This collection is a real treasure, and was an overwhelming pleasure to read. There are some big names included; Lovecraft, Poe, Stoker, and Jack Finney. The collection starts with The Dunwich Horror, one of Lovecraft's most recognizable and best stories, with instantly recognizable themes - a dark force born into our world by dark arts and taking a monstrous form, scientists and historians doing battle - just great stuff. Next up, The Love Letter from Jack Finney, a truly beautifully told tale of melancholy reaching out over a century, shades of his novels here. Poe's entry, The Oblong Box, as typical, ties horror to human choice and insanity. A rarely published short story from Stoker, The Judge's House, has a kernel of Dorian Gray mixed with rats, and is chilling. The supporting stories are all just as good, and just as creepy - makes the case that few horror authors these days are hitting the right notes. Off the top of my head, I'd recommend [[Stephen Graham Jones]].

5 bones!!!!!
Highly recommended ( )

Remember when Scholastic published books like this, and when you could actually find them in the library of your public high school? Those were the days. This is a rock-solid collection of horror stories, covering a roughly 100-year span (mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century). In addition to tales by major figures like Poe ("The Oblong Box"), Stoker ("The Judge's House") and Lovecraft ("The Dunwich Horror"), editor Betty M. Owen includes two less frequently anthologized stories, each of them first-rate: Anthony Vercoe's grisly, profoundly disquieting "Flies" and Jack Finney's "The Love Letter," a charming, gently ghostly time travel adventure (of sorts). You can't go wrong with this book. ( )

This book is an anthology of eleven strange and horrific short stories that was compiled by Betty M. Owen in 1969. These are short stories written by such well-known authors as H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe and Bram Stoker, as well as eight stories written by several lesser-known authors. All the stories were written in the late 19th or early 20th centuries - from classic to more contemporary horror.

In my opinion, each story was certainly very good reading, however none of them actually scared me enough to give me nightmares. I think that I may want to read some more anthologies in the future, and I give this particular book an A! I'm definitely glad that I read it, but I can send this book away to another good home should anyone else want it. ( )

A collection of classic and contemporary horror short stories. ( )