A Brief Darkness

by Alfred Hitchcock

Stories of mystery and suspense, by some of America's leading writers, to enthrall readers who are sure they have already read it all

Genres: Short Stories, Mystery, Horror

379 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Sir 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.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I truly have no clue where this book came from. I just found in my basement and I'm like
Hey, I love Alfred Hitchcock and its October so Imma read it!

Alfred Hitchcock's A Brief Darkness is an anthology of crime and horror stories. If you've ever heard of or watched Alfred Hitchcock Presents.. Then you understand the vibe. And like that show this book has some good stories and some bad stories. The good outweighed the bad but some of the bad ones were real bad.

But I'm in a (rare) good mood so I'm gonna focus on the good. My favorite story was actually the very last story Alternate. Alternate was just a well written and fun story with a devious ending.

I really wish I knew where I got this book because this book is old as fuck and it had way too many spelling errors. Which I thought was super weird.

Overall it was an okay read but the show is better.

[Ash · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not fucking finish this book thank god. Every story was exactly the same. Like literally every god damn story was about a man trying to kill his wife because she was annoying and he didn’t want to pay alimony. If it wasn’t about that then it was about a smart ass cop/detective solving the world’s most boring and predictable case. The vibes this book gives off is high school creative writing class with no women. Makes a lot of sense that Alfred Hitchcock curated this book since he is one of mainstream media’s biggest crybaby misogynists. Zero stars if I could xoxo

[B.E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has some pretty interesting stories overall, but it wasn't my favorite of these anthologies.

[Jackie Berry]

I am a huge fan of A. Hitchcock. Much like anything he has penned,directed, coverted into a movie, and/or starred in himself...this book is uniquely the genre which he created and still reigns master over. Each story is masterfully written and keeps you suspensefully on the edge of your seat. Great read!