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Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories #6
The 6th Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories
Heart-thumping Horror! 16 Dark Tales of Devilish Delight!
The Cocoon: "Something came through the door and half crawled, half fluttered to Denny's bed. Then it wormed its way beneath the sheet and rested like a sticky pulp upon Denny's mouth."
Miss Gentilbelle: "The parakeet screamed for a considerable time... When it was silent, the white fingers that clutched it were stained with a dark thin fluid."
Party Pieces: "From the kitchen there came a noise of throbbing - a terrible, low heartbeat, drumming remorselessly..."
Contents:
* The Quest for Blank Claveringi by Patricia Highsmith
* Back for Christmas by John Collier
* The Cocoon by John B. L. Goodwin
* The End of the Party by Graham Greene
* Hard Luck Story by Pamela Vincent
* Srendi Vashtar by Saki
* Miss Gentilbelle by Charles Beaumont
* The Pioneers of Pike’s Peak by Basil Tozer
* Miriam by Truman Capote
* Cold Sleep by Sydney J. Bounds
* The Mysterious Mansion by Honore de Balzac
* Earth to Earth by Robert Graves
* The Man and the Snake by Ambrose Bierce
* Close Behind Him by John Wyndham
* Letter to a Young Lady in Paris by Julio Cortazar
* Party Pieces by Mary Danby
The Cocoon: "Something came through the door and half crawled, half fluttered to Denny's bed. Then it wormed its way beneath the sheet and rested like a sticky pulp upon Denny's mouth."
Miss Gentilbelle: "The parakeet screamed for a considerable time... When it was silent, the white fingers that clutched it were stained with a dark thin fluid."
Party Pieces: "From the kitchen there came a noise of throbbing - a terrible, low heartbeat, drumming remorselessly..."
Contents:
* The Quest for Blank Claveringi by Patricia Highsmith
* Back for Christmas by John Collier
* The Cocoon by John B. L. Goodwin
* The End of the Party by Graham Greene
* Hard Luck Story by Pamela Vincent
* Srendi Vashtar by Saki
* Miss Gentilbelle by Charles Beaumont
* The Pioneers of Pike’s Peak by Basil Tozer
* Miriam by Truman Capote
* Cold Sleep by Sydney J. Bounds
* The Mysterious Mansion by Honore de Balzac
* Earth to Earth by Robert Graves
* The Man and the Snake by Ambrose Bierce
* Close Behind Him by John Wyndham
* Letter to a Young Lady in Paris by Julio Cortazar
* Party Pieces by Mary Danby
- GenresHorrorShort Stories
189 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
28 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 10, 2018
For me, this series of books is consistently good from volume 5 onwards - when Mary Danby became the editor. Of the 16 stories here, I found 6 of them to be very good, my favourite being the opening 'The Quest For Blank Claveringi' by Patricia Highsmith, about a man searching for and facing giant snails. Other highlights are 'The End Of The Party' by Graham Greene; 'Hard Luck Story' by Pamela Vincent, in which a hitchhiker is soon sorry that they accepted a lift; 'Miss Gentilbelle' by Charles Beaumont; 'Cold Sleep' by Sydney J.Bounds and 'Close Behind Him' by John Wyndham, possibly my second favourite here sees a man who has killed someone being followed by footprints.
For me, there were only 3 out and out duds - Back For Christmas, Earth To Earth and Letter To A Young Lady In Paris.
Good covers on the various re-issues of this series. Originally published in 1971, my 1982 re-issue has a striking image of a head with an arrow going through the two eyeballs! Splendid stuff...
For me, there were only 3 out and out duds - Back For Christmas, Earth To Earth and Letter To A Young Lady In Paris.
Good covers on the various re-issues of this series. Originally published in 1971, my 1982 re-issue has a striking image of a head with an arrow going through the two eyeballs! Splendid stuff...
March 21, 2025
6th Fontana book of horror
Who would have thought a tale of a man seeking giant snails would make such a great short horror story. The story is written so well it is hard not to be drawn into the Quest of the professor as he follows the words of locals, travels alone by a small boat to an island where Legend talks of very large man killing snails. I love the pace of the story. It rarely slows down, it's almost a race as he travels over this small island, taking sight of the huge things and quite suddenly being chased by them. Leading to a violent and shocking ending
These are the type of stories that make me love horror anthologies.
There's a short one about a doctor who commits a brutal crime and travels to the city, seemingly getting away with murder. Hearing his thoughts as he has no remorse for the crime.
A vicious twelve year old boy who has a love for bugs and small creatures, or more like ending the lives of these bugs, finds himself in the possession of a very large caterpillar which he keeps hidden in his room away from the maid and his stern father. It's a slow building story of the effects of torture on bugs and the repercussions against the boy by something very large seeking vengeance. Another good horror story although the ending was too brief for the build up to it.
I can't say I enjoyed the writing or the story in this one. A child's fears of playing a game in the dark at a children's party ultimately and unexpectedly end with his mysterious death. Proving that fear can kill.
Hard luck story is about a man who continuously hitch hikes from one car to the other, while giving false stories of his reason for needing a lift. A very short story which turns evil towards the end after the little man finds himself trapped in a car, being driven somewhere unknown
A brief little ending but a fun build up nonetheless.
Miss Gentilbelle is a very wicked woman. In every respect she should not be a mother. But she is, to a young boy who she treats as her daughter. This mother has killed. And she has killed everything her "daughter" Robert has ever loved. She even restricts him from communicating with the friendly gardener who lives with them. This is a scary story of a mother who mistreats those who live in her house. The beginning seemed a little weird but once I saw where the story was going it became great, with a sad and shocking ending.
Next up a man in a bar approaches a group of people with a story of an expedition up a mountain nearby in which most of the group never returned. He talks of giant rats and of thousands of oversized spiders. It's not the best but I do enjoy the premise of the story and the mysterious ending, telling that no matter what people build on or around that mountain, there are still areas in which creatures can hide.
A strange little girl befriends a woman outside the theatre, then without warning begins to force herself into the woman's life. Though this girl seems almost unreal.
A very short and effective one about many, many people being drawn into a cold sleep company in which a person's body is frozen, without decay, then awakened in the future where a cure awaits them for all their illnesses. Little do these people know, they will awaken in to a human abattoir! Disturbing stuff.
A horror tale about a man's encounter with an unknown snake in his room and the strange and shocking resolution in his ending. Was it all in his mind?
Every now and then I come across a weird story and this one is one of the weirdest. It is written as if a man is dictating a letter to a Young Lady in Paris, when out of nowhere he begins talking of (throwing up) tiny rabbits. Very disgusting but I was left intrigued as to where it was heading. I enjoyed reading this. Even though the reason for the bunnies is never explained. They grow larger and their fur gets longer. He writes of how they start to chew the apartment to pieces. He contemplates disposing of them. Of what would become of their bodies. Then he mentions something else. Another body!
Who would have thought a tale of a man seeking giant snails would make such a great short horror story. The story is written so well it is hard not to be drawn into the Quest of the professor as he follows the words of locals, travels alone by a small boat to an island where Legend talks of very large man killing snails. I love the pace of the story. It rarely slows down, it's almost a race as he travels over this small island, taking sight of the huge things and quite suddenly being chased by them. Leading to a violent and shocking ending
These are the type of stories that make me love horror anthologies.
There's a short one about a doctor who commits a brutal crime and travels to the city, seemingly getting away with murder. Hearing his thoughts as he has no remorse for the crime.
A vicious twelve year old boy who has a love for bugs and small creatures, or more like ending the lives of these bugs, finds himself in the possession of a very large caterpillar which he keeps hidden in his room away from the maid and his stern father. It's a slow building story of the effects of torture on bugs and the repercussions against the boy by something very large seeking vengeance. Another good horror story although the ending was too brief for the build up to it.
I can't say I enjoyed the writing or the story in this one. A child's fears of playing a game in the dark at a children's party ultimately and unexpectedly end with his mysterious death. Proving that fear can kill.
Hard luck story is about a man who continuously hitch hikes from one car to the other, while giving false stories of his reason for needing a lift. A very short story which turns evil towards the end after the little man finds himself trapped in a car, being driven somewhere unknown
A brief little ending but a fun build up nonetheless.
Miss Gentilbelle is a very wicked woman. In every respect she should not be a mother. But she is, to a young boy who she treats as her daughter. This mother has killed. And she has killed everything her "daughter" Robert has ever loved. She even restricts him from communicating with the friendly gardener who lives with them. This is a scary story of a mother who mistreats those who live in her house. The beginning seemed a little weird but once I saw where the story was going it became great, with a sad and shocking ending.
Next up a man in a bar approaches a group of people with a story of an expedition up a mountain nearby in which most of the group never returned. He talks of giant rats and of thousands of oversized spiders. It's not the best but I do enjoy the premise of the story and the mysterious ending, telling that no matter what people build on or around that mountain, there are still areas in which creatures can hide.
A strange little girl befriends a woman outside the theatre, then without warning begins to force herself into the woman's life. Though this girl seems almost unreal.
A very short and effective one about many, many people being drawn into a cold sleep company in which a person's body is frozen, without decay, then awakened in the future where a cure awaits them for all their illnesses. Little do these people know, they will awaken in to a human abattoir! Disturbing stuff.
A horror tale about a man's encounter with an unknown snake in his room and the strange and shocking resolution in his ending. Was it all in his mind?
Every now and then I come across a weird story and this one is one of the weirdest. It is written as if a man is dictating a letter to a Young Lady in Paris, when out of nowhere he begins talking of (throwing up) tiny rabbits. Very disgusting but I was left intrigued as to where it was heading. I enjoyed reading this. Even though the reason for the bunnies is never explained. They grow larger and their fur gets longer. He writes of how they start to chew the apartment to pieces. He contemplates disposing of them. Of what would become of their bodies. Then he mentions something else. Another body!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews