I Can't Sleep at Night

by Kurt Singer (Editor), Ray Bradbury, Arthur J. Burke

Not for the nervous

are the thirteen stories of Ghouls, Vampires, Werewolves and Djins

Meet a little girl called Sary who practices voodoo magic - an explorer lost in the evil reasches of the Matto Grosso - a beautiful, young woman who runs with the wolves at night

The living and the dead
reach out
clawed hands
to grip you in
I can't sleep at night

Cover Illustration: Josh Kirby

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Vampires

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

Reviews

[Shawn]

PLACEHOLDER review:

Margaret St. Clair's "The Family" is a nicely compact little piece in which a religiously devoted family welcomes a newcomer into their fold, but as to which religion.... Nicely done. You can hear a reading as the first of three short pieces in this episode of PSEUDOPOD.

[Conor Bateman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only stories of note are the first Bradbury, a gradually gruesome paranoia trip called "The Watchers" and Margaret St. Clair's punchy ritual tale "The Family".

[David A. Sutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I CAN'T SLEEP AT NIGHT, edited by Kurt Singer. Corgi books, 1968. 174 pages. 3/6.
REVIEW BY DAVID A. SUTTON.

Cover depicts a naked hag of a witch, astride a gigantic bat, whose wing extends right round the spine onto the back cover. A collection which is very varied, but not especially-terrifying tales, probably worthwhile if containing one or two of your favourite authors. THE WATCHERS: Ray Bradbury. I think this story is one of Bradbury’s earlier or less imaginative tales. Telling the story of a man who hates insects, it lacks the beautiful 'magic' of much of his fiction, the aura which is that unique quality of his. Otherwise it is quite horrifying, the climax particularly.
MISTRESS SARY by William Tenn, who is usually associated with the; SF short, but succeeds in creating quite a fiendish voodoo story. The tension mounts until towards the climax when it screams out like the hysterical screaming that makes up the last few sentences.
THE DEAD MAN: Ray Bradbury once more in his inimitable style, which enhances an anthology with the 'magic touch. This one beautifully portraying the surreal.
THE LOST DAYS August Derleth. Almost typical of the Cthulhu Mythos, this one depicts a human skin bound book with all the usual weird-isms, but this merely covers the more down-to-earth aspect of the murders.
THE MAN WINO CRIED WOLF!: Robert Bloch. Another twist-story from Bloch, containing all the diabolism of the Werewolf, all the horrors and all in all a fine tale.
THE SMILING FACE by Mary Elizabeth Counselman. The story of an expedition into the Matto Grosso in S. America. Witch doctor's and head hunters figure in the tale, but it has little to offer other than the horror at the end.
SHIP IN A BOTTEE P. Schuler Miller. A fine tale, about a ship imprisoned in a bottle and- the strange ghastly link with an antique shop owner.
PLEASE GO AWAY AND LET ME SLEEP by Helen W. Kasson, A very amusing story of a crypt full of ghosts, whose eternal rest is disturbed by a daily mourner! The style is very humorous and provides an enjoyable excursion from supposedly terror tales.
Other fiction in the anthology is by Carroll John Daly, Margaret St Clair, Emil Petaja, Charles King & Arthur J. Burks. NOT a very imaginative collection.
Reviewed in "Shadow: Fantasy Literature Review", issue 5, Feb/Mar 1969.