What do you think?
Rate this book
The Lucifer Society;
First Thus hardcover with clipped dust jacket, in very good condition. Jacket is marked, and edges are creased. Page block is blemished, and previous owner's dedication penned to FEP. Boards are clean, binding is sound and pages are clear. Comprises short stories by the following Sir Winston Churchill, John Galsworthy, G.K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie, Lawrence Durrell, Somerstet Maughan, Robert Graved, J.B. Priestley, C.S. Forester, Graham Greene, Angus Wilson, Kingsley Amis, Sinclair Lewis, Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Raymond Chandler, MacKinlay Kantor, John Steinbeck, Patricia Highsmith, Evan Hunter, Paul Gallico, Truman Capote, William Burroughs, John Updike. LW
Hardcover
First published August 28, 1972
About the author
Peter Haining
334 books99 followersPeter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.
Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.
In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).
He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.
Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.
In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).
He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 2, 2016
This was a decent little collection of short stories of the slightly spooky persuasion. Although a few of the stories and the introductory comments for them are hideously dated -it was published in the seventies so the editor was obviously shocked a woman could produce a tale of terror- the majority of the tales held up well, with a few standouts from Patricia Highsmith, Truman Capote, Kingsley Amis and Raymond Chandler. While this is no doubt well out of print, if you're ever interested and don't mind a slightly bathwater-soaked copy there is one gathering so sinisterly appropriate dust on my bookshelf.
February 3, 2016
"Detours into the Macabre" is an anthology of dark tales penned by famous authors who made their names in less macabre genres of fiction. The book is split into two sections, the first featuring British authors and the second American.
A number of the tales were either very predictable or unoriginal to the point of being pointless, even considering their age, and the contributions of a couple of writers I greatly admire (Agatha Christie, Somerset Maugham) were far from their best.
There were, however, a handful of notable contributions. As far as I'm concerned, Patricia Highsmith's "The Snail Watcher" is one of the finest short stories ever written. To put it bluntly, it was a shame to see this perfect example of the short story in this anthology. Another excellent tale, which I had also read previously, was "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner. G. K. Chesterton's "The Angry Street" was original, well-written, and thought-provoking. "Earth to Earth" by Robert Graves wasn't bad either, and quite creepy. John Steinbeck's "The Affair at 7 rue de M-" was frightening and funny... or frighteningly funny.
So, a bit of a mixed bag really. I'd be interested in hearing what others think of it.
A number of the tales were either very predictable or unoriginal to the point of being pointless, even considering their age, and the contributions of a couple of writers I greatly admire (Agatha Christie, Somerset Maugham) were far from their best.
There were, however, a handful of notable contributions. As far as I'm concerned, Patricia Highsmith's "The Snail Watcher" is one of the finest short stories ever written. To put it bluntly, it was a shame to see this perfect example of the short story in this anthology. Another excellent tale, which I had also read previously, was "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner. G. K. Chesterton's "The Angry Street" was original, well-written, and thought-provoking. "Earth to Earth" by Robert Graves wasn't bad either, and quite creepy. John Steinbeck's "The Affair at 7 rue de M-" was frightening and funny... or frighteningly funny.
So, a bit of a mixed bag really. I'd be interested in hearing what others think of it.
Want to Read
November 11, 2025PLACEHOLDER REVIEW
MacKinlay Kantor's "A Man Who Had No Eyes" has a well-to-do man (who struggled for all he has attained) buttonholed by a blind street beggar who has a story to tell. Not bad, but rather in the form of a British O. Henry yarn. Effective but not a macabre or creepy story, exactly.
MacKinlay Kantor's "A Man Who Had No Eyes" has a well-to-do man (who struggled for all he has attained) buttonholed by a blind street beggar who has a story to tell. Not bad, but rather in the form of a British O. Henry yarn. Effective but not a macabre or creepy story, exactly.
May 2, 2017
You can't go wrong with an anthology edited by Peter Haining!
October 11, 2009
I pull this, and The Wichcraft Reader out every fall. They are all so exciting, and just unsettling enough that you want to share them with everyone. Really great stuff in this one.
January 26, 2026
Since we must all admit to judging books by covers (and in this case titles as well), it was a stroke of good fortune that the hardback copy I picked up from a rummage table was not the newer edition with the dime-novel artwork that is supposed to represent a vague assemblage of the variety of tales within and, failing entirely at this, has probably repulsed more potential readers than the unfortunate title would if left alone. In a more formative chapter of my life, this devilish title on any illustration would have stayed my rather puritanical hand and I would have been all the poorer for missing the collected gems and trinkets between these covers.
I really have to lay the blame (for the ill-suited title at least) on Haining; surely he of all qualified persons for assembling these stories could see that a much more appropriate name could have been selected from any of the individual works (Something Strange, The Bronze Door) and then appending the well-worn but honest “and other tales” catchphrase to end up with something much more benign and, more importantly, slightly enticing to the casual shelf browser. I could at least lend him a portion of pardon if any of the stories featured the titular Lucifer character in some representative capacity, but they don’t and I can’t. There. That’s enough harping about things done and away, on to the material.
The anthology consists of 24 short stories, split evenly between English and American authors, that offer considerable breadth of the genre in the narrow range of years across their publications. Haining is due good credit here for his sleuthing that has ferreted out some of the forgotten work of these generally widely read and esteemed writers. In many cases it lies in out-of-print collections or forgotten pages of literary journals because the macabre setting is far-removed from the body of work that a particular author has become known for. They read all the more like a forbidden chapter of spells or some secret ledger for this, although it is just a fact of the business that the most prolific writers have left in their wakes a significant flotsam of material along their voyage into the literary limelight. This detritus usually languishes until someone like Haining comes along with the net to fish them out and package them neatly in a smart volume for our leisure and surprise. Brevity is all the more potent in the hands of those as efficient as Raymond Chandler and Sinclair Lewis, and keeps the pages turning until something like the prospect of sleep is heeded and the book set aside for a time when the encouraging sun might show for certain that there are no legless ghosts hovering over the shoulder. And to be certain, only a few of the double dozen are anything explicitly of the ghost genre. I was pleasantly surprised by the serious approach along topics of the plainly bizarre and in general the characters that do meet their end follow a more ambiguous path to the grave that could be rendered more natural or spectral depending on whose point of view is followed. The mind is only too ready to fill in these blanks; not omissions made in error, but the carefully carved footholds of the skilled craftsman.
To be sure, not all of these stories have stayed quite forgotten as they were in the years since The Lucifer Society unearthed the cache, but some are niche enough to be left alone still in this volume and for that it is worth tracking down and reading, if but once. Reassuring sunshine optional.
I really have to lay the blame (for the ill-suited title at least) on Haining; surely he of all qualified persons for assembling these stories could see that a much more appropriate name could have been selected from any of the individual works (Something Strange, The Bronze Door) and then appending the well-worn but honest “and other tales” catchphrase to end up with something much more benign and, more importantly, slightly enticing to the casual shelf browser. I could at least lend him a portion of pardon if any of the stories featured the titular Lucifer character in some representative capacity, but they don’t and I can’t. There. That’s enough harping about things done and away, on to the material.
The anthology consists of 24 short stories, split evenly between English and American authors, that offer considerable breadth of the genre in the narrow range of years across their publications. Haining is due good credit here for his sleuthing that has ferreted out some of the forgotten work of these generally widely read and esteemed writers. In many cases it lies in out-of-print collections or forgotten pages of literary journals because the macabre setting is far-removed from the body of work that a particular author has become known for. They read all the more like a forbidden chapter of spells or some secret ledger for this, although it is just a fact of the business that the most prolific writers have left in their wakes a significant flotsam of material along their voyage into the literary limelight. This detritus usually languishes until someone like Haining comes along with the net to fish them out and package them neatly in a smart volume for our leisure and surprise. Brevity is all the more potent in the hands of those as efficient as Raymond Chandler and Sinclair Lewis, and keeps the pages turning until something like the prospect of sleep is heeded and the book set aside for a time when the encouraging sun might show for certain that there are no legless ghosts hovering over the shoulder. And to be certain, only a few of the double dozen are anything explicitly of the ghost genre. I was pleasantly surprised by the serious approach along topics of the plainly bizarre and in general the characters that do meet their end follow a more ambiguous path to the grave that could be rendered more natural or spectral depending on whose point of view is followed. The mind is only too ready to fill in these blanks; not omissions made in error, but the carefully carved footholds of the skilled craftsman.
To be sure, not all of these stories have stayed quite forgotten as they were in the years since The Lucifer Society unearthed the cache, but some are niche enough to be left alone still in this volume and for that it is worth tracking down and reading, if but once. Reassuring sunshine optional.
August 26, 2019
An interesting read with half the book featuring strange (not always supernatural or macabre) by British authors and the other by American ones. None of the stories were bad (except maybe the William Burroughs stream of barely punctuated consciousness which was a bit pointless), but some were more memorable than others.
Of those that particularly stand out, The Bronze Door was great for both its evocation of Edwardian society and the repressive marriages of the upper classes but also its rather fun premise that could well have formed the plot of those Hammer Horror shorts. I bet quite a few readers might wish they had access to such a doorway! The Snail Watcher would also lend itself to such a show, and manages to be... I think squicky is probably the right word.
A Rose for Emily reminds me of a real life incident I read about many years ago, and may possibly have been inspired by the same event. The Grey Ones has a disturbing quality that would suit being read out at Halloween by candlelight.
Some of the language used is very much of its time (and the social class of its writers) - I can imagine that quite a few younger readers might be shocked by the ways in which black people are often described, for example.
The only thing I found a bit odd was the title - on purchasing it I had assumed maybe the stories would all be about demons or people who had sold their souls. Something of the sort, anyway. None of the stories fit that assumption, but aside from this an engaging read for those who can put dated social values in their context.
Of those that particularly stand out, The Bronze Door was great for both its evocation of Edwardian society and the repressive marriages of the upper classes but also its rather fun premise that could well have formed the plot of those Hammer Horror shorts. I bet quite a few readers might wish they had access to such a doorway! The Snail Watcher would also lend itself to such a show, and manages to be... I think squicky is probably the right word.
A Rose for Emily reminds me of a real life incident I read about many years ago, and may possibly have been inspired by the same event. The Grey Ones has a disturbing quality that would suit being read out at Halloween by candlelight.
Some of the language used is very much of its time (and the social class of its writers) - I can imagine that quite a few younger readers might be shocked by the ways in which black people are often described, for example.
The only thing I found a bit odd was the title - on purchasing it I had assumed maybe the stories would all be about demons or people who had sold their souls. Something of the sort, anyway. None of the stories fit that assumption, but aside from this an engaging read for those who can put dated social values in their context.
January 5, 2024
One of the best macabre tales I’ve ever read by great writers, not the blood, ghosts or evils terrified you but your own mind and horror dilemma you got in will kick and pull out the most horror to you. Most are very good, some not my taste, still I prefer to keep it on my bookshelf.
May 18, 2011
BOTTOM LINE: A magnificent anthology of short scary stories by writers (12 British, 12 Americans) rather better known for their somewhat more "usual" sorts of writing.
The volume is cleverly arranged and carefully introduced by Mr. Haining, a gentleman with taste, and a succinct craftsman with words. There is also a Forward by Kingsley Amis in which he gently twists upon the long-standing crank about "regular" writers not enjoying, or writing, "genre" fiction. Most are subtle, gentle playing with scary ideas rather than shockers.
Includes stories by Kingsley Amis, William Burroughs, Truman Capote, Raymond Chandler, G. K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie, Sir Winston Churchill, Lawrence Durrell, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, C. S. Forester, Paul Gallico, John Galsworthy, Robert Graves, Graham Greene, Patricia Highsmith, Evan Hunter, MacKinlay Kantor, Sinclair Lewis, W. Somerset Maugham, J. B. Priestley, John Steinbeck, John Updike, Angus Wilson.
Part I: British
Churchill, Sir Winston, 1898: Man Overboard
— a quiet night at sea, a man with a cigarette, a fall
Galsworthy, John, 1920: Timber
— old gentleman on a last walk through his copse
Chesterton, G. K., 1936: The Angry Street
— supernatural happenings, or mania?
Christie, Agatha, 1933: The Call of Wings
— pull of another world, perhaps
Durrell, Lawrence, 1942: The Cherries
— mad love, and death; very creepy
Maugham, W. Somerset, 1947: A Man from Glasgow
— madmen and ghosts, in an otherwise idyllic location
Graves, Robert, 1955: Earth to Earth
— classic grisly tale about very special farming techniques
Priestley, J. B., 1953: The Grey Ones
— a man in an interview room, perfectly Lovecraftian
Forester, C. S., 1957: The Man Who Didn't Ask Why
— short, sharp, future shock
Greene, Graham, 1959: All But Empty
— ghosts in unlikely places
Wilson, Angus, 1955: Animals or Human Beings
— creepy tale of an isolated house with its odd mistress
Amis, Kingsley, 1960: Something Strange
— ?sff on a doomed spacestation, novella, DNF, *turgid!!*
Part II: American
Lewis, Sinclair, 1921: The Post-Mortem Murder
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, 1926: The Dance
Faulkner, William, 1930: A Rose for Emily
Chandler, Raymond, 1930: The Bronze Door
Kantor, MacKinlay, 1943: A Man Who Had No Eyes
Steinbeck, John, 1944: The Affair at 7 Rue de M——
Highsmith, Patricia, 1965: The Snail Watcher
Hunter, Evan, 1955: Inferiority Complex
Gallico, Paul, 1946: The Terrible Answer
Capote, Truman, 1945: Miriam
Burroughs, William, 1967: Exterminator
Updike, John, 1966: During the Jurassic
The volume is cleverly arranged and carefully introduced by Mr. Haining, a gentleman with taste, and a succinct craftsman with words. There is also a Forward by Kingsley Amis in which he gently twists upon the long-standing crank about "regular" writers not enjoying, or writing, "genre" fiction. Most are subtle, gentle playing with scary ideas rather than shockers.
Includes stories by Kingsley Amis, William Burroughs, Truman Capote, Raymond Chandler, G. K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie, Sir Winston Churchill, Lawrence Durrell, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, C. S. Forester, Paul Gallico, John Galsworthy, Robert Graves, Graham Greene, Patricia Highsmith, Evan Hunter, MacKinlay Kantor, Sinclair Lewis, W. Somerset Maugham, J. B. Priestley, John Steinbeck, John Updike, Angus Wilson.
Part I: British
Churchill, Sir Winston, 1898: Man Overboard
— a quiet night at sea, a man with a cigarette, a fall
Galsworthy, John, 1920: Timber
— old gentleman on a last walk through his copse
Chesterton, G. K., 1936: The Angry Street
— supernatural happenings, or mania?
Christie, Agatha, 1933: The Call of Wings
— pull of another world, perhaps
Durrell, Lawrence, 1942: The Cherries
— mad love, and death; very creepy
Maugham, W. Somerset, 1947: A Man from Glasgow
— madmen and ghosts, in an otherwise idyllic location
Graves, Robert, 1955: Earth to Earth
— classic grisly tale about very special farming techniques
Priestley, J. B., 1953: The Grey Ones
— a man in an interview room, perfectly Lovecraftian
Forester, C. S., 1957: The Man Who Didn't Ask Why
— short, sharp, future shock
Greene, Graham, 1959: All But Empty
— ghosts in unlikely places
Wilson, Angus, 1955: Animals or Human Beings
— creepy tale of an isolated house with its odd mistress
Amis, Kingsley, 1960: Something Strange
— ?sff on a doomed spacestation, novella, DNF, *turgid!!*
Part II: American
Lewis, Sinclair, 1921: The Post-Mortem Murder
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, 1926: The Dance
Faulkner, William, 1930: A Rose for Emily
Chandler, Raymond, 1930: The Bronze Door
Kantor, MacKinlay, 1943: A Man Who Had No Eyes
Steinbeck, John, 1944: The Affair at 7 Rue de M——
Highsmith, Patricia, 1965: The Snail Watcher
Hunter, Evan, 1955: Inferiority Complex
Gallico, Paul, 1946: The Terrible Answer
Capote, Truman, 1945: Miriam
Burroughs, William, 1967: Exterminator
Updike, John, 1966: During the Jurassic
Want to Read
December 4, 2023Read so far:
Man overboard / Sir Winston Churchill --3
*Timber / John Galsworthy --
The angry street / G.K. Chesterton --
The call of wings / Agatha Christie --2
The cherries / Lawrence Durrell (NA)--
*A man from Glasgow / Somerset Maugham --
Earth to earth / Robert Graves --2
*The grey ones / J.B. Priestley --
The man who didn't ask why / C.S. Forester --3
*All but empty / Graham Greene --
*Animals or human beings / Angus Wilson --
Something strange / Kingsley Amis --
The post-mortem murder / Sinclair Lewis --3
The dance / F. Scott Fitzgerald --3
A rose for Emily / William Faulkner --2
The bronze door / Raymond Chandler --4
*A man who had no eyes / MacKinlay Kantor --
*The affair at 7 Rue de M --/ John Steinbeck --
The snail watcher / Patricia Highsmith --3
Inferiority complex / Evan Hunter --2
*The terrible answer / Paul Gallico (NA)--
Miriam / Truman Capote --3
Exterminator / WIlliam Burroughs --
*During the Jurassic / John Updike--
Man overboard / Sir Winston Churchill --3
*Timber / John Galsworthy --
The angry street / G.K. Chesterton --
The call of wings / Agatha Christie --2
The cherries / Lawrence Durrell (NA)--
*A man from Glasgow / Somerset Maugham --
Earth to earth / Robert Graves --2
*The grey ones / J.B. Priestley --
The man who didn't ask why / C.S. Forester --3
*All but empty / Graham Greene --
*Animals or human beings / Angus Wilson --
Something strange / Kingsley Amis --
The post-mortem murder / Sinclair Lewis --3
The dance / F. Scott Fitzgerald --3
A rose for Emily / William Faulkner --2
The bronze door / Raymond Chandler --4
*A man who had no eyes / MacKinlay Kantor --
*The affair at 7 Rue de M --/ John Steinbeck --
The snail watcher / Patricia Highsmith --3
Inferiority complex / Evan Hunter --2
*The terrible answer / Paul Gallico (NA)--
Miriam / Truman Capote --3
Exterminator / WIlliam Burroughs --
*During the Jurassic / John Updike--
October 15, 2012
On of the most fantastic short story collections ever compiled. The goal of the volume was to bring together a diverse group of authors who never typically wrote in the genre of horror to see how they would explore it with their own experiences, prejudices and styles.
Kind of a who's who of American and English writers all the way from Winston Churchill to William S. Burroughs exploring what terrifies and excites themselves and their societies.
This is one of my most favorite things.
Kind of a who's who of American and English writers all the way from Winston Churchill to William S. Burroughs exploring what terrifies and excites themselves and their societies.
This is one of my most favorite things.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews