Top Picks
stephen jones - editor of 'dark voices'
johnny mains - webmaster of this here site.
Here are some of my favourite or most memorable stories to appear in the PBHS, listed in the order that they appeared in the series:
Reprint:
‘The Horror in the Museum’ by Hazel Heald
‘The Fly’ by George Langelaan
‘The Judge’s House’ by Bram Stoker
‘The Speciality of the House’ by Stanley Ellin
‘Boomerang’ by Oscar Cook
‘The Cone’ by H.G. Wells
‘The Emissary’ by Ray Bradbury
‘Lucy Comes to Stay’ by Robert Bloch
‘Sardonicus’ by Ray Russell
‘Ringing the Changes’ by Robert Aickman
‘The Horsehair Trunk’ by Davis Grubb
‘The Other Passenger’ by John Kier Cross
‘Lukundoo’ by Edward Lucas White
‘Men Without Bones’ by Gerald Kersh
‘The Snail Watcher’ by Patricia Highsmith
‘The Monkey’s Paw’ by W.W. Jacobs
‘The Illustrated Man’ by Ray Bradbury
‘Mamalade Wine’ by Joan Aiken
‘The Cell’ by David Case
‘Minuke’ by Nigel Kneale
‘The Hunter’ by David Case
‘The Dead End’ by David Case
‘Among the Wolves’ by David Case
‘Graveyard Shift’ by Stephen King
‘The Mangler’ by Stephen King
‘Pornography’ by Ian McEwan
‘Dengué Fever’ by Paul Theroux
‘The Ledge’ by Stephen King
Original:
‘Camera Obscura’ by Basil Copper
‘Party Games’ by John Burke
‘No Flies on Frank’ by John Lennon
‘The Janissaries of Emilion’ by Basil Copper
‘Baby’s Blood’ by Alan Ryan
How to begin? I made a list with 50 stories on it, then whittled it down and down until I managed, with some difficulty mind, to come up with what I think are the best stories in the Pan Book of Horror series. Seeing as there are 469 of them, here goes:
Conrad Hill - Bushmaster
George Fielding Eliot - The Copper Bowl
Septimus Dale - The Little Girl Eater
Basil Copper - Camera Obscura
Colin Graham - The Best Teacher
Alan Ryan - Baby's Blood
Chris Murray - The Acid Test
A J G Rough - Something in the Cellar
John Ware - Spinalonga
Myc Harrison - The Rat Trap
R Chetwynd Hayes - It Came To Dinner
Carl Schiffman - Throwback
Alex White - The Clinic
J. P. Dixon - The Surgeons Tale
Alan Temperley - Pebbledene
craig herbertson - Author of 'the heaven maker' - pboh #29
The problem, with a favourite is that there are so many criteria to consider - horror, art, impact, stylise, concept, the list is endless. I cobbled together a few stories that remained in my memory for various reasons.
Craig.
Septimus Dale - The Little Girl Eater
Rosemary Timperley - Harry
W. W. Jacobs - The Monkey's Paw
Stanley Ellin - The Speciality Of The House
J.P Dixon - The Surgeon's Tale
Sansom -The Vertical ladder
David A Riley - The Lurkers in the Abyss.
The Two Bottles 0f Relish- Lord Dunsany
J p Dixon - author of 'the surgeon's tale' - pboh #29
john l probert - author of 'coffin nails' - available from ash tree press
These are the ones that have stuck with me over the years, burrowed into my brain. It may be that that's a function of the age I was when I first read them and the effect they had on the twelve or fifteen year-old me, but in a way that's the joy of these things - the appreciation of the stories being coloured by who you were when you first encountered them!
So, in no particular order...
The Clinic - Alex White
Slime - Joseph Payne Brennan
Unburied Bane - N. Dennett
Spinalonga - John Ware
The Little Girl Eater - Septimus Dale
The Streets Of Ashkelon - Harry Harrison
The Heaven Maker - Craig Herbertson
Love Me, Love Me, Love Me - M. S. Waddell
The Quiet Girl - Robert Holdstock
The Inn - Guy Preston
I have to stress that this is not by any means what I think are the best literary achievements of the series. I could easily have done a list of 20 (or 30) but here are ten stories that I love, and that I feel best represent the 'spirit' of the Pan Book of Horror Stories.
John.
Eddy C Bertin - The Whispering Horror
Martin Waddell - Bloodthirsty
David Riley - The Lurkers in the Abyss
John Ware - Spinalonga
Roger F Dunkley - Virgin Territory
Norman P Kaufmann - An Opportunity in Local Government
Alan Temperley - The Boy with Golden Eyes
Carl Schiffman - A Smell of Fresh Paint
Harry E Turner - Love Bites
J P Dixon - The Surgeon’s Tale
David A Riley - Author of 'the lurkers in the abyss' - PBoH #11
These are my top ten (though it's quite an arbitrary list, as it could be longer).
Hazel Heald: The Horror in the Museum
Lord Dunsany: The Two Bottles of Relish
William Faulkner: A Rose for Emily
H. H. Ewers: The Execution of Damiens
Robert Aickman: Ringing the Changes
Edward Lucas White: Lukundoo
Basil Copper: Camera Obscura
Harry Harrison: The Streets of Ashkelon
W. W. Jacobs: The Monkey's Paw
Eddy C. Bertin: The Whispering Horror
shaun hutson - author of 'slugs', 'deathday', 'victims', 'exit wounds'
Of all the stories I can remember (and these must have been the best or I’d have forgotten them by now..) there are a number that still stick out in my mind even from all those years ago. I’ll try and do this…(God help me..)
FLIES by Anthony Vercoe, THE BLACK CAT by Edgar Allan Poe. UNBURIED BANE by N. Dennett, and I still remember with affection THE PALE BOY by M.S. Waddell, THE LITTLE GIRL EATER by Septimus Dale and, another of my all time favourite short stories, the magnificent THE ATTIC EXPRESS by Alex Hamilton.
THE REVENGE by Adobe Jame, PARTY GAMES by John Burke. NEVER TALK TO STRANGERS by Alex White, THE FUR BROOCH by Dulcie Gray, THE SNAIL WATCHER by Patricia Highsmith (maybe an unconscious influence for SLUGS many years later…) THE BATS by David Grant and one of my own favourite short stories of all time, THE MONKEY’S PAW by W.W. Jacobs (before anyone had even heard of Stephen King and Pet Sematary…doubtless where he got the idea from).
PLAYTIME and SUGAR AND SPICE both by A.G.J. Rough and THE CHILDREN by W. Baker Evans. JOLLY UNCLE by Lindsay Stewart, THE HAPPY RETURN by Dulcie Gray, BLOODTHIRSTY by Martin Waddell and EUSTACE by Tanith Lee. THE NECKLACE by Dulcie Gray.
charles black - editor of the black book of horror : volumes 1-4
It was bleedin’ hard narrowing this down to 10. I’ve avoided the more well-known more widely anthologised stories, and chosen these favourites. On another day Mrs Anstey’s Scarecrow, The Claygo Worm, Thy Intention Turn … and any number of others could well be in there.
