The Ruskin Bond Horror Omnibus

by Ruskin Bond

Here is another collectible for young The Ruskin Bond Horror Omnibus addicts edited by none other than veteran author Ruskin Bond.Welcome to the terrifying world of horror. And there is only one way to survive.Master your fear.This is a collection of some of the spookiest tales ever written. Terror fans will surely devour these incredible spine-chillers from masters of the genre. Featuring Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’s Guest’, Jerome K. Jerome’s ‘The Skeleton’, C.A. Kincaid’s ‘The Werewolf’, Thomas Burke’s ‘The Hollow Man’, and other period chillers, this volume will surprise and horrify hardcore devotees of the genre and newcomers alike.So prepare to be haunted, and retell these grisly tales to your friends to see if you can make their spines tingle.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction

447 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Ruskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent. He is considered to be an icon among Indian writers and children's authors and a top novelist. He wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof, when he was seventeen which won John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then he has written several novellas, over 500 short stories, as well as various essays and poems, all of which have established him as one of the best-loved and most admired chroniclers of contemporary India. In 1992 he received the Sahitya Akademi award for English writing, for his short stories collection, "Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra", by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters in India. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 for contributions to children's literature. He now lives with his adopted family in Landour near Mussoorie.

Reviews

[Arun Divakar · Rating 4 out of 5]

To many a person who asks me what kind of genres I prefer in reading, one that I always talk about is horror. My reading on this area however, is very limited. Still there is a very strong pull I feel towards the macabre in literature. There is one episode in my childhood which I still remember vividly. Back during the time of VHS tapes, I rented this B-movie about a werewolf ( I cannot recall the name of it now !) and returned it to the shop a few hours later and told the guy there er...I couldn't watch this completely, scared me silly ! Can I rent another tape ? The guy looked at me with a raised eyebrow and burst out laughing after which he said Kid, everyone who took this tape brought this back saying its the lousiest horror flick they ever saw ! Go ahead and pick something else from the shelves. I grinned and went on my way and that I think was my first brush with horror in a medium.

It is really unfair to this little book that it is just named The Ruskin Bond here in the site. The name in fact is The Ruskin Bond Horror Omnibus and has a jolly good collection of stories in the genre to match its name. A lot many masters have a representation here including Rudyard Kipling , Hugh Walpole, C. A. Kincaid and Bram Stoker. I liked the way the book was structured for unlike the usual anthology structure, the quality of the stories are well maintained except for two or three odd ones. Interestingly, I found myself cuddling up more to the stories where horror was more psychological than physical. A fine example of this was The Last Match which focussed exclusively of one woman stuck in a lonely home right amidst a brutal snowstorm. The horror mounts in steps here and by the time you reach the top, it is as taut as a string. Another one of my favorites was The Staircase where the central character is a whole house and a gothic feel adds more vivid colors to the sketch.

I was under a spell I suppose, reading has been at a snail's pace and not entirely to my satisfaction. I can offer a thousand excuses for the slow down in my reading but of late I have realized the truth behind the maxim If it is really important to you, you will find a way. If it is not, you will find an excuse. Upon returning from a long trip, I could practically sense the books in my shelf looking at me in a way that made me feel guilty.

Mea culpa my dear friends mea maxima culpa !

I have revived at the hand of a master from the world of Malayalam literature now. O.V. Vijayan's Gurusagaram feels like nectar brimming over with heavenly language. Let me see if I can find it in this site.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the winter setting in over Kolkata, a tinge of rain in the air as well -- a cup of coffee, a half-lit, dim, lazy evening can be hit with the jolt of electric imagination and matchless brewvity of prose, whenever I pick this book uop.

Kudos Master.

[Musharrat Zahin · Rating 1 out of 5]

আপনি যদি মনে করেন যে বইটা পড়ার পর আপনার শরীর শিরশির করে উঠবে, তাহলে কিন্তু ভুল ভাবছেন। ভয়ের ভ তো নেই, সেই সাথে কোনো ভৌতিক আবহের ছিঁটেফোঁটা তৈরির কোনো চেষ্টাই করা হয়নি। কী পড়লাম আর কেন পড়লাম, বুঝতেই পারছি না। স্রেফ সময় কাটানোর জন্যও বইটা রেকমেন্ড করবো না৷ এর চেয়ে সত্যজিৎ রায়ের 'বারো ভূতের গপ্পো' ঢের ভালো!

