What do You think about Masterpieces Of Terror And The Supernatural (1985)?
Because I am a reader and writer of horror fiction, when I found this anthology, I fell in love. Some stories are traditional supernatural but most are offbeat and by lesser known authors in this genre. "Bubnoff and the Devil" by Ivan Turgenev is a perfect read for a lonely night at home. Walt Whitman's first short story, "Death in the School Room" is a surprise since we don't know him to write this kind of horror. "Graveyard Shift" by Richard Matheson (about the Dark Mother) has the most chilling characters. I especially like Mary Shelley's The Transformation. This is a Romeo and Juliet story but with an ugly twist. From creatures to ghosts to obscure beasts, there's plenty of variety.
—Paula Cappa
A great collection of short stories that spans the time between classic horror literature and the almost modern day. Many of these come for well known authors, but most are from writers I've never heard of or read before -- although I think I should. Some of the stories are quick and barely enter into the realm of horror, some are witty in a very dark way, while others are deep and macabre. You will advance with an adventurous spirit in one story wanting to know what happens next, yet have to be dragged down the halls fighting and screaming in another because you know what is coming and it is terrible! I loved the varying nature of all of the stories in this collection, from spine tingling dread, whimsical fright, and deeply disturbing dread. Reading this and some of the stores that go back nearly 200 years you can't help but reflect just how full of shock and perversity modern horror has become, and that these classics, or masterpieces, far outshine most anything being written today. It's too bad that I have to return this to the library, because I want this one for my own.
—Michael Hall
This collection starts off with classic tales by Bram Stoker, Ivan Turgenev, Robert Louis Stevenson, M. Lucie Chin, Mary Shelley and Edward Hoch. these tales while not scary are seminal classics. There are also great tales from Tanith Lee, Sheridan LeFanu, Orson Scott Card, Ray Russell, Richard Matheson, and Leonid Andreyev and then the collection begins to drag. Despite the talents of Dylan Thomas, Leonid Andreyev, Pierre Courtois, Jack London, Stephen Crane, Damon Runyan, and Tennessee Williams, the latter part of the collection is quite boring and mundane. It does pick up in the end with tales from Guy de Maupassant, Robert Aickman, Fitz james O'Brien and H.P. lovecraft. This is a very good but not great colection. Some of the more literary pieces will not be appreciated by the blood-n-guts fans.
—Jaime Contreras
