Dark: Stories of Madness, Murder and the Supernatural

by Clint Willis (Editor)

Elizabeth Gaskell locks us in a room with a woman who is losing her mind - slowly; Will Self offers a vision of hell that would frighten Hannibel Lecter; Patrick McGrath gives us the world's worst mother and the darkness in which she lives; Thomas Harris introduces you to a madman who will chew off your lips, tie you to a wheelchair, and set you on fire... for starters; Iain Banks shows us evil in the mind of a child, ruined by the malice of a father. Bret Easton Ellis abandons us to the rage of a young man whose brutality will haunt your nightmares long after you've forgotten literature's other psychopaths. Also includes work by writers such as Stephen King, Anne Rice, Patricia Highsmith, Joyce Carol Oates, Paul Bowles, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Shirley Jackson. Like all Adrenaline books Dark includes only first-rate prose, offering a vision of our capacity for evil - and a reminder of how much we love to be frightened.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Paranormal, Anthologies, Fantasy, Audiobook

360 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2000

Reviews

[Rebecca Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous selection of tales and stories. I loved this one!

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars for this collection published 2005 in the Adrenaline series. “Unabridged” audiobook has fewer stories than the book, and is limited to these enjoyably creepy tales:

1. A.M. Burrage “Smee” 1928
2. Marjorie Bowen “The Crown Derby Plate” 1933
3. Isaac Bashevis Singer “The Cafeteria” 1968
4. Iain Banks exerpt from “From the Wasp Factory" 1984
5. Robert Frost poem “Home Burial” 1914
6. Blue Balliett “They” 2006
7. Edgar Allan Poe "The Cask of Amontillado" 1846
8. W. W. Jacobs "The Monkey's Paw" 1902
9. Will Self exerpt from “My Idea of Fun” 1993
10. Rudyard Kipling “They” 1904
11. Charlotte Perkins Gilman "The Yellow Wallpaper" 1892 (one of my all-time favorite stories)

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely beautiful trade papberback edition, with wonderful, eerie photos prefacing each tale included within. This collection includes:

Smee by A.M. Burrage
an excerpt from Asylum by Patrick McGrath
They by Rudyard Kipling
an excerpt from The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
an excerpt from The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
Home Burial by Robert Frost
Seaton's Aunt by Walter de la Mare
The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs
an excerpt from Tell My Horse by Zora Neale Hurston
A Distant Episode by Paul Bowles
an excerpt from My Idea of Fun by Will Self
The Cicerones by Robert Aickman
an excerpt from Communion by Whitley Streiber
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
an excerpt from The Shining by Stephen King
The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O' Connor
The Beckoning Fair One by Oliver Onions
They by Blue Bailliet
The Crown Derby Plate by Marjorie Bowen
The Cafeteria by Issac Bashevis Singer

This collection includes some of the greatest dark fiction ever written. My personal favorites are They by Kipling, the excerpt from the Haunting of Hill House by Jackson, The Yellow Wallpaper by Gilman, The Shining by King and The Beckoning Fair One by Onions. I enjoyed the other stories as well but those stood out in my mind and the darkness of each tale seemed resonate long after I'd finished reading it.

[Andy B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some timeworn classics accompany some strong newer pieces in this anthology. Special credit to the audiobook narrator of "Smee," who took a predictable ghost tale and honed it into a genuine chiller.

[Liz Scheer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read through audiobook format which enhanced the experience. Eleven different short stories by famous authors, each dealing with different dark themes and often ending on a cliff-hanger. My favorite was "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs, but the book also included well-known pieces written by Edgar Allan Poe, Rudyard Kipling, Robert Frost, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I only gave it three stars because I occasionally lost focus when stories I wasn't as interested in were playing. That's just a hazard of the audiobook version, I suppose.

[Amelia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This collection didn't convince me, I didn't find it very spooky. It was kind of dark and you could find madness in it, but the supernatural parts are weak. At least it achieved to convince me even more not to pick up a novel by Will Self ever. No clue how he found his way into this collection focused mainly on classic authors.

[Joe Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a collection this rating reflects the quality of the collected works which were surprisingly and, in my opinion, pleasantly varied.

[Chrystele Myriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came for Robert Frost and honestly I don’t regret it at all! There are probably two stories I didn’t like but the rest I loved them. The last one was surprisingly good and the end shocked me!

[Shan( Shans_Shelves) 💜 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had some good stories like Perkin’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Wasp Factory” by Iain Banks but ultimately it left me bored and if it wasn’t an audiobook I would have just DNFed.

[LaHaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a mixed bag, I liked some of it, especially The Yellow Wallpaper, also the excerpt of The Wasp Factory, that is gathering dust on my huge to-read pile.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great stories and excerpts. I plan to read the full books from most of the excerpts chosen.

[Wren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was perfect for Halloween. A variety of classic stories that are good for the classroom

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good readings of Poe and Kipling

[Deb O rah · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great collection that reminded of how much I adore The Yellow Wall-Paper

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some story picks were good, others not that great.

[Marisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this anthology shortly after it was released in 2000, as part of an attempt to get myself to stop being such a scaredy-cat. I remember being terrified by quite a few of the selections. it was also my first introduction to "the yellow wallpaper", "the wasp factory", and Zora Neale Hurston's anthropological work, so I'm excited to read it again.

**I want so much to give this four stars, because there are some amazing selections. upon my second (possibly third, I discovered) reading, however, I found that the "dark" theme wore thin after awhile, and some of the lesser tales really brought down the collection as a whole.**

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to this today whilst cleaning, made for a very good, spooky audiobook. Some of the stories were familiar- The Cask of Amontillado, The Monkey's Paw, The Yellow Wallpaper. But a few I hadn't heard before and quite enjoyed. Definitely worth the time to listen to this October, but preferably with the lights on. ;)

[Femmesquara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of typos, but an excellent collection of chilling tales. My faves: a distant shore, the monkeys paw, hom e burial, tell my horse, and asylum. All but the first two being excerpts from a larger work. The photos are wonderfully creepy as well.

[Kendall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of short, horror stories. Read the full review on my blog, Reading,Reading & Life

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

good collection of classic scary stories

[J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

too dark

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook