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A MISLEADING TITLE

Tales of Terror
Wilkie Collins
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486203077

Book Description

The great Victorian author ventures further into the unknown with these 12 masterful tales of crime and the supernatural. "The Dream Woman," "A Terribly Strange Bed," "The Bitter Bit," "Fauntleroy," more.

Customer Reviews:

A MISLEADING TITLE.......2000-10-11

A very entertaining bunch of short stories, with a misleading title. Of the dozen stories in this book, only two could possibly be deemed supernatural, and even those two might have more mundane explanations for the events described. Two other stories in this collection might be called action/suspense tales. But the others have nothing to do with terror or the supernatural at all. Rather, they are mysteries, or tales of false identity, or tales of blackmail, or of suspicion. All eminently readable, and all good fun. My favorite story in the book is "Mad Monkton," one of the tales with a more supernatural cast. This longish story takes its time but builds to a very satisfying conclusion. The mystery tales show Collins developing the type of format he would later perfect in "The Woman in White" and "The Moonstone." I feel that any fan of Collins would enjoy these varied stories. Just don't go in expecting a really scary time.

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A dual review of Straub's Magic Terror and Tessier's Ghost Music
Not his best
More intelligent horror for intelligent readers.
Perhaps one good story
The Magic Works - Sometimes

Magic Terror: 7 Tales
Peter Straub
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0375503935
Release Date: 2000-06-27

Amazon.com

Peter Straub is a fine sorcerer of horror whose bag of tricks includes stories of pure, unadulterated horror (Julia and Koko), as well as more subtle tales of psychological suspense (Mr. X and Shadowland). Now Straub conjures up Magic Terror, a collection of seven deeply disturbing tales that display his entire range.

"Bunny Is Good Bread" is without a doubt the most haunted tale of all, a harrowing account of a childhood from hell. The scary hero Fee was so traumatized as a 5-year-old by abuse from his father that he disconnects himself from the real world and lives as if in a film. Why? "If you forgot you were in a movie, your own feelings would tear you into bloody rags." Ever since the day Fee watches his mother die a horrible death, he's been tormented: "He was one-half dead himself; half of him belonged to his dead mother."

Fee is not the only character to be struck by a dark epiphany, a life-changing moment. In the lyrical "Porkpie Hat," a famous jazz musician recounts the ghoulish Halloween encounter that charted the course of his destiny, and in the twisted fairy tale "Ashputtle," a fantasy-inclined "princess" seeks retribution for a traumatic incident many years before.

In Straub's world, horror appears in different disguises--the dark mask of child abuse and the bloodied cloak of war ("The Ghost Village"). Regardless of how it shows itself, the effects will haunt long after lights out. --Naomi Gesinger

Book Description

No one tells a story like Peter Straub. He dazzles with the complexity of his plots. He delights with the sophistication and eloquence of his prose. He startles you into laughter in the face of events so dark you begin to question your own moral compass. Then he reduces you to jelly by spinning a tale so terrifying-and surprising-you wind up sleeping with the lights on.

With Magic Terror, the bestselling author of Ghost Story and The Talisman (with Stephen King) has given us one of the most imaginatively unsettling collections in years. The terrain of these extraordinary stories is marked by brutality, heart-break, despair, wonder, and an unexpected humor that allows empathy to blossom within the most unlikely contexts.

"Bunny Is Good Bread" takes us into the mind of a small boy trapped in grotesque circumstances to portray the creation of a serial killer in a manner that compels pity, sorrow, comprehension, and grief-as well as judgment. "Hunger, an Introduction," narrated by the ghost of a pompous, self-pitying murderer, evokes a profoundly beautiful vision of earthly life, one appreciated far more by the dead than the living. The award-winning novella "Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff," a masterpiece of black comedy, draws upon Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" to create a revenge tale in which torture is a moral art and the revenger undergoes a transforming, albeit painful, education.

In the words of Mrs. Asch, the visionary narrator of "Ashputtle," "The main feature of adventure is that it goes forward into unknown country." Straub's devotees will be entranced by what their fearless guide has in store for them. Those as yet uninitiated are in for a harrowing literary journey. Enjoy the ride.

Download Description

Bestselling horror master Straub delivers his most shocking fiction collection in years. Including his award-winning novella Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff, it creates a brilliant kaleidoscope of psychological shadow worlds.

