A review by msand3
The Monkey's Paw and Other Tales by W.W. Jacobs

3.0

Like most people, I read “The Monkey’s Paw” in 8th grade and enjoyed it. Like “[b:The Most Dangerous Game|157076|The Most Dangerous Game|Richard Connell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554310590l/157076._SX50_.jpg|151586]” or [b:Flowers for Algernon|36576608|Flowers for Algernon|Daniel Keyes|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1510416245l/36576608._SY75_.jpg|3337594], it was a memorable story for a teenager who looked forward to English class everyday. Reading it again as an adult, I found it to be a little too short and light on details -- like a story told around a campfire more than a solid literary effort. And all the stories in this book fit that mold: old-fashioned mystery/horror stories of haunted houses, ghosts of the recently deceased, criminals, devils, the occult, ghost ships, and apparitions of drowned sailors on the misty docks. One gets the feeling that Jacobs heard these folk tales and urban legends while growing up and adapted them as short fiction. This collection is like Goosebumps or Scary Stories for grownups: nothing outstanding in terms of literary quality, and not really scary in the literal sense, but good fun to read in the weeks leading up to Halloween. Recommended for fans of Vincent Price movies and the old PBS Masterpiece Mystery series from the 80s.