Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbinders in Suspense

by Alfred Hitchcock (Editor), Robert Bloch, Richard Connell

Table of contents:
"The Chinese Puzzle Box" by Agatha Christie
"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
"The Birds" by Daphne du Maurier
"Puzzle For Poppy" by Patrick Quentin
"Eyewitness" by Robert Arthur
"Man From The South" by Roald Dahl
"Black Magic" by Sax Rohmer
"Treasure Trove" by F. Tennyson Jesse
"Yours Truly, Jack The Ripper" by Robert Bloch
"The Treasure Hunt" by Edgar Wallace
"The Man Who Knew How" by Dorothy L. Sayers
"The Dilemma of Grampa DuBois" by Clayre and Michel Lipman
"P. Moran, Diamond-Hunter" by Percival Wilde

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Thriller, Mystery Thriller

206 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Sir 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.

Reviews

[Phillip Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every story in this book was great from Daphne Du Maurier's The Birds to Robert Bloch's Yours Truly Jack the Ripper. Some stories had shockingly unexpected endings that really throw you for a loop with the unexpected twist endings. The stories selected for the anthology show us that Alfred Hitchcock was not called the master of suspense for nothing.

[Nandakishore Mridula · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fantastic collection. Some of the stories are classics: "The Most Dangerous Game", "The Birds", "Eyewitness", "Man from the South", "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" and "The Man Who Knew How". I also enjoyed "P. Moran, Diamond Hunter" - truly hilarious!

[Mario · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great experience. I initially bought this book to read Daphne du Maurier's The Birds (its adaptation by Hitchcock is one I really love) but stories by Agatha Christie, Roald Dahl and Robert Bloch were a happy bonus. The Most Dangerous Game was fascinating and P. Moran, Diamond-Hunter was very funny.

[Micah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every Hitchcock collection is like a box of chocolates. There are plenty of delightful surprises, some are just nutty, and a few leave you wondering what they were thinking including them.

On this particular occasion (and for those who would rather peruse the highlights than read cover-to-cover), I was highly impressed by Dauphne du Maurier's The Birds (by far the superior of Hitchcock's film adaptation); Puzzle For Poppy (doggie who-done-it); Black Magic (a whirlwind cat-and-mouse chase with little context and enduring characters); Treasure Trove (short and unexpectedly super-natural); and, especially, P. Moran, Diamond Hunter (a hilarious mis-guided sleuth who takes all the wrong cues from every great presiding fictional detective). P. Moran is so marvelous that I need to get my hands on more of Percival Wilde's work, post haste.

Apart from these, the rest ranged from interesting to average, with an occasional eye-rolling gimmick. Some of it felt mundane, but the only story I didn't like was Eyewitness. The concept in this story beggars belief to the point of leaving the reader confused.

[Tatiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay, so the deal with all the alfred hitchcock books is that i'm trying to find a short story i read when i was really young that really creeped me out. and i thought it was in 'spellbinders in suspense', so i re-bought it recently, but it was not in there. so in a fit of frustration i bought all the AH short story collections i could find in order to track down the story. but it was not to be found. clearly that story has gone the way of the children's book about the bear (amazing book that i read when i was little that i can't seem to verify actually exists in the world) that my friends are tired of hearing about.

however, this book has, among the other really great stories in it, 'the birds' which, when i read it (at, oh, let's say the age of 8?), freaking scared me so much i couldn't finish the story, made my dad hide it, then like a year later i thought i was ready and tried again, and actually finished it but spent the better part of a week in complete terror of it.

[Michael Fredette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A superbly curated collection of suspense stories, edited by Alfred Hitchcock and marketed toward (though not necessarily written for) young readers. This 1967 anthology includes such selections as Daphne DuMaurier's "The Birds," Robert Bloch's (author of Psycho) "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper," and Richard Connell's widely anthologized "The Most Dangerous Game." Spellbinders in Suspense opens with an excellent Hercule Poirot story "The Chinese Puzzle Box Mystery," which is a sort of homage to Conan Doyle's "A Scandal in Bohemia," with a twist. Overall, a very satisfying collection.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very important book in my childhood . I read it in the 4th grade , and it showed me that there was more to horror than just Edgar Allan Poe . Four stories in particular stand out among my favorites of all time and introduced me to their authors whom I immediately began to collect . " The Most Dangerous Game " by Richard Connell , " Man From the South " by Roald Dahl , " Yours Truly , Jack the Ripper " by Robert Bloch , and " The Birds " by Daphne du Maurier .