Customer Reviews:

A dual review of Straub's Magic Terror and Tessier's Ghost Music.......2006-09-20

Linked as they are by bonds of friendship, their accomplished writing and their incalculable contributions to modern horror, it seemed fitting that short story collections from Peter Straub and Thomas Tessier crossed my desk almost simultaneously. Given my admiration for their work, I put everything else aside (including urgent details of a pending move to another continent) and eagerly read them back to back.

As billed, MAGIC TERROR presents seven tales of suspense and the macabre. Two, 'The Ghost Village' and 'Bunny is Good Bread,' relate to Straub's brilliant Blue Rose Trilogy. The first details Tim Underhill's encounter with spirits inhabiting the Vietnamese village of Tong Bo; the second tells of events from the tragic childhood of future serial killer Fee Bandolier. 'Hunger, An Introduction'ostensibly about the afterlife, also addresses social tensions that persist among various economic classes. IHG Award Winner 'Mr. Club and Mr. Cuff' provides a bizarre riff on Melville's classic Bartleby the Scrivener. More down to earth, but nonetheless chilling, are 'Isn't it Romantic?', recalling the works of Graham Greene, and 'Pork Pie Hat,' the story of a Halloween night long ago that skewed a famous musician's worldview toward cynicism and despair.

Among the Straub stories, my favorite was 'Ashputtle', the story of the sadistic Mrs.Asch, a teacher who exploits, manipulates and sometimes dispatches her young charges. Straub navigates some very ambiguous terrain here. On the one hand, he summons memories that many of us have of being mistreated in the classroom, detailing Mrs. Asch's sins in her own cruel voice. This portion of the narrative reaches a chilling zenith when the murderous schoolmarm inadvertently drops her guard and refers to a student as 'it'. Straub then turns the tables, making us feel sympathy for the monster, whose actions are the result of an abusive childhood.

Tessier's collection is no less entertaining: GHOST MUSIC demonstrates his wide range and talent, and his skill at giving the reader an exquisite feel for his characters. Examples of this talent are found in 'Food,' featuring the lonely Mr. Whitman, who, desperate for human contact, strikes up an absolutely bizarre relationship with his morbidly obese and housebound neighbor. 'Curing Hitler' chronicles a doctor's attempts to treat the case of hysterical blindness the Fuhrer experienced during World War I. Several tales deal with their character's journeys, both physical and mental, as they seek their bliss, search for personal Grails, and find their fates. Thus we have 'Blanca,' wherein the protagonist is trapped in a foreign locale, 'In Praise of Folly' and 'Infidel,' two tales in which characters undertake unusual searches which cost them their lives, and 'La Mournante,' where a quest for love results in a loss of identity.

The most terrifying piece in this collection is also one of the most subtle.'In I Remember Me,' Tessier describes a world ravaged by a disease that attacks people's memories. Through a number of short but telling vignettes, he effectively conveys the protagonist's horror and dismay at his loss of self. Despite finding occasional solace in his ever changing world, he ultimately fades into nothingness.

Both authors are canny practitioners of their trade, expertly manipulating readers' emotions to achieve their eerie effects. Savor these stories, and relish the time you spend in the company of two of today's most elegant stylists.

Not his best.......2003-11-29

When it comes to Peter Straub, I've read better. This is the first collection of his short stories that I've read, and I must say that if all his short stories are like this, I'm sticking to his novels.

Not that these stories are bad. Just needlessly complex for short stories. Such complexity kills drama. "Porkpie Hat", for example, is a halloween story told by a jazz musician named "Hat" (or, for those who can read the clues, the one and only Lester Young). It's a fairly simple story that stretches on for 60 pages. Some stories, like healthy elastic, can stretch in such a manner and still remain tense and dramatic, while others sag like taffy. "Porkpie Hat" is taffy. I found myself more interested in the description of "Hat" himself and his work life than the actual story.

Most of the other stories are like that: long and in the end conveyant of the feeling that one wasted one's time. Not the best.

More intelligent horror for intelligent readers........2003-06-08

Stephen King summed up Peter Straub with this excellent statement, "He is the only one out there in the [horror] field writing bona fide literature." This collection of seven tales (most of which are novella length) just proves this true. However, to be honest, the short tale is not Straub's strong point. He works best in long, intricate narratives that both use and deconstruct the thriller genre, all the while saturating the story with literary and cultural references, parodies, and homages. Each of the stories collected contain some of these elements, but not all of them.

Ashputtle will have you rethinking that pudgy grade school teacher you mocked, or the one you now entrust with the education of your child. Isn't It Romantic has an assassin on his last job and rethinking his first job in a new light. The Ghost Village is yet another story linked to his classic Blue Rose trilogy, as is the horrifying Bunny Is Good Bread. Which explains just what made a mysterious killer the way he was. Porkpie Hat is a classic tale, the story within the story not only a beautiful return to the ghost story form for the author, but it is also Straub at his deconstructionist finest. Revelling in how our storytelling allows us to communicate a hidden truth and overcome tragedy. Hunger, An Introduction offers yet another story within a story, trying to make us understand what makes ghosts haunt us so. It also expands on themes presented in The Ghost Village quite nicely. The closing story, Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff, is a hilarious, albeit gruesome, black comedy about the karmic nature of revenge. Those who long for a return to witty, intelligent and literate genre writing need look here. Highly recommended.

Perhaps one good story.......2002-08-26

MAGIC TERROR is an anthology of previously released material compiled together into one book. Most of the stories are complex and it only creates confusion to his readers. Some of the stories are very disturbing in which we get inside the minds of madmen, such as the lead characters in ASHPUTTLE and BUNNY IS GOOD BREAD. The first story involves a kindergarten teacher who takes revenge out of something that happened in her childhood. The other story shows the evolution of a serial killer with the help of good old dad.

This collection of short stories is mainly for Peter Straub loyalists who enjoy reading his work. His novels are much better than his short stories. Try THE HELLFIRE CLUB or GHOST STORY for a real fun time.

The Magic Works - Sometimes.......2002-07-23

Peter Straub is the bestselling author who most suffers from brevity. He requires a broad canvas and a generous amount of time, to really make a story click. He also - like Anne Rice and Stephen King - seems utterly incapable of escaping his own literary world, constantly recycling characters and elements from his preceding novels into his newer works, which is interesting in its own way, but grows tiring after a time. However, he is sufficiently versatile to pretty well guarantee at least one or two satisfying reads to any given reader, in any collection of his shorter pieces. Straub is the closest living writer we have to an Edgar Allen Poe, and these stories reflect his talents well.

Three of the stories in Magic Terror expand on characters and plots already encountered in Straub's previous "Blue Rose" mystery novels, and two of them - "Bunny Is Good Bread" and "Porkpie Hat" - are quite good as stand-alones, on their own merits. His crowning story, "Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff," obviously owes a little something to Poe's "System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether," and is less a horror story than an absurdist black comedy written by the Marquis de Sade. My own personal favorites are a story told by a recently departed murderer about the crime that landed him on death row, and another relating a humorous series of bad turns taken between spies and hit-men - both, like "Clubb and Cuff," twisted black comedies worthy of Edward Gorey or The Addams Family.

Definitely not the author's best, but still worthy of attention.

Night Terrors: Stories Of Shadow And Substance : Stories Of Shadow And Substance

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Night Terror Stories of Shadow and Substance
BOring
Don't Turn Out the Lights.......
A suspense filled collection of short stories
This book has many stories about ghosts spirits it is great!

Night Terrors: Stories Of Shadow And Substance : Stories Of Shadow And Substance
Lois Duncan
Manufacturer: Simon Pulse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

Night Terror Stories of Shadow and Substance.......2005-10-28

Genre:Fiction
Three sentence summary:There is this kid named Bo and his friend got murdered by a killer doll.So now the killer doll is coming to get him.So then he realizes it was all a dream. The doll is kind of like Chucky.
What I liked most about the book:I liked the part when that girl got her head sliced by the doll.
What I didn't like and why: I didn't like Bo because he is not that cool like me.
My favorite character and why: My favorite character is the killer doll. Why because he kills people and that is cool to me.
The scene,line,or passage that meant something to me and why:
"Hay watch out", said Bo as he took out his shotgun. The killer doll was right behind his friend as he fired a bullet into his head.
What would I say about this book to someone else:It is a great book and you would probaly wet your pants reading it because it is to scary for the reader. So read it and don't wet your pants.
One question I have after reading this book:Why did the killer doll have to die and couldn't the author make Bo a gangster?
My strongest reason for recommending this book:It has action and brings a chill down your spin.So watch out because the killer doll is real! (Don't wet your pants)

BOring.......2001-01-10

BY SAM WOTIPKA doctorporkchop@dellmail.com

Night Terrors, sounds scary doesn't it? Wrong. By the title it sounds like it's the type of book you don't want to read if you get scared easily, but this book isn't scary enough to scare a six year old. It's a collection of short stories that are supposed to frighten you. In addition to being boring many of the stories don't make since. For example "The Monkey's Wedding", about an old lady's son painted a famous picture called "The Monkey's Wedding." The stories most interesting event was when the old lady got a phone call saying here son had been killed, then the picture was mailed to her and the story ended. I can see how this book might be interesting to some people, but wasn't to me. When started reading this book I thought it would be scary, it didn't come close. On the good side this book was well written and had a lot of detail. Some of the stories did interest me but more often than not the stories were a disappointment. I think the author should have put different stories in the book or just changed the title to something that wasn't scary sounding. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone except for parents to read to kids five and under. This book is a disappointment.

