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Stories to freeze your blood, by 12 Masters of the Malevolent!The Victim: "Stephen took his victim's body out of the bath, wrapped a thick towel around the neck and head and carried it down to the diary. And there he cut it up into seventeen pieces."The Spider: "She heard a terrible, haunting scream - then a curious muffled rumble that a creature with eight long legs might make if it were running."The Killing Bottle: "The butterfly must have been stronger than it looked; its frantic fluttering could be heard through the thick walls of its glass prison. It pressed itself into corners, its straining delicate tongue coiling and uncoiling in its efforts to suck in a breath of living air."Contents:* The Spider by Elizabeth Walter* The Book by Margaret Irwin* Something Strange by Kingsley Amis* Satan's Circus by Lady Eleanor Smith* The Photograph by Nigel Kneale* The Beast With Five Fingers by William Fryer Harvey* As Gay As Cheese by Joan Aiken* The Hound Of Death by Agatha Christie* Judith by Hjalmar Bergman* The Victim by May Sinclair* The House On Big Faraway by Norman Watson* The Killing Bottle by L. P. Hartley
This anthology presents a collection of twelve tales designed to evoke dread and explore the darker impulses of the human condition. Each story functions as a self-contained narrative, utilizing various perspectives to examine themes of obsession, supernatural intrusion, and psychological collapse. The collection operates as a curated showcase of mid-twentieth-century horror, where the primary conflict often arises from the intersection of mundane reality and inexplicable, malevolent forces. The narrative framework shifts between traditional gothic atmosphere and sharp, clinical observations of terror.
This collection serves as a representative artifact of the mid-century horror anthology tradition, highlighting the era's preference for psychological unease over visceral gore. The selection of authors suggests a focus on literary craftsmanship, blending established genre names with atmospheric storytellers of the period. The pacing of the volume is deliberate, allowing each narrative to establish its own distinct tone before moving to the next unsettling premise. The work functions as a historical snapshot of how horror was curated for mass-market paperback audiences during the late 1960s.
Page Count:
224
Publication Date:
1969-01-01
Publisher:
Fontana
ISBN-10:
0006121063
ISBN-13:
9780006121060
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