Stories of the Supernatural

by Betty M. Owen

Contents: The Willows (Blackwood); The Vertical Ladder (Sansom); The Dancing Doll (Kersh); Sir Dominick's Bargain (Le Fanu); The Cocoon (Goodwin); The Madwoman (Kersh); The Fly (Langelaan)... SEE PHOTOS!

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies

Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

Reviews

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the seven stories: Two were great, three were good, and two were completely meh. All in all, a good little collection. But oh goodness me the first story in this, The Willows by Algernon Blackwood, just sooo good. I highly recommend it.

[Fill Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally got this book (like most, I suspect) decades ago, when I was no more than 12 or 13yrs old. I wasn't bothered then by how well the stories fit the "supernatural" description, nor am I bothered now. I had kept that book with me while raising children and nearing retirement because I liked the stories so much, and only found recently that I had lost it. I'm pleased to have replaced it, and look forward to another trip through The Willows. This collection, and a similar one entitled "Night in Funland" were no doubt responsible for my lifelong love of the short story genre.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Undoubtedly the first "horror" I ever read. Probably got it from the Bookmobile. Blackwood's "The Willows" blew me away with it's atmosphere of dread. It didn't have nearly the same power for me reading it again much later as an adult, but it definitely tapped into my taste for moody, ghostly tales. I have no idea where this book went. I wish I still had it in my possession.

[Lew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have had this paperback for over 40 years and finally got around to reading these stories. These stories were bad. The only saving grace was the story for which Vincent Price's classic Horror movie "The Fly" was adapted from. The other stories were a struggle to read.

[Lara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book at all. Im not much for short stories to begin with but these stories were just dumb. The first story, The Willows, i didn't finish. After describing a river for 20 minutes I was just bored and done with it. The Vertical Ladder and The Dancing Doll were pointless and had nothing to do with the supernatural. Neither did The Madwoman in my opinion although The Dancing Dolls ending was vaguely interesting. The fourth story, Sir Dominics Bargain was eh, dull, and The Cocoon was just weird. The final story, The Fly, was the only interesting and decent story in this whole book.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars because it has 3 all-time creepy classics: "The Willows," "The Cocoon," and "The Fly." Sort of a nature horror thing going on there. "Sir Dominic's Bargain" is fair, and all the rest are fluff (and not "supernatural") and can be ignored.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult to rate short-story collections. Loved "The Fly" by George Langelaan.

[Erica Leigh]

My faves in the bunch:

The Willows by Algernon Blackwood
The Cocoon by John BL Goodwin
The Fly by George Langelaan

[Don · Rating 2 out of 5]

Three of the stories had nothing to do with anything 'supernatural' and why they were included here is anybody's guess (since I'm sure Ms. Owen is no doubt gone on to the great editing house in the sky and cannot be asked why she chose them for this disappointing collection).

The ONLY exceptional short story is The Fly (that the original movie of the same name was based upon). And it was because of this that I gave the book two stars rather than a single one star (for such a terrible offering) otherwise, this was a pretty sad collection of 'supernatural' short-stories.

Long out-of-print, and not worth locating a copy (unless you'd like to read the original horror story: The Fly).

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

**4.5 for "The Fly" by George Langelaan**