Tales of Terror: 58 Short Stories Chosen by the Master of Suspense

Hitchcock Fiction Anthologies

by Alfred Hitchcock (Introduction), Eleanor Sullivan (Editor)

Be afraid—be very afraid: the master of suspense is serving up 58 bloodcurdling tales for your delectation. These suspenseful stories all appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and in the words of Hitch himself, they “are guaranteed to chill and unnerve.” Bill Pronzini contributes “The Arrowmont Prison Riddle,” Margaret B. Maron has “A Very Special Talent,” Barry M. Malzberg offers “A Home Away from Home,” and Patricia Matthews chronicles “The Fall of Dr. Scourby.” Meet a girl who stalks Jack the Ripper, a clairvoyant writer of newspaper obituaries, a homicidal partygoer in a sanatorium, and a police detective who lives vicariously through the exploits of one of his most notorious suspects: they all populate these frightening pages. Caution: not recommended for late-night reading—except for the very brave!

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

640 pages, Hardcover

First published September 28, 1986

About the author

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (13 August 1899 - 29 April 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

[Natalie Carrasco]

Alfred Hithcock's portrayal of "scary" stores are nothing short of art in disguise. I'd consider myself a long-time fan, so it was a real treat to add this baby to my collection. A must-read for fellow Hitchcock lovers!

[Terryann Saint]

Awesome, old school stories. A couple are real gems.

[Michelle]

I loved watching reruns of the Twilight Zone as a kid and these stories were very much like those episodes. I enjoyed many of them very much. The collection was too long overall, but fun to read.

[Leah]

Just the right amount of fun and creepy.

[Sam]

DNF pg 102

It's not bad I just don't care anymore.

[Kristine]

I've read these in order, but haven't gotten too far through. However, I am pleasantly surprised by every single one that I have read; I don't really have any complaints about any of them. They all set the mood well, and none feel cheap and they all seem original. Yea!

[Debra Harrison]

I am reading this now. The stories are indeed full of Terror and Mystery. The terror stories are not horror but what I'd consider "intellectual horror". If you take the time to think abiut the repercussions of the stories, they are scarry.

[Alisa Kester]

Not really my idea of "tales of terror", being mostly mystery stories. As mystery short stories are my least favorite of the genre, I didn't finish it.

[Miguel]

Great short stories that keep you guessing what is next. Only to take you down an unexpected ending. Classics by the master

[Rachel Menke]

I read this over the course of several months reading a story most nights before I went to bed. This should be your first indicator that these are not so much tales of terror but more so tales of irony, slight creepiness, and some suspense. There were a few in there that haunted my thoughts for a few days but most of them were just interesting short stories (usually crime related) with a plot twist toward the end. But just because they weren’t scary does not mean I didn’t enjoy reading this collection gathered by the Master of Suspense. Most of the stories were great reads and excellently written short stories. This is a great collection if you’re looking for something you can read in little disconnected chunks of time.

[Becca]

I liked this enough to finish it. Some of the stories were very good...but NONE of them is "terrifying"! What a misnomer "Tales of Terror" is. Most of them are crime thrillers. None of them speak of anything frightening or paranormal or anything else that would be considered a horror story. Had I known they weren't going to be scary stories, I definitely wouldn't have bought this book. I fell into the trap with "Alfred Hitchcock". I'm just glad I finished it. Now I can donate it back to the thrift shop.

[shar zar]

Note: I read the dutch version of this book which only counts 16 stories sadly.
7/10
This book was full of suspenseful, dark and funny tales as the title implies. I'm not sure if the endings should be considered plottwists or punchlines but they were amusing nonetheless. My boyfriend bought this book for me about 2 years ago and I'm glad to have finally read it and liked it as much as I did

[Scott Williams]

This collection was published in the 80s but most of the stories were written in the 60s and were previously published in Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. The title is misleading. None of these tales is really terrifying. About a third of them would have made great episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. They follow that same story formula. Others are more like hard boiled crime stories.

[Kathleen]

Overall pretty imaginative. I only knew one author off the top of my head. It was interesting seeing when a story was originally published (generally 50s-70s, notation page up front) after guessing the decade in the story (men with hats) but still most of the stories held up. Some were particularly very clever! I skipped none, read all 660 some pages!

[Lisa]

#32 of 120 books pledged to read during 2018

[HOPE MICHELLE]

Love a scary story look no further. You will find many to tingle your spine.

[Paul S.]

Some of these are unforgettable. Straight up haunting. Good times were had.

[Zacacity]

A waste of time. No terror, just crime. Robert Bloch had the only good story before I decided to sell this back.

[Sara Rod]

Love Alfred Hitchcock movies, he did good selecting short stories in the literary line.

[Kristi Brown]

Just a good short story collection. None of them really stood out as "Wow" stories.

[Josh Hatfield]

Pretty decent noir/detective/crime/murder collection. I was hoping for more of a horror compilation, but still enjoyed it.

[Kit Lentini]

Overall the stories selected were well written. A few here and there had pacing issues however.

[Paula Kenny]

Perfect bedtime stories.

[Jo-jean Keller]

Fascinating stories with clever, unanticipated endings. Just when you have it solved, you don't!

[Jigorida]

this story is actually great.

[Lance Carney]

My daughter bought this for me for my birthday along with a book about Hitchcock's films since we were watching them. These short stories were originally in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine from the 1950's through the 70's. I enjoyed most of them even though some were outdated (but therefore interesting to me). These are not tales of "Terror" as I know it (think Stephen King), but the editor needed a way to divide the short stories into several different books and titles. I think the "terror" in this edition comes from the fact that most of the stories involve murder. I don't know if I'll read any of the other editions, but I am glad I read this one. It was the next best thing to checking the mail box everyday for the next delivery of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine!

[Michael Rodriguez]

These 58 short stories of mystery and suspense (not terror—that is a misnomer) were first published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine during the 1960s and 1970s, hand-picked by the great director himself according to the blurb. Most of these narratives are rock-solid entertainment; they engage your attention, give you plenty of “aha” moments, and even elicit the occasional spine-tingle of terror. My favorites include the schoolboy who will kill for good grades, the reporter who writes up obituaries before the people die, and the woman who visits an asylum where the patients play the doctors—having killed the real doctors. If you enjoy clever, hard-boiled tales of mystery and suspense, then you’ll enjoy these. B+

[L8blmr]

I finally finished this huge collection of stories allegedly chosen by Alfred Hitchcock. Considering there were 58 stories of murder and/or mayhem and that I read at most 3 of them a night...well, you can do the math. Since all of the tales were originally published prior to 1980 (some of them as early as in the 50's), it was like a trip back in time to the old-fashioned, straight-forward crime story that first captured my interest when I was young. Most were well-written and a pleasure to read (use of old-school sense of humor included), though a handful left me saying, "Huh?" at their conclusion.

[Syon]

-Good collection of short stories, though nothing terrifying at all. Title was misleading, so points off for that.
-Overall, it is more a book about the irony and sudden nature of death, and how karma is a very real thing in this world.
-Well written short stories, with half being mediocre, and half being decent to very exciting.

7/10

[Sherrill Wallace]

I dont read much fiction but hey, this is Alfred Hitchcock. Are his books really fiction??