The Unspeakable People: Being Twenty of the World's Best Horror Stories

by Peter Haining, Stuart Perry (Illustrator), August Derleth

CONTENTS
1. The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis
2. The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
3. The Bird Woman by Henry Spicer
4. My Own Tale by R H Benson
5. Williamson by Henry S Whitehead
6. A Thing of Beauty by Wallace West
7. The Outsider by H P Lovecraft
8. The Loved Dead by C M Eddy
9. The Copper Bowl by Captain George Eliot
10. The Feast in the Abbey by Robert Bloch
11. The Cathedral Crypt by John Wyndham
12. The Graveyard Rats by Henry Kuttner
13. Bianca's Hands by Theodore Sturgeon
14. The Head and the Feet by C S Forester
15. The Idol of the Flies by Jane Rice
16. A Night at a Cottage by Richard Hughes
17. The Shape of Things by Ray Bradbury
18. Desire and the Black Masseur by Tennessee Williams
19. The Coffin by Dennis Wheatley
20. Mercy by Laurence James

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies

246 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Peter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.

Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.

In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).

He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.

Reviews

[Shawn]

PLACEHOLDER REVIEWS:

I had reason to read "The Loved Dead" by C.M. Eddy Jr. (with a fix writing pass by H.P. Lovecraft, not noted here) and thought I'd stick the review here in anticipation of an eventual reread. That "The Loved Dead" got issues of WEIRD TALES yanked off the shelves by the religious Morality Squads of the 1930s might seem surprising in this day and age - not for the fact that it happened (Lord knows, they would have just found something else to get outraged over) but by how tame the story seems today, even with lowered expectations (given some of the stuff the Decadents got up to 30-40 years earlier). Our unnamed narrator - with a mob of outraged citizens closing in - confesses his history following the discovery, somewhat early in his existence, of the factor that made his previously torpid and sluggish life worth living - "interacting" with the dead brings him an exhilaration unlike any other. And so he pursues this "interest" in the dead through a career as a mortician, through the First World War, and eventually into murder of the locale populace so as to procure new members of the deceased. His outrages, eventually, are discovered, leading to where we started. Of course, there couldn't be expected to be any actual extrapolation of the concept of necrophilia into the text - our narrator merely stresses the thrill he gets from "being with" the dead - but the reading is inescapable (more so after he's found asleep on the slab at the mortuary with a dead girl draped around him). As an attempt to convey the psychology of necrophilia, its not convincing, but as a motivator for a creepy story it is quite effective (especially when our narrator begins stalking small towns). Not a bad little yarn, we presented it on Pseudopod as a free reading - The Loved Dead.

"The Copper Bowl" by George Fielding Eliot - In China, the Legonnaire Fournet is captured by the malevolent Mandarin, Yuan Li, lord of river pirates, for some information he possesses. But when other forms of persuasion fail, and with killing or even physical injury of the Legionnaire not a consideration, the Mandarin defers to the use of the titular object, and a hostage, to gain the information he requires... A late period conte cruel, this has the requisite sadism, as well as some pulpy fighting and theatrics - the gruesome, downer ending, while not unusual, is nicely handled.

In “The Feast In The Abbey” by Robert Bloch a traveler is waylaid by a storm while in a deep forest and takes refuge at a strange monastery, where the brothers are celebrating with a large feast, to which he is invited. But the dinner gets stranger and more decadent... Another story that, were I younger (back when I needed “important horror”) I would have looked on with disdain, but older now I realize this story is great fun – Bloch working in “European fable” mode, with some ripe language and ability to be more directly gruesome to inform the punchline. Great stuff.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE UNSPEAKABLE PEOPLE is one of a trilogy of themed horror anthologies by noted editor Peter Haining; the others are THE EVIL PEOPLE and THE MIDNIGHT PEOPLE. What's offered here is a good selection of mostly 20th century short stories, mainly by household names although with a few obscurities dotted here and there.

Matthew Lewis's THE MONK is one of the giants of the early gothic novel, and the first story here is a mere extract. It's enough to whet the appetite and loaded with torture chambers and conjured spirits, although I'm not a fan of extracts as whole as I prefer to read the whole thing. Poe's THE RAVEN is the author's famous poem included in its entirety, and a classic even for those who don't get on with poetry as a whole. THE BIRD WOMAN was written by Henry Spicer in 1863 and is about a job application for a very unusual position. It's tame nowadays, but would have been considered shocking at the time.

MY OWN TALE sees R.H. Benson tackling the ghost story genre popularised by his brother E.F., but for a haunted house effort with no real ghost, it's a big time waster. Henry S. Whitehead's WILLIAMSON is my favourite story collected here, and all about a childhood friend hiding a terrible secret. By necessity the horror is rather subtle, but the quality of the writing is out of this world. Wallace West's A THING OF BEAUTY is about a crippled hunchback working in a medical school, and is delightfully grotesque. It reminded me more than anything of the Paul Naschy film THE HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE, which it may have influenced.

THE OUTSIDER sees Lovecraft doing what he does best, i.e. depicting an alien world full of bizarre architecture and weird creatures. The grandiose writing style would ring hollow in another's hands, but it works for Lovecraft. C.M. Eddy's THE LOVED DEAD is undoubtedly the most controversial story collected here, a 1930s-era tale of a ghoulish necrophile scouring the local graveyards. It's a real masterpiece of the grotesque and macabre, and certainly not for the faint of heart. THE COPPER BOWL sees Captain George Eliot exploring a new and hideous form of torture from China. Straightforward stuff, concise and gruelling with it.

Robert Bloch's THE FEAST IN THE ABBEY was written when the author was only 17 years old but is still a five star effort. It's pleasingly old-fashioned, telling of a group of sinister monks, and ticks all of the right boxes perfectly. John Wyndham's THE CATHEDRAL CRYPT has a similar theme but is more by-the-numbers, and certainly can't be compared to the author's seminal science fiction novels. Henry Kuttner's THE GRAVEYARD RATS is another simple one, building to a suitably visceral climax that doesn't shy away from the in-your-face horror. BIANCA'S HANDS is by Theodore Sturgeon and rather unusual in that it's quietly effective rather than ghastly, an interesting twist on the old "possessed hands" sub-genre.

THE HEAD AND THE FEET is by Hornblower author C.S. Forester and explores the Nazi concentration camps in an unbelievably sickening way. One can only hope that the writing process was cathartic for the author. Jane Rice's THE IDOL OF THE FLIES concerns an appallingly cruel kid and the karma he deserves, served up via an unusual method. A NIGHT AT A COTTAGE is an anecdotal effort by Richard Hughes in which an escaped prisoner spends the night at an abandoned cottage; it's a bit too obvious and predictable to be a success. Ray Bradbury's THE SHAPE OF THINGS is very offbeat, exploring deformed birth in a thoroughly unexpected way. It's the most ambitious story found herein and deserves kudos as a result, even though it's more like science fiction than horror.

DESIRE AND THE BLACK MASSEUR is a grim story by Tennessee Williams which is about as grotesque as you could imagine. The story of human perversion is coldly shocking, as well as unpleasantly sexual and racist with it. It remains controversial even now. Dennis Wheatley's THE COFFIN is another version of the age-old "buried alive" type story, excellently written throughout; it's taken from his novel THE KA OF GIFFORD HILLARY. The final story, Laurence James's MERCY, is about the trapped survivor of a car wreck seeking rescue. It's heavy on the gore and all rather cringe-worthy when it comes down to it.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great anthology of unpleasant horror stories, only somewhat marred this time by Haining's careless annotations, his exaggerations of fact, and the silent trimming he performed on the excerpt from Lewis' THE MONK.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so excited to happen upon a trio of vintage horror by Peter Haining last week at the book store, including this one, The Unspeakable People, which I decided to delve into first.

Reading through these stories was so much fun; I loved that we follow a timeline of horror writers, from the 1700s to "present" (1960s, when the book was published). Haining's introductions to each story were insightful, offering relevant historical details before the reader dives into each tale. With the exception of Poe's The Raven, these stories were all new to me, even though some were written by familiar authors, like Tennessee Williams and Ray Bradbury, for instance. There were also new-to-me vintage horror authors that I hope to read more from, like Jane Rice.

The theme of the anthology, as the title suggests, is unspeakable people -- accordingly each story focuses on horror at the human level, presenting horrifically terrible, and/or terribly strange, people. My favorite stories from this collection were: A Thing of Beauty, by Wallace West; Graveyard Rats, by Henry Kuttner, The Shape of Things, by Ray Bradbury, and Idol of the Flies, by Jane Rice. I was also intrigued by Tennessee Williams' Desire and the Black Masseur, which I almost want to reread to further analyze it from a historical perspective. It offers a horror-filled yet dated (1948) look at race relations… I am still processing this one.

It is always hard to figure out a star rating for anthologies, because they are a mixed bag. I enjoyed most of these, although there were some stories that really did not work for me, perhaps due to historical/cultural differences in what constitutes engaging storytelling. That said, if you are looking for something different than your usual horror fare, and can manage to find a copy of this vintage book, I would highly recommend it!

[Noah Rozov · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read "The Raven" a poem of 1844 by Edgar Allan Poe.

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know four stars is huge but this book is unbelievably good. For This subject I have never read a book where every story is written brilliantly and if not shocking in its horror.
A tale of a tortured nun and her monk lover who reluctantly gives himself up to the devil to escape further pain only to find himself deceived by satan to find that his lover was created to encourage him to give up his soul. His is carried away onto a mountaintop in hell where he learns of his fate before the devil grips his head in his talons and carries his body high into the air and dropping him into death.
A poem of a man trying to deal with a strange raven who invades his home and finds his life held in the creatures claws. A terrifying little tale.
A nanny takes care of a child whose deformity in the guise of a horrible bird only brings shock and terror.
A thing of beauty is a shocking story of a school workers obsession with the bodies of the dead which escalates after the arrival of the newly deceased miss X.
The Outsider follows the trail of someone who leaves or escapes from the place he calls home to find himself in a strange land among strange people. Eventually realising that he is the strange creature hidden amongst the normal people of the world.
The Loved Dead. A man grows up with a sensational interest in death after witnessing those in his family passing away to which he finds employment close to those who have died. He takes things further by committing murders in the dead of night throughout his city before his employer catches him lying on a slab with the body of someone. He moves away but returns and continues his horrible murders until hiding near a graveyard to escape the police he chooses to end his wretched life. Wonderfuly prose to a horrible subject.
There is a story of a man who takes shelter, while searching for his brother, in an abbey where he is invited to a feast. Such a shocking ending.
Almost every single story in this book is written with such imagination or wonderful prose and storyingtelling it is hard not to feel drawn into each dreadful tale. I simply devoured this book.
One story has a family exploring a cathedral only to find themselves locked in after hours which only reveals the terrifying sounds and chanting of a strange procession nearby. A ritual is taking place. Something demoniac and surreal. But is it really happening.
A strange story of a young girl whose hands are separate from her body and have a strange life of their own and the young boy whose takes advantage of them to the point of obsession.
The Head And The Feet is written by a greater author but this is one story I didn't much care for and feel that if it were written by another it would be a very boring story. It's theme is a concentration camp in the second world war.
A tale about a kid who terrorises his family and the people around him and almost getting away with it. It begins very disturbing and left me unsure of which way the story will turn until the boy meets a mysterious man or being whose face is hidden and baring flies among him. He shows he boy what awaits him if he continues in his terrible ways. The story cuts to a women who the boy hates, who is reading from a book on Satanism. I quite enjoyed this ending.
A ghost story set in a cottage with am escaped prisoner and his meeting with a soaking wet man. Short but very good storytelling.
A tale from a great writer involving a couple whose baby arrives in such an unbelievable state. It was born from another dimension. The couple struggle to live with the child resulting in heavy drunkenness before seeking help with the doctors and eventually giving up their lives to be with their only child in his dimension. Written amazingly by Ray Bradbury with a somewhat happen ending.
There is another shocking tale of a man whose frequent visits to a large masseuse have him leave after every session with many new injuries. This is one of the more shocking stories and with a dreadful ending. The man becomes consumed by the feeling of losing his body to this large man everytime he visits. Eventually letting the masseuse consuming his very self.
A simply boy from a small town town who is always bullied and made to witness violent ending to animals around him, while learning from his father that an animal needs to be put down if it is suffering to help end its pain. The boy finds a way of making his father proud in this respect when he stubbles upon a man trapped in his car, suffering and crying out for help. The man is relieved to see the boy pull a knife out hoping to free him from his belt.
The writing in this story is simply amazing and delivers such shocking claustrophobia throughout while wishing and hoping for escape. This tale which is an excerpt from a novel by Dennis Wheatley follows a man's physical and emotional pain as he struggles to breathe. To scream. And to escape in anyway he can from The Coffin he is buried in. Amazing and shocking at the same time. Kept me eager to find out if he will make it and how when no one can hear him and death lingers so near.

[Carlos West · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published in England with the subtitle, 20 of the world’s most horrible horror stories. They aren’t the best and you may only find a half dozen that you really like. The Raven is not Poe’s most horrible but it brought the most horrible author to fame. If this book only introduces you to Poe, the Monk, and HP Lovecraft, it’s worth obtaining! Nice intro’s about the authors and the stories. Some authors here are better known for sci-fi than horror. The 1975 reprint by Everest Books had the following prices: UK 50p, Australia $1.90, New Zealand $1.60, Canada $1.95. Paper quality good. Includes 1 page preview of TheZarkon Principle on the last page.