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've loved this book since I was young. I find it hard these days to find clean suspense stories that I can actually share with my boys. These are timeless stories that are well written and keep me wanting more.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is hard to find, but I wanted to read du Maurier's "The Birds." Naturally I turned to the Internet Archive but didn't finish before they were hacked. Finally back up and I was able to indulge. I will be looking for Hitchcock's other anthologies.

"The Chinese Puzzle Box" by Agatha Christie - is a tale in the manner of a Sherlock Holmes mystery, but it has quite a neat twist at the end.
"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell - this has been remade/used in books and movies, but the ending is a delight.
"The Birds" by Daphne du Maurier - who knew this is where Hitchcock got the idea? I'm not sure which is scarier. At least the story provides a plausible reason for the disaster, although it is much wider spread! Very scary, as it really could happen.
"Puzzle For Poppy" by Patrick Quentin - we have all the clues, but I certainly didn't figure out this story. A poisoning with all of the suspects having alibis. It's a good mystery and very fun at the same time.
"Eyewitness" by Robert Arthur - fascinating bit of deduction and word play. The premise is that there is always an eyewitness to a murder: the murderer. Well written.
"Man From The South" by Roald Dahl - this is a perfect Roald Dahl. I was very anxious throughout. Well told story, great characters.
"Black Magic" by Sax Rohmer - this one is a little far-fetched, but well told nonetheless.
"Treasure Trove" by F. Tennyson Jesse - less suspense and more verging on horror.
"Yours Truly, Jack The Ripper" by Robert Bloch - Excellent, I didn't guess until just before the end.
"The Treasure Hunt" by Edgar Wallace - this is superlative; an absolutely perfect detective story! Loved it.
"The Man Who Knew How" by Dorothy L. Sayers - Very twisty, great writing and excellent characters.
"The Dilemma of Grampa Dubois' By Clayre and Michel Lipman - very moralistic.
"P. Moran, Diamond-Hunter" by Percival Wilde - a little too tongue-in-cheek for me, but the writing is good, and the female is the hero!

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite anthologist, Robert Arthur, usually didn’t publish his volumes under his own name—he was the front for Alfred Hitchcock, both in the various anthologies he created for young adults (like this one) and in the first few Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators books. I encourage everyone to seek out any anthology he has anything to do with—either of his own stories (he has written many terrific ones), or of classic horror, suspense, mystery, or espionage.

That said, I have no idea what young adult would love all the stories in this book, other than me. It features four undisputed classic stories which will give younger readers nightmares (“The Most Dangerous Game,” “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper,” “The Man from the South,” and, especially—the second-creepiest story ever written—“The Birds”) (first creepiest is “The Lottery”—not included here).

If your young adult survives those stories, the book also contains an excellent Robert Arthur story; quality Dorothy Sayers, Patrick Quentin, and Agatha Christie mysteries; a good Edgar Wallace; a few lesser stories; and a final comic mystery by Percival Wilde that requires the young reader to be familiar with the works of Conan Doyle, Ellery Queen, Agatha Christie, John Dickson Carr, Dorothy Sayers, and Edgar Wallace. I would’ve been bewildered by it when I first read it, but I love it now. Plus, the print is nice and big and it has pictures!

[Mbuye · Rating 4 out of 5]

An early Hitchcock collection filled with gems from the 1920s and 1930’s, stories which thrill, not simply by the chilling nature of their content, but because the elegance of the language and style of the story-telling remains unsurpassed after nearly a century after they were first published. Among the glittering stars of the Hitchcockian firmament, the Christies and Sayers, are Edgar Wallace, Roald Dahl and Richard Connell, who went on to make history with the stories included in this anthology. For me, there was particular pleasure in the inclusion of the now forgotten greats like Tennyson Jesse, whose fiction is hard to come by. The rest were new to me, so it was with especial pleasure that I discovered them.

An unforgettable collection, though the stories themselves have been much anthologised, in collections of thrillers, of crime and detective fiction, and frequently in literary anthologies as well general fiction. Shockingly, some have even been included in school textbooks of the English language by grave academicians looking to teach children the basics of grammar without perhaps realising the subversive nature of the story selected!

[Greg Kerestan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hitchcock's selection of favorite suspense stories is just as high-quality as his other collection of literary and pulp short stories. I remember discovering this incongruously in the children's section as a kid, and it being one of my first forays into adult fiction. There are some absolute classics here, with Roald Dahl's gruesome "Man from the South" and Daphne du Maurier's apocalyptic "The Birds" standing out above the rest, though some lighter stories like "A Puzzle for Poppy" are fun too.

