Tuesday 2 October 2012

The Pan Book of Horror Stories

This is of course one of my countdown to Halloween blog posts. Which is simply a plug for a book that I am reading at the moment. I say a plug, not a critic or a review, as I have not read it all and cannot judge it completely.I am talking about The Pan Book of Horror Stories. I bought the volume 1 out of whim on Amazon. I loved the nasty black cat on the front cover, with sharp fangs and angry eyes, ready to strike. I wonder if it is part of a story. It is certainly an interesting find and an unusual type of horror for me to read. So far, most of the stories I read in there had barely or no supernatural element at all, they are grounded in reality and hence are based on psychological horror. I was expecting more classical types of horror stories, like in this anthology. That said, I have not been disappointed. Because the stories are very well written, and produce their own brand of anxiety. Oh, and there is at least one classic horror story, The Kill by Peter Fleming (the brother of the other Fleming) a good old werewolf story, enjoyable even when it is predictable, almost because it is predictable. Just for thos story, the anthology is worth the purchase. But if you want to read it without buying The Pan Book of Horror Stories and don't mind reading fiction online, you can find it here. Still, read in a cold autumn night in the living room, or in say an empty train station, it is so much better an experience. So hurry up and buy it before the 31st.

5 comments:

suzanne said...

The cover certainly leads you to expect classic horror! Glad you found at least one gem inside.

tao.owl said...

The black cat on the cover looks like my Poppins when I take the lizard she just caught from her, very scary.

The Gill-Man said...

I definitely would have thought this would have been more traditional horror faire, with witches and what-not, based upon the cat on the cover. Oh well, you know what they say about book covers! Still, good to hear that the book wasn't a waste, with at least a few good entries!

Guillaume said...

Oh don't get me wrong, the stories there are great, even though not many of them so far have been classic horror stories. I still read the book eagerly.

The Artful Gypsy aka Wendy the Very Good Witch said...

Love the cover art...very old style Halloween look to it. There is just something about this time of year that makes me want to read Halloween books and sip warm drinks! :o)