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Historias para leer a plena luz
Recopilación de cuentos efectuada por Alfred Hitchcock.
254 pages, Tapa blanda
First published January 1, 1973
27 people are currently reading
474 people want to read
About the author
Alfred Hitchcock
1,145 books774 followersSir 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.
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.
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October 12, 2020
Reseña completa en mi instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/B3SrpLQl2...
Este libro es un compilado de historias de terror de diferentes autores seleccionados por uno de los directores más representativos del género. Considero que es un tesoro en mi biblioteca, pues tiene relatos que guardare en mi memoria para siempre, con ambientes propicios para el terror. Mi relación con este libro es especial. Siempre he sido un fanático del terror, pero no siempre un lector, es aquí cuando le pregunte a mi padre si tenía algún libro guardado de terror. Me enseñó este y me dijo “Lee el cuento: He, tú que estás allá abajo!” esa misma noche lo leí y me fascinó, aún lo recuerdo como uno de los mejores relatos cortos que he leído en toda mi vida y quedó como mi favorito de la antología, si pueden buscar este libro o al menos ese relato en algún lado, no se arrepentirán, esta escrito por Harold Rolseth. Esta es mi lista de relatos que más amo en esta antología:
1- He, tú que estás allá abajo! - Harold Rolseth.
2- La patrona - Roald Dahl.
3- El hombre del pozo - Berkely Mather.
Este libro es un compilado de historias de terror de diferentes autores seleccionados por uno de los directores más representativos del género. Considero que es un tesoro en mi biblioteca, pues tiene relatos que guardare en mi memoria para siempre, con ambientes propicios para el terror. Mi relación con este libro es especial. Siempre he sido un fanático del terror, pero no siempre un lector, es aquí cuando le pregunte a mi padre si tenía algún libro guardado de terror. Me enseñó este y me dijo “Lee el cuento: He, tú que estás allá abajo!” esa misma noche lo leí y me fascinó, aún lo recuerdo como uno de los mejores relatos cortos que he leído en toda mi vida y quedó como mi favorito de la antología, si pueden buscar este libro o al menos ese relato en algún lado, no se arrepentirán, esta escrito por Harold Rolseth. Esta es mi lista de relatos que más amo en esta antología:
1- He, tú que estás allá abajo! - Harold Rolseth.
2- La patrona - Roald Dahl.
3- El hombre del pozo - Berkely Mather.
October 27, 2023
Una compilación de relatos hecha por Alfred Hitchcock, la mayoría de los 17 autores los desconocía, a excepción de Roald Dahl.
En conjunto me parece una buena variedad aunque no son de horror, más bien de estafas, detectives, asesinatos, algunos han envejecido mejor que otros.
🎃👵🏼☠️Muerte fuera de temporada ⭐️⭐️⭐️ una viejecita extraña y solitaria reparte peculiares canastas a sus vecinos anualmente, una de las canastas siempre lleva un extra. Entretenido, llevando la idea de la vieja extraña que asusta niños a lo máximo.
🕵🏻😵🐈⬛Testigo en la oscuridad ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ una historia de detectives al más puro estilo, una muerte extraña con un testigo ciego, un enigma y una solución muy creativa, lo disfrute mucho.
🇺🇸🏨🌅Sombras en la carretera ⭐️⭐️ un hotel en medio del desierto, confortable y con todas las comodidades, ¿que puede salir mal?, me aburrió un poquito porque no me creí tanta belleza desde un principio y sólo lo comprobé al final.
✍️💼🏡El vencimiento de la hipoteca de Mr Mappin⭐️⭐️⭐️ Mr Mappin ha trabajado toda su vida en el área de hipotecas, por fin es su jubilación y hora de hacer lo que siempre había soñado. Me dio mucha penita el Sr Mappin, nada le sale bien.
🕵🏻👩🎨Granny ⭐️⭐️ una pintora famosa que no ha sido vista en mucho tiempo, y un periodista picado por la curiosidad dan vida a esta historia, aunque está muy bien escrita, anticipe muy rápido el desenlace.
😱👻🎃La patrona ⭐️⭐️ este relato si trae su dosis de magia y hechicería, cuando Billy Weaver llega a un pueblo buscando hospedaje, me divirtió pero ya sabía lo que iba a pasar.
🏦💸⌛️Tres formas de robar un banco ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ a cierto editor le llega una historia horriblemente escrita pero con un contenido curioso, el autor asegura tener tres maneras de robar un banco de forma legal, se lo enseñan a un banquero y este tiembla. Lo disfrute mucho, como fue en crescendo hasta el final feliz.
💸☠️👩❤️👨Ningún cabo suelto ⭐️⭐️ se planea el asesinato perfecto, ¿que puede salir mal?, una historia corta pero con final feliz.
⌛️👨🏻🦳👮♂️Adiós papa ⭐️⭐️ el viejo Miller está muriendo, su hijo preferido está en la cárcel, los dos quieren un último reencuentro. No empatice con ninguno de los personajes, algo plana la narración.
🤡🤡🧑💻Asignación: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ en una empresa, se presenta un puesto directivo libre, los empleados postulantes pelearán con todo por conseguirlo. Me ha gustado, refleja de manera universal, a lo que pueden llegar los humanos por un puesto o un hueso, todo, menos competir de manera leal.
🧗♂️🏢🔦El arribista ⭐️ Un ladrón trata de hacer pareja con otro. No creo que los ladrones sean tan cándidos como el de este relato.
💩🔫❌Te reconocería en cualquier parte ⭐️⭐️ dos soldados han ido compartiendo batallas a través de los años, cada uno a su manera. No me esperaba el desenlace y la reflexión moral tampoco es mala.
👒👙🕶️El montón de arena ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ justo el día de una competición de esculturas de arena, aparece una gran montaña de arena, la gente piensa que alguien la acúmulo para iniciar una escultura, conforme pasan las horas nadie parece hacerse cargo, en la tarde todos piensan que la marea barrera la arena, al otro día todas las esculturas han sido disueltas menos el montículo…… Hay mucho misterio pero sobre todo tozudez humana, me ha gustado mucho.
🤠💸♠️Momento crítico en el doble cero: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ trabajar en un casino 🎰 es el sueño de este joven, y lo acompañamos en su primer día. Me divertí con las peripecias de un casino, debe ser bastante interesante y estresante trabajar en uno y sobre todo detectar a los que quieren estafar.
🍃🕵️♀️🛳️Los años amargos ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stella Nordway vive en una casita en un pueblo remoto, su única preocupación es hacer crecer el césped en un terreno que parece agreste para este fin, su otro sueño es irse de crucero, para lo cual ya tiene su boleto con fecha próxima, pero, siempre hay peros en la vida. Lo anecdótico es que hace poco leí una noticia que hablaba sobre un caso muy similar, me pregunto si alguien leyó este cuento y quiso hacerlo realidad.
🦮🐕🦺🐕El mejor amigo del hombre ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, Cinamon es una perra muy querida por su dueño, pero no tanto por su dueña, hacen un viaje los tres juntos que cambiará sus vidas para siempre. Este relato me parece perfecto, no te esperas el rumbo que toma, pero lo aceptas complacido.
👮🏼♀️🚗🚓Asesino en la autopista ⭐️⭐️ Una persecución de las viejitas, sin GPS, ni cámaras en todos lados, aunque está bien ambientada, me pareció algo largo y fantasioso.
En conjunto me parece una buena variedad aunque no son de horror, más bien de estafas, detectives, asesinatos, algunos han envejecido mejor que otros.
🎃👵🏼☠️Muerte fuera de temporada ⭐️⭐️⭐️ una viejecita extraña y solitaria reparte peculiares canastas a sus vecinos anualmente, una de las canastas siempre lleva un extra. Entretenido, llevando la idea de la vieja extraña que asusta niños a lo máximo.
🕵🏻😵🐈⬛Testigo en la oscuridad ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ una historia de detectives al más puro estilo, una muerte extraña con un testigo ciego, un enigma y una solución muy creativa, lo disfrute mucho.
🇺🇸🏨🌅Sombras en la carretera ⭐️⭐️ un hotel en medio del desierto, confortable y con todas las comodidades, ¿que puede salir mal?, me aburrió un poquito porque no me creí tanta belleza desde un principio y sólo lo comprobé al final.
✍️💼🏡El vencimiento de la hipoteca de Mr Mappin⭐️⭐️⭐️ Mr Mappin ha trabajado toda su vida en el área de hipotecas, por fin es su jubilación y hora de hacer lo que siempre había soñado. Me dio mucha penita el Sr Mappin, nada le sale bien.
🕵🏻👩🎨Granny ⭐️⭐️ una pintora famosa que no ha sido vista en mucho tiempo, y un periodista picado por la curiosidad dan vida a esta historia, aunque está muy bien escrita, anticipe muy rápido el desenlace.
😱👻🎃La patrona ⭐️⭐️ este relato si trae su dosis de magia y hechicería, cuando Billy Weaver llega a un pueblo buscando hospedaje, me divirtió pero ya sabía lo que iba a pasar.
🏦💸⌛️Tres formas de robar un banco ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ a cierto editor le llega una historia horriblemente escrita pero con un contenido curioso, el autor asegura tener tres maneras de robar un banco de forma legal, se lo enseñan a un banquero y este tiembla. Lo disfrute mucho, como fue en crescendo hasta el final feliz.
💸☠️👩❤️👨Ningún cabo suelto ⭐️⭐️ se planea el asesinato perfecto, ¿que puede salir mal?, una historia corta pero con final feliz.
⌛️👨🏻🦳👮♂️Adiós papa ⭐️⭐️ el viejo Miller está muriendo, su hijo preferido está en la cárcel, los dos quieren un último reencuentro. No empatice con ninguno de los personajes, algo plana la narración.
🤡🤡🧑💻Asignación: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ en una empresa, se presenta un puesto directivo libre, los empleados postulantes pelearán con todo por conseguirlo. Me ha gustado, refleja de manera universal, a lo que pueden llegar los humanos por un puesto o un hueso, todo, menos competir de manera leal.
🧗♂️🏢🔦El arribista ⭐️ Un ladrón trata de hacer pareja con otro. No creo que los ladrones sean tan cándidos como el de este relato.
💩🔫❌Te reconocería en cualquier parte ⭐️⭐️ dos soldados han ido compartiendo batallas a través de los años, cada uno a su manera. No me esperaba el desenlace y la reflexión moral tampoco es mala.
👒👙🕶️El montón de arena ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ justo el día de una competición de esculturas de arena, aparece una gran montaña de arena, la gente piensa que alguien la acúmulo para iniciar una escultura, conforme pasan las horas nadie parece hacerse cargo, en la tarde todos piensan que la marea barrera la arena, al otro día todas las esculturas han sido disueltas menos el montículo…… Hay mucho misterio pero sobre todo tozudez humana, me ha gustado mucho.
🤠💸♠️Momento crítico en el doble cero: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ trabajar en un casino 🎰 es el sueño de este joven, y lo acompañamos en su primer día. Me divertí con las peripecias de un casino, debe ser bastante interesante y estresante trabajar en uno y sobre todo detectar a los que quieren estafar.
🍃🕵️♀️🛳️Los años amargos ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stella Nordway vive en una casita en un pueblo remoto, su única preocupación es hacer crecer el césped en un terreno que parece agreste para este fin, su otro sueño es irse de crucero, para lo cual ya tiene su boleto con fecha próxima, pero, siempre hay peros en la vida. Lo anecdótico es que hace poco leí una noticia que hablaba sobre un caso muy similar, me pregunto si alguien leyó este cuento y quiso hacerlo realidad.
🦮🐕🦺🐕El mejor amigo del hombre ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, Cinamon es una perra muy querida por su dueño, pero no tanto por su dueña, hacen un viaje los tres juntos que cambiará sus vidas para siempre. Este relato me parece perfecto, no te esperas el rumbo que toma, pero lo aceptas complacido.
👮🏼♀️🚗🚓Asesino en la autopista ⭐️⭐️ Una persecución de las viejitas, sin GPS, ni cámaras en todos lados, aunque está bien ambientada, me pareció algo largo y fantasioso.
November 24, 2012
Once upon a time I thought Alfred Hitchcock was God.
Maybe I still do. But there’s no doubt that when I was twelve, thirteen—we’re talking here 1974, ’75—he seemed a figure from another, greater world, a world quite beyond the ken of mortal man. The word “legend” hardly even touches was Hitchcock was to me, and to much of the world, by that point. The face, the voice, the dark suits, the girth, the droll British wit—all these seemed eternal. I’d never known a world without Alfred Hitchcock in it; for that matter, neither had my parents, both of whom were born in 1932, well after his great early career in England was underway.
What’s more—speaking of eternal—in my first period of discovery of him, Hitchcock was, incredibly, still making movies. “Frenzy” had just been a major worldwide hit, and the newspapers frequently ran stories about his upcoming production “Deception” (eventually retitled “Family Plot”).
But at that age, my reverence for Hitchcock was only partly based on a love for his movies. Yes, I grew up entranced by TV reruns of “The Birds” and “Lifeboat” and “Psycho” and “Suspicion” and a dozen more, certainly. But Alfred Hitchcock was a media celebrity as much as he was a film director, the Master not only of Suspense but of Marketing—a man who turned his very name into an instantly recognizable brand. One could argue that as a filmmaker Hitchcock was no better than, say, John Ford or Billy Wilder. But they never created the kind of name-brand recognition that Hitch did—recognition so powerful that even today kids often know Hitchcock’s name even if they can’t name a single other director of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Hitchcock’s fame was only partly due to his undoubted brilliance as a filmmaker; a significant portion of it came, and comes even today, from his unparalleled accomplishments in self-promotion.
In fact, it was actually his television program “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” which introduced me to the man’s work; I used to watch repeats of the show with my mother on KTTV, Channel 11 out of Los Angeles. Like almost everyone, I was charmed by the quirky humor of the show’s rotund host, Mr. Hitchcock himself; my fascination led me to his films quickly enough, and I understood early that they were actually his main claim to fame.
But in the America of the 1960s and ’70s Hitchcock was everywhere—not only on movie and TV screens, but on record players (“Alfred Hitchcock Presents Ghost Stories for Young People,” an LP I checked out again and again from the library when I was a kid); newsstands (“Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine,” still in business today); children’s bookshelves (the “Three Investigators” series of YA mystery novels with Hitchcock as a character); and, most importantly to me for a while, grown-ups’ bookshelves—with an entire long series of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” mystery anthologies published in hardcover by Random House and in paperback by Dell and, later, Bantam.
Now, even when I was twelve I found myself wondering how in the world Alfred Hitchcock had time to do all this. His TV series had ended, but he was still making movies regularly and, it seemed, editing a monthly mystery magazine, as well as compiling those numerous anthologies. How could he possibly have the time to read all those stories, not to mention write the introductions to every book and every issue of the magazine—all while directing a steady stream of movies in Hollywood? And at age 75, no less?
Well, the answer, of course, is that he couldn’t. The magazine and the anthologies were entirely the work of others; Hitchcock merely lent his name to these enterprises. I suspected this even when I was a kid, though I do remember hoping that at least he really wrote the funny introductions to the books himself. He didn’t.
No matter. Even with my suspicions, I couldn’t get enough of the Hitchcock product as it was churned out during my youth. I subscribed to the magazine for years, and I bought every paperback anthology that showed up on our local grocery store’s wire rack. My mother and I would take out the new hardcovers from the library.
And the truth is, Hitch or no Hitch, many of those anthologies were excellent (the magazine bearing the man’s name is still a leader in the field of mystery fiction today). I first found the stories of countless writers who would become favorites of mine within the covers of those Hitchcock collections. I loved the books’ titles—“Stories They Wouldn’t Let Me Do on TV,” “Stories Not for the Nervous,” “Stories That Scared Even Me.” (The paperbacks sometimes had even wilder names—“Alfred Hitchcock’s Happiness is a Warm Corpse,” “Alfred Hitchcock’s Slay Ride,” and so on.)
But my favorite, hands down—my mother’s, too—was “Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories to Be Read With the Lights On.”
I still have the book, in a book club hardcover edition we must have picked up at the local thrift store—brand-new publishers’ hardcovers were not in the Conlon family budget. The dust jacket has the familiar Hitchcock silhouette on the cover and, under the title, the words “Thirty-seven Chilling Exercises in the Art of Murder and Suspense.” Just looking at it, one can almost hear Gounod’s “Funeral March for a Marionette,” better known as the “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” theme, playing in the background….
The anthology, published in 1973, features several stories which I read then and have never forgotten: “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl; “The Pile of Sand” by John Keefauver; “The Bitter Years” by Dana Lyon; “Agony Column” by Barry Malzberg (a tale I found horrifying when I first read it but which I now see is bitterly hilarious). And, most and best of all, “Hey You Down There” by Harold Rolseth, the story of Calvin and Dora Spender, two country folk digging a well on their property who find something down there in the earth that’s…well, pretty darned interesting. I’ll say no more, except that if you can finish reading “Hey You Down There” without being both chilled to the bone and convulsed in hysterical laughter, you’re a stronger man than I. Even if you’re a woman.
That’s maybe the greatest thing about these Hitchcock anthologies—so many terrific stories, often by writers one has never even heard of. Other than as the author of “Hey You Down There,” Harold Rolseth’s name is entirely unknown to me, and even a Google search turns up no evidence he ever wrote any books. Who was he? I haven’t the faintest idea. But I know that “Hey You Down There” has stayed with me for forty years, as have innumerable tales from those Hitchcock books by writers both little-known and legendary.
My wife is also a mystery and suspense aficionado, and early in our relationship—some fifteen years ago—we were reminiscing about unforgettable early reading experiences when she made mention of a story about a couple digging a well on their property and the remarkable thing they discover deep in the earth—the story had stayed with her since she read it as a little girl. The story was, of course, “Hey You Down There,” and she’d read it in the same Hitchcock anthology I’d read it in.
Thanks, Hitch.
Maybe I still do. But there’s no doubt that when I was twelve, thirteen—we’re talking here 1974, ’75—he seemed a figure from another, greater world, a world quite beyond the ken of mortal man. The word “legend” hardly even touches was Hitchcock was to me, and to much of the world, by that point. The face, the voice, the dark suits, the girth, the droll British wit—all these seemed eternal. I’d never known a world without Alfred Hitchcock in it; for that matter, neither had my parents, both of whom were born in 1932, well after his great early career in England was underway.
What’s more—speaking of eternal—in my first period of discovery of him, Hitchcock was, incredibly, still making movies. “Frenzy” had just been a major worldwide hit, and the newspapers frequently ran stories about his upcoming production “Deception” (eventually retitled “Family Plot”).
But at that age, my reverence for Hitchcock was only partly based on a love for his movies. Yes, I grew up entranced by TV reruns of “The Birds” and “Lifeboat” and “Psycho” and “Suspicion” and a dozen more, certainly. But Alfred Hitchcock was a media celebrity as much as he was a film director, the Master not only of Suspense but of Marketing—a man who turned his very name into an instantly recognizable brand. One could argue that as a filmmaker Hitchcock was no better than, say, John Ford or Billy Wilder. But they never created the kind of name-brand recognition that Hitch did—recognition so powerful that even today kids often know Hitchcock’s name even if they can’t name a single other director of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Hitchcock’s fame was only partly due to his undoubted brilliance as a filmmaker; a significant portion of it came, and comes even today, from his unparalleled accomplishments in self-promotion.
In fact, it was actually his television program “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” which introduced me to the man’s work; I used to watch repeats of the show with my mother on KTTV, Channel 11 out of Los Angeles. Like almost everyone, I was charmed by the quirky humor of the show’s rotund host, Mr. Hitchcock himself; my fascination led me to his films quickly enough, and I understood early that they were actually his main claim to fame.
But in the America of the 1960s and ’70s Hitchcock was everywhere—not only on movie and TV screens, but on record players (“Alfred Hitchcock Presents Ghost Stories for Young People,” an LP I checked out again and again from the library when I was a kid); newsstands (“Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine,” still in business today); children’s bookshelves (the “Three Investigators” series of YA mystery novels with Hitchcock as a character); and, most importantly to me for a while, grown-ups’ bookshelves—with an entire long series of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” mystery anthologies published in hardcover by Random House and in paperback by Dell and, later, Bantam.
Now, even when I was twelve I found myself wondering how in the world Alfred Hitchcock had time to do all this. His TV series had ended, but he was still making movies regularly and, it seemed, editing a monthly mystery magazine, as well as compiling those numerous anthologies. How could he possibly have the time to read all those stories, not to mention write the introductions to every book and every issue of the magazine—all while directing a steady stream of movies in Hollywood? And at age 75, no less?
Well, the answer, of course, is that he couldn’t. The magazine and the anthologies were entirely the work of others; Hitchcock merely lent his name to these enterprises. I suspected this even when I was a kid, though I do remember hoping that at least he really wrote the funny introductions to the books himself. He didn’t.
No matter. Even with my suspicions, I couldn’t get enough of the Hitchcock product as it was churned out during my youth. I subscribed to the magazine for years, and I bought every paperback anthology that showed up on our local grocery store’s wire rack. My mother and I would take out the new hardcovers from the library.
And the truth is, Hitch or no Hitch, many of those anthologies were excellent (the magazine bearing the man’s name is still a leader in the field of mystery fiction today). I first found the stories of countless writers who would become favorites of mine within the covers of those Hitchcock collections. I loved the books’ titles—“Stories They Wouldn’t Let Me Do on TV,” “Stories Not for the Nervous,” “Stories That Scared Even Me.” (The paperbacks sometimes had even wilder names—“Alfred Hitchcock’s Happiness is a Warm Corpse,” “Alfred Hitchcock’s Slay Ride,” and so on.)
But my favorite, hands down—my mother’s, too—was “Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories to Be Read With the Lights On.”
I still have the book, in a book club hardcover edition we must have picked up at the local thrift store—brand-new publishers’ hardcovers were not in the Conlon family budget. The dust jacket has the familiar Hitchcock silhouette on the cover and, under the title, the words “Thirty-seven Chilling Exercises in the Art of Murder and Suspense.” Just looking at it, one can almost hear Gounod’s “Funeral March for a Marionette,” better known as the “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” theme, playing in the background….
The anthology, published in 1973, features several stories which I read then and have never forgotten: “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl; “The Pile of Sand” by John Keefauver; “The Bitter Years” by Dana Lyon; “Agony Column” by Barry Malzberg (a tale I found horrifying when I first read it but which I now see is bitterly hilarious). And, most and best of all, “Hey You Down There” by Harold Rolseth, the story of Calvin and Dora Spender, two country folk digging a well on their property who find something down there in the earth that’s…well, pretty darned interesting. I’ll say no more, except that if you can finish reading “Hey You Down There” without being both chilled to the bone and convulsed in hysterical laughter, you’re a stronger man than I. Even if you’re a woman.
That’s maybe the greatest thing about these Hitchcock anthologies—so many terrific stories, often by writers one has never even heard of. Other than as the author of “Hey You Down There,” Harold Rolseth’s name is entirely unknown to me, and even a Google search turns up no evidence he ever wrote any books. Who was he? I haven’t the faintest idea. But I know that “Hey You Down There” has stayed with me for forty years, as have innumerable tales from those Hitchcock books by writers both little-known and legendary.
My wife is also a mystery and suspense aficionado, and early in our relationship—some fifteen years ago—we were reminiscing about unforgettable early reading experiences when she made mention of a story about a couple digging a well on their property and the remarkable thing they discover deep in the earth—the story had stayed with her since she read it as a little girl. The story was, of course, “Hey You Down There,” and she’d read it in the same Hitchcock anthology I’d read it in.
Thanks, Hitch.
December 19, 2013
This book came out in hardcover in 1973; for the paperback version the publishers decided to release it in two volumes. This is volume one, and “Breaking the Scream Barrier” is volume two. Only a few of the stories in this one are culled from AHMM; the other sources are as diverse as The New Yorker, Ellery Queen, Playboy, Man from U.N.C.L.E., and the Texas Quarterly. Stories range from 1959 to 1972.
Again, the volume starts with a relatively weak tale, “Death Out of Season”, by Mary Barrett, but “Witness in the Dark”, by Fredric Brown, is a flat-out winner. No surprise from the guy who wrote THE SCREAMING MIMI and THE FABULOUS CLIPJOINT. It’s a very clever little mystery story about a murder in which the only witness is a temporarily blind man. Nicely done.
Robert Colby’s “Shadows on the Road” keeps the momentum going as various ne’er-do-wells stop at a desert hotel only to have themselves exploited by their own crimes. “Mr. Mappin Forecloses”, by Zena Collier, is a fun if not slightly predictable story that ends in a nicely Hitchcockian fashion. “Granny”, by Ron Goulart, is a bit lackluster, but is redeemed by a chilling last paragraph.
Not surprisingly, Roald Dahl’s “The Landlady” is brilliant. A young man about to start a new job checks into a bed and breakfast, where the sweet little landlady is harboring a sinister secret. Funny and creepy, as you’d expect from Dahl.
“Three Ways to Rob a Bank”, by Harold R. Daniels, is a fun little bit of anti-capitalism with an ending that will leave you with a smile on your face. “No Loose Ends”, from Miriam Allen deFord, has a fairly weak ending, but the story is still well-written and nicely plotted.
From Joe Gores, “Goodbye, Pops” is a melancholy tough guy story about a hood who breaks out of stir to see his father in the old man’s dying hours. I’m not Gores biggest fan but I liked this one.
“Pin Money”, by James Cross, is a little slow to get moving, but once it does it really rolls well. Robert J. Higgins “Social Climber” is a very short one about a novice cat burglar trying to get ahead in the game by teaming with an old pro—but the novice isn’t as starry-eyed as he seems. “I’d Know You Anywhere”, by Edward J. Hoch, is a set of scenes between two soldiers over the span of several years, as one soldier’s perverse love of killing takes him to great heights, much to the other’s dismay.
John Keefauver’s “A Pile of Sand”, is clearly trying to make a bigger point about humanity or the world but I am apparently not intelligent enough to understand what that point is.
“Payoff on Double Zero”, by Warner Law, starts slow but turns out to be a very good one about a young casino dealer and a scam gone wrong. Dana Lyon’s “The Bitter Years” is a solid Hitchcock-type story in which a woman who embezzled thousands fights to preserve her big dream. “Man’s Best Friend”, by Dee Stuart, a fun story about a woman fighting for her husband’s affections—against a dog.
The collection ends with a novella by the great William P. McGivern called “Killer on the Turnpike”—an unhinged but clever murderer tries to elude police on a long stretch of highway; meanwhile police pull an ever-tightening cordon around him and for one young trooper it becomes personal. Wonderfully suspenseful.
Stand-out stories: “The Landlady”, “Three Ways to Rob a Bank”, and “Killer on the Turnpike”.
Again, the volume starts with a relatively weak tale, “Death Out of Season”, by Mary Barrett, but “Witness in the Dark”, by Fredric Brown, is a flat-out winner. No surprise from the guy who wrote THE SCREAMING MIMI and THE FABULOUS CLIPJOINT. It’s a very clever little mystery story about a murder in which the only witness is a temporarily blind man. Nicely done.
Robert Colby’s “Shadows on the Road” keeps the momentum going as various ne’er-do-wells stop at a desert hotel only to have themselves exploited by their own crimes. “Mr. Mappin Forecloses”, by Zena Collier, is a fun if not slightly predictable story that ends in a nicely Hitchcockian fashion. “Granny”, by Ron Goulart, is a bit lackluster, but is redeemed by a chilling last paragraph.
Not surprisingly, Roald Dahl’s “The Landlady” is brilliant. A young man about to start a new job checks into a bed and breakfast, where the sweet little landlady is harboring a sinister secret. Funny and creepy, as you’d expect from Dahl.
“Three Ways to Rob a Bank”, by Harold R. Daniels, is a fun little bit of anti-capitalism with an ending that will leave you with a smile on your face. “No Loose Ends”, from Miriam Allen deFord, has a fairly weak ending, but the story is still well-written and nicely plotted.
From Joe Gores, “Goodbye, Pops” is a melancholy tough guy story about a hood who breaks out of stir to see his father in the old man’s dying hours. I’m not Gores biggest fan but I liked this one.
“Pin Money”, by James Cross, is a little slow to get moving, but once it does it really rolls well. Robert J. Higgins “Social Climber” is a very short one about a novice cat burglar trying to get ahead in the game by teaming with an old pro—but the novice isn’t as starry-eyed as he seems. “I’d Know You Anywhere”, by Edward J. Hoch, is a set of scenes between two soldiers over the span of several years, as one soldier’s perverse love of killing takes him to great heights, much to the other’s dismay.
John Keefauver’s “A Pile of Sand”, is clearly trying to make a bigger point about humanity or the world but I am apparently not intelligent enough to understand what that point is.
“Payoff on Double Zero”, by Warner Law, starts slow but turns out to be a very good one about a young casino dealer and a scam gone wrong. Dana Lyon’s “The Bitter Years” is a solid Hitchcock-type story in which a woman who embezzled thousands fights to preserve her big dream. “Man’s Best Friend”, by Dee Stuart, a fun story about a woman fighting for her husband’s affections—against a dog.
The collection ends with a novella by the great William P. McGivern called “Killer on the Turnpike”—an unhinged but clever murderer tries to elude police on a long stretch of highway; meanwhile police pull an ever-tightening cordon around him and for one young trooper it becomes personal. Wonderfully suspenseful.
Stand-out stories: “The Landlady”, “Three Ways to Rob a Bank”, and “Killer on the Turnpike”.
May 1, 2016
This title is misleading. It makes you think these stories are scary, and creepy. In fact, they're mostly very tame. The fun part, though, is that each story has a fantastic twist ending. I mean really fantastic. You hardly see them coming at all.
I don't know how easy it is to find this book in print anymore (see story below for how I came upon it, and the book fell apart in my hands as I read it), but if you can get your mitts on it, give it a read. You won't regret it.
-----
I have a few books that have been around so long, I never pause to wonder where they came from. Used book stores, garage sales, boxes of books saved from the junk yard.
This is one of those. I love Alfred Hitchcock, have ever since I was a little girl watching Alfred Hitchcock Presents in reruns on Nick at Nite. So, it made sense that I would have this. Where did it come from? Eh, doesn't matter.
I decided to pick it up on a lark, as I haven't had time to make my usual library runs, so I don't have piles of library books to choose from now.
And about 30 pages in, I stumbled across a stamp from my old high school.
Apparently, 16 or so years ago, I stole this book from my high school library.
Oops.
I don't know how easy it is to find this book in print anymore (see story below for how I came upon it, and the book fell apart in my hands as I read it), but if you can get your mitts on it, give it a read. You won't regret it.
-----
I have a few books that have been around so long, I never pause to wonder where they came from. Used book stores, garage sales, boxes of books saved from the junk yard.
This is one of those. I love Alfred Hitchcock, have ever since I was a little girl watching Alfred Hitchcock Presents in reruns on Nick at Nite. So, it made sense that I would have this. Where did it come from? Eh, doesn't matter.
I decided to pick it up on a lark, as I haven't had time to make my usual library runs, so I don't have piles of library books to choose from now.
And about 30 pages in, I stumbled across a stamp from my old high school.
Apparently, 16 or so years ago, I stole this book from my high school library.
Oops.
November 21, 2025
Despite the title, many of these stories are not at all scary, especially the sentimentally poignant "Christopher Frame." Some stories are incredibly funny in a dark way such as "Social Climber" -- I can just hear Hitchcock's laughter when and if he read these.
The stories are lively and varied. All of them have a twist of some sort. Some are dark portraits of sick psyches, some are speculative fiction and some others are poignant lessons on how not to commit a crime. If you are looking for a good anthology to read, this is it. If you are looking for all scary stories, this ain't it, so keep on going.
I'm not sure how many (or if any) of these stories were turned into Twilight Zone or Tales from the Darkside episodes, but some sure seem awfully familiar.
EDIT: I found a copy on the Internet Archive, so I thought I'd give this a second read. It's been anout nine and a half years since my original review, and I'm sad to say that I've forgotten most of these stories.
Selections:
* "Introduction" by Alfred Hitchcock. He blames you for reading this, and he's got a point.
* "Death Out of Season" by Mary Barrett. The happiest story about murder you'll ever read.
* "Witness in the Dark" by Frederic Brown. Your basic implausible whodunnit, set in the town of Springfield. The narrator's wife is named Marge. WARNING: A kitten is killed, and a cat killed by a car.
* "Shadows on the Road" by Robert Colby. There's a hotel called the Desert Mirage, which isn't what it seems. There is discussion about fixing a horse race, which was completely implausible.
* "Mr. Mappin Forecloses" by Zena Collier. After 20 years stuck in a job he hates, Mr. Mappin goes mental.
* "Granny" by Ron Goulart. Interesting and fast moving story of a freelance journalist investigating a 90 year old artist, but does have a huge plot hole.
* "The Landlady" by Roald Dahl. Dahl wrote many, many weird stories that were definitely not meant for children. This story was set in Bath, where I used to live. I never met a woman like this there ... but then, I never would've known, would I?
* "Three Ways to Rob a Bank" by Harold R. Daniels. No, you won't learn three ways to rob a bank. You will learn that people hated banks in the 1960s just as much as we do today. Unfortunately, Daniels' prediction that banks were becoming less human and would no longer need tellers certainly came true.
* "No Loose Ends" by Miriam Allen deFord. How not to do the perfect murder.
* "Goodbye, Pops" by Joe Gores. One of, if not the, worst story here. A convict breaks out of prison to be by the bedside of his dying father. WARNING: Lots of animals get killed for no reason. Also, mention of child abuse.
* "Pin Money" by James Cross. A desperate executive buys a voodoo doll to elimate a rival for a promotion. Nice punny title. The Dr. Dee character is a bit much, but this would've been a great Twilight Zone episode.
* "Social Climber" by Robert J. Higgins. One of the best stories in the lot. A new cat burglar wants to work with the best cat burglar in town.
* "I'd Know You Anywhere" by Edward D. Hoch. Two soldiers keep running into each other over the decades. One is bloodthirsty, the other isn't.
* "The Pile of Sand" by John Keefauver. Although interesting at first, it ultimately doesn't have a pay off.
* "Payoff on Double Zero" by Warner Law. Like the title says, this has a definite payoff. It takes a peek into the Las Vegas casino world of the early 1970s, or late 1960s.
* "The Bitter Years" by Dana Lyon. I know you're not supposed to feel sorry for a criminal, but I felt sorry for her anyway.
* "Man's Best Friend" by Dee Stuart. A wife tries to kill the family dog. Don't worry -- there's a happy ending! Well, it made me happy, anyway.
* "Killer on the Turnpike" by William P. McGivern. A detailed police procedural about catching a serial killer on a Turnpike. Longest story in the anthology. Moral of the story -- driving an Edsel will kill you.
* "Payment Received" by Robert L. McGrath. Very short Western about a boy and a kitten coming across a pre-dawn "necktie party."
* "Agony Column" by Barry N. Malzberg. I'm more used to his science fiction and fantasy stories, but this was an amusing series of correspondence of someone being completely ignored in the Nixon era. Yeah, it's out of date now, but even with email and social media, there are still people who write a lot and yet are completely ignored ... like me.
* "Guessing Game" by Rose Million Healey. Little children are creepy.
* "The $2,000,000 Defense" by Harold Q. Hauser. A man with four million dollars in the bank is accused of killing his wife's lover. Funny how back in 1973 being set for life would only be two million dollars.
* "The Man in the Well" by Berkley Mather. A WWII veteran schemes to get on a professor's trip to Burma. Very Twilight Zone-ish.
* "Crawfish" by Ardath F. Mayhar. This is another author I know from speculative fiction stories. This is a goody about an abusive husband who thinks he's committed the perfect murder.
* "The Strange Case of Mr. Pruyn" by William F. Nolan. A small old man confesses to being a serial killer to the police.
* "Ludmilla" by David Montrose. A rather forgettable and predictable piece set behind the Iron Curtain about a girl abused by her crippled grandmother.
* "The One Who Got Away" by Al Nussbaum. An obsessed U.S. Customs agent tries and tries to nab a suspected smuggler. Cute ending.
* "It's a Lousy World" by Bill Pronzini. Before he became an editor of anthologies, Pronzini was a writer. This is a decent short murder mystery, but reading this the second time around, I caught a big plot hole.
* "Only So Much to Reveal" by Joan Richter. A murder mystery in an unidentified African country that isn't too hard to figure out.
* "Who's Got the Lady?" By Jack Ritchie. A mildly humorous art heist and forgery story. It's mostly a not-too-subtle parody of the art world.
* "Hey You Down There" by Harold Rolseth. Decent, though predictable, modern fantasy set somewhere in rural America. WARNING: Four chickens are killed.
* "Too Many Sharks" by William Sambrot. Predictable but yet satisfying way a sport hunter gets more than he bargained for when going spear fishing.
* "Christopher Frame" by Nancy C. Swoboda. My favorite story of the bunch. Yes, it's very similar to the color Twilight Zone episode about the dollhouse, but it's still satisfying without being too sweet.
* "Obituary" by Paul Theridion. Cute. Written like a feature from Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story, only it's in first person.
* "Random Demand" by Jeffrey M. Wallmann. And that's why telegrams died, kids.
* "The Mother Goose Madman" by Betty Ren Wright. A book editor is the target of a looney. Would've been better if Wright hadn't suggested that all women need a man. I hate that shit.
* "The Green Fly and the Box" by Waldo Carlton Wright. The ghost of a farmer gets to see a little bit of what's going to happen to his farm and his family.
* "The Blue Rug" by Mutsu Yamamoto. Murder solves EVERYTHING, folks!
