uniforms. He compiled and edited many collections and anthologies of short stories, pictorial books, annotations, and books on historical subjects.
Stern edited, compiled, and introduced The Viking Portable Poe in 1945, a compact collection of letters, short stories, poems, and essays by Edgar Allan Poe. Stern wrote the biographical introduction to the collection, selected the contents included, and wrote introductory essays on the varying genres. The collection became a standard single-volume anthology of Poe's works for almost fifty years.
Philip van Doren Stern was born in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania into a family of humble means. His Pennsylvania-born father was a traveling merchant of Bavarian descent, who came to Wyalusing from West Virginia with his New Jersey-born wife. Stern grew up in Brooklyn, New York and New Jersey, and graduated from Rutgers University.
After graduating from Rutgers in 1924, Philip van Doren Stern worked in advertising before switching to a career as a designer and editor in publishing.
He was a historian and author of some 40 books and editor most known for his books on the Civil War[1] that a New York Times obituary called "authoritative" and "widely respected by scholars". As an editor, he worked at Pocket Books, Simon and Schuster, and Alfred A. Knopf. He compiled and annotated short story collections and the writings and letters of Abraham Lincoln, Edgar Allan Poe, and Henry David Thoreau.
During World War II, he was a member of the planning board of the United States Office of War Information. He was the general manager of Editions for the Armed Services, which resized popular books so Americans serving in the military could store them in the pockets of their uniforms. He compiled and edited many collections and anthologies of short stories, pictorial books, annotations, and books on historical subjects.
Stern edited, compiled, and introduced The Viking Portable Poe in 1945, a compact collection of letters, short stories, poems, and essays by Edgar Allan Poe. Stern wrote the biographical introduction to the collection, selected the contents included, and wrote introductory essays on the varying genres. The collection became a standard single-volume anthology of Poe's works for almost fifty years.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 16, 2012
BOTTOM LINE: This superb horror anthology first published in 1943, is filled with classic creepy tales, all subtle and low-key in tone.
Plush but without excess, these classic short stories are smoothly scary, elegant and sublime. Some are very familiar, having been reprinted endlessly in the decades after this book, but there are long lost gems as well. The best, IMO, are: “The Bottle Imp”, Robert Louis Stevenson; “Lord Mondrago”, W. Somerset Maugham; “Mr. Arcularis”, Conrad Aiken; “The Most Maddening Story in the World”, Ralph Straus. Also includes stories by Max Beerbohm, Stephen Vincent Benet, Stella Benson, A.E. Coppard, Walter DeLa Mare, Lord Dunsany, F. Scott Fitzgerald, E.M. Forster, O. Henry, Rudyard Kipling, Eric Knight, H.H. Munro (Saki), Oliver Onions, Edgar Allan Poe, James Stephens, Jan Struther, H.G. Wells.
Conrad Aiken, “Mr. Arcularis”, 1931
— sad little gem about a dying man
Max Beerbohm, “Enoch Soames”, 1920
— oft reprinted, interesting take on selling your soul for fame
Stephen Vincent Benet, “The Curfew Tolls”, 1935
— an “alternate reality” tale about a famous man, who isn’t
Stella Benson, “The Man Who Missed the Bus”, 1929
— odd little bon mot about a lonely man with an identity problem
A.E. Coppard, “Adam and Eve and Pinch Me”, 1922
— gently PeterPannish, a man dreaming in a warm garden sees the future
Walter de la Mare, “All Hallows”
— M.R. James cum Lovecraft, in a creepy cathedral, Victorian in tone and buildup
Lord Dunsany, “Our Distant Cousins”
— a lone traveler visits Mars, circa 1924, a.la Burroughs
F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz”
— loony little fable about the permanence of wealth
E.M. Forster, “The Celestial Omnibus”
— a boy meets the gods, floridly effective but ending weak
O. Henry, “Roads of Destiny”, 1903
— peculiar “what if”, as a shepherd tries to change his life
Rudyard Kipling, “Wireless”, 1904
— boring eclair about wireless and the boring lives of two young men
Eric Knight, “Sam Small’s Better Half”, 1940
— folksy bit about a physical schizophrenia with a happy ending
W. Somerset Maugham, “Lord Mondrago”, 1939
— matters of the mind, and manners
H.H. Munro (Saki), “The Music on the Hill”, 1930
— similar to, but far less than, Machen’s “Great God Pan”
Oliver Onions, “Phantas”
— effective but slow-moving time shifting tale about ships, old and new
Edgar Allan Poe, “William Wilson”
— dull, overwrought classic concerning doppelgangers or, perhaps, schizophrenia
James Stephens, “Desire”
— selling your soul is never a good thing
Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Bottle Imp”
— how does one get rid of the bottle? slow moving but superbly twisted
Ralph Straus, “The Most Maddening Story in the World”
— aggravatingly enjoyable club tale about a grand Lord doing the tourist thing badly
Jan Struther, “Cobbler, Cobbler, Mend My Shoe”
— gently moralistic tale about a wandering saint
H.G. Wells, “The Man Who Could Work Miracles”
— slow but interesting nature-of-reality tale
Plush but without excess, these classic short stories are smoothly scary, elegant and sublime. Some are very familiar, having been reprinted endlessly in the decades after this book, but there are long lost gems as well. The best, IMO, are: “The Bottle Imp”, Robert Louis Stevenson; “Lord Mondrago”, W. Somerset Maugham; “Mr. Arcularis”, Conrad Aiken; “The Most Maddening Story in the World”, Ralph Straus. Also includes stories by Max Beerbohm, Stephen Vincent Benet, Stella Benson, A.E. Coppard, Walter DeLa Mare, Lord Dunsany, F. Scott Fitzgerald, E.M. Forster, O. Henry, Rudyard Kipling, Eric Knight, H.H. Munro (Saki), Oliver Onions, Edgar Allan Poe, James Stephens, Jan Struther, H.G. Wells.
