Several of the short stories in this book stick with me. They are thought provoking as well as entertaining. ( )

[Title story only...]

(1905) Previously read; more than once – this is a heavily-anthologized, classic piece!

A classic of vampire fiction; it features a seductive femme fatale whose unrequited love persists beyond the grave. The supernatural elements are mixed in with a story of mundane theft and murder in a small village, with all the expected drama of the Italian setting (as the author puts into his character’s mouth: “Deeds that would be simply brutal and disgusting anywhere else become dramatic and mysterious because this is Italy and we are living in a genuine tower of Charles V built against genuine Barbary pirates.”)

However, I found that the most memorable part of the story was its framing device, with the eerie image of the grave with a body lying on top of it, which is only visible from a distance.
( )

Original magazine publication: 1894-1908
Original collected 1911 in 'Wandering Ghosts' a.k.a. 'Uncanny Tales' ( )

For The Blood Is The Life And Other Stories is a collection of horror/supernatural short stories by F. Marion Crawford.

F. Marion Crawford (1854-1909) was an American writer. He wrote mostly romantic and historical novels set in Italy. But along with the romantic novels he wrote many weird and fantastic tales. Many of his short stories are considered classics of the horror genre.

I had read two of his stories, The Upper Berth and The Screaming Skull and had been looking for a comprehensive collection of his weird tales. After a lot of searching I finally found, For The Blood Is The Life And Other Stories.

For The Blood Is The Life And Other Stories contains eight of his best horror short stories, one of which, The King's Messenger, is rarely found in many of Crawford’s collections.

The first story, The Dead Smile is macabre and very gothic. The whole build up is good, very creepy and morbid. But the conclusion seemed just plain weird to me.

The Screaming Skull is scary. I first read it as a part of an anthology. I was fairly scared as it was kind of late and I was alone in my room. The second reading was not as scary as the first one but still pretty creepy.

Man Overboard! is very, very overdrawn. Within the first few pages I saw what it was all about. It just went on and on while the solution is just so obvious.

The eponymous, For the Blood Is the Life manages to build up the suspense but the end kind of just peters out.

The Upper Berth I read as the part of another anthology. It is fairly well written and entertaining. One of the better written stories of the collection. In fact it was a favorite of the author H. P. Lovecraft’s, who praised it as “Crawford's weird masterpiece ...”.

By the Waters of Paradise has a Gothic setting but has a rather surprising ending. For some reason I felt faintly irritated by it.

The Doll's Ghost, a supernatural tale, managed to really touch my heart. It is by far the best written story of the book. It is one of my favorites.

Frankly I don’t get the last story of the collection called The King's Messenger. What is this story all about? I’ve yet to figure out.

Short stories, especially of the suspense or horror genre, should be short and should end abruptly, leaving the reader shocked and the ending should be left open. Quite a few stories in For The Blood Is The Life And Other Stories do not follow this rule.

At least three of the stories The Screaming Skull, Man Overboard!, The Upper Berth are full of maritime details. Much of Man Overboard! will seem particularly incomprehensible to any ordinary person. Only people familiar with sailing will probably understand it.

But this book is still worth a read. At least two of the stories, The Screaming Skull and The Upper Berth, are truly classics of the weird tale genre. The Doll's Ghost is incredibly heart warming.

The fans of horror, supernatural stories and of Gothic literature will enjoy this collection. Recommended. ( )