The stories are lively and varied. All of them have a twist of some sort. Some are dark portraits of sick psyches, some are speculative fiction and some others are poignant lessons on how not to commit a crime. If you are looking for a good anthology to read, this is it. If you are looking for all scary stories, this ain't it, so keep on going.
I'm not sure how many (or if any) of these stories were turned into Twilight Zone or Tales from the Darkside episodes, but some sure seem awfully familiar.
EDIT: I found a copy on the Internet Archive, so I thought I'd give this a second read. It's been anout nine and a half years since my original review, and I'm sad to say that I've forgotten most of these stories.
Selections:
* "Introduction" by Alfred Hitchcock. He blames you for reading this, and he's got a point.
* "Death Out of Season" by Mary Barrett. The happiest story about murder you'll ever read.
* "Witness in the Dark" by Frederic Brown. Your basic implausible whodunnit, set in the town of Springfield. The narrator's wife is named Marge. WARNING: A kitten is killed, and a cat killed by a car.
* "Shadows on the Road" by Robert Colby. There's a hotel called the Desert Mirage, which isn't what it seems. There is discussion about fixing a horse race, which was completely implausible.
* "Mr. Mappin Forecloses" by Zena Collier. After 20 years stuck in a job he hates, Mr. Mappin goes mental.
* "Granny" by Ron Goulart. Interesting and fast moving story of a freelance journalist investigating a 90 year old artist, but does have a huge plot hole.
* "The Landlady" by Roald Dahl. Dahl wrote many, many weird stories that were definitely not meant for children. This story was set in Bath, where I used to live. I never met a woman like this there ... but then, I never would've known, would I?
* "Three Ways to Rob a Bank" by Harold R. Daniels. No, you won't learn three ways to rob a bank. You will learn that people hated banks in the 1960s just as much as we do today. Unfortunately, Daniels' prediction that banks were becoming less human and would no longer need tellers certainly came true.
* "No Loose Ends" by Miriam Allen deFord. How not to do the perfect murder.
* "Goodbye, Pops" by Joe Gores. One of, if not the, worst story here. A convict breaks out of prison to be by the bedside of his dying father. WARNING: Lots of animals get killed for no reason. Also, mention of child abuse.
* "Pin Money" by James Cross. A desperate executive buys a voodoo doll to elimate a rival for a promotion. Nice punny title. The Dr. Dee character is a bit much, but this would've been a great Twilight Zone episode.
* "Social Climber" by Robert J. Higgins. One of the best stories in the lot. A new cat burglar wants to work with the best cat burglar in town.
* "I'd Know You Anywhere" by Edward D. Hoch. Two soldiers keep running into each other over the decades. One is bloodthirsty, the other isn't.
* "The Pile of Sand" by John Keefauver. Although interesting at first, it ultimately doesn't have a pay off.
* "Payoff on Double Zero" by Warner Law. Like the title says, this has a definite payoff. It takes a peek into the Las Vegas casino world of the early 1970s, or late 1960s.
* "The Bitter Years" by Dana Lyon. I know you're not supposed to feel sorry for a criminal, but I felt sorry for her anyway.
* "Man's Best Friend" by Dee Stuart. A wife tries to kill the family dog. Don't worry -- there's a happy ending! Well, it made me happy, anyway.
* "Killer on the Turnpike" by William P. McGivern. A detailed police procedural about catching a serial killer on a Turnpike. Longest story in the anthology. Moral of the story -- driving an Edsel will kill you.
* "Payment Received" by Robert L. McGrath. Very short Western about a boy and a kitten coming across a pre-dawn "necktie party."
* "Agony Column" by Barry N. Malzberg. I'm more used to his science fiction and fantasy stories, but this was an amusing series of correspondence of someone being completely ignored in the Nixon era. Yeah, it's out of date now, but even with email and social media, there are still people who write a lot and yet are completely ignored ... like me.
* "Guessing Game" by Rose Million Healey. Little children are creepy.
* "The $2,000,000 Defense" by Harold Q. Hauser. A man with four million dollars in the bank is accused of killing his wife's lover. Funny how back in 1973 being set for life would only be two million dollars.
* "The Man in the Well" by Berkley Mather. A WWII veteran schemes to get on a professor's trip to Burma. Very Twilight Zone-ish.
* "Crawfish" by Ardath F. Mayhar. This is another author I know from speculative fiction stories. This is a goody about an abusive husband who thinks he's committed the perfect murder.
* "The Strange Case of Mr. Pruyn" by William F. Nolan. A small old man confesses to being a serial killer to the police.
* "Ludmilla" by David Montrose. A rather forgettable and predictable piece set behind the Iron Curtain about a girl abused by her crippled grandmother.
* "The One Who Got Away" by Al Nussbaum. An obsessed U.S. Customs agent tries and tries to nab a suspected smuggler. Cute ending.
* "It's a Lousy World" by Bill Pronzini. Before he became an editor of anthologies, Pronzini was a writer. This is a decent short murder mystery, but reading this the second time around, I caught a big plot hole.
* "Only So Much to Reveal" by Joan Richter. A murder mystery in an unidentified African country that isn't too hard to figure out.
* "Who's Got the Lady?" By Jack Ritchie. A mildly humorous art heist and forgery story. It's mostly a not-too-subtle parody of the art world.
* "Hey You Down There" by Harold Rolseth. Decent, though predictable, modern fantasy set somewhere in rural America. WARNING: Four chickens are killed.
* "Too Many Sharks" by William Sambrot. Predictable but yet satisfying way a sport hunter gets more than he bargained for when going spear fishing.
* "Christopher Frame" by Nancy C. Swoboda. My favorite story of the bunch. Yes, it's very similar to the color Twilight Zone episode about the dollhouse, but it's still satisfying without being too sweet.
* "Obituary" by Paul Theridion. Cute. Written like a feature from Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story, only it's in first person.
* "Random Demand" by Jeffrey M. Wallmann. And that's why telegrams died, kids.
* "The Mother Goose Madman" by Betty Ren Wright. A book editor is the target of a looney. Would've been better if Wright hadn't suggested that all women need a man. I hate that shit.
* "The Green Fly and the Box" by Waldo Carlton Wright. The ghost of a farmer gets to see a little bit of what's going to happen to his farm and his family.
* "The Blue Rug" by Mutsu Yamamoto. Murder solves EVERYTHING, folks!
January 1, 2013
I am going to kindly give this a 3 star rating. I'm not sure if it has earned more than that, in fact, it only gets a three because I could not fully distinguish if 2 stars would be completely justified. I enjoyed quite a few of the stories but definitely not all.
First of all, I had trouble finding stories actually written by Alfred Hitchcock. So when I came across this title I was excited. That excitement quickly dissapated when I got the book in hand and found out that none of the stories were written by Hitchcock but rather only selected by him. I was still curious though because I thought to myself what would the Master of Suspense deem as a worthy collection of suspense and mystery short stories?
I was disappointed, most of them I do not think would have met such a high standard. So I slowed it down and lowered my expectation and began to actually enjoy more of them. However, I did not read all of them. I only made it to the 309th page of the over 400 page book. These stories are decent enough to fill empty time, but I would not select this book if you were someone who values your time. The stories were predictable (as many reviews have stated) and were written by authors who have taken decent ideas, built them up fairly well then incidently brought them to a sudden halt with screeching tires and left them like abandoned vehicles dangling on an edge. However, there were 3 of the stories I've read that helped give this book it's 3rd star.
12/8/12 started - 12/31/12 finished
First of all, I had trouble finding stories actually written by Alfred Hitchcock. So when I came across this title I was excited. That excitement quickly dissapated when I got the book in hand and found out that none of the stories were written by Hitchcock but rather only selected by him. I was still curious though because I thought to myself what would the Master of Suspense deem as a worthy collection of suspense and mystery short stories?
