I mentioned this book I was given by a friend on Goodreads, where they blogged asking what folks are planning to read for Horror Week 2018. This tome is a collection of both old and new writings called
Supernatural Horror Short Stories. I'm about half-way through it, and enjoying it. It contains tales I'd heard of but never read, with many of these being by some of my favorite authors. I just finished Hodgson's
The Voice in the Night which was excellent. I'm getting ready to kick in to
Worms of the Earth - the next in line. This is a great, mixed bag of horror short stories which is about perfect for an October read.
My favs so far? I really enjoyed these three, which were all new to me, but each being written by an author with whom I'm familiar. I've mentioned before how much I enjoyed Hodgson's
House on the Borderland, and Crawfod's
Khaled, so these
*new* stories were a real treat... I'm not super familiar with Hawthorne, having only read his
House of the Seven Gables, and that when really young, but I think his story,
Edward Randolph's Portrait, struck me just right where I've begun painting. It made me want to grab the brush and and a canvas and see if I could come up with something dark, and horrid, and appalling as he describes so aptly in this dark tale.
The favs so far:
For the Blood Is the Life • (1905) • F. Marion Crawford
Edward Randolph's Portrait • (1838) • Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Voice in the Night • (1907) • William Hope Hodgson
Contents as per IMBDB
• Foreword: Supernatural Horror Short Stories • Roger Luckhurst
• Publisher's Note • Uncredited
• Caterpillars • (1912) •
E. F. Benson • The Boarded Window • (1889) •
Ambrose Bierce • John Bartine's Watch • (1893) • Ambrose Bierce
• Bones of the Dead • Daniele Bonfanti
• In the Court of the Dragon • (1895) •
Robert W. Chambers • Crossroads • Carolyn Charron
• The Mourning Woman • E. E. W. Christman
• The Fifth Gable • (2016) • Kay Chronister
• The Dream Woman • (1874) • Wilkie Collins
• The Upper Berth • (1885) •
F. Marion Crawford • For the Blood Is the Life • (1905) • F. Marion Crawford
• Lot No. 249 • (1892) •
Arthur Conan Doyle • She's Gone • Morgan Elfitra
• The Spider • (1915) • Hanns Heinz Ewers
• Carmilla • [Martin Hesselius] • (1872) • Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
• The Southwest Chamber • Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
• The Doom of the Griffiths • (1858) • Mrs. Gaskell
• Swim at Your Own Risk • (2016) • Matthew Gorman
• Edward Randolph's Portrait • (1838) •
Nathaniel Hawthorne • The Voice in the Night • (1907) •
William Hope Hodgson • Worms of the Earth • [Bran Mak Morn] • (1932) •
Robert E. Howard • The Mezzotint • (1904) •
M. R. James • Casting the Runes • (1911) • M. R. James
• Merry-Go-Round, Never Broke Down • Jason L. Kawa
• The Murmur of Its Name • Stephen Kotowych
• The Shunned House • (1928) •
H. P. Lovecraft • An Idle Dream, Quite Gone Now • Glenndon McDorman
• The Pool of the Stone God • (1923) •
A. Merritt • This Time, Forever • Michelle Muenzler
• The Power of Darkness • (1905) •E. Nesbit
• The Wondersmith • (1859) • Fitz-James O'Brien
• William Wilson • (1839) •
Edgar Allan Poe • The Vampyre • [Lord Ruthven] • (1970) • Dr. John William Polidori
• Tracks in the Snow • Cody Schroeder
• John Johnson • Oliver Smith
• Magdala Amygdala • (2012) • Lucy A. Snyder
• My Brother Tom • Mariah Southworth
• The Judge's House • (1891) •
Bram Stoker • The Bride • Angela Sylvaine
• The Floating Girls: A Documentary • (2014) • Damien Angelica Walters
• The Final One Percent • (2013) • Desmond Warzel
• The Flowering of the Strange Orchid • (1894) •
H. G. Wells • The Red Room • (1896) • H. G. Wells
• Midnight Snack • Michael Wertenberg
• The House of the Nightmare • (1906) • Edward Lucas White
• Manipulation • Trisha Wooldridge [as by Trisha J. Wooldridge]
• Biographies & Sources • Uncredited
<Edit> Added links to
Voice in the Night, and
Edward Randolph's Portrait. By the way, for lovers of H. P. Lovecraft,
The Voice in the Night is about as Lovecraftian as it gets. While the story goes without mention in his
Supernatural Horror in Literature, Lovecraft does go on at length about Hodgson in his essay.
