The Dracula Book of Great Horror Stories

In the introduction to "The Dracula Book Of Great Horror Stories" editor Leslie Shepherd correctly points out that the tradition of the horror story goes back all through human history, predating any recent trends. It's a good point to start this collection of relatively older stories on (although I strongly but respectfully disagree with the introduction's dismissal of both modern horror movies and of the older Gothic horror writings that predated the 1800s explosion with "Frankenstein", Poe et al.) We have here a fine collection of horror stories originally published between 1843 and 1951, including tales by names well-known to anyone with a passing familiarity with horror (Bram Stoker; H.P. Lovecraft; Edgar Allan Poe) to less familiar names like Jerome K. Jerome and Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Also included are highly famous authors not usually associated with the spooky or macabre, H.G. Wells and Charles Dickens, the latter of whom actually wrote a fair bit in or bordering on horror territory over his career. Wells's "The Cone" is, of all the stories in the book, the one that would least sound like a horror story upon a brief description (a tale of jealousy and suspicion set in an early industrial works setting) but upon reading it, it fits the Horror bill perfectly, and is one of those stories that expands the whole range of the field. It's also one of the best in the book. Another of the best is "The Voice In The Night" by William Hope Hodgson, a tale of seafarers encountering a mysterious prescence in the middle of the Pacific Ocean; a very moving tale and arguably the book's scariest. Edward Bulwer-Lytton's "The Haunted And The Haunters, or The House And The Brain" is a great haunted house story, intriguingly descriptive. Lovecraft is represented by "The Festival", a fine story but not his best (in my opinion) but hugely important for featuring the first appearance of the legendary book Necronomicon, which would feature so prominently not only in so many of Lovecraft's stories but in tales of his contemporaries like the hugely under-heralded Clark Ashton Smith (the whole 'Weird Tales' era of writers seem to have gotten along very well and frequently lent their creations back and forth) and through to more recent times, being mentioned in written works by the likes of Brian Stableford and in movies like the "Evil Dead" series (where it's referred to as 'Necronomicon Exmortis')(incidental note - any readers of the 1800s/early 1900s era of horror fiction now thinking of checking out the "Evil Dead" series should be aware that it's quite extreme territory. Good though - especially the second one!). "The Dancing Partner" by Jerome K. Jerome succeeds at having both a quirky charm and a darkly unsettling atmosphere simultaneously, and, published in 1893, could be considered a forerunner of science fiction as well as a fine horror story. Other writers in the volume who I haven't mentioned previously include E.F. Benson, Algernon Blackwo

This book is a wonderful bedtime companion. Containing classics such as "The Monkey's Paw" and "The Judge's House". Almost every story contained in this volume is a masterpiece. I recommend one story before bedtime for a truely chilling experience!