C. A. Dawson Scott & Ernest Rhys – Twenty And Three Stories

C. A. Dawson Scott & Ernest Rhys (eds.) – Twenty And Three Stories: By Twenty And Three Authors (Thornton Butterworth, 1924)

 

Introduction: Ernest Rhys & C. A. Dawson Scott

Edith Wharton – Kerfol
L. de Bra – A Life – A Bowl Of Rice
W. B. Yeats – The Crucifixion Of The Outcast
The Marquess Curzon Of Kedleston – The Drums Of Kairwan
T. F. Powys – Alleluia
A. E. W. Mason – Hatteras
Elinor Mordaunt – Hodge
Thomas Burke – The Chink And The Child
Robert Hichens – The Nomad
Cutcliffe Hyne – The Ransom
Edwin Pugh – The Other Twin
Morley Roberts – Grear’s Dam
Ward Muir – The Reward Of Enterprise
H. de Vere Stackpoole -The King Of Maleka
Algernon Blackwood – Violence
A. Conan-Doyle – Captain Sharkey
Arthur Lynch – The Sentimental Mortgage
Ellis Roberts – The Narrow Way
Louis Golding – The Call Of The Hand
Walter De La Mare – The Creatures
W. Somerset Maugham – The Taipan
John Masefield – Davy Jones’ Gift
W. W. Jacobs – The Monkey’s Paw

“The New Terror is apt to be more psychical, more psychological perhaps, than the old. The method of the latter is based on EDGAR POE and the writers for Blackwoods Magazine, while the former is akin to the Russians, to SOLOGUB and TCHEKKOV.”

Strong mixed bag of Ghost stories, mysteries and thrillers – “stories of sensation” as the authors put it – with enough of a horror bent to be included here. A companion piece to their Thirty And One Stories of the previous year which is more diverse in its approach but still finds time to include genre contributions from Percival Gibbon, Violet Hunt, May Sinclair and H. G. Wells of those I recognise.

Dennis Wheatley – Uncanny Tales 3

Dennis Wheatley (ed.) – Uncanny Tales 3 [# 37] (Sphere, 1976)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – Playing With Fire
F. Tennyson Jesse – The Canary
Theodore Dreiser – The Hand
Louis Golding – The Call Of The Hand
Hugh Walpole – The Snow
H.R. Wakefield – Lucky’s Grove
Edith Wharton – Afterward
W.W. Jacobs – The Monkey’s Paw
Dennis Wheatley – The Snake
Frank Harris – The Miracle Of The Stigmata
Algernon Blackwood – The Trod

Thanks to Bob Rothwell of Dennis Wheatly Info for providing the list of contents.

Peter Haining – Dr. Caligari’s Black Book

Peter Haining (ed) – Dr. Caligari’s Black Book (W. H. Allen, 1968)

“For here are tales from the world of Dr. Caligari: mysterious sideshows, freaks and monsters, seances, macabre plays, and all manner of terrors lurking in the shadows.”

Introduction – Peter Haining

S. L. Dennis – The Second Awakening Of A Magician
Ray Bradbury – The Jar
Lady Eleanor Smith – Satan’s Circus
Agatha Christie – The Last Seance
August Derleth – Mrs. Elting Plays Her part
Anthony Gittens – The Third Performance
A. M. Burrage – The Waxwork
Robert Bloch – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Marcel Ayme – The Dwarf
J. B. Priestly – The Demon King
Hazel Heald – The Horror In The museum
H. R. Wakefield – Farewell Performance
Barry Pain – The End Of A Show

A second version of the book, published in paperback the following year replaces some stories:

Peter Haining (ed) – Dr. Caligari’s Black Book (Nel, 1969)

Cover: Bruce Pennington

Amber Print – Basil Copper
The Second Awakening Of A Magician – S L Dennis
The Haunted Cinema – Louis Golding
The Jar – Ray Bradbury
The Theatre Upstairs – Manly Wade Wellman
The Last Seance – Agatha Christie
Headlines For Tod Shayne – August Derleth
The Sorceror’s Apprentice – Robert Bloch
The Harlem Horror – Charles Lloyd
The End Of A Show – Barry Pain

Thanks to Calenture at Vault Of Evil for the NEL cover scan and contents.

Dennis Wheatley – Quiver Of Horror

Dennis Wheatley (ed.) – Quiver Of Horror (Arrow, 1964)

Introduction – Dennis Wheatley

Margaret Irwin – The Earlier Service
Mrs. Oliphant – The Open Door
Saki – The Music On The Hill
F. Tennyson Jesse – The Canary
Ex Private X (A. M. Burrage) – Smee
Ex Private X (A. M. Burrage) – One Who Saw
William Younger – The Angelus
Theodore Drieser – The Hand
M. R. James – The Treasure Of Abbot Thomas
Bram Stoker – The Judges House
Louis Golding – The Call Of The Hand
Walter De La Mare – All Hallows
William Hope Hodgson – The Whistling Room
Charles Birkin – A Right To Know
Dennis Wheatley – A Life For A Life

A new introduction (repeated in both volumes) and the two Birkin stories would be reason enough for some of us to buy this. The C. E. Montague war story is a forgotten gem (the sweepstake involves betting on which of you will be next to die), otherwise the best of this stuff is more easily obtainable elsewhere.