This is a mixed and varied collection of horror tales which manages to cover most forms of the genre. Overall the quality of the stories is pretty high, with just one or two falling below par and pulling down my rating from 4.5 to a 4. Neil Gaiman's entry 'The witch's headstone'is completely out of place in this collection and clearly was only included to add a recognizable "name" to the book cover. The story is in fact a section from what became The Graveyard Book. Said book is a fairly good piece of children's storytelling with a supernatural setting, but clearly it doesn't belong in this collection and shouldn't have been included. Christopher Harman's entry 'Behind the clouds: in front of the sun' is one of the highlights - an atmospheric nightmarish piece, it's imagery will stay with you long after you finished reading it. The opening story by Michael Marshall Smith('The things he said')is a deceptively simple tale which gently unfolds but ultimately delivers a hard punch. Recommended. ( )