Don't Turn Out the Lights..............2000-11-15

If you are a lover of scary stories,this book is made for you! Not only are the storys so frightining that you won't want to go to bed, there is more that one of them!

I would definetly reccomend this book!

A suspense filled collection of short stories.......1998-11-20

A good selection of short scary stories

This book has many stories about ghosts spirits it is great!.......1998-11-11

The book "NIGHT TERRORS" is a very good collection of stories to be told in halloween or to be read during the day because they are scary but there is only one that is like very interesting it is called "The girl at the window " this storie is about a boy that just moved to a new town and the room where he sleped was owned by a girl like from the 70's that died trying to leave her and her friends mark in the water tower. This spirit would come to her room and sleep on the floor until one day she took the boy with her and she went with her friends and they went up to the water tower and started to build a human latter and... want to know what happens read the stories.this is really a gret book I recomend it to you and I you go and recomend it to your friend after you have read the book of scary collections. You will enjoy it I hope that you will as much as I did. sylviap@

Tales of Mystery and Terror (Puffin Classics)

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Tales of Mystery and Terror
Many Good Stories In One
This book is thrilling and bone chilling
This book is thrilling and bone chilling
A spectacular book full of horror book

Tales of Mystery and Terror (Puffin Classics)
Edgar Allan Poe
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140351159

Customer Reviews:

Tales of Mystery and Terror.......2006-12-11

***This book is a worderful book full of suspense and wonder. Edgar Allen Poe is a literary genius!!! His work in this book is amazing, but in some parts I could not understand. In this book there is not just one story; there is TWELVE!!! Twelve tales of mystery and suspense. This book is a chilling adevture for more mature audiences. I do reccomend this book highly; but BEWARE!!! (>':' <)***

Many Good Stories In One.......2000-07-13

Mystery, terror, suspense... it's all here. Just look at all the classic stories in this one volume: The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell-Tell Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, and his masterpiece the Gold Bug. This is required reading for any fan of Poe, or classic writings in general.

This book is thrilling and bone chilling.......1999-04-20

This is a very good book to read at night or while camping. This is my favorite book because it has lots of stories in it and it keeps you from buying all the books seperately.And if you have a report to do and you need illistrations this has one on everypage.

This book is thrilling and bone chilling.......1999-04-20

A spectacular book full of horror book.......1998-09-22

This is a spectacular multi-story book. It has a wonderful variety of excitement, adventure and a lot of horror. i really enjoyed this exclusive group of books. I kept my nose in it as long as possible each time I read this book. I recommend this to any reader who enjoys horror and many other genres

Halloween Horrors: New Tales of Dark Fantasy and Terror

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Classic Halloween Anthology
MY FAVORITE HALLOWEEN ANTHOLOGY

Halloween Horrors: New Tales of Dark Fantasy and Terror

Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385195583

Customer Reviews:

Classic Halloween Anthology.......2005-11-13

I don't remember what age I was when my Dad first borrowed HALLOWEEN HORRORS from the library - maybe 7? The cover image of a jack o'lantern weeping blood was pretty scary, so I picked it up to read. Some of the stories went over my head (the Nixon one, for instance), but on the whole they were very creepy. It seems easier to suspend disbelief on Halloween, and about Halloween, because we want to believe that the veil is thin at least once a year, and that there is something to see behind the veil. Anyway, my Dad borrowed it every Halloween for many years before the library dropped its copy. I just this year got mine from a library sale, but it's sad to think that someone out there might now be missing his Halloween ritual.

Well, on to the reviews:

This book has (lucky!) 13 stories by such big names as Robert Bloch, Ramsey Campbell, and Frank Belknap Long. A surprising number of these stories make Stefan Dziemianowicz's list of all-time Halloween tales in the OCTOBER DREAMS anthology. One, "Eyes" by Charles grant, is even reprinted therein. I think that given the big names in HALLOWEEN HORRORS and the influence that it has made on other writers and anthologies, it has been a pretty seminal work.

