Another one bites the dust

Queen stated it very eloquently and melodically... "another one bites the dust". The same goes for one of my books!! Finished another one.. seem to be doing pretty good on the reading front these past few weeks. Perhaps making for not reading so much over Xmas and New Year?
Anyway.. this is the one I finished.


##SPOILER ALERT##

Tales of the Supernatural - Various Authors
According to the the book itself "Stories of the strange and the mysterious to grip and chill you..". Well, yeah it delivers that alright. This books is a collection of some of the greatest of them all and I will list the individual stories below.

The Plattner Story - HG Wells
a teacher disappears from a classroom into a sort of Netherworld of strange blobs that seem to gather round the dying. Eerie vision of a possible after life.

The Yellow Cat - Michael Joseph
a man unlucky in gambling befriends a cat, finds it to be a lucky charm, gets on top again and then kills the cat hereby ending his run of exceptional luck. Oh, yea and a dead guy slips him some money that starts him off on his lucky streak (face it dude, it was never going to end well was it?). In the end the cat has the last laugh!

Escort - Daphne Du Maurier
William Blunt is an experienced sailor who gets an escort from a ship that magically disappears at the light of day. Slightly predictable and just as it gets good it becomes day and all is well. Also not sure what the captain being ill has to do with any of it... apart from being a story telling device of leaving our William in charge of the ship.

The Specter Bridegroom - Washington Irving
sweet story about mistaken identity and how the fear of ghosts can help you get the girl you love.

Keeping his Promise - Algernon Blackwood
Should get a prize just for having and eerie name!
Nice story about how a forgotten pact with a childhood friend can come back to haunt you. His description of the visiting friend is excellent and apt for one demised.

The Corner Shop - Lady Cynthia Asquith
making amends the hard way - from beyond the grave. Moral story about honesty and doing right by people.

The Brighton Monster - Gerald Kersh
weirdness at the seaside. In 1745 a tattooed man is caught by some local fishermen who think he is a monster. He is kept as a prisoner and studied by the local mr Smartypants. In a nice twist the stranger turns out to be time warped from Hiroshima 1945.

The Body Snatcher - Robert Louis Stevenson
Resurrectionists get their come-uppance in a great way! A chance meeting leads to the unveiling of a local dignitary's sordid past, doing things in a graveyard that are done best in the dark. the corpse deservedly gets the last laugh in this one.

Casting the Runes - MR James
Last but certainly not least, one from the master himself!! The guy who got me hooked on ghost stories is on fine form here. The tale of a petty and vindictive man who sets out to destroy anyone who says a word against him. Gets hoodwinked by his own trick in the end. Brilliantly set up and lovely characters, well defined even in so short a story.

All in all a great little selection with some great stories!!
Highly recommended to introduce you to the work of some of the greats.


Title: Tales of the Supernatural
Author: Various
Panther Books
124 pages
No ISBN (published in 1962)