I was disappointed, most of them I do not think would have met such a high standard. So I slowed it down and lowered my expectation and began to actually enjoy more of them. However, I did not read all of them. I only made it to the 309th page of the over 400 page book. These stories are decent enough to fill empty time, but I would not select this book if you were someone who values your time. The stories were predictable (as many reviews have stated) and were written by authors who have taken decent ideas, built them up fairly well then incidently brought them to a sudden halt with screeching tires and left them like abandoned vehicles dangling on an edge. However, there were 3 of the stories I've read that helped give this book it's 3rd star.
12/8/12 started - 12/31/12 finished
January 27, 2016
Algunas historias me resultaron chocantes, y otras simplemente una genialidad.
September 20, 2020
En general muy buenos relatos, lograron engancharme. Como suele suceder en los libros de cuentos hay algunos que aburren y como que cortan en ritmo de lectura pero en este libro la mayoría tiene su encanto.
July 3, 2016
A solid collection. Our old town library used to have shelves of the Alfred Hitchcock collections and I loved them as a teenager--was interested seeing how they have held up. And they have aged extremely well I am happy to report! None of the stories in this collection flop, some are just okay, most very good, a few great. Roald Dahl is the only author in this that was known to me, and it contains his fabulous landlady.
Contrary to the title, none of the stories are scary. Most I could see easily adaptable to EC Comics, and I'd be very surprised if many of the authors in this also wrote for the comic industry of the 50s, besides the pulps. I think each of these stories ends with a twist, with the criminal getting away, or dying in an exotic manner--sharks, subterranean world, con artists, serial killers, voodoo--the only thing the stories all have in common is heavy doses of irony. Will read the rest of the set.
Contrary to the title, none of the stories are scary. Most I could see easily adaptable to EC Comics, and I'd be very surprised if many of the authors in this also wrote for the comic industry of the 50s, besides the pulps. I think each of these stories ends with a twist, with the criminal getting away, or dying in an exotic manner--sharks, subterranean world, con artists, serial killers, voodoo--the only thing the stories all have in common is heavy doses of irony. Will read the rest of the set.
August 4, 2017
4.5 stars.
June 29, 2025
Some really suspenful and spooky stories which one would expect from the title mixed in with outright stupid and predictable ones.
The title was a bit misleading i think. I don't know why i expected pure horror like psycho.
if you're reading this, I suggest going into it with a more relaxed approach, almost like watching the twilight zone or something.
If you like twist endings you'll love this book as almost all the stories involve a twist.
I dont remember how I came across this book but I have a hardcover copy that must have been handed out as a prize at a local boys high-school.
Along with a prize certificate on the inside cover there is a creepy star engraving/ embossing which gave some character to it for me.
My favorite story was "Hey you down there" by Harold Rolselth.
I dont want to give too much away but it's about a country couple and the wife taking affairs into her own hands. It was my favorite not because it was mind bending or complex but just very funny. I could see it being part of a larger story. Another good one was "Too many sharks" by William Sambrot. A more serious story about a husband this time. It was very suspensful and almost from the first line you can guess his intentions but yeah it's a good one too.
overall, I give it a 7.1/10, i got this scoring every story individually and getting the mean.
The title was a bit misleading i think. I don't know why i expected pure horror like psycho.
if you're reading this, I suggest going into it with a more relaxed approach, almost like watching the twilight zone or something.
If you like twist endings you'll love this book as almost all the stories involve a twist.
I dont remember how I came across this book but I have a hardcover copy that must have been handed out as a prize at a local boys high-school.
Along with a prize certificate on the inside cover there is a creepy star engraving/ embossing which gave some character to it for me.
My favorite story was "Hey you down there" by Harold Rolselth.
I dont want to give too much away but it's about a country couple and the wife taking affairs into her own hands. It was my favorite not because it was mind bending or complex but just very funny. I could see it being part of a larger story. Another good one was "Too many sharks" by William Sambrot. A more serious story about a husband this time. It was very suspensful and almost from the first line you can guess his intentions but yeah it's a good one too.
overall, I give it a 7.1/10, i got this scoring every story individually and getting the mean.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 25, 2023
« Il ne faut jamais juger un livre à sa couverture« , combien de fois ai-je lu cette phrase ! C’est pourtant plus fort que moi, je le fais régulièrement… et j’ai réitéré ce petit travers avec cet ouvrage dont le titre et la conception graphique m’ont fait penser à un thème horrifique. Que nenni ! Il s’agit plutôt ici d’histoires à suspense, dont certaines sont par ailleurs fort amusantes.
17 nouvelles, c’est ce que nous propose de découvrir ce recueil qui, s’il n’est pas axé sur l’horreur donc, nous permet de suivre des récits captivants et bien écrits. Que ces histoires fassent 5 ou 50 pages, elles valent toutes (ou presque) qu’on s’y attarde : les intrigues sont ingénieuses et la diversité d’œuvres proposées (entre fantastique, polar et humour noir) permet la découverte de bons auteurs.
Si j’ai, sur le moment, été déçue de ne pas retrouver dans cet ouvrage ce que j’étais venu y chercher, je garde un bon souvenir de ces lectures que j’aimerais d’ailleurs relire à l’occasion.
17 nouvelles, c’est ce que nous propose de découvrir ce recueil qui, s’il n’est pas axé sur l’horreur donc, nous permet de suivre des récits captivants et bien écrits. Que ces histoires fassent 5 ou 50 pages, elles valent toutes (ou presque) qu’on s’y attarde : les intrigues sont ingénieuses et la diversité d’œuvres proposées (entre fantastique, polar et humour noir) permet la découverte de bons auteurs.
Si j’ai, sur le moment, été déçue de ne pas retrouver dans cet ouvrage ce que j’étais venu y chercher, je garde un bon souvenir de ces lectures que j’aimerais d’ailleurs relire à l’occasion.
March 25, 2022
Recopilación por Alfred Hitchcock. Contiene un total de 37 historias, algunas fueron de mi agrado más que otras; pero en general disfruté la lectura.
Mis preferidas fueron:
▪ Muerte fuera de temporada. Autora: Mary Barrett
▪ Testigo en la oscuridad. Autor: Frederic Brown
▪ Granny. Autor: Ron Goulart
▪ Asignación. Autor: James Cross
▪ El mejor amigo del hombre. Autor: Dee Stuart
▪ El juego de la adivinanza. Autora: Rose Million Healey
▪ La defensa de 2.000.000 de dólares. Autor: Harold Q. Masur
▪ ¡Eh, tú que estás allá abajo!. Autor:Harold Rolseth
▪ Necrológica. Autor: Paul Theridion
▪ El loco de "La mamá Ganso". Autora: Betty Ren Wright
En cuanto a la colección a la que pertenece, también tuve la oportunidad de leer «Prohibido a los nerviosos». No se repite ninguna historia entre ambos títulos.
Mis preferidas fueron:
▪ Muerte fuera de temporada. Autora: Mary Barrett
▪ Testigo en la oscuridad. Autor: Frederic Brown
▪ Granny. Autor: Ron Goulart
▪ Asignación. Autor: James Cross
▪ El mejor amigo del hombre. Autor: Dee Stuart
▪ El juego de la adivinanza. Autora: Rose Million Healey
▪ La defensa de 2.000.000 de dólares. Autor: Harold Q. Masur
▪ ¡Eh, tú que estás allá abajo!. Autor:Harold Rolseth
▪ Necrológica. Autor: Paul Theridion
▪ El loco de "La mamá Ganso". Autora: Betty Ren Wright
En cuanto a la colección a la que pertenece, también tuve la oportunidad de leer «Prohibido a los nerviosos». No se repite ninguna historia entre ambos títulos.