[Dr Kashmira Gohil · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is a collection of several horror stories compiled in one volume and contains only one short 2-3 page story written by Ruskin bond. Most of the stories were of ancient time and in old English- little irritating to go through and did not make my blood chill or my hair follicles rise. Some did not perk up my interest at all. Only one or two, I actually liked to read. Only 02 stars for this one.

[Anamjyot · Rating 5 out of 5]

#3

I have a terrible memory.. Memory like a sieve. And it helps! I loved when I met stories I'd read many years back, which I started recalling in bits and pieces as I continued reading this one and what I loved more was that try as I may, I couldn't recall their endings, which added to the chill. It was like reliving a horror experience without knowing how it would end.
Horror is truly the best genre. ♥ 👻

"The Horror Omnibus" by Ruskin Bond

It's a collection of 27 short stories - ranging from modern to period. And like a well assorted platter, it has vampires, werewolves, haunted houses and rickshaws and mirrors, horror without supernatural and even serial killers. Covers the whole syllabus if I may dare say.

To save you the spoilers, but raise your curiosity at the same time, I'll brief on the plots of my 3 favorites -

1. The Lodger (M. B. Lowndes) - The aged Buntings couple finally have a stroke of luck when they find a perfect lodger in Mr Sleuth. Sleuth is an introvert, a Bible lover (or a religious fanatic) and likes to be out at odd hours. But the things start going awry when the city starts reporting brutal murders. Buntings don't want to lose the lodger but don't want to risk their lives either. How the conundrum ends, well, read on to find out.

2. The Last Match (Edward Fitzgerald Fripp) - Imagine living in a Canadian countryside in a snowstorm which can freeze you to death in 5 minutes. We even have a Punjabi song on it - laija othe jithe paindi a snow. 🌨️😅
But you're alone. And there is no electricity. And it's countryside. So no phone. And the nearest neighbor is 5 miles.
And you're fancying some toast with butter and meat when just before lighting the fire, you realise that in a house full of food and wood, you're out of matches.
Trust me - this one had no ghosts, no serial killers, no lions or hunters. In fact it had no one other than Mrs Mawson and this story kept me on the edge of my seat. QED. Terror needeth no ghosts.

3. All Souls' (Edith Wharton) - Mrs Clayburn lives happily in the countryside with her band of househelp and has made peace with her loneliness when one night, when due to a fracture, her doctor commands her complete bedrest and the next day, she finds herself mysteriously all alone. All staff vanished. Pin drop solitude. Deafening silence. Eerie daylight and chilling house. No explanation.
But next day, everything is back to normal, like the day never existed.
But it won't stop here. It will happen again. Is Mrs Clayburn delusional or is there a reason behind it? The explanation chilled me to the bones.

If you're a horror lover, this one is a piece de resistance for your library.

Find it on Amazon at https://amzn.eu/d/3E9i60S

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[Madhura · Rating 2 out of 5]

"May no ill dreams disturb my rest,
No Powers of Darkness me molest."

The book is a collection of frightening short-stories by many other story tellers. Not very frightening but fascinating to read.
The white wolf of the hartz mountains and the overcoat are my favourite.

[Meera · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very interesting
I suggest all to read this book

[Paritosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect companion for a couple of quiet evenings. The element of horror is varied across the stories - from subtle, suggestive hints of the supernatural to the very explicit. Very much recommended if you are looking for some leisure reading on the go or for some quiet days.

[Murtaza Kuwarawala · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was not able to complete the work. The book was not captivating enough.

[Bell Jar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed Bag.

Some stories were really great, but none of them made my skin crawl.

[essie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for a rainy evening beside the fireplace.

[Rajat Tiwari]

Ruskin Bond's whispers in the dark