Herbert Van Thal (1904–1983)

One novella and thirteen classic short horror stories. I read this volume as an adolescent and then as an adult spent years trying to relocate it, eventually finding it in a second-hand bookstore in a small country town.
The stories are as horrific now as they were all those years ago. 'The Terrapin' by Patricia Highsmith, 'Miss Fletcher's Plum Tree' by Frank Neate, 'The Nursery Club' by Martin Ricketts are all memorable.
It's the two- and three-pagers, however, that have left indelible marks show more on my memory. To my dying day I will never forget 'Laura' by Barry Martin and, most of all, 'Pieces of Mary' by Robert Ashley. Masterpieces of triple-distilled horror! show less

Even considering the fact that this book was printed in the 1960s, the stories seem to have a curiously old-fashioned air and weren't at all frightening.

There were a couple about sociopathic children, which is a common horror trope. Do these stories tap into a subconscious uneasiness about children, a fear that until they have been socialised they are not really human and are liable to do anything?

This is an interesting collection, with a more vintage feel than you would expect for the publication year. For the most part they are stories that are uncomfortable in their horror rather than scary. It makes for a very tight feel to the collection, but I think more variation in the type of horror would have been beneficial. The pacing feels too homogeneous.
It's also not suitable for readers who do not like children featuring in dark fiction.
Overall, not a bad read, but not overly exciting show more either. show less

A definite move toward quality over quantity in this collection. Of the contributors who were new to me; Philip Seymour Jennings stands out. His offering, "The Golden Teddy Bear," has a somewhat predictable ending, but in it Jennings gives us a playfully sardonic narrative that is interesting and engaging. Another writer for the list.