Horror Short Stories

Book excerpt: Ghouls, ghosts, and macabre terrors stalk the night in this spine-tingling collection. With tales describing unnatural frights and haunting visions of cosmic terror, you will be taken on a journey into the disturbing imaginations of some of horror's greatest writers. The stories' heroes face incredible creatures, unknowable gods, and supernatural beings who have no regard for human life. Horror literature has its roots in the mists of time. In the 19th century, writers delved into ancient folk tales and local legends to inspire an entire genre. In the 20th century, the next generation of writers brought to life a brand new array of terrifying monsters. The authors in this volume range from Victorian pioneers, such as Bram Stoker and Edgar Allan Poe, to the pulp writers of the 20th century, such as William Hope Hodgson and H. P. Lovecraft. The tradition of horror writing that developed took very different turns on either side of the Atlantic - while American authors turned to unknowable horrors and cosmic terrors, British writers such as E. F. Benson and M. R. James mastered a more familiar form, the classic ghost story. It was not only English-speakers who sought to terrify their readers. The French writer Guy de Maupassant, a prolific short story writer and pupil of the acclaimed novelist Gustave Flaubert, found ways to make his protagonists doubt their own sanity as they faced terrors that would drive any ordinary man mad. This collection of bone-chilling tales comes from the pens of some of horror's most acclaimed writers. Authors include: E. F. Benson Ambrose Bierce Francis Marion Crawford W. W. Jacobs M. R. James William Hope Hodgson H. P. Lovecraft Guy de Maupassant Edgar Allan Poe Bram Stoker