Boris Karloff (1887–1969)

Every now and then, fans of the horror genre need to take a step back from the endless piles of over-the-top gorefests and Stephen King wannabes and indulge in the classic stories that have served as the foundation that modern horror literature is built upon. You need to remind yourself where it all came from, and how well it was done.

A collection of such classic tales of the spooky and macabre is just what Dr. Acula would prescribe for such a need, and who better to compile such a reading list than the personification of creeping terror himself?

Do yourself a favor and pick this book up for the next dark and stormy night. The Doctor commands it!… (meer)

A sturdy, readable hodgepodge of stories by all the usual suspects (Poe, Lovecraft, Bloch, Derleth), but the standouts are "Man from the South," Roald Dahl's classic tale of macabre suspense, and Frank Gruber's "The Thirteenth Floor," a deliciously scary pulp horror piece by a master of the field. The Dahl story has probably been over-anthologized (and even if you've never read it, chances are that you've seen it dramatized on Alfred Hitchcock Presents or Tales of the Unexpected), but "The Thirteenth Floor" is a rare bird, and this book is worth picking up for Gruber's tale alone. I think of it as the greatest Twilight Zone episode that never was. Overall, a good item to add to your drugstore paperback horror collection.… (meer)

Contents list: The Thirteenth Floor by Frank Gruber; Child of the Winds by Edmond Hamilton; The Opener of the Crypt by John Jakes; The Thing That Walked on the Winds by August Derleth; The Scarlet King by Evan Hunter; The Graveyard Reader by Theodore Sturgeon; The Mindworm by C. M. Kornbluth; Back from the Grave by Robert Silverberg; Man from the South by Roald Dahl; The Opener of the Way by Robert Bloch; The Haunter of the Dark by H. P. Lovecraft.

A so-so collection with the same old names as usual. It really is copyrighted by Boris Karloff (believe it or not), but I can guess who really picked these out.… (meer)