Outstanding little collection of macabre stories that should be generally rated higher than it is. Hartley is a highly accomplished writer who wrote the classic non-supernatural [b:The Go-Between|258079|The Go-Between|L.P. Hartley|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320480023s/258079.jpg|1553524] as well as many other novels and stories outside the outr�� genres. Every story in this book is a classic tale and Hartley's macabre stories deserve to be better known and anthologized. My favorite is "A Visitor from Down Under" with it's punning title (the protagonist has just returned from Australia). Hartley mixes a wry gallows humor in with the truly horrifying, without the humor blunting the edge of the tale.

I read a lot of stories and after decades I can often not remember the details of a particular story, but I can remember the Travelling Grave, Feet Foremost, and Three or Four, for Dinner like I read them yesterday. I like Hartley so much I invested in the expensive Tartarus Press collection despite owning this Arkham House collection. ( )

An excellent collection of supernatural and quiet horror. Almost every story works perfectly to reach the right pitch and deliver a clever twist or reveal to sum up the whole experience. I think anglophiles and fans of classic ghost stories will enjoy this collection a great deal. ( )