Great Tales Of Horror & The Supernatural [Intro by Stephen King]

by Bill Prozinni (editor), Barry N. Malzberg (editor), Bill Pronzini (editor)

Abridged from the Arbor House Treasury of Horror & the Supernatural.
Here is the definitive, the reliable, the indispensable volume of horror & the beyond, with an introduction by the undisputed master of the supernatural, Stephen King.
Introduction by Stephen King
Hop-Frog by Edgar Allan Poe
Rappaccini’s Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Squire Toby’s Will by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
The Squaw by Bram Stoker
The Jolly Corner by Henry James
"Man Overboard!" by Winston Churchill
The Hand by Theodore Dreiser
The Valley of the Spiders by H. G. Wells
The Middle Toe of the Right Foot by Ambrose Bierce
Pickman’s Model by H. P. Lovecraft
Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper by Robert Bloch
The Screaming Laugh by Cornell Woolrich
A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
Bianca’s Hands by Theodore Sturgeon
The Girl with the Hungry Eyes by Fritz Leiber
Shut a Final Door by Truman Capote
Come and Go Mad by Fredric Brown
The Scarlet King by Evan Hunter
Sticks by Karl Edward Wagner
Sardonicus by Ray Russell
A Teacher’s Rewards by Robert S. Phillips
The Roaches by Thomas M. Disch
The Jam by Henry Slesar
Black Wind by Bill Pronzini
The Road to Mictlantecutli by Adobe James
Passengers by Robert Silverberg
The Explosives Expert by John Lutz
Call First by Ramsey Campbell
The Fly by Arthur Porges
Namesake by Elizabeth Morton
Camps by Jack M. Dann
You Know Willie by Theodore R. Cogswell
The Mindworm by Cyril M. Kornbluth
Warm by Robert Sheckley
Transfer by Barry N. Malzberg
The Doll by Joyce Carol Oates
If Damon Comes by Charles L. Grant
The Oblong Room by Edward D. Hoch
The Party by William F. Nolan
The Crate by Stephen King

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Fantasy, Collections, Speculative Fiction

597 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Cath · Rating 4 out of 5]

like a lot of other people said:
some were good
some were really good
some were amazing
I will be keeping this book like a treasure

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a better than average collection, mainly because the authors included were top notch, and this was fairly lengthy.

The Stephen King story was my favorite (which was no surprise to me). I finally got to read THE CRATE in its original short story form. I'd only read the graphic novel version in CREEPSHOW, and, of course, saw it in the excellent movie of the same name. It's hard to believe after all these years I'd never read this story, but now I have. Very close to the other versions, but there were subtle differences.

The other stories run hot and cold, as do most anthologies, and some of the stories I just didn't care for. Overall, a solid horror anthology that includes some authors you probably wouldn't expect.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another anthology of spotty quality. They range from "eh..." to good. Sadly, some of the best stories I have read previously in better anthologies. The stories I liked best were:

Squire Toby's Will by J. Sheridan LeFanu is one of the author's best efforts. I love the story's message to respect the wishes of the dead. 9/10

The Valley of the Spiders by HG Wells is a creepy little story that would be most effective on readers with an unreasonable fear of spiders, such as myself. 7/10

Pickman's Model by HP Lovecraft is a story I probably don't need to go into too much. It's one of HPL's classics. 8/10

Bianca's Hands by Theodore Sturgeon is an absolute classic of weird horror. Very odd, and the description of the hands is effectively chilling. 9/10

The Girl with the Hungry Eyes by Fritz Leiber is a tale of an unconventional vampire. Quite original. 8/10

Sticks by Karl Edward Wagner is a nice little tale of ancient mystery and madness. I'm a sucker for that. 9/10

Sardonicus by Ray Russell is a classic pulpy tale of horror, also made into a movie I liked. 8/10

The Roaches by Thomas M. Disch is a nice little story of human spite made weirder by bugs. 7/10

The Doll by Joyce Carol Oates is one of those stories that gets creepier and sadder every time you read it. It's almost perfect. 10/10

The Crate by Stephen King is one I was surprised to like. I think I saw it filmed years ago in a movie, but the story is better. I love the ending. 7/10

Okay, so that's 10 stories I really liked, 5 of which I've read before.

I don't think anyone on goodreads has listed all the stories you get in this collection, so I'm going to go ahead and do that. In closing, I'd say this one is not too highly recommended. It may have suffered from having too many editors, and having to accommodate everyone's opinion and taste. That may have also affected the lack of "flow" to the stories. If you would like a good one, my favorite collections are put together by Marvin Kaye.

Hop Frog by Edgar Allan Poe
Rappaccini's Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Squire Toby's Will by J. Sheridan LeFanu
The Squaw by Bram Stoker
The Jolly Corner by Henry James
Man Overboard! by Winston Churchill
The Hand by Theodore Dreiser
The Valley of the Spiders by HG Wells
The Middle Toe of the Right Foot by Ambrose Bierce
Pickman's Model by HP Lovecraft
Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper by Robert Bloch
The Screaming Laugh by Cornell Woolrich
Bianca's Hands by Theodore Sturgeon
The Girl with the Hungry Eyes by Fritz Leiber
Come and Go Mad by Fredric Brown
The Scarlet King by Evan Hunter
Sticks by Karl Edward Wagner
Sardonicus by Ray Russell
A Teacher's Rewards by Robert Phillips
The Roaches by Thomas M. Disch
The Jam by Henry Slesar
Black Wind by Bill Pronzini
The Road to Mictlantecutli by Adobe James
Passengers by Robert Silverberg
The Explosives Expert by John Lutz
Call First by Ramsey Campbell
The Fly by Arthur Porges
Namesake by Elizabeth Morton
Camps by Jack Dann
You Know Wille by Theodore R. Cogswell
The Mindworm by CM Kornbluth
Warm by Robert Sheckley
Transfer by Barry N. Malzberg
The Doll by Joyce Carol Oates
If Damon Comes by Charles L. Grant
The Oblong Room by Edward D. Hoch
The Party by William F. Nolan
The Crate by Stephen King

[Brent Soderstrum · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a big collection of short stories from horror legends and more recent horror authors. You get Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Truman Capote, Winston Churchill and Stephen King. There are many other authors covered who I hadn't heard of. Some good, some not so good and a few really good ones.

Stephen King shows why he is the master with the last story in the book called "The Crate". I loved it. A crate in found under the stairs in an older college building. When it is opened the fun begins. The story has a little twist at the end which I really liked.

Good pick up to read because it you don't like one of the stories you are soon done with it and moving on to something different.

[Penney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best horror and supernatural books I've read! I highly recommend it.

[Eligos Vespillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A massive tome of nearly 40 short stories divided between "Grandmasters" and "Modern Masters" that makes for a great intrduction to the world of Horror for the uninitiated.

[Ayar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rappaccini's Daughter- a story of an novice that come to the island of a legendary chemist that has been told to have a daughter. When he meets her he finds something strange about her but still intrigued. One night on his interview with her a mistake of trying to grab a single flower changed him. The next day he had gotten flower fresh and when he had brought it to the island they were withered and bugs would die just being next to him. (read the book to find what caused this)

[Trinisse · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite was "The Jam" by Henry Slesar.