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The 14th Pan Book of Horror Stories
Unspoken fears that make the dark hours friendless to sleep...
'He pushed the point of the hook into the stump, and began to turn it, exerting all his strength... Thick, dark blood welled up, like... like jelly that hasn't set...' - The Hook, Gilbert Phelps.
'And then his wife turned round. What had once been his wife turned round.' - Strange Roots, David Case.
'The old man was sitting at a table behind a pile of bones, chewing grotesquely on a severed, half-cooked arm.' - A Change of Heart, John Snelling.
Twelve tales in eerie pursuit of the macabre as scenes of gibbering terror turn palsied blood to sickly gelatine.
Gaylord Sabatini, ‘Vortex of Horror’.
Conrad Hill, ‘So Much Work’.
Harry Turner, ‘Shwartz’.
Myc Harrison, ‘The Rat Trap’.
Gerald Atkins, ‘Patent Number’.
David Case, 'Strange Roots’.
Alex White, ‘The Clinic’.
Myc Harrison, ‘The Spider and the Fly’.
John Snellings, ‘Change of Heart’.
Gilbert Phelps, ‘The Hook’.
Conrad Hill, ‘The Man and the Boy’.
R Chetwynd-Hayes, ‘It Came to Dinner’.
'He pushed the point of the hook into the stump, and began to turn it, exerting all his strength... Thick, dark blood welled up, like... like jelly that hasn't set...' - The Hook, Gilbert Phelps.
'And then his wife turned round. What had once been his wife turned round.' - Strange Roots, David Case.
'The old man was sitting at a table behind a pile of bones, chewing grotesquely on a severed, half-cooked arm.' - A Change of Heart, John Snelling.
Twelve tales in eerie pursuit of the macabre as scenes of gibbering terror turn palsied blood to sickly gelatine.
Gaylord Sabatini, ‘Vortex of Horror’.
Conrad Hill, ‘So Much Work’.
Harry Turner, ‘Shwartz’.
Myc Harrison, ‘The Rat Trap’.
Gerald Atkins, ‘Patent Number’.
David Case, 'Strange Roots’.
Alex White, ‘The Clinic’.
Myc Harrison, ‘The Spider and the Fly’.
John Snellings, ‘Change of Heart’.
Gilbert Phelps, ‘The Hook’.
Conrad Hill, ‘The Man and the Boy’.
R Chetwynd-Hayes, ‘It Came to Dinner’.
- GenresHorrorShