Jack the Ripper

by Martin H. Greenberg, Charles G. Waugh, Frank D. McSherry Jr.

Spine-tingling stories of gruesome crimes and grizzly scenes, spawned by the nineteenth-century reign of terror of the world's most famous night stalker, Jack the Ripper, features contributions by Ellery Queen, Robert Bloch, Ray Russell, William F. Nolan, Ramsey Campbell, Harlan Ellison, and other outstanding authors. Original.

Genres: Horror, Anthologies

333 pages, Paperback

First published December 6, 1988

About the author

Martin Harry Greenberg was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel.

For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.

Reviews

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fun collection of stories on the ever fascinating subject of Jack The Ripper. A must for any aficianado. Martin Greenberg always did put together a great anthology. And, regardless of publication date, nothing seems dated when dealing with the subject from 1888. First story was sort of strange and scifi and the weakest in the book, but after that there were some really excellent entries, including an Ellery Queen novella of Sherlock Holmes on Jack The Ripper's case and the famous Lodger novella and the most interesting and original Saggitarius story. Highly recommended.

[Shawn]

PLACEHOLDER REVIEW:

"The Lodger" by Marie Belloc Lowndes appears here in it's novelette form, not the expanded novel. It's a really fun, suspenseful read as Mr. & Mrs. Bunting (retired home servants who rent out their top floor) separately begin to suspect that their new, slightly odd lodger (he spends a lot of time reading the bible and seems well-off enough that he only goes out nights, after which he burns his clothes) may have something to do with the string of gruesome murders occurring in London at the time. There's a really nice feel of "life as it is really lived" here, with all kind of domestic (the shilling powered gas heater) and cultural (how the news-hawkers make it impossible to escape the awfulness of the crimes) details, as well as the central economic point that somewhat drives the narrative - the mysterious "Mr. Sleuth" is their best-paying lodger, saving them from financial ruin, so what happens if their suspicions are correct? Really good stuff, with an ending set at Madame Tussauds wax museum!

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read. All the stories were intriguing, well-written and well-plotted. I do have a quibble with the order chosen by the editors -- Harlan Ellison's story really should have been last and Lowndes's first -- but a book with this as its worst problem is in pretty good shape. These are some of the best short stories I have read in years, particularly Ray Russell's "Sagittarius."

[Javi Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy buena antologia de cuentos dedicados a Jack el destripador. Mención especial a los relatos "El huesped" de Lowdes, "suyo afectisimo Jack el destripador" de Robert Bloch y por supuesto el caso de Sherlock Holmes "Estudio de terror" de Ellery Queen....