Frighteners: No. 1

by Mary Danby (Editor), Sydney J. Bounds, Joyce Marsh

17 Brand new tales of haunting terror -

A beach inhabited by man-eating jellyfish...
A death-mask which returns to life...
A village of monster-mad zombies...
A hideous body which refuses to die...
A hospital menaced by a ghostly visitor...
A withered corpse in search of a friend...

Stories of stark originality and chilling humour, told by some of today`s most imaginative fear-mongers.

Genres: Horror

159 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Mark H · Rating 3 out of 5]

1974 collection of all-new horror fiction. In retrospect, as a horror fan, it’s fairly easy to predict where most of these stories are heading, but two tales stood out. One by the usually reliable R Chetwynd Hayes packs surprises as well as humour. The other by Adrian Cole, who is still writing.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent selection of short horror stories compiled by Mary Danby who released lots of these sorts of books to champion unknown writers back in the '70s and '80s. Frighteners is from the mid-'70s and many of the stories have a wonderful, old-school horror element to them which you don't often find in contemporary works anymore.

Admittedly some are much better than others, but I particularly enjoyed The Quiet Man, Lost Soul, Old Hether's Picture, The Catomado, Dissolving Partnership, and The Mask. Each tale is very different from the next, so it's a fun, varied bunch to keep you company this Halloween.

[Ant Koplowitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, eclectic mix of ghost and horror and supernatural stories, first published in 1974. Mary Danby was something of an expert in editing these type of books, and this collection certainly doesn't disappoint. I hadn't heard of any of the contributors, but don't let that put you off, as this is a good selection, with most of them being of a very high standard. I specially enjoyed Dissolving Partnership and The Quiet Man.

© Koplowitz 2015