The specialty of the house and other stories: The complete mystery tales, 1948-1978
by Stanley Ellin
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Description
Stanley Ellin's first short story, 'The Specialty of the House', about a New York restaurant with a special gourmet menu, was published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine in 1948 and caused an immediate sensation, winning him a special Ellery Queen Award. 'The House Party' and 'The Blessington Method' subsequently both won Edgar Awards. Stanley Ellin, who was made a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America in 1980, is acknowledged as one of the great masters of the 20th-century short show more story, and this volume brings together the best of his work in the genre. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Specialty of the House and Other Stories is a collection of sinister and chilling short stories written over the 35 years of the author’s career span. All but one of the stories originally appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. These stories were eagerly anticipated and Stanley Ellin is well known for his popular short stories.
The Specialty of the House is about two men who become addicted to an exclusive restaurant and spend every evening dining there. It is a story with a twist, but most readers will guess what it is early on in the story. That is intentional as it adds to the tension. This story was adapted for an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1959 and again in 1987.
With 35 short stories in the book, the subject show more matter is varied, from rape to the murder of one’s wife often the stories seem more fitting to the genre of horror than mystery. This is an author whose view reminds me of the old TV show “Twilight Zone” and I urge fans of short mystery stories to give this one a try. show less
The Specialty of the House is about two men who become addicted to an exclusive restaurant and spend every evening dining there. It is a story with a twist, but most readers will guess what it is early on in the story. That is intentional as it adds to the tension. This story was adapted for an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1959 and again in 1987.
With 35 short stories in the book, the subject show more matter is varied, from rape to the murder of one’s wife often the stories seem more fitting to the genre of horror than mystery. This is an author whose view reminds me of the old TV show “Twilight Zone” and I urge fans of short mystery stories to give this one a try. show less
The title story is atypical in gradually cranking up the sense of menace through the story. The rest rely heavily on final-paragraph sensational twists, but no less enjoyable for that.
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Published Reviews
ThingScore 75
Ellery Queen, or whoever is writing in his name, does an exceptional job of raising the level of anticipation of a prospective reader in his foreword to this collection of ten Stanley Ellin short stories, and I think that cover by Michael Trevithick also assists. Queen begins by discussing the excitement each member of EQMM's editorial team would feel whenever they learnt that an interesting show more story sent into their office was the work of an unpublished writer, with the pleasure of reading amplified by the thrill of discovery. It was in such a spirit that they received Stanley Ellin's first story The Specialty of the House in 1946, and while Queen asserts that the story itself was unforgettable, he also notes that he was never given the opportunity to forget it. Readers of his magazine would approach him for years afterwards to mention the story and encourage him to find another in its league. Continued show less
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Author Information
49+ Works 1,154 Members
Some Editions
Series
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Husets spesialitet - og andre noveller
- Original title
- The Speciality of the House and other Stories
- Alternate titles
- La specialità della casa e altre storie del mistero
- Original publication date
- 1970; 1965
- People/Characters
- Laffler; Costain; Sbirro
- Important places
- New York, New York, USA (Sbirro's Restaurant)
- Disambiguation notice
- This is the complete mystery tales of Stanley Ellin. It shares a title with an earlier collection, but has different content. Please do not combine.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 150
- Popularity
- 217,627
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.03)
- Languages
- 7 — Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Norwegian
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 10
- ASINs
- 6
