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Who Walk in Fear
Includes 3 short novels: "Culver island", "Thirty-Six Hours", "The Mate of the S.S. Vega".
*Blurb*
These three novels were specially written for this volume and are variations on a single theme : terror.
CULVER ISLAND, the terror of a small community; THIRTY-SIX HOURS. the terror of one single person; and THE MATE OF THE S.S. VEGA to some extent combines the two, being the terror of a whole countryside centred round the terror of one individual.
Neil Bell has a tremendous gift of characterization which is particularly impressive on a vital theme such as this one. The characters in this book really live and it is this feeling of actuality, together with the author's economy of words, that heightens the tension and excitement of the whole book.
WHO WALK IN FEAR is a brilliant example of a master storyteller at work and in setting out to stir the reader with terror, horror and excitement, Neil Bell has undoubtedly succeeded.
*Blurb*
These three novels were specially written for this volume and are variations on a single theme : terror.
CULVER ISLAND, the terror of a small community; THIRTY-SIX HOURS. the terror of one single person; and THE MATE OF THE S.S. VEGA to some extent combines the two, being the terror of a whole countryside centred round the terror of one individual.
Neil Bell has a tremendous gift of characterization which is particularly impressive on a vital theme such as this one. The characters in this book really live and it is this feeling of actuality, together with the author's economy of words, that heightens the tension and excitement of the whole book.
WHO WALK IN FEAR is a brilliant example of a master storyteller at work and in setting out to stir the reader with terror, horror and excitement, Neil Bell has undoubtedly succeeded.
310 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1953
About the author
Neil Bell
66 books2 followersPseudonym of UK writer Stephen Southwold (1887-1964), who was born Stephen Henry Critten, but who took his new surname from his birthplace.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 26, 2025
That was... not pleasant. I mean its horror (of a kind) so that shouldn’t be a surprise and yet it was, almost constantly.
One issue is that this feels distinctly like a 1950’s film, so its disturbing and graphic moments feel incongruous. There are other issues which I’ll get too but its a little tricky to tell if my dislike is due to the content or the writing itself.
There are three stories in this and the first i am more confident in saying is not great. There is a particularly repulsive scene in here but its also quite effective, its meant to disturb and does so.. and then goes nowhere. Its lack of impact on the rest of the story means it feels totally unjustified. The rest of the story is kinda lame, also i really thought a certain element was a red herring and kept expecting some reveal which never occurred.
The second feature has all of the emotional hangover from that one scene in the previous, and the setup immediately sets off all the alarm bells. Even our protagonist is feeling it. It looks like we know exactly were this is going and that just adds to rather than retracts from the tension.
It has a certain Stepford Wives vibe about it, not as well written of course, but that feeling of an underlying threat. Its more focused that the first and if it had gone to as bad a place it would at least have felt justified in doing so this time.
The problem (although also a relief), is that it goes on too long with too much back and forth about if there was danger. By the time we get to the end some of that tension has ebbed away.
In fact it took so long to get to the point that i started thinking it would turn , of course i was wrong so not sure if that counts as a spoiler. But again.. like the first story now that i think about it, i was distracted by this other idea of events.
Interestingly a character’s name in this middle tale is Noel Blake. The author wrote another work some 20 years earlier called the Disturbing Affair of Noel Blake but i don’t know if its meant to be the same person.
The third story didn’t have anything which pushed my buttons it was fine. It does have quite a slow build up then a sudden jump to the conclusion.
Over all, i feel like this might be best read in complete reverse order. The second story is certainly the best, its disturbing effect working well.
I am probably judging these more in terms of disliking the subject matter than the writing quality itself. The writing in isolation though maybe still not 4-stars but could be a high 3-stars.
Made available by the Merril Collection.
One issue is that this feels distinctly like a 1950’s film, so its disturbing and graphic moments feel incongruous. There are other issues which I’ll get too but its a little tricky to tell if my dislike is due to the content or the writing itself.
There are three stories in this and the first i am more confident in saying is not great. There is a particularly repulsive scene in here but its also quite effective, its meant to disturb and does so.. and then goes nowhere. Its lack of impact on the rest of the story means it feels totally unjustified. The rest of the story is kinda lame, also i really thought a certain element was a red herring and kept expecting some reveal which never occurred.
The second feature has all of the emotional hangover from that one scene in the previous, and the setup immediately sets off all the alarm bells. Even our protagonist is feeling it. It looks like we know exactly were this is going and that just adds to rather than retracts from the tension.
It has a certain Stepford Wives vibe about it, not as well written of course, but that feeling of an underlying threat. Its more focused that the first and if it had gone to as bad a place it would at least have felt justified in doing so this time.
The problem (although also a relief), is that it goes on too long with too much back and forth about if there was danger. By the time we get to the end some of that tension has ebbed away.
In fact it took so long to get to the point that i started thinking it would turn , of course i was wrong so not sure if that counts as a spoiler. But again.. like the first story now that i think about it, i was distracted by this other idea of events.
Interestingly a character’s name in this middle tale is Noel Blake. The author wrote another work some 20 years earlier called the Disturbing Affair of Noel Blake but i don’t know if its meant to be the same person.
The third story didn’t have anything which pushed my buttons it was fine. It does have quite a slow build up then a sudden jump to the conclusion.
Over all, i feel like this might be best read in complete reverse order. The second story is certainly the best, its disturbing effect working well.
I am probably judging these more in terms of disliking the subject matter than the writing quality itself. The writing in isolation though maybe still not 4-stars but could be a high 3-stars.
Made available by the Merril Collection.
Displaying 1 of 1 review