These 13 stories run the gamut from Satan to faeries to witchcraft, ghosts, and even politics. The story by FBL isn't even scary, more poignant even. On the other hand, the editor's contribution has a group of teens stuck in a house turning into a pumpkin. The anthology has many different perspectives for different ages on what is scary about Halloween. I believe that is what made HALLOWEEN HORRORS intriguing to me at 7 and at twenty-something. I certainly wouldn't pass up a chance to read it if you can.

MY FAVORITE HALLOWEEN ANTHOLOGY.......2003-12-03

I was lucky enough to pick up this Halloween anthology in paperback in the waning days of September '87 right after I signed into Ft. Devens, MA. Nothing beats being in New England in the Fall. Anyway, I was happy to be able to find some Halloween related horror just in time for my favorite holiday. Having recently read a lot of longer fiction by Clive Barker and Stephen King, I was glad to be able to enjoy a few of the shorter works by some of my other favorite writers (Bloch, Campbell, Grant, McCammon, McDowell, Strieber). The story that I liked the best (and remember the most) out of this collection is Whitley Strieber's "The Nixon Mask". This collection easily ranks right up there with October Dreams (edited by Richard Chizmar and Robert Morrish) and is way better then The Ultimate Halloween (edited by Marvin Kaye). I only wish that more (not just horror) writers would try their hand at crafting a tale that somehow deals with Halloween so that I'd have more to read at and about this time of year. Happy Halloween!!!

Bringing Down the Moon: 15 Tales of Fantasy and Terror

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Bringing Down the Moon: 15 Tales of Fantasy and Terror

Manufacturer: Space & Time
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0917053028

Southwest: Towards the Twenty-First Century : Tales of Terror, Mystery, and Mercy

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Southwest: Towards the Twenty-First Century : Tales of Terror, Mystery, and Mercy

Manufacturer: Red Earth Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 091843405X

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Unfamilar and generally interesting...

Great Tales of Terror

Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Great Weird Tales: 14 Stories by Lovecraft, Blackwood, Machen and Others (Dover Horror Classics)

ASIN: 048641938X

Book Description

23 chilling tales of the returning dead, haunted places, weird creatures, and the supernatural in "The Return of the Soul," by Robert Hichens, "The Mummy's Foot," by Theophile Gautier, Lafcadio Hearn's "Of a Promise Broken," as well as spine-tinglers by Algernon Blackwood, J. Sheridan LeFanu, Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, Lord Dunsany, and other masters.

Customer Reviews:

Unfamilar and generally interesting..........2002-05-14

This time around, editor Joshi has turned up little-known tales by familiar authors such as Blackwood and Machen, and even less well known tales by authors who'd rarely be suspected of such work, such as Edith Nesbit and H. L. Mencken. The overall literary standards are fairly high, with only two real bummers in the lot.

We begin with "ghost" tales by Arthur Quiller-Crouch, William Sharp, Robert Hichens (an interesting tale spoiled by being precisely two times too long!), Lafcadio Hearn, and Walter de la Mare. The ghost is a very problematical concept, internally contradictory--- an immaterial spirit could not be seen nor could it affect the waking world--- and almost guaranteed to lead the author artistically astray. Most of these tales do not avoid that trap, although one does not involve a ghost at all.

Next are some "haunted places" explored by W. W. Astor, Violet Hunt and James Hopper. The last of these tales suggests that the afterlife is to be spent attending the same school one attended as a child--- whether the experience was bliss or torture.

Next come "weird creatures," depicted by Gautier, Bierce, and W. F. Harvey. The best of these is Gautier's tale of the foot of the mummy of a lovely Egyptian princess... and with the foot in hand, guess who's not far behind.

Next we encounter "the superhuman," with tales by LeFanu, Barry Pain, Edith Nesbit (an excellent mad-scientist adventure!), H. L. Mencken (with a plot that would have made a good early 1940s Bela Lugosi movie) and Thomas Burke.

The low point of the collection is found in "terror of fantasy," with the contributions by Erckmann-Chatrian and Gertrude Atherton descending to depths of pure, mindless idiocy rarely encountered even in supernatural fiction.

Things pick up again with "cosmic terror," which contains a moving poem in prose by Lord Dunsany, a cautionary tale about the dangers of "knowing too much" by Blackwood, a short tale that contemplates the total destruction of the earth with what is probably the only possible dignified attitude, from J. D. Beresford, and finally Lovecraft protege R. H. Barlow, characteristically looking forward from 1940 to a theme that came to dominate science fiction in the early 1950s.

Worth the money and worth your time.

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