Stranger Dark Tales of Eerie Encounters

Editor Michelle Slung has put together a collection of success wise, major and minor authors selecting stories first published in a time period ranging from 1927 to some first published at this anthology's own date of publication 2002. The stories within revolve around the theme of sudden encounters with someone that ultimately change the expected or everyday path of the central character of each story. Like any various author anthology the quality of stories varies as does the writing style so some you will love, others you'll forget as soon as you get to their last page. The best anthologies are ones where you'll enjoy the majority and discover new authors to check out. This collection does that. The only detrimental aspect of this collection is that the editor gives a little spiel at the start of each story which you quickly learn not to read until you've finished as she's really into giving away spoilers. Since no one else has I will provide a complete list of the stories and their authors at the bottom of this review. The best stories in this collection in my opinion are - The Two-Headed Man written by Nancy Collins in 1990. This eerie tale has an bored ageing waitress working in an isolated back highway dinner of Arkansas who is desperate for her prince charming to come and take her away from the place. Upon closing she is creeped out when an extremely handsome man comes into the diary claiming his car has a flat tyre who upon taking of his parka seems to have a second hold on his shoulder. Thomas Tessier's 1993 written In the Desert of Deserts is also quite good. A man in a 4WD is travelling across remote parts of the Sahara Desert getting freaked out as he discovers the same footprints surrounding his camp every night wherever he goes. Ray Bradbury's The Town Where No One Got Off easily is the best of the older stuff (first published 1958). A talk between strangers on a train of what you would find if you randomly got off at some of the isolated non tourist small towns along the railway line convinces one of them to do just that. An encounter of an old man has the traveller quickly realising no one knows he's there if someone were to disappear. G.K. Wuori's 1999 first published The General Store is another what would you do thriller, where a small town service station owner first believes he is being robbed but no money is asked for, he is beaten and tied up and his wife taken out to the men's car at the pumps. Christopher Fowler's 1995 tale Hated is also quite interesting. A male version of the really attractive girl who strangers will do anything for and are always nice to finds that when a bicyclist runs into his Mercidees at night, asks him for money for his supposed injuries which he refuses what happens when the male version of the "beautiful girl" factor is removed from everyone he meets perception. Jack Ketchum's 1994 story The Box is good, about a family who meet a man on the subway who is carrying a box.

Strangers is a collection of horror and suspense stories centered around the theme of strange encounters. And, besides for the few inevitable misses, the stories collected in this book are great. Some of the best names in horror and suspense fiction are collected in here; Jack Ketchum, Patricia Highsmith, Muriel Gray, Ray Bradbury, Lovecraft... The book collects both old and new and the result works surprisingly well.The real reason to get this book is for Jack Ketchum's brilliant story The Box, about a man who sees his family deteriorate after they encounter a strange individual who has something to share. But there is also a brilliant story by Christopher Fowler here, where a man's worst nightmare becoems reality. Patricia Highsmith's tale mixes fantasy and horror quite masterfully. And Tabitha King's story, although a little too long, is a frantic portrayal of a woman in panic. Thomas Tessier, Alex Hamilton, Lisa Tuttle, Edith Wharton, Muriel Gray and Jay Russell and John Wyndham all present stories that are very entertaining, imaginative and, at times, brilliant.Unfortunately, the book does also present a few misses. Bradbury's tale of a man lost in an unknown town is very predictable and boring. Mark Helprin's Letters From The Samantha goes round and round in circles and never stops anywhere. And Victoria Rothschild gets in way over her head with her strange little tale.But overall, this book is a keeper. Michele Slung has collected a slew of memorable story that are often suspenseful, often scary and mostly entertaining.