August 4, 2021
Promedio 4.5 estrellas.
Gran antología de historias cortas de suspenso, más no de terror. compiladas por Alfred Hitchcock. Este volumen está formada por 37 historias, donde podemos ver desfilar un sinfín de personajes y ensalada de relatos, de dónde emergen diferentes situaciones.
Una buena parte de estas lecturas son sobrecogedoras, otras muchas nos dejan con una sonrisa de sorpresa ante un giro inesperado. Sí bien es cierto que en una antología podemos encontrar textos que nos gustan , y otros que no tanto, podría decir que la mayoría son excelentes.
Altamente recomendable para aquellos que disfrutan con la sensación de aprehensión que se genera en esta lectura.
Gran antología de historias cortas de suspenso, más no de terror. compiladas por Alfred Hitchcock. Este volumen está formada por 37 historias, donde podemos ver desfilar un sinfín de personajes y ensalada de relatos, de dónde emergen diferentes situaciones.
Una buena parte de estas lecturas son sobrecogedoras, otras muchas nos dejan con una sonrisa de sorpresa ante un giro inesperado. Sí bien es cierto que en una antología podemos encontrar textos que nos gustan , y otros que no tanto, podría decir que la mayoría son excelentes.
Altamente recomendable para aquellos que disfrutan con la sensación de aprehensión que se genera en esta lectura.
November 16, 2022
this was my halloween read and each story didn’t live up to the “must be read with the lights on.” though they are entertaining, haunting and perverse, each in their own way. this was my first time reading mystery/thriller short stories and i can appreciate each author’s ability to build suspense in such few pages. the stories transport you to another time in the u.s. given the generation these authors belong to. If u need a break from postmodern American lit (w/o all the pop culture meta references) and wanna be transported to bates motel (yeah that’s supposed to be ironic given the previous statement. after all, the whole anthology is from a referential point), chek it out.
July 26, 2021
Another good collection of short stories from the suspense, thriller, and mystery genres. While not as strong as some of the other collections, almost all of the stories are at least written well, and this collection contains not one but two of my favorite stories so far:
Mr. Mappin Forecloses
Hey You Down There
If you like short fiction, and interesting stories from the 20th century, well-told, I really recommend these Alfred Hitchcock Presents books - if you can get your hands on any of them. They're always good for a good time.
Mr. Mappin Forecloses
Hey You Down There
If you like short fiction, and interesting stories from the 20th century, well-told, I really recommend these Alfred Hitchcock Presents books - if you can get your hands on any of them. They're always good for a good time.
November 5, 2025
Les histoires sont toujours aussi sympathiques même si pas toujours égales en qualité et en impression. Parmi celles de ce recueil, j'ai beaucoup aimé:
Hé! Vous... là en-bas et son histoire surnaturelle
Dette acquittée où apprendre à lire à un enfant s'avère payant
Tableau! et son procédé ingénieux
Le puits et son histoire de vengeance bien méritée
Cadres et sa mélancolie nostalgique
L'homme de guerre et sa conclusion tragique
Trois façons de braquer une banque et son humour grinçant
Hé! Vous... là en-bas et son histoire surnaturelle
Dette acquittée où apprendre à lire à un enfant s'avère payant
Tableau! et son procédé ingénieux
Le puits et son histoire de vengeance bien méritée
Cadres et sa mélancolie nostalgique
L'homme de guerre et sa conclusion tragique
Trois façons de braquer une banque et son humour grinçant
September 3, 2019
Once upon a time, Alfred Hitchcock was king to me. Even Oriana Fallaci's damning story about Hitchcock in her book: "The Egotists" didn't diminish my reverence of the man.
Hitchcock's 1930s - 1970s movies are still classics; such as: "The Birds", "Psycho", "The 39 Steps", "Family Plot", "Strangers On A Train", "Spellbound", "Lifeboat", "Vertigo", Rear Window", "Suspicion" "The Trouble With Harry", "Marnie", "Rope", "North By Northwest", "Dial 'M' For Murder", "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and many other Hitchcock movies are in my video library.
Hitchcock was, to me, a legend from another world and time. In print, my favorite Alfred Hitchcock hardcover book collection of short stories are: "Stories To Be Read With the Lights On" and "Stories That Scared Even Me".
This book is an entertaining collection of stories ranging from chest-tightening horror to outright laugh-out-loud hilarity. Even over 45 years later, I feel like the younger version of myself at the sheer pleasure and entertainment I experienced reading these stories for the first time. If you get this book, read: "Hey You down there".
Thank you, Hitch, for many wonderful experiences and memories in my life!
Hitchcock's 1930s - 1970s movies are still classics; such as: "The Birds", "Psycho", "The 39 Steps", "Family Plot", "Strangers On A Train", "Spellbound", "Lifeboat", "Vertigo", Rear Window", "Suspicion" "The Trouble With Harry", "Marnie", "Rope", "North By Northwest", "Dial 'M' For Murder", "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and many other Hitchcock movies are in my video library.
Hitchcock was, to me, a legend from another world and time. In print, my favorite Alfred Hitchcock hardcover book collection of short stories are: "Stories To Be Read With the Lights On" and "Stories That Scared Even Me".
This book is an entertaining collection of stories ranging from chest-tightening horror to outright laugh-out-loud hilarity. Even over 45 years later, I feel like the younger version of myself at the sheer pleasure and entertainment I experienced reading these stories for the first time. If you get this book, read: "Hey You down there".
Thank you, Hitch, for many wonderful experiences and memories in my life!
December 11, 2023
3 1/2 stars. A few of the stories in this volume were great, a few were terrible, and most of them were ok. I enjoyed the fact that these stories were from the 1940s-1960s and tried to keep this in mind as I read. I think some of them would have been better appreciated in their time. I found that I read this one pretty slowly and sometimes only one story per day. Overall, it was interesting and I’m glad I gave it a chance.
June 12, 2019
I enjoyed this book. The stories were well written, although they did not have the typical details of many modern stories. The stories were simple and straightforward and a relaxing read. Definately made me think.
October 30, 2020
Primero aclarar que no son relatos de Hitchcock, sino que él los recopiló, y hoy día el título queda en desuso, puedes leer los cuentos en madrugada y en el panteón o lugar terrorífico favorito. Aún así hay cuentos muy buenos y con mucho suspenso.
July 27, 2021
Interesante recopilación de pequeñas historias, unas más complejas que otras, así como otras llenas de suspenso y giros de trama muy buenos, muy recomendable lectura, nada pesado de leer y bastante fácil.
March 30, 2023
This was an occasionally enjoyable book. I especially liked the final story 'the turnpike killer', 'the landlady,' and 'mr mappin forecloses.' Some of the stories weren't that great imao though, so it was hit and miss. Fun book to have in the collection though.
October 16, 2019
Didn't finish it completely, it got repetitive after some time. Some stories are entertaining, some are less entertaining.
August 30, 2020
Lo salvan 3 o 4 cuentos.
April 24, 2021
Je m'attendais vraiment à frissonner, à avoir peur... un peu déçue
December 18, 2021
Este libro es especial para leer un cuento cada noche. Para esas noches de insomnio dónde quieres sacarte un susto aunque no todas las historias dan miedo, pero si son muy creativas.
April 13, 2022
Hitchcock es el rey de esto ⚡
Uno por día, en un mes lo tienes muchacho.
De noche se leen mejor, rompe el ciclo, el miedo está en tu cabeza, quizás eso sea lo mejor. 🖤
Uno por día, en un mes lo tienes muchacho.
De noche se leen mejor, rompe el ciclo, el miedo está en tu cabeza, quizás eso sea lo mejor. 🖤
November 14, 2023
Buena antología de cuentos
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