Conrad Aiken, “Mr. Arcularis”, 1931
— sad little gem about a dying man
Max Beerbohm, “Enoch Soames”, 1920
— oft reprinted, interesting take on selling your soul for fame
Stephen Vincent Benet, “The Curfew Tolls”, 1935
— an “alternate reality” tale about a famous man, who isn’t
Stella Benson, “The Man Who Missed the Bus”, 1929
— odd little bon mot about a lonely man with an identity problem
A.E. Coppard, “Adam and Eve and Pinch Me”, 1922
— gently PeterPannish, a man dreaming in a warm garden sees the future
Walter de la Mare, “All Hallows”
— M.R. James cum Lovecraft, in a creepy cathedral, Victorian in tone and buildup
Lord Dunsany, “Our Distant Cousins”
— a lone traveler visits Mars, circa 1924, a.la Burroughs
F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz”
— loony little fable about the permanence of wealth
E.M. Forster, “The Celestial Omnibus”
— a boy meets the gods, floridly effective but ending weak
O. Henry, “Roads of Destiny”, 1903
— peculiar “what if”, as a shepherd tries to change his life
Rudyard Kipling, “Wireless”, 1904
— boring eclair about wireless and the boring lives of two young men
Eric Knight, “Sam Small’s Better Half”, 1940
— folksy bit about a physical schizophrenia with a happy ending
W. Somerset Maugham, “Lord Mondrago”, 1939
— matters of the mind, and manners
H.H. Munro (Saki), “The Music on the Hill”, 1930
— similar to, but far less than, Machen’s “Great God Pan”
Oliver Onions, “Phantas”
— effective but slow-moving time shifting tale about ships, old and new
Edgar Allan Poe, “William Wilson”
— dull, overwrought classic concerning doppelgangers or, perhaps, schizophrenia
James Stephens, “Desire”
— selling your soul is never a good thing
Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Bottle Imp”
— how does one get rid of the bottle? slow moving but superbly twisted
Ralph Straus, “The Most Maddening Story in the World”
— aggravatingly enjoyable club tale about a grand Lord doing the tourist thing badly
Jan Struther, “Cobbler, Cobbler, Mend My Shoe”
— gently moralistic tale about a wandering saint
H.G. Wells, “The Man Who Could Work Miracles”
— slow but interesting nature-of-reality tale
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December 1, 2022PLACEHOLDER REVIEWS
"The Man Who Missed The Bus" by Stella Benson - Mr. Robinson, a harried but observant and reflective businessman who feels unheard and overwhelmed (or is he just a bore?) - so intensely over-self-involved he leads a lonely, internal life - especially as he begins to be unable to see the faces of those around him, or his own in the mirror. Interesting tale of self-anonymity and desperation. Very TWILIGHT ZONE, in a way.
"The Man Who Missed The Bus" by Stella Benson - Mr. Robinson, a harried but observant and reflective businessman who feels unheard and overwhelmed (or is he just a bore?) - so intensely over-self-involved he leads a lonely, internal life - especially as he begins to be unable to see the faces of those around him, or his own in the mirror. Interesting tale of self-anonymity and desperation. Very TWILIGHT ZONE, in a way.
November 27, 2012
Enoch Soames was the one most captivating for me .. Such collections represent the best companion whenever one is left to himself .. It's a pity that I lent it to a friend!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews