2.5 Stars ( )

a lot of really good stories in here. joyce carol oates' 'the ruins of contracoeur' is amazing. terrifying. everything. ( )

I had a really tough time getting through this book. I thought it might have been just the fact that I was only reading it at work that might have been slowing me down, but even when I read at home, i realized that all of the stories seemed very similar. Only one or two of them really had me creeped out, the rest just had me thinking "Okay, what's so scary about that?"
Maybe it's due to the fact that I don't read much horror or suspense, but I wanted to at least try and branch out a little. Now I've reaffirmed that it's not really my type of reading material and I'm ok with that. ( )

EXCELLENT collection. There were a few 'meh' stories and a few poorly written stories but overall this is one of the most excellent collections of short horror and suspense that I've come across.

I tried to say something about each story, but I lost the thread towards the end (studying for the bar exam, what can you do?)

The last story by William Peter Blatty is quite good. I also thoroughly enjoyed 'The Theater' so much that I picked up a novel by that author.

Definitely worth keeping around.

( )

Copy of my Launchpad review from 2001:
This anthology aims to demonstrate that horror and suspense are legitimate forms of literature. As an avid supporter of this concept I am not really qualified to judge this objectively, so I will leave the artistic debate to others.
As to the short stories (an occasional novella) contained within, I would suggest everyone open the book at random; the tale you find will certainly make you feel the touch of the unknown.
Alternatively, if someone recommended an author to you, then (if they are active) they are probably in here. Some of the greatest names in modern chillers show their mastery of the snapshot: brief, sharp, and permanent. ( )