The Pan Book of Horror Stories

Product Information

A U.S edition of the first Pan book was released by Gold Medal, an imprint of Fawcett Publications, and books 3, 4 and 5 were released by Berkley Medallion. While the first book was complete in its contents, the other three books gave only a small selection of their UK counterparts. There is no evidence to support PBoH #2 ever having a US release. There’s another evil surgeon ‘Behind the Yellow Door’ in a low key tale from Flavia Richardson. Marcia Miles goes to be a companion to an eminent doctor and her daughter and gets an unpleasant surprise. All in all, medical reputations are not enhanced by this book. A rich man is let off on the wrong floor by the lift in his office building. There he is confronted by the ghost of his son, out for grisly revenge. A fairly run-of-the-mill story, but it is short and not boring. The Cell: Three Tales of Horror (1969) - Contains the stories "The Cell", "The Hunter", and "The Dead End"

Walter Winward was a British-born novelist, who lived in the United States, North Africa, France, Malta, Mexico, Turkey, and Sweden, and worked at a variety of different occupations ranging from Royal Marine Commando to professional gambler. A physicist starts having remarkably realistic dreams in which he is transported to an Asian beach in the distant past. This longer story creates a powerful sense of encroaching terror. While the ending is not unexpected, it is very powerful. I thought this was going to be a vampire story. I was wrong. The twist is that the lover of the title is a necrophile. It’s a very short story, and adds just the right touch of tasteful depravity to the mix. Almost unheard of - A Pan Horror Collection in which there are absolutely no duffers! Except one rather inconsequential poem, all of the stories here are, at the very least, great macabre fun. Raspberry Jam’ takes it’s time but builds tension brilliantly towards a horribly cruel ending. A fantastic short story.John Keir Cross (1914-1967) was a British author of young adult science fiction novels, adult horror stories and television adaptations of literary classics. This is a particularly unusual story, told from the point of view of someone who appears to be losing his mind. It suggests more than it really makes clear, but it has a poetry and a sense of probing into profound and forbidden thoughts that makes it quite unsettling. Miss Fletcher's Plum Tree." Almost threw the book across the room at this point. The author is a decent writer, but the story can't decide if it wants to be shota spanking porno or a torture porn movie, and so it goes for both. David F. Case (1937-2018) was an American novelist and short story writer who specialised in horror and westerns. His short story Fengriffen: A Chilling Tale (1970) was filmed as And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973) (dir. Roy Ward Baker) As always, the stories are a mixed bag, but overall I would say this is a weaker collection than the Tenth which proceeds it.

Exiled in Morocco after having to flee England following some shady business dealings, Maurice runs into his former partner Edward (who took the rap for the shenanigans) when his car breaks down in the desert. Awaiting repair of his vehicle Maurice stays overnight as a guest of Edward and his beautiful Moroccan wife.Martin Waddell (1941- ) is an Irish writer known for his children’s books, especially those about the character Little Bear. THE WORDS OF THE DUMB, by Alex Hamilton: A man discovers his ability to talk to the animals. Whimsical, funny and disturbing all at the same time, this one. 4/5 Altogether, I found three stories here less than average. Joan Aiken’s JUGGED HARE, which opens the collection, is short and to the point, but doesn’t really have time to get going. I found the characters interesting but the horror less so. THE LIBRARY, by Hester Holland, is an old-fashioned “housekeeper arrives at weird house and finds horror” type story, and never engaged with me at all. There are a couple of good ideas here, but the finale is very predictable. THE MISTAKE, by Fielden Hughes, is a Poe-like story about an asylum inmate troubled by a frightening dream, and very tame and dated by today’s standards. CLAIR DE LUNE, by Seabury Quinn: Jules de Grandin investigates the case of a young girl who's dying from hunger. A bit of a routine adventure for the detective, with a weak villain and stolid writing; not up to Quinn's usual standard. 3/5 Witnessing the violent episode has a dreadful effect on Jinnot. What if she herself is a witch? She easily convinces herself that it's at least a possibility, which would make her duty bound to avenge Minty. And Beatrice, now Mrs. Hyslop, is about to give birth. What better opportunity for Jinnot to put her powers to the test.