A great collection of horror short stories, with an excellent breadth of variety. ( )

This is the first in a long running annual collection of horror stories. The book dates from 1972 and includes 14 stories first published from 1968-1971 with most from 1969-70. There are some famous authors included in here as well as several I do not recognize, but horror is not a genre I read very often. A little goes a long way with me, so to speak.

These are genuinely creepy stories, and that is apparent from the very first one, "Double Whammy" by Robert Bloch (author of Psycho). This story is about a carny and how a gypsy witchy woman gives him what he deserves, only worse. Central to the story is an act he barks for and participates in - a pit with a wild man in it, a geek. A geek as in the kind that bites the heads off of live chickens. This story is creepy in all kinds of ways. I found Brian Lumley's Cthulhu Mythos tale "The Sister City" deliciously old-fashioned and a treat to read.

There is really quite a variety of stories included, and some sensibilities such as attitudes toward women and repellant behavior in a couple stories that really show they were written in a different time than the present with some things that I think would bother some modern readers. But, these are supposed to be creepy horror stories so it is a little hard to tell what is included for shock value, and I would assume most of the ick is there for that reason. Most of the stories are set in what would be the present (1970ish), some in the past. I read these over a period of time and a few stories were not fresh in my memory when I wrote this.

There was only 1 or 2 stories I disliked and a couple so-so ones, but most were quite effective with what they did. I found E. C. Tubb's science fiction horror story "Lucifer" along with Richard Matheson's "Prey" among the best stories in the collection, but there are several other very good stories. "Prey" felt very familiar as I read it, about a murderous Zuni doll, and I thought it must have been made into a Twilight Zone episode like a number of Matheson's stories had been. It turns out that it was filmed as part of a "Trilogy of Terror" three part movie. This one can give you nightmares and more. Folks who like this sort of stuff should like this collection.

The included stories are:

Double Whammy • (1970) • shortstory by Robert Bloch
The Sister City • (1969) • shortstory by Brian Lumley
When Morning Comes • (1969) • shortstory by Elizabeth Fancett
Prey • (1969) • shortstory by Richard Matheson
Winter • (1969) • shortstory by Kit Reed
Lucifer • (1969) • shortstory by E. C. Tubb
I Wonder What He Wanted • (1971) • shortstory by Eddy C. Bertin
Problem Child • (1970) • shortstory by Peter Oldale
The Scar • (1969) • shortstory by Ramsey Campbell
Warp • (1968) • shortstory by Ralph Norton
The Hate • (1971) • shortstory by Terri E. Pinckard
A Quiet Game • (1970) • shortstory by Celia Fremlin
After Nightfall • (1970) • shortstory by David Riley
Death's Door • (1969) • novelette by Robert McNear ( )