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smoyles713's review
4.0
I was impressed by the consistent quality of the older half of this anthology. It was interesting to see the evolution of techniques and the changing anxieties of the past 200 years. I would have liked to see some more diversity of authors, especially in the more recent stories, which were quite hit or miss.
The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe - ★★★★★
An effectively tense story of mortality and decay. The sentences meander and overflow with macabre adjectives. There is a rhythm to the prose that keeps the narration engaging even when slightly convoluted.
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - ★★★★★
A surprisingly ahead of its time condemnation of the treatment of mental illness in the 19th century, especially for women. The diary entry format conveys the confinement and ennui common to the 'rest cure' of the time, which consists of locking the protagonist away.
Count Magnus by M.R. James - ★★★
I didn't think much of this story on first read but it does linger in the mind due to a lack of closure and answers.
The White People by Arthur Manchen - ★★★★
The stream of consciousness structure of the main narrative was hard to parse, and I somehow missed the main narrator's gender in the prologue. I took the main part of this story be about a boy getting lured into a strange dimension and the dread of discovering their latent sexuality. Apparently, it's actually about a girl being inducted into witchcraft, but I liked it alright for what I thought it was.
Ancient Lights by Algernon Blackwood - ★★★
Fairly short and fairly light-hearted, I was glad to have a palate-cleanser of sorts after the darker stories. A mischievous forest decides to voice its objections when a surveyor comes to assess the possibility of cutting it down.
The Music of Erich Zann by H.P. Lovecraft - ★★★★
Good at building anticipation and teasing answers. But the crescendo pays off in spectacle rather than understanding.
Smoke Ghost by Fritz Lieber - ★★★★★
The mid-century urban anxieties of an archetypal businessman are brilliantly reinforced in every paragraph. Industrialisation, the war machine, greed, pollution - all of these manifest in the form of a 'Smoke Ghost' that he thinks he is imagining, but whose effects are very real and insidious.
Brenda by Margaret St Clair - ★★★
A monster tale about a young girl's feelings of ostracisation during puberty and her shared experiences with a rancid creature. I didn't get much out of this one personally, it was alright.
The Bus by Shirley Jackson - ★★★★
I felt sorry for the protagonist of this one, a vulnerable older lady that struggles to deal with the world changing around her. Old age is scary…
Again by Ramsey Campbell - ★★
…But old people are not scary. More of a gross-out story but it didn't work that well for me.
Vastarien by Thomas Ligotti - ★★★★
Not that scary but has a good twist at the end. More aesthetically than thematically focused. Interesting to read a progenitor of the cerebral horror aesthetics that have remained relevant in modern pop-culture, e.g. Bloodborne.
Call Home by Dennis Etchison - ★
Reads more like a farce than a horror story, and a very contrived one at that. This collection would be stronger without it.
1408 by Stephen King - ★★★★★
My first experience of Stephen King and the reason I own the anthology. A masterclass (literally, as it was first conceived as an educational tool in King's 'On Writing') in tension and disgusting imagery, and loaded with some really colourful characterisation. After rereading in order with the other stories, it's interesting to see previous authors' influence on King.
Flowers of the Sea by Reggie Oliver - ★★★★★
Tale about the dreadful decays of identity, memory and consciousness that come with dementia. Really bleak and disturbing.
Hippocampus by Adam Nevill - ★★★
A creepy vignette describing only the lifeless aftermath of a grisly event. Very descriptive but the details were so intricate that it was difficult to visualise and I found myself skimming.
The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe - ★★★★★
An effectively tense story of mortality and decay. The sentences meander and overflow with macabre adjectives. There is a rhythm to the prose that keeps the narration engaging even when slightly convoluted.
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - ★★★★★
A surprisingly ahead of its time condemnation of the treatment of mental illness in the 19th century, especially for women. The diary entry format conveys the confinement and ennui common to the 'rest cure' of the time, which consists of locking the protagonist away.
