I got this for a specific story ("The Trick"), which turned out not to be in it, but never mind.By halfway through the book I had Campbell's plot structure figured out.Angst-ridden protag sees/feels/experiences things that are a bit odd. Dismisses them out of hand. Spends 5 or more pages bleating on about husband/wife/colleague/lunch/job/pet goldfish/next door's cat/Beethoven while odd things get odder, continues to dismiss them as either not being real OR being irrelevant. Protag gets eaten. The end.This described every story in the book, and I found the protagonists largely unlikeable, so the highlight of each story was the part where he or she was eaten. I would not recommend this as an introduction to Campbell's work, even though there are a couple of genuinely creepy stories in it ("Mackintosh Willy" and "Above the World"). I'd say this was more for existing fans.