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Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Bar The Doors
Wouldn't it be well, my friends, to bar the doors before you commence to read this assortment of chills and shivers?
Contents:
* SPEAKING OF TERROR - Alfred Hitchcock
* POLLOCK AND THE PORROH MAN - H. G. Wells
* THE STORM - McKnight Malmar
* MOONLIGHT SONATA - Alexander Woollcott
* THE HALF-PINT FLASK - DuBose Heyward
* THE KILL - Peter Fleming
* THE UPPER BERTH - F. Marion Crawford
* MIDNIGHT EXPRESS - Alfred Noyes
* THE DAMNED THING - Ambrose Bierce
* THE METRONOME - August Derleth
* THE PIPE-SMOKER - Martin Armstrong
* THE CORPSE AT THE TABLE - Samuel Hopkins Adams
* THE WOMAN AT SEVEN BROTHERS - Wilbur Daniel Steele
* THE BOOK - Margaret Irwin
Contents:
* SPEAKING OF TERROR - Alfred Hitchcock
* POLLOCK AND THE PORROH MAN - H. G. Wells
* THE STORM - McKnight Malmar
* MOONLIGHT SONATA - Alexander Woollcott
* THE HALF-PINT FLASK - DuBose Heyward
* THE KILL - Peter Fleming
* THE UPPER BERTH - F. Marion Crawford
* MIDNIGHT EXPRESS - Alfred Noyes
* THE DAMNED THING - Ambrose Bierce
* THE METRONOME - August Derleth
* THE PIPE-SMOKER - Martin Armstrong
* THE CORPSE AT THE TABLE - Samuel Hopkins Adams
* THE WOMAN AT SEVEN BROTHERS - Wilbur Daniel Steele
* THE BOOK - Margaret Irwin
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1946
About the author
Alfred Hitchcock
1,147 books777 followersSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (1899-1980) was an iconic and highly influential film director and producer, who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres.
Following a very substantial career in his native Britain in both silent films and talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood and became an American citizen with dual nationality in 1956, thus he also remained a British subject.
Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career which spanned six decades, from the silent film era, through the invention of sound films, and far into the era of colour films. For a complete list of his films, see Alfred Hitchcock filmography.
Hitchcock was among the most consistently recognizable directors to the general public, and was one of the most successful film directors during his lifetime. He continues to be one of the best known and most popular filmmakers of all time.
Following a very substantial career in his native Britain in both silent films and talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood and became an American citizen with dual nationality in 1956, thus he also remained a British subject.
Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career which spanned six decades, from the silent film era, through the invention of sound films, and far into the era of colour films. For a complete list of his films, see Alfred Hitchcock filmography.
Hitchcock was among the most consistently recognizable directors to the general public, and was one of the most successful film directors during his lifetime. He continues to be one of the best known and most popular filmmakers of all time.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 14, 2014
I had previously read about ten Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazines or Dell books. This is the first horror one I found. It is a great selection of horror stories and its writers. With the exception of "The Storm" that is more suitable to appear in the Mystery ones, the rest of them caught my attention for some peculiar aspect. This being that I can relate to several stories for some reason or other.
"The Upper Berth" is the most scary one. As in the story those who occupy the damned berth suffer the same destiny as the first occupant of it; they go insane and jump overboard the ship. In the nineties I found myself living in a rooming house in Vancouver,Canada where the people that lived in certain rooms went slightly "haywire" mentallywise. My neighbor next door almost ran amock and it was until later that I became informed that the guy who lived in the same room before him had jumped from a bridge. In my case I was never told who lived in mine, the older tenants said that it was better if I was left uninformed...
As in most horror stories the ending can be foreseen if one is used to their reading. This doesn't demerits them. It is very hard to write an unexpected ending that the reader can't detect before the last three pages or so. In my case what attracted me to most of them and two in particular "The book" and "The Midnight Express" were the peculiar reading habits of its characters. The bias or reticence towards reading one book while judging the character and history of its writer or the atmosphere one conjures up since childhood on before embarking on a reading journey. In my case my favorite one is getting in the mood to receive arcane, mysterious information on how to conduct oneself in many cases that comes from beyond the tomb in the form of old books... In my case I just pray it doesn't entail any disagreeable provisos.
"The Upper Berth" is the most scary one. As in the story those who occupy the damned berth suffer the same destiny as the first occupant of it; they go insane and jump overboard the ship. In the nineties I found myself living in a rooming house in Vancouver,Canada where the people that lived in certain rooms went slightly "haywire" mentallywise. My neighbor next door almost ran amock and it was until later that I became informed that the guy who lived in the same room before him had jumped from a bridge. In my case I was never told who lived in mine, the older tenants said that it was better if I was left uninformed...
As in most horror stories the ending can be foreseen if one is used to their reading. This doesn't demerits them. It is very hard to write an unexpected ending that the reader can't detect before the last three pages or so. In my case what attracted me to most of them and two in particular "The book" and "The Midnight Express" were the peculiar reading habits of its characters. The bias or reticence towards reading one book while judging the character and history of its writer or the atmosphere one conjures up since childhood on before embarking on a reading journey. In my case my favorite one is getting in the mood to receive arcane, mysterious information on how to conduct oneself in many cases that comes from beyond the tomb in the form of old books... In my case I just pray it doesn't entail any disagreeable provisos.
December 26, 2019
This was first published in 1946 and most of the stories predate it's publication by decades, so what we have here are an assortment of short stories almost 100 years old. These are pretty tame by modern standards, and as in most anthologies, they vary in quality. It was a fun read, primarily to experience what people 100 years ago found spooky. Two stories deal with African juju and the rest are an eclectic mix of hauntings and strange events.
October 18, 2024
A really enjoyable anthology of old short stores Standout for several reasons is "The Half-Pint Flask" (1927) by DuBose Heyward.
August 15, 2011
Read my full review at Casual Debris.
Bar the Doors is Hitchcock's second foray into the anthology field (ghost edited by Don Ward), and in my opinion among his strongest; certainly the strongest of those few he himself had a hand in compiling. I first read this when I was quite young, it may indeed have been my first Hitchcock anthology. The stories, for the most part, stand up well to today's standards; what they at times might lose to originality they have gained in writing. Reading these earlier suspense stories, whether they be of ghosts or strange island curses, it impresses me how much better our suspense writers were of old. The strongest pieces are, well, more than half are well above average, but I'll list four: "The Upper Berth" by F. Marion Crawford, "Midnight Express" by Alfred Noyes, "The Storm" by McKnight Malmar and "The Kill" by Peter Fleming.
Bar the Doors is Hitchcock's second foray into the anthology field (ghost edited by Don Ward), and in my opinion among his strongest; certainly the strongest of those few he himself had a hand in compiling. I first read this when I was quite young, it may indeed have been my first Hitchcock anthology. The stories, for the most part, stand up well to today's standards; what they at times might lose to originality they have gained in writing. Reading these earlier suspense stories, whether they be of ghosts or strange island curses, it impresses me how much better our suspense writers were of old. The strongest pieces are, well, more than half are well above average, but I'll list four: "The Upper Berth" by F. Marion Crawford, "Midnight Express" by Alfred Noyes, "The Storm" by McKnight Malmar and "The Kill" by Peter Fleming.
January 27, 2024
Someone needs to smack me and tell me to stop reading compiled horror shorts because why the FUCK did this take me almost TWO MONTHS to get through
Well I mean I know why, the different authors and vastly different lengths and different amounts of world building in each story really made my brain struggle, I enjoyed some but honestly couldn’t tell you about any of the stories I read at the start of the book
Talented authors, lost on an ADHD ass bitch like me
Well I mean I know why, the different authors and vastly different lengths and different amounts of world building in each story really made my brain struggle, I enjoyed some but honestly couldn’t tell you about any of the stories I read at the start of the book
Talented authors, lost on an ADHD ass bitch like me
August 27, 2022
They're clever and well-written stories, even page-turners at a few times. But they just can't live up to the claim of "chilling" to generations of people desensitized to horrible things happening in fiction., whether in books by more "extreme" horror writers, or on t.v and big screen. I think "suspenseful" would be a more accurate term for these stories.
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December 24, 2008
I like to find these at the thrift store. A good entertainment for an evening. Neat little stories of crime or evil intent, often with nasty little twists in them. As a bonus, you also get Hitchcock's imitable introductions--like his television show, his intros are often better than the stroy that follows. Pick one of these up when you find them and you'll get quite a few good stories.
July 10, 2015
The master of suspense who brought us Rear Window, Psycho, North By Northwest, and many other genre-defining thrillers somehow manages herein to present a set of the most boring stories imaginable.
November 20, 2024
A wonderful, varied collection of supernatural oddities. One of my all-time favorite stories, Alfred Noyes' "The Midnight Express" appears here. A hypnagogic, nightmarish tale in which the narrator's sanity slowly begins to deteriorate. A number of other classics.
August 17, 2025
Livre de ma jeunesse !
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews