Tales of the Unexpected (1979)

by Roald Dahl

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Series: Tales of the Unexpected [Dahl]

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In this collection of stories, Dahl tantalizes, amuses, and sometimes terrifies readers into a sense of what lurks beneath the ordinary. Included in this collection are such notorious gems of the bizarre as "The Second Machine," "Lamb to the Slaughter," "Neck," and "The Landlady." Other stories explore: A wine connoisseur with an infallible palate and a sinister taste in wagers. A decrepit old man with a masterpiece tattooed on his back. A voracious adventuress, a gentle cuckold, and a garden sculpture that becomes an instrument of sadistic vengeance. Social climbers who climb a bit too quickly. Philanderers whose deceptions are a trifle too ornate. Impeccable servants whose bland masks slip for one vertiginous instant. With the inventive power of a Thomas Edison and the imagination of a Lewis Carroll...Roald Dahl is a wizard of comedy and the grotesque, an artist with a marvelously topsy-turvy sense of the ridiculous in life." -Cleveland Plain Dealer… (more)

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Unexpected Tales from the Ends of the Earth by Martin Craig-Downer (raymond.mathiesen)
raymond.mathiesen: It would be difficult to write a review of Unexpected Tales without some comparison with Roald Dahl’s Tales Of The Unexpected: the humour, the “Oh my God! endings, and the reflection on the darker side of human nature are all analogous.

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Roald Dahl's name is so closely associated with children's literature that people are often surprised to discover he wrote for adult audiences, too. And, while many of the stories collected in Tales of the Unexpected are essentially comedic even when dealing with crime or general human unpleasantness, a few of them qualify full-bloodedly as horror stories: not only "Man from the South" (Dahl's single most famous story for adults, and one which has been anthologized in some horror collections), but also "The Landlady" and "Skin." The former is a near-perfect vignette about a seventeen-year-old Londoner who accepts a job in a strange town and seeks lodging upon his arrival; the latter, in which a broken old man recalls his friendship with a famous painter (who commemorated that friendship with a singular gift), contains the most chilling closing paragraph of any story I've ever read.

The aforementioned are the highlights for horror fans (those interested in Dahl's take on sci-fi absurdism may also enjoy "Royal Jelly"), but all of the stories are eminently readable. (

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Jonathan_M | Mar 19, 2023 |

Dahl is an absolute master of brevity, drawing the reader in and painting vivid character studies with just a few words. The stories in this collection have a fairly common structure (something unusual or macabre happens to some ordinary-ish characters), but he manages to get something different out of each tale. They're all gripping and whilst Dahl doesn't always hit a satisfying high note at the end, when he does it's a joyous thing. Favourites for me in this collection were 'Man from the South', 'Lamb to the Slaughter' and 'Mrs Bixby and the Colonel's Coat'.
HUGELY recommended. (

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whatmeworry | Apr 9, 2022 |

A favorite. Dahl definitely has types in this book, but the twist endings are a delight, the conceits each a charming curiosity. "Hitchhiker" was one of the stories which made me want to write. (

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et.carole | Jan 21, 2022 |

i loved roald dhal as a kid and i love him even more as an adult. so satisfying to see nasty people get their comeuppance (

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cthuwu | Jul 28, 2021 |

A series of well written little shockers. Thoroughly enjoyable. (

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Equestrienne | Jan 5, 2021 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Roald Dahl	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Jaben, Seth	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Payá, Carmelina	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Samons, Antonio	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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Original publication date

1979

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Tales of the Unexpected (1979 | IMDb)

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

There were six of us to dinner that night at Mike Schofield's house in London: Mike and his wife and daughter, my wife and I, and a man called Richard Pratt. ("Taste")

Quotations

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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Original language

English

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Tales of the Unexpected (book)

▾Book descriptions

In this collection of stories, Dahl tantalizes, amuses, and sometimes terrifies readers into a sense of what lurks beneath the ordinary. Included in this collection are such notorious gems of the bizarre as "The Second Machine," "Lamb to the Slaughter," "Neck," and "The Landlady." Other stories explore: A wine connoisseur with an infallible palate and a sinister taste in wagers. A decrepit old man with a masterpiece tattooed on his back. A voracious adventuress, a gentle cuckold, and a garden sculpture that becomes an instrument of sadistic vengeance. Social climbers who climb a bit too quickly. Philanderers whose deceptions are a trifle too ornate. Impeccable servants whose bland masks slip for one vertiginous instant. With the inventive power of a Thomas Edison and the imagination of a Lewis Carroll...Roald Dahl is a wizard of comedy and the grotesque, an artist with a marvelously topsy-turvy sense of the ridiculous in life." -Cleveland Plain Dealer

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Book description

Contains the following stories:
"Taste"
"Lamb to the Slaughter"
"Man from the South"
"My Lady Love, My Dove"
"Dip in the Pool"
"Galloping Foxley"
"Skin"
"Neck"
"Nunc Dimittis"
"The Landlady"
"William and Mary"
"The Way Up to Heaven"
"Parson's Pleasure"
"Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat"
"Royal Jelly"
"Edward the Conqueror"
"The Sound Machine"
"Georgy Porgy"
"The Hitchhiker"
"Poison"
"The Boy Who Talked with Animals"
"The Umbrella Man"
"Genesis and Catastrophe"
"The Butler"

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