1. Name: The 13 Best Horror Stories of All time
2. Edited by: Leslie Pockell
3. Genre: Fiction/Horror
4. Book Post No: 74
5. What is it about? This is a collection of classic horror fiction written by some of the greatest writers of horror including Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft and Algernon Blackwood (who is my favorite). Spanning from 1872 to 1948 these stories represent the classic age of horror.
6. How I came to read it? Three years ago I was visiting my childhood friend, Swat, in Portland when we went to checkout the world’s largest independent book store, Powell’s books. Here, while scanning the horror section I found this book. I had already read many of the stories it contained but nevertheless, I thought its a good collection so I bought it. I finally started reading it this month.
7. Did I like it? I loved it! It has stories from some of the finest horror writers of all time like Bram Stoker, H. P. Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood and others.
Below is a full list of all the stories it has and my brief thoughts on them. I have arranged my top 5 first followed by the rest in no particular order.
1. Dracula’s Guest by Bram Stoker (Published in 1914)
For me this was the best story of the book. This is my favorite type of horror and exactly why I love gothic horror. Imagine a traveler wandering alone in the woods after having ignored the pleas from the carriage driver not to venture into a side road. It is late in the evening in the winter and as the snow falls heavily it begins to pile up. As this traveler slowly goes deeper into an area he was specifically warned not to go, he gets lost and then stumbles onto a cemetery. The setting is perfect! It reminded me of the latest Nosferatu movie where the snow fall scene is exquisite. It also reminded me of my own experience of being ‘lost’ on a late winter evening while on a work trip. Read about it below in point 8.
2. The Beckoning Fair One by Oliver Onions (1911)
The second best story of the collection, The Beckoning Fair One is a slow burn horror with superb atmosphere and setting. The woman character in this, Elsie Bengough has become one of my woman characters ever. The story starts off with a familiar premise. A man moves into a new house which he finds at a cheap rate and slowly things begin to take a different turn. The build up is absolutely thrilling and it makes some simple actions, like a woman brushing her hair, into something terrifying. I loved the way the tale ramps up the intensity as it goes on and ends in a heart racing finale. A classic!
3. The Willows by Algernon Blackwood (1907)
Algernon Blackwood is my favorite horror writer and it has mostly to do with his other classic tale The Wendigo. The Willows comes a close second. H.P. Lovecraft called this story to be the best ‘weird’ tale of all time. High praise coming from a Master of Horror himself. The premise is simple, two friends go on a canoeing trip through the Danube river and camp in a spot where creepy things begin to happen. The best part of this story is that the supernatural is not something tangible like it being haunted or having a creature. No, the terror here is otherworldly. One of the characters is certain that its from a world different than others and the spot they have chosen to camp is a point of intersection of their worlds and ours. It has some of the best horror scenes I have read and the setting is absolutely haunting. The endless willows with their sounds, the ever blowing wind, the flooded river, the falling pieces of riverbanks and the absolute desolation of the place make for a perfect setting.
4. The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft (1928)
I have read this multiple times now and it forms the starting point of the Cthulhu mythos. The best thing about this story is the scope. The story here is not confined to a character or to a town/city, its all over the world. A man inadvertently pieces together a string of weird occurrences around the world which includes men going insane, obscure cults getting active etc, and realizes that there are forces in this world beyong the understanding of human minds. The opening paragraph perhaps best sums up the tale;
“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.”
5. Green Tea by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (1872)
Le Fanu was someone whose works I have been meaning to read for a long time now and I finally got the chance to read it here. Green Tea is such a disarming title for this harrowing tale of a man haunted by a Monkey’s presence who no else can see. He cant get rid of it no matter what he does. This is a creepy tale which will create a feeling of despair and hopelessness in the reader for the character.
6. The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen (1894)
Now, this was a story I have been meaning to read for a while. Its the kind of story that can be placed in any time and era and it will still make an impact. The story is about a scientist who claims to have the ability to open one’s mind and senses to a world which humankind cannot usually see. This mad scientist claims he can get someone to get a glimpse of the Great God Pan. The story is about an experiment he conducts on a young girl to prove this and what happens during the course of the next few years. It reminded me a lot of Junji Ito’s Tomie. Perhaps Junji was inspired from this tale. It spans multiple characters and times and has some of the most hard to believe coincidences I have read in fiction.
7. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe (1843)
This classic tale from one of the Masters of Horror, is short but impactful. In this classic Poe style this tale mixes madness and supernatural to form a potent mixture of terror.
8. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman (1892)
One of two entries by a woman, this is a ‘descent into madness’ story. Having elements of social commentary on women’s position in society, this tale is about a woman who is confined to a room in her house because of an illness. Spending hours in her bed, the yellow wallpaper of the room begins to get a hold over her mind. The end is ambiguous, leaving up to the reader to decide what happens to her, something supernatural or just ‘its all in the mind’.
9. The Bottle Imp by Robert Louis Stevenson (1891)
I had read this story in my childhood and it is the kind of story one does not forget. It is not exactly a horror story in the supernatural sense but is more from a human nature point of view. To me it seemed more of a story about love and sacrifice. The premise is simple, there is a bottle containing an imp which grants unlimited wishes to anyone who owns it but if they die during this period they go to hell. They can sell it to another person but the price has to be less than the price they paid to buy it. You can imagine what happens if the price falls to the lowest currency denomination. The story is about a couple who come into the ownership of this bottle and how they deal with it.
10. The Monkey’s Paw by W. W. Jacobs (1902)
The first time I read this story as a kid, I was shaken and it left a deep imprint in my mind. Its the kind of story which leads to a lot of what ifs. Now that I read it the second time, I was more moved by the plight of the father and mother in the story. I felt the human part of the story moves you more than the supernatural part of it. Fun Fact: Jordan Peele’s (Get Out, Us, Nope) production company Monkeypaw Productions is named after this short story.
11. Oh, Whistle and I’ll come to you, My Lad by M.R. James (1904)
This tale has another of my favorite settings. A writer/academic goes to a inn in the countryside to get some work done and gets entangled in supernatural events. The setting leading up to the main events in beautiful.
12. The Country of the Blind by H. G. Wells. (1904)
Written by wells, whose other works I have read as well, this story, I felt is in line with some of his other tales, as in its more of a sci fi than pure horror. A man accidentally ventures into a place where everyone is blind. Thinking that, since he has the gift of sight, he would be king here, he soon realizes the folly of his belief. The terror comes more from the situation he later finds himself in where he has to choose between his love or his sight. One of those that makes you think about the abilities you have and what if they are taken away from you.
13. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson (1948)
This is the most modern of the stories and shows a scenario of absolute terror in a most normal and matter of fact way. Sometimes humans are far more terrifying than supernatural and history is witness to this. This tale will shock the reader with its ending. In a way it reminded me of the recent move ‘Civil War’.
8. Any other personal notes, observations, fun facts etc.
My own ‘spooky’ experience a few years ago of which the tale “Dracula’s Guest” reminded me of.
“Last week I was doing site visits in some remote areas of British Columbia. On one such day, my last site visit was in a hilly part in the outskirts of a town. As we drove through the winding snow covered roads in the mountains it was already beginning to get dark. And the address I had was difficult to find. After searching for it for a while we found a road branching off from the main road and based on google maps it looked like it was leading to my destination. This road was covered by a thick layer of snow and there were no car tire marks on it meaning no vehicle had passed that way for a while. I told my friend not to take the risk of driving the car on that road and I set off on foot, telling him to wait for me there. As I walked, I looked around my surroundings. It was a dark, cold day and it was snowing lightly. To my left were all trees, their leaves covered with snow. Now and then, when the weight of the piled up snow became too heavy for the branch to handle, mounds of snow fell off. And this made a sound. In the complete stillness and quiet of the area this was the only sound I could hear. Not used to such sounds, it was unnerving for me. To my right, the land sloped downwards, covered with more trees. As I walked on that road my shoes were sinking in the layer of snow dotting the carpet of snow with my footprints.. Straight ahead I could see a structure with a house in front which I believed to be my destination. Beyond the house, I could see fog slowly creeping in, enveloping everything. There were layers of tall trees beyond the house, the first of which were only visible, the rest disappearing in the fog. The whole scene was something right out of a horror movie. Or in my imagination something right out of a Victorian era horror novel.
I soon found out that this was not the address I was searching for. Google maps was wrong as it is sometimes. I looked at my mobile and the battery percentage was now 4%. I was beginning to feel uneasy now. Even though my friend was just some distance away in the car, the creeping fog, the advancing darkness and the remoteness of the area just made me queasy. To top it all there was no one around. Not a soul. It was just me. I was a stranger in a strange place poking my nose around. Not wanting to take the risk of exploring further on my own I walked back to the car. Later we did find the address a bit further ahead and I completed the visit without any problem. Quite an experience!”