Mary Danby (ed.) - The 15th Fontana Book Of Great Horror Stories (Fontana, 1982)
John Holmes
Andrea Newman - She'll Be Company For You
R. Chetwynd-Hayes - Growth
Anonymous - In The Slaughteryard
Monica Dickens - Activity Time
Anthony Boucher - They Bite
Rosemary Timperley - House Of Mirrors
Mor Jokai - The Drop Of Blood
Harry E. Turner - The Wager
Bryn Fortey - Shrewhampton North-East
Garry Kilworth - Love Child
Frank Belknap Long - The Black Druid
Mary Danby - RobbieDavid Dixon - The Lodger In Room 16:
"I believe that something is being wilfully and maliciously destroyed in there at night, sometimes as much as three times a week, sir. There seems to be a crank-handled device in there which sounds to me rusty, Mr. Moule, and the machine's task involves a sound that I can only describe as that of crunching sticks ..." Mr. Feith is concerned at the habits of his unseen fellow boarder, but the landlord tetchily explains that the man is a cemetery worker who's been at the lodgings for as long as anyone can recall and Feith shouldn't go prying. A tall ask for our curious hero, who fatally encounters a horror not dissimilar to the leprous entity in Chambers'
The Yellow Sign.
Andrea Newman - She'll Be Company For You: Henry has just lost his invalid wife, Margaret, one of those deaths usually referred to as a merciful release for all concerned. Barbara, his despised sister-in-law, doesn't see it that way. She insists on lumbering him with her cat, Jennet, while she spends a few weeks convalescing abroad. It is glaringly apparent that puss has something of the uncanny about it and Henry's life is soon in meltdown. Halloween approaches.
R. Chetwynd-Hayes - Growth: Inquisitive Henry Broadfield visits Clapham-based trance medium Mrs. Helen Watkins whose speciality is producing ectoplasm which assumes the shape of a dear departed. Henry unwisely nicks off a chunk of the stuff while Mrs. Watkins is under and feeds it worms. Its appetite is insatiable.
Another name-check for Conrad Von Holstein's
Unnatural Enmities and Mrs. Watson might as well be Madam Orloff for all the difference in their characters.
Anonymous - In The Slaughteryard: Mr. Horace Jeafferson, fearless member of the Adventurers Club, relates his exploits of the previous evening when he found himself at the Melmouth Brothers' slaughteryard in Whitechapel. This being 1888, you'll possibly have guessed which famous murderer he encounters, though you may be surprised to learn that the man who evaded the massive police presence was a slobbering leper. Fantastic mockerney dialogue, notably from the old watchman, and the heroic young bobby's dying speech is another bonus. Michel Parry first revived this story in his
Jack The Knife collection after discovering it in the obscure collection
The Adventures Of The Adventurers Club.
Monica Dickens - Activity Time: Widower thingy experiences all the dubious delights of old age, hurtling from one calamitous humiliation to another until he finally comes to agree that maybe the suicides he's disparaged as "cowards" probably had the right idea all along. Excellently crafted but as depressing as anything I've read in a horror collection.
Anthony Boucher - They Bite: The Carka family operate in a manner comparable to the Sawney Beane clan. Twice the army have been sent into the small Californian desert town to wipe them out, twice they've come back - biting. Now Hugh Tallent arranges to meet the man who's been blackmailing him at a seemingly abandoned old ruin ...
Rosemary Timperley - House Of Mirrors: A daughter's oath to her insane, domineering mother sees her trapped in a house where her bloated reflection stares back at her from every wall, floor and ceiling.
Mor Jokai - The Drop Of Blood: More psychological horror. Pseth. Rich landowner S walks into a surgery, insisting that if Dr. K. won't remove the invisible carbuncle from his hand that is causing him excruciating pain, he will do so himself. K reluctantly complies, but it's only a temporary reprieve. A letter from the doomed S reveals his guilty secret.
Bryn Fortey - Shrewhampton North-East: The boy narrator and his mother find themselves marooned at Shrewhampton amongst a small group of strangers, none of whom can remember why they set out for this place they'd never heard of. When it becomes apparent there's no way out of the station, it's decided to pool their food supplies which don't amount to much. Then one of the party dies. Reminiscent of
Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors minus the flashbacks and Dr. Schreck.
Garry Kilworth - Love Child: Colonialist Burnett pursues his estranged and pregnant lover, Siana, to a village in the Malay jungle. He's informed that she is dead but its not all bad news - the local witchdoctor salvaged the foetus from her corpse and has used black sorcery to reanimate it as a
logi. Regrettably, the magician is inexperienced and has lost control of the supernatural child, so would Burnett be so kind as to kill it for them?
Harry E. Turner - The Wager: Obscenely wealthy bull-breeder Alvarez bets holidaying businessman Ken Grange a million that he can't beat him in unarmed combat. As an extra incentive, Ken doesn't have to pay up if he loses. And Alvarez is a dwarf. Never trust an embittered man with matador fantasies. Or his gorgeous secretary.
Frank Belknap Long - The Black Druid: Pompous archaeologist Stephen Benefield has a nasty overcoat experience while researching Celtic "mythology". He makes a spectacular transformation while riding home on the New York subway.
Mary Danby - Robbie: A well-meaning but mentally retarded eleven year old takes everything his long-suffering parents tell him way too literally. So when he wants to know what little boys are made of, it would be better not to rattle off "frogs and snails and puppy-dog's tails." And they certainly shouldn't leave any sharp instruments within his reach ....
