A collection of twelve stories originally published during the first half of the twentieth century, including selections from Margaret St. Clair, Saki, and Robert S. Hichens. My two favorites were The dancing partner, by Jerome K. Jerome, and, The voice in the night, by William Hope Hodgson. ( )

Prefaced by Hitchcock's sly humor, these stories are a real mix in terms of horror. Some build up to an act that is barely alluded to, while other stories really give the reader a nasty scare. Included are the well-known "Lukundoo" by Edward Lucas White and "Casting The Runes" by M.R.James, also a very engaging story of a South African chicken farmer called "Being A Murderer Myself" by Arthur Williams, "The Perfectionist" by Margaret St. Clair about an old aunt who has taken up drawing, and the creepy sea story "The Voice in the Night" by William Hope Hodgson. ( )

Very fun book for those who enjoy classic horror and suspense. If you do not enjoy that type of movie or book, dont pick it up, you wont "get" it.

Loved it. ( )

Some of these stories were from the turn of the century 1900. I think if it was read back when this was published in the 50s it would definitely be cutting edge. I did find a few stories quite amusing. ( )

Twelve stories of horror, some of the supernatural kind, some just featuring good, old-fashioned murder. The idea that these are too shocking to be shown on TV is a little provocative, until you consider that they weren't being shown on TV in 1957, and in some cases that has as much to do with the fact that the necessary special effects didn't exist as with anything else. By today's standards, these are pretty mild, even low-key. Which, I should add, is not necessarily a bad thing. Two or three of them, though, probably wouldn't be acceptable on television these days, for entirely different reasons, having either an implicitly or explicitly racist sensibility. (The common theme among them seems to be that you just shouldn't trust those dark-skinned foreigners, because even when they seem friendly, they're secretly plotting to murder you. Which... yeah.) Putting that aside, if you can, it's not a bad collection. The stories are all decently written, although some of them were old even in the fifties and have a decidedly old-fashioned style, and several of them have very nicely creepy premises. More often than not, I think it's possible to see exactly where the story is going to go, but that's not always as big a problem as you might think.

Rating: I'd give this one a very solid 3.5/5 if it weren't for the presence of the pieces that, uh, haven't aged very well. As it is, I feel compelled to knock off half a star, so we'll call it 3/5. ( )