[Mehedi Sarwar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of suspence story. My favorotes are "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" by Robert Bloch, "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connel, "The Birds" by Daphne Du Maurier and "Eye Witness" by Robart Arthur.

[Gentry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could not finish. Each story was more boring than the last.

[Jessica Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Hitchcock, really nice collection.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it as a kid from the library. Lots of good classic stories in here (one or two clunkers).

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this in my early teens made me realize how large a role suspense plays in my love of fiction.

[Simona Claysset · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una bella selezione di racconti, tra i quali quello che ha ispirato il film "gli uccelli"

[Federico Margutti]

0

[Samantha Reichle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed a couple of the stories

[david morical · Rating 1 out of 5]

Completely different book!

This is not an Alfred Hitchcock book of short stories. It's some sort of teacher's workbook that's been photocopied. Bah!

[Macel Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful, especially "The Birds," "The Most Dangerous Game," and "The Man from the South."

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh My God. Look at what's in here.

"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
"The Birds" by Daphne du Maurier
"Man From The South" by Roald Dahl
"Yours Truly, Jack The Ripper" by Robert Bloch

Holy sh*t, has anyone ever put that many classic stories in one place? You need to read this! Oh... are some of those unfamiliar? Let me prompt you.

The most Dangerous game had me and my friend Richard digging a Burmese tiger pit in the lot next door and lining it with sharpened sticks. If that's not a good way to occupy a 10 year old, I don't know what is.

Remember the scene from the Quintan Teratino film "Four Rooms" where they strap the guy's hand down and take bets on chopping his pinkie with a cleaver? Obviously, you need to have read this story to be a fully functioning member of Western society.

Did you KNOW the birds was written by the same woman who wrote Rebbecca? WELL DID YOU?

Robert Bloch Robert Bloch Robert Bloch. Don't you trust the man who brought you Psycho? Of course you do.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great group of short stories. A few are what I'd call "flawed gems"; I'll single out two. The Jack the Ripper story had a big surprise ending, but we were in the mind of the killer for the whole story and I'd say the surprise was totally "unfair" considering there should have been clues to that effect. The Birds is an absolutely classic tale of one household holding up during an apocalyptic attack - but it doesn't have an ending! I would have surmised that once the weather conditions changed, the attacks would have ceased, and it would have been nice for the story to reach that far and then see how many people were left alive in England. At any rate, you can definitely see why Hitchcock decided to turn it into a movie.

I also want to note that my paperback version does not have all the stories listed in the contents here on Goodreads.

[Menion · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stuff! These are knockout short stories, not a bad one in the bunch. And, of course, you get Richard Connell's 'The Most Dangerous Game' in this collection, which makes it worth the price of admission alone. However, for the story 'Treasure Trove,' the ending may not make sense to many readers. You may have to look up why the amount of money in the type of coins given is important, in a historical sense. I will give you a hint: conservative Republicans have a much better shot at understanding the money reference right off the bat! That's all I can give you on that one. Rest of the stories are good also!

[Anna O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh thank you for having this book on the lists! I thought it was probably forgotten by all others. I still have and cherish my copy. I don't know how much actual hands-on work Hitch had on these books but God they are great. Also Hitch's "Solve-them-yourself" mysteries with "The Mystery of the Three Blind Mice" was fabulous. I want to remind myself, too, to add the fantastic "Three Investigators" series with Hitch as the Charlie to Jupiter Jones, Bob Andrews, and Pete Crenshaw's Angels. So awesome!!

[Jaellayna Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

As in any short story collection, some are better than others. I enjoyed most of these - especially Daphne du Maurier's "The Birds" and Dorothy L. Sayers' "The Man Who Knew How." There are other stories by well-known authors, and some of the lesser-known authors are now on my get-to-know-more-about list.

[Timothy]

(1/9 read)

1982 edition, 9 stories:

The Man Who Knew How (1933) • Dorothy L. Sayers
*** The Most Dangerous Game (1924) • Richard Connell
The Treasure Hunt (1924) • Edgar Wallace
Man from the South (1948) • Roald Dahl
Puzzle for Poppy (1946) • Patrick Quentin
Treasure Trove (1924) • F. Tennyson Jesse
Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper (1943) • Robert Bloch
The Dilemma of Grampa Dubois (1952) • Clayre and Michel Lipman
The Birds (1952) • Daphne du Maurier

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hahaha. An article I read today mentioned the story "The Most Dangerous Game," which reminded me of this book. It was one of my favorites when I was in the 8-12 age range...the stories were spooky and creepy, which is right up a young reader's alley. I wonder if this is still on my parents' shelves somewhere...?