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Chamber of Horrors: Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural
Book by Anonymous
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 26, 2018
A great few reads.
This book contains the works of none other than the masters themselves: Bram Stoker, HG Wells, HP Lovecraft, Roald Dahl, Stephen King, Robert Bloch and Edgar Allan Poe! All great tales of terror and supernatural occurrences.
The first few stories in this book were pretty slow and uneventful. But about the middle of the book It starts picking up and really starts becoming fun to read. The book is well put-together and collaborated. And of course I can't say more about the writing of the multiple master authors that penned the works in this book. All are great!
This is definitely a book that I would recommend to any horror fan to add to their library.
This book contains the works of none other than the masters themselves: Bram Stoker, HG Wells, HP Lovecraft, Roald Dahl, Stephen King, Robert Bloch and Edgar Allan Poe! All great tales of terror and supernatural occurrences.
The first few stories in this book were pretty slow and uneventful. But about the middle of the book It starts picking up and really starts becoming fun to read. The book is well put-together and collaborated. And of course I can't say more about the writing of the multiple master authors that penned the works in this book. All are great!
This is definitely a book that I would recommend to any horror fan to add to their library.
June 20, 2022
This book is a mixed bag. It certainly does a good job of bringing together a variety of horror tales, exploring a lot of subgenres with stories from different eras. As is the case with any collection like this, the likelihood of every story being satisfying is slim.
It's worth recognising, though, that every reader's experience will be different. What one reader enjoys, another will not; what one reader is bored by, another will find intriguing.
And when it comes to horror, every reader will feel the strongest scares from different sources.
Altogether, I would say about a quarter of these stories properly unsettled me, half intrigued me, and three quarters were memorable. This leaves a quarter that just didn't hit the mark with me and that I struggle to recall.
Most stories had perfectly accessible writing styles, though some certainly were a bit of a slog.
My favourites from this anthology are:
- The Dunwich Horror by H.P. Lovecraft (is that any surprise?)
- A Thing About Machines by Rod Serling
- The Squaw by Bram Stoker
- The Cloth of Madness by Seabury Quinn
- Royal Jelly by Roald Dahl
- The Night of the Tiger by Stephen King
- The Cradle Demon by R. Chetwynd-Hayes
I wouldn't say any were bad, but I definitely didn't connect with all of them and some were definitely forgettable. The closest to a bad story, for me, was The Red Lodge by H. Russell Wakefield.
This is definitely a worthwhile read for horror fans, though, and for anyone looking to get into horror who wants a sampling of many different story types.
It's worth recognising, though, that every reader's experience will be different. What one reader enjoys, another will not; what one reader is bored by, another will find intriguing.
And when it comes to horror, every reader will feel the strongest scares from different sources.
Altogether, I would say about a quarter of these stories properly unsettled me, half intrigued me, and three quarters were memorable. This leaves a quarter that just didn't hit the mark with me and that I struggle to recall.
Most stories had perfectly accessible writing styles, though some certainly were a bit of a slog.
My favourites from this anthology are:
- The Dunwich Horror by H.P. Lovecraft (is that any surprise?)
- A Thing About Machines by Rod Serling
- The Squaw by Bram Stoker
- The Cloth of Madness by Seabury Quinn
- Royal Jelly by Roald Dahl
- The Night of the Tiger by Stephen King
- The Cradle Demon by R. Chetwynd-Hayes
I wouldn't say any were bad, but I definitely didn't connect with all of them and some were definitely forgettable. The closest to a bad story, for me, was The Red Lodge by H. Russell Wakefield.
This is definitely a worthwhile read for horror fans, though, and for anyone looking to get into horror who wants a sampling of many different story types.
August 23, 2022
Great stories! All of them were good but some of them were very creepy. Awesome selection.
July 28, 2017
Fantastic collection of older stories.
May 30, 2026
I find it difficult to accurately rate this book if only because my opinions on the stories within vary so wildly. Some I loved, others I hated.
So the fairest rating for a book like this, I suppose, would be an average three stars.
So the fairest rating for a book like this, I suppose, would be an average three stars.
June 20, 2020
I love my horror stories. I have a huge collection of books This one had a lot of older gothic authors. They are not really as scary but just as good.
January 25, 2011
There are 32 short stories in this book, so I will only review the longer or more memorable stories without giving away the plots/endings.
Wood - (D-) Lame and predictable, will I go on or just skip to the authors I like... We'll see.
The Bird - (D) Lame, predictable AND racist... Thank goodness Rod Serling is next.
A Thing About Machines - (B) One of the weaker TZ episodes, but a decent story on paper. The foreshadow to King's "Christine" and "Maximum Overdrive".
The Squaw (Bram Stoker) - (B) A classic revenge story. Predictable, but well written.
Cloth of Madness - (B) another revenge story, this time between a man, his best friend, and his wife.
Royal Jelly (Roald Dahl)- (C-) I had high hopes for this story, but I saw the ending coming from the very beginning and in my mind hoped that it ended differently. This is the story of a couple who have a newborn who is losing weight. The beekeeper father has the brilliant idea to start feeding the baby royal jelly, which is explained as a substance bees feed their young. Ok, you can already see where the story goes... and yes it does go there.
Night of the Tiger (Stephen King) - (B+) Not his best work, but interesting and fun. Crazy circus folk = good reading.
Wood - (D-) Lame and predictable, will I go on or just skip to the authors I like... We'll see.
The Bird - (D) Lame, predictable AND racist... Thank goodness Rod Serling is next.
A Thing About Machines - (B) One of the weaker TZ episodes, but a decent story on paper. The foreshadow to King's "Christine" and "Maximum Overdrive".
The Squaw (Bram Stoker) - (B) A classic revenge story. Predictable, but well written.
Cloth of Madness - (B) another revenge story, this time between a man, his best friend, and his wife.
Royal Jelly (Roald Dahl)- (C-) I had high hopes for this story, but I saw the ending coming from the very beginning and in my mind hoped that it ended differently. This is the story of a couple who have a newborn who is losing weight. The beekeeper father has the brilliant idea to start feeding the baby royal jelly, which is explained as a substance bees feed their young. Ok, you can already see where the story goes... and yes it does go there.
Night of the Tiger (Stephen King) - (B+) Not his best work, but interesting and fun. Crazy circus folk = good reading.
June 21, 2019
Another book from Octopus, who were producing a lot of these types of collections at this time (the best possibly being 'Tales From Beyond The Grave'). This one again is nicely produced (although this book only uses the one repeated illustration for each title page) and has a reasonable number of good stories; but there are unfortunately quite a few poor ones (about 10).
I'd say 9 out of the 31 are very good - Robert Aickman's 'Wood,' William Sansom's 'A Woman Seldom Found,' Miss Braddon's 'The Cold Embrace,' Roald Dahl's 'Royal Jelly,' Robert Silverberg's 'Back From The Grave,' Frederick Cowles's 'The Horror Of Abbot's Grange,' LeFanu's 'An Account Of Some Strange Disturbances On Aungier Street,' Poe's 'Berenice,' and E.F.Benson's 'And The Dead Spake.'
Given the high miss rate it's not a book I'd recommend actively seeking out, especially as the stories I mention above can almost certainly be found in other collections. The aforementioned 'Tales From Beyond The Grave' however is worth the hunt.
I'd say 9 out of the 31 are very good - Robert Aickman's 'Wood,' William Sansom's 'A Woman Seldom Found,' Miss Braddon's 'The Cold Embrace,' Roald Dahl's 'Royal Jelly,' Robert Silverberg's 'Back From The Grave,' Frederick Cowles's 'The Horror Of Abbot's Grange,' LeFanu's 'An Account Of Some Strange Disturbances On Aungier Street,' Poe's 'Berenice,' and E.F.Benson's 'And The Dead Spake.'
Given the high miss rate it's not a book I'd recommend actively seeking out, especially as the stories I mention above can almost certainly be found in other collections. The aforementioned 'Tales From Beyond The Grave' however is worth the hunt.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews