My Favorite Horror Story

"My Favorite Horror Story" is exactly what it says it is. A handful of today's better known horror authors, including the omnipresent Stephen King, and the slightly less inevitable Poppy Z. Brite ( I loved her introduction to Ramsey Campbell's "The Pattern." Very funny.) The main drawback to this book is that some of the stories have been very heavily anthologized, such as the two Lovecraft tales and Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." And can anyone actually read "Young Goodman Brown" and not suffer horrible high-school flashbacks? That said, let us move on to the high points of the anthology. My three favorites would be the aforementioned "The Pattern," which is among Campbell's best work and is absolutely terrifying. I believe that Mr. Campbell has always done his best work in short fiction (with exceptions such as "The Parasite") and this story serves to reinforce my opinion. Look up his excellent short story collections "Waking Nightmares," and "Ghosts and Grisly Things" if you have an interest in his style. "The Father-Thing" by Philip K. Dick may seem to be out of place in a horror anthology at first, but after you read it, you may never look at your dad in the same way! Chilling. All of the late Mr. Dick's books come VERY highly recommended from me. "The Inner Room" by Robert Aickman may not seem to be as relentlessly horrifying as some of the other stories, but it has a way of nagging at your mind that leads to some very disturbing thoughts. Seek out "Cold Hand in Mine" which is lamentably out of print, for more work by this unsung hero of atmospheric, ghostly horror tales. All in all, this is quite a good collection. Every fan of horror will find something they like here.

This book has several stories that anyone who's the least into anthologies has seen many times before: 'The Father-Thing,' 'The Colour Out of Space,' 'Young Goodman Brown,' 'The Tell-Tale Heart,' 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.' But these are all solid, enjoyable tales, and worth rereading (of all of them, 'The Tell-Tale Heart,' loses its flavour fastest), and more recent, less familiar works are also included. (It's also nice to see relatively less-anthologised works by a couple of authors: 'A Warning to the Curious' instead of James's far more famous 'Lost Hearts,' for example.)The chronological mix is carried off well; a look at the 'Acknowledgements' page shows that, of the copyrighted stories, three date from the 20s, two each from the 50s and 70s, and one each from the 40s, 60s, and 90s; an additional five are out of copyright. The introduction states that this is 'by no means a complete retrospective of the horror genre, but can be considered a collection of the evolution of horror.' A chronological arrangement might have brought out the concept of evolution better, but the selection itself is essentially solid, with only a couple of weak spots.Even if you're familiar with all the stories, this collection is worth getting for the introductions to each story, penned by the modern author who selected the story as his favorite. They vary in length, from Stephen King's quarter-page blurb for 'Sweets to the Sweet' to Richard Laymon's anecdotal (I am tempted to say 'colorful') four pages and three lines regarding 'The Colour Out of Space.' They're good reading on their own merits and for the most part succeed in exciting the reader about the stories they accompany.Take note: Most of the stories are fairly subtle and psychological, as much fantasy as horror, and sometimes not even particularly chilling. Suggestive cover art notwithstanding, there's certainly too little gore for coarser tastes. These stories are considered classics for good reason: The emphasis is on strong, original plots and evocative prose, not threadbare ideas prettied up with gratuitous mayhem, like a garish cover on a rotting sofa.End of caveat. Enjoy the book.

Fifteen modern-day authors of horror were asked to chose the short story that influenced them the most, that left the biggest impression, and the stories chosen were some of the best I've ever read. "The Father Thing" by Philip K. Dick was incredibly chilling, and "The Inner Room" by Robert Aickman will probably always nag at my mind. It's unfair to single out these two stories, though, because all were very, very good. I have quite a few horror anthologies, but didn't have all these stories. This is a definite must-have for anyone who likes good, scary short stories.

Short story collections are always fun and this one is no exception. The Robert Bloch story was really great, I had actually read it before, but I think a lot of his work is out of print now so maybe most people haven't. "The Human Chair" was a highlight by a lesser known Japanese writer, this story is decidedly creepy. My favorite story in the collection is "Patterns" by Robert Aickman. This story is really genuinly frightening and gave me chills. The Lovecraft story has been heavily anthologized, so you probably have read it already. Its a great collection, and I would highly recommend it.

I have quite a few horror anthologies, but I don't have several of the stories in this collection. What a bargain. Not a clunker in the bunch. Whether you're new to horror or an old hand, this is a great book to have.