The Pan Book of Horror Stories

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I am really unsure as to what the point of this one is, beyond titillating the Pan reading hordes who were by now expecting to encounter the graphic slaughter of at least a couple of women per volume.

Other than the fact the reader is able to indulge in the slightly dubious pleasure of witnessing a deranged sadist get his comeuppance, this is a disappointingly disposable read. Another tremendously enjoyable collection of horror tales with plenty of variety and no shortage of gooeyness.I’d also give worthy mentions to ‘The Treat’ (M. S. Waddell), ‘The Sins Of The Fathers’ (Christianna Brand), ‘Message For Margie’ (Christine Campbell Thomson), ‘The Spider’ (Basil Copper), and ‘The Living Shadow’ (Rene Morris). Suitable Applicant’ by Charles Braunstone. A woman gets a job working for a man who her missing best friend previously worked for. It all happens here – bloodthirstiness and kinky sex! This is another of those stories which is enjoyable for its sheer weirdness, as well as gripping build-up. You’ll probably guess where the story is going, but then one or two more embellishments lift it further. The plotline reminded me of the story Island of Regrets in Pan7, although in truth there are more differences than similarities between the two narratives. Most notably the fact that whereas the action in “Island” builds to a frantic, breathless climax, Spinalonga simmers rather than boils. It’s something of a cliche in horror stories for someone to make a bet that they will spend the night in a scary mansion. This gives a slightly different take on it. A Major who claims never to have experienced fear in his life finds himself staying in a mansion with set up scares which are not actually dangerous. But after the challenger reveals his reason for wanting revenge on the him, he gives him the final scare. It’s something truly horrendous, but is it real this time? Fear itself can be a matter of life or death. The Physiology of Fear’ by C.S. Forester – Experiments involving fear are carried out by a Nazi. Fascinating characters and situation.

A bit rubbish to be frank, but Van Thal obviously had a keen eye for talent and Tanith Lee would go on to far greater things than this short-short. Fengriffen and Other Stories (1971) – Contains the novel Fengriffen and the stories "Among the Wolves" and "Strange Roots" Dulcie Gray was a major British stage actress who switched to writing and was pretty good at that too. She came up with a couple of classics for the Pan Books and this is one. The fat 15 year old babysitter ends up taking her anger out on the baby, naturally, and it's a really horrific scene. Don't think anyone would publish this now. The Pan Books stories features a number of evil fat people. Like I say, don't look for any PC here. E. F. Benson (1867-1940) was a prolific English author of novels, short stories and non-fiction. He wrote the novels on which the British television series Mapp and Lucia (1985-6) was based. One of his most famous creepy stories was The Bus Conductor (1906) which was the basis for one of the segments in the classic horror film Dead of Night (1944) and was also adapted as a Twilight Zone episode in 1961. Here we have another of his ghost stories, this time dealing with an executed prisoner. It's a pretty straight forward spook story, but told with plenty of flair.The seventh of this endless anthology series. This one's noticeably weaker than the first instalments of the Pan Books of Horror, but there are still plenty of interesting stories to attract the attention; just that they're padded with more average fare. Contents are as follows: This is a very simple story told from the point of view of a very big man. He has a chance at romance, but unfortunately he doesn’t know his own strength. Again, it would never be a highlight, but, as a very short story, it adds to the variety. Not that this detracts from what is a quality piece of writing – certainly the strongest entry to the Pantheon for some years. 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.

His collection Brotherly Love and Other Tales of Faith and Knowledge was published by Pumpkin Books in the late 1990s. The Mammoth Book Of Wolf Men (2009)—Is A Reprinting Of The Mammoth Book Of Werewolves -Contains "The Cell" This is a subtly creepy tale of menace, something to whet the appetite for the more explicit horrors that come in later stories. Screaming Terror, published under the Arthur Baker imprint, is a collection from the first three Pan Book of Horror Stories and is also edited by Herbert Van Thal.A couple who are market gardeners suffer a home invasion. A short piece of realism which hangs on the irony of a couple benefiting from the woman being raped. It adds variety without having strong appeal. John Burke - A Comedy Of Terrors: Robbie Searidge, a designer for a movie company, practices torture and mutilation on his visitors then reproduces the finer details of their tormented deaths on film for mass consumption. When he catches his girlfriend Dolores prying in his secret room he flays her alive then disposes of her body (and those of her predecessors: burnt alive, hung, drawn and quartered, etc.) at the junkyard. But Dolores brother is convinced that Robbie is a murderer and before she went "missing" Dolores confided to him that lover-boy talks in his sleep: about his greatest fear .... This collection was published in 1970 so you know there's not gonna be much political correctness to be found! Prepare to be slightly offended... urn:oclc:record:1392314528 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier panbookofhorrors0000unse Identifier-ark ark:/13960/s2dgzjj7qhk Invoice 1652 Isbn 9781509860104

Raspberry Jam’ takes it’s time but builds tension brilliantly towards a horribly cruel ending. A fantastic short story.Young lad had secret solo river swim sessions. Woman bursts on to the riverbank during one such, pursued by a man. She falls in the river and is drowned. The man is later arrested for murder. Beautifully written. In tribute to this once ubiquitous set of books, here’s the cover art, accompanied in each case by a listing of the stories, and featuring also an index of the stories, listed by author. As perhaps you might expect from a British book of the 1950’s, it often reads with that British sense of the stiff upper lip, of facing adversity under pressure, intermingled with a feeling of distress and tension, though it must be said that not all are British. (There are two stories reprinted by permission from the great Arkham House, for example, which give a decidedly Weird Tales feel to parts of the collection.) And yet there is that thing that can only really be described as a sense of unease. Although there is, unlike other books later in the series, no profanity, comparatively little grue and a surprisingly substantial amount of psychological subtlety, there are scenes of torture, gross awfulness and violence. We also have adultery, jealousy and the odd bit of nastiness. Though time may have diluted the chills a little, it is a wonderfully nostalgic read. The highlight of the collection would have to be the opening story 'The Hunter' by David Cass. As I read it, I could really picture this being made as an Amicus production in the 1960s with Cushing and Lee in the roles of Wetherby and Byron respectively.