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.
