These suspenseful stories all appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and in the words of Hitch himself, they "are guaranteed to chill and unnerve." Bill Pronzini contributes "The Arrowmont Prison Riddle," Margaret B. Maron has "A Very Special Talent," Barry M. Malzberg offers "A Home Away from Home," and Patricia Matthews chronicles "The Fall of Dr. Scourby." Meet a girl who stalks Jack the Ripper, a clairvoyant writer of newspaper obituaries, a homicidal partygoer in a sanatorium, and a police detective who lives vicariously through the exploits of one of his most notorious suspects: they all populate these frightening pages. Caution: not recommended for late-night reading--except for the very brave CONTENTSKilled by Kindness ..... Nedra TyreJust a Minor Offense ..... John F. SuterA Home Away From Home ..... Robert BlochDeath of a Derelict ..... Joseph Payne BrennanThe Arrowmont Prison Riddle ..... Bill PronziniThe Dettweiler Solution ..... Lawrence BlockThe Whitechapel Wantons ..... Vincent McConnorCora's Raid ..... Isak RomunLife or Breath ..... Nelson deMilleA Private Little War ..... William BrittainHave You Ever Seen This Woman? ..... John LutzJoe Cutter's Game ..... Brian GarfieldA Cabin in the Woods ..... John CoyneThe Long Arm of El Jefe ..... Edward WellenKid Cardula ..... Jack RitchieCareer Man ..... James HoldingThe Perfidy of Professor Blake ..... Libby MacCallSea Change ..... Henry SlesarThe Blue Tambourine ..... Donald OlsonGraveyard Shift ..... William P. McGivernA Bottle of Wine ..... Borden DealMan Bites Dog ..... Donald HonigNever Trust an Ancestor ..... Michael ZuroyAnother War ..... Edward D. HochSparrow on a String ..... Alice Scanlan ReachThe Missing Tattoo ..... Clayton MatthewsThe Fall of Dr. Scourby ..... Patricia MatthewsThe Loose End ..... Stephen WasylykThat So-called Laugh ..... Frank SiskA Very Special Talent ..... Margaret B. MaronThe Joker ..... Betty Ren WrightThe Very Hard Sell ..... Helen NielsenThe Tin Ear ..... Ron GoulartThe Time Before the Crime ..... Charlotte EdwardsAfter the Unfortunate Accident ..... Barry N. MalzbergThe Grateful Thief ..... Patrick O'KeeffeThe Inspiration ..... Talmage PowellDeath is a Lonely Lover ..... Robert ColbyThe Witness was a Lady ..... Fletcher FloraScheme for Destruction ..... Pauline C. SmithTo the Manner Born ..... Mary BraundBlack Disaster ..... Richard O. LewisThe Marrow of Justice ..... Hal EllsonInnocent Witness ..... Irving SchifferWe're Really Not That Kind of People ..... Samuel W. TaylorPocket Evidence ..... Harold Q. MasurThe Death Desk ..... S.S. RaffertyA Left-handed Profession ..... Al NussbaumSecond Spring ..... Theodore MathiesonBank Night ..... Arthur PorgesThe Contagious Killer ..... Bryce WaltonBad Actor ..... Gary BrandnerFree Advice, Incorporated ..... Michael BrettThe Real Criminal ..... James M. GilmoreThe Hard Sell ..... William DolanThe Prosperous Judds ..... Bob BristowThe Dead Indian ..... Robert W. AlexanderThe China Cottage ..... August Derleth

    Including "The Red-Headed League" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; "The Treasure in the Cave" by Mark Twain; "Jimmy Takes Vanishing Lessons" by Walter R. Brooks; "The Forgotton Island" by Elizabeth Coatsworth; "The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall"; and more. Illustrations by Fred Banbery.

    There are those who will argue that this title could apply to any of the various tomes of terror, sagas of suspense, or groupings of grue which I have, from time to time, gathered together for the delectation of my readers. And indeed the point is well taken.For I am not a man to cater to the nervous. If you are in the habit of chewing your fingernails, jumping from your chair when a door slams, or swooning when someone playfully shouts "Boo!" in your ear, I have only two words of advice--pass on.If, however, you have nerves which are under good control, nerves which are pleasantly tickled by a touch of terror or agreeably stimulated by a soupçon of suspense, then I invite you to join me.Take a seat, any seat, and start wherever you wish. Break for an intermission whenever you choose and return when you are ready. Informality rules in your enjoyment of this smörgåsbord of stories. There is, I think, something for every taste.Except, that is, for the nervous.And now my sixty seconds are up.-Alfred HitchcockIn this collection:"To the Future" by Ray Bradbury"River of Riches" by Gerald Kersh"Levitation" by Joseph Payne Brennan"Miss Winters and the Wind" by Christine Noble Govan"View from the Terrace" by Mike Marmer"The Man with Copper Fingers" by Dorothy L. Sayers"The Twenty Friends of William Shaw" by Raymond E. Banks"The Other Hangman" by Carter Dickson"Don't Look Behind You" by Fredric Brown"No Bath for the Browns" by Margot Bennet"The Uninvited" by Michael Gilbert"Dune Roller" by Julian May"Something Short of Murder" by Henry Slesar"The Golden Girl" by Ellis Peters"The Boy Who Predicted Earthquakes" by Margaret St. Clair"Walking Alone" by Miriam Allen deFord"For All the Rude People" by Jack Ritchie"The Dog Died First" by Bruno Fischer"Room with a View" by Hal Dresner"Lemmings" by Richard Matheson"White Goddess" by Idris Seabright"The Substance of Martyrs" by William Sambrot"Call for Help" by Robert Arthur"Sorry, Wrong Number" by Lucille Fletcher and Allan Ullman

    Hijack by Robert L. Fish 2. Tomorrow and ... Tomorrow by Adobe James 3. Funeral in Another Town by Jerry Jacobson 4. A Case for Quiet by William Jeffrey 5. A Good Head for Murder by Charles W. Runyon 6. The Invisible Cat by Betty Ren Wright 7. Royal Jelly novelette by Roald Dahl 8. Light Verse by Isaac Asimov 9. The Distributor by Richard Matheson 10. How Henry J. Littlefinger Licked the Hippies' Scheme to Take Over the Country by Tossing Pot in Postage Stamp Glue by John Keefauver 11. The Leak by Jacques Futrelle 12. All the Sounds of Fear by Harlan Ellison 13. Little Foxes Sleep Warm by Waldo Carlton Wright 14. The Graft Is Green novelette by Harold Q. Masur (This is volume 1 of Stories to Be Read with the Door Locked. It should not be combined with volume 2, or with the complete work.)

    As everyone knows, he is a specialist in the macabre and bizarre. Askes to explain his approach to fictional crime, he wrote:"The blunt instrument, the gang murder, the paid assassin have always seemed to me positively indelicate. Murder is a fine art and needs the embellishment of a sophisticated imagination. The true aficionado prefers to have his nerves ruffled by the implied thread--the Borgias rather than the Syndicate. What is more delightful than a domestic crime, when it is executed with subtlety and imagination? I leave to other more pedestrian talents materials based on newspaper accounts. True crimes, ugh! Alas, most of them are dull and give no evidence of the careful planning and loving thought that should go into any human activity as rewarding as murder."

    There are no superficial scares here; these are stories that will make you think even as they keep you on the edge of your seat. From bloody horror to supernatural creatures to unsettling, all-too-possible realism, this collection has something for any reader looking for a thrill.Fans of TV’s The Walking Dead, True Blood, and American Horror Story will tear through tales by these talented authors:Stefan BachmannLeigh BardugoKendare BlakeA. G. HowardJay KristoffMarie LuJonathan MaberryDanielle PaigeCarrie RyanMegan ShepherdNova Ren SumaMcCormick TemplemanApril Genevieve TucholkeCat Winters

    These ten absorbing stories, selected by a famed anthologist of science-fiction and the supernatural, prove that even after a century Poe's imagination still works it macabre magic.--back coverContains:The Murders in the Rue Morgue The Purloined Letter The Tell-Tale Heart The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar The Pit and the Pendulum A Tale of the Ragged Mountains A Descent Into the Maelstrom The Black Cat "thou Art the Man" Metzengerstein The Haunted Palace The City in the Sea To Helen Annabel Lee The Bells

    . . and winds up a castaway on an impossibly solid cloud, a Prospero’s island of roiling vapor that seems animated by a mind of its own in Aloft.On a seemingly ordinary day in Boulder, Colorado, the clouds open up in a downpour of nails—splinters of bright crystal that shred the skin of anyone not safely under cover. Rain explores this escalating apocalyptic event, as the deluge of nails spreads out across the country and around the world.In Loaded, a mall security guard in a coastal Florida town courageously stops a mass shooting and becomes a hero to the modern gun rights movement. But under the glare of the spotlights, his story begins to unravel, taking his sanity with it. When an out-of-control summer blaze approaches the town, he will reach for the gun again and embark on one last day of reckoning.

    It includes the entire text of John Wyndham's novel of alien invasion, Out of the Deeps, and 24 short stories by American or British authors, all written in the 20th century. Authors represented include T. H. White, Donald E. Westlake, Theodore Sturgeon, Thomas M. Disch, Ellis Peters, E. Phillips Oppenheim, Margaret St. Clair, Algis Budrys, and Gerald Kersh.

    • (1926) • short story by Agatha ChristieThe Call of Wings • (1933) • short story by Agatha ChristieThe Fourth Man • (1933) • short story by Agatha ChristieThe Gipsy • (1933) • short story by Agatha ChristieThe Hound of Death • (1933) • short story by Agatha ChristieThe Lamp • (1933) • short story by Agatha ChristieThe Last Séance • (1926) • short story by Agatha ChristieThe Mystery of the Blue Jar • (1924) • short story by Agatha ChristieThe Red Signal • (1924) • short story by Agatha ChristieThe Strange Case of Sir Arthur Carmichael • (1933) • short story by Agatha ChristieThe Witness for the Prosecution • non-genre • (1924) • novelette by Agatha ChristieWireless • (1926) • short story by Agatha Christie

    The five other chilling stories in this collection echo a sense of dislocation and mock man's dominance over the natural world. The mountain paradise of 'Monte Verità' promises immortality, but at a terrible price; a neglected wife haunts her husband in the form of an apple tree; a professional photographer steps out from behind the camera and into his subject's life; a date with a cinema usherette leads to a walk in the cemetery; and a jealous father finds a remedy when three's a crowd . . .

    These “New Tales of Lust, Greed, and Murder from Outstanding Women of Mystery” feature sterling stories from Laura Lippman, Susan Wiggs, Carolyn Hart, Nancy Pickard, and George herself, as well as from other masters and exciting, tremendously talented newcomers.

    Herb just wanted to photograph the cheerleaders in the school showers. He planted his camera high in the corner where no one could see it, and rigged it to a special homemade timer. He did that Thursday night, and he hoped that by Friday night he would have an exciting roll of film to develop.But a girl dies Friday afternoon. On the surface it appears to be nothing more than a tragic car accident. But when Herb finally does collect his roll of film, he develops a picture that shows a shadowy figure sneaking up on the girl who has died—sneaking up on her with a baseball bat.It makes Herb wonder if the girl was dead long before the car accident.But unfortunately for Herb, he doesn't wonder if the murderer knows he took the picture.

    Now at last, in “Let the Old Dreams Die,” the title story in this absolutely stunning collection, we get a glimpse of what happened next to the pair. Fans of Let the Right One In will have to read the story, which is destined to generate much word of mouth both among fans and online.“Let the Old Dreams Die” is not the only stunner in this collection. In "Final Processing," Lindqvist also reveals the next chapter in the lives of the characters he created in Handling the Undead. “Equinox” is a story of a woman who takes care of her neighbor’s house while they are away and readers will never forget what she finds in the house. Every story meets the very high standard of excellence and fright factor that Lindqvist fans have come to expect. Totally transcending genre writing, these are world class stories from possibly the most impressive horror writer writing today.

    In Like A Charm, the cream of British and American crime writers combine for a must-have collection. From nineteenth-century Georgia, where the bracelet is forged in fire, to wartime Leeds, a steam train across Europe, the violent backstreets of 1980s Scotland, present-day London, a Manhattan taxi, the Mojave desert and back to Georgia, each writer weaves a gripping story of murder, betrayal and intrigue.