Count Magnus by M.R. James - ★★★
I didn't think much of this story on first read but it does linger in the mind due to a lack of closure and answers.
The White People by Arthur Manchen - ★★★★
The stream of consciousness structure of the main narrative was hard to parse, and I somehow missed the main narrator's gender in the prologue. I took the main part of this story be about a boy getting lured into a strange dimension and the dread of discovering their latent sexuality. Apparently, it's actually about a girl being inducted into witchcraft, but I liked it alright for what I thought it was.
Ancient Lights by Algernon Blackwood - ★★★
Fairly short and fairly light-hearted, I was glad to have a palate-cleanser of sorts after the darker stories. A mischievous forest decides to voice its objections when a surveyor comes to assess the possibility of cutting it down.
The Music of Erich Zann by H.P. Lovecraft - ★★★★
Good at building anticipation and teasing answers. But the crescendo pays off in spectacle rather than understanding.
Smoke Ghost by Fritz Lieber - ★★★★★
The mid-century urban anxieties of an archetypal businessman are brilliantly reinforced in every paragraph. Industrialisation, the war machine, greed, pollution - all of these manifest in the form of a 'Smoke Ghost' that he thinks he is imagining, but whose effects are very real and insidious.
Brenda by Margaret St Clair - ★★★
A monster tale about a young girl's feelings of ostracisation during puberty and her shared experiences with a rancid creature. I didn't get much out of this one personally, it was alright.
The Bus by Shirley Jackson - ★★★★
I felt sorry for the protagonist of this one, a vulnerable older lady that struggles to deal with the world changing around her. Old age is scary…
Again by Ramsey Campbell - ★★
…But old people are not scary. More of a gross-out story but it didn't work that well for me.
Vastarien by Thomas Ligotti - ★★★★
Not that scary but has a good twist at the end. More aesthetically than thematically focused. Interesting to read a progenitor of the cerebral horror aesthetics that have remained relevant in modern pop-culture, e.g. Bloodborne.
Call Home by Dennis Etchison - ★
Reads more like a farce than a horror story, and a very contrived one at that. This collection would be stronger without it.
1408 by Stephen King - ★★★★★
My first experience of Stephen King and the reason I own the anthology. A masterclass (literally, as it was first conceived as an educational tool in King's 'On Writing') in tension and disgusting imagery, and loaded with some really colourful characterisation. After rereading in order with the other stories, it's interesting to see previous authors' influence on King.
Flowers of the Sea by Reggie Oliver - ★★★★★
Tale about the dreadful decays of identity, memory and consciousness that come with dementia. Really bleak and disturbing.
Hippocampus by Adam Nevill - ★★★
A creepy vignette describing only the lifeless aftermath of a grisly event. Very descriptive but the details were so intricate that it was difficult to visualise and I found myself skimming.
rcsreads's review
4.0
The scariest stories in this book are basically about furnishings! 'The Yellow Wallpaper ' continues to be one of the best things ever written and '1408' is extremely creepy.
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Nearly all the stories in this collection are really good and I was frequently scared to go to bed after reading. The only story I didn't enjoy was 'The White People' which was monumentally boring and rambling. I don't understand why it was included, it's probably the worst short story I've ever read. (I've deducted a whole star just for it.)
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I also really enjoyed 'Smoke Ghost' as I often wonder why ghosts are always olden days people. Where are the houses haunted by the ghosts of 90's lads in lacoste trackies?! (That's not at all what the smoke ghost is, it's much creepier.)
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Nearly all the stories in this collection are really good and I was frequently scared to go to bed after reading. The only story I didn't enjoy was 'The White People' which was monumentally boring and rambling. I don't understand why it was included, it's probably the worst short story I've ever read. (I've deducted a whole star just for it.)
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I also really enjoyed 'Smoke Ghost' as I often wonder why ghosts are always olden days people. Where are the houses haunted by the ghosts of 90's lads in lacoste trackies?! (That's not at all what the smoke ghost is, it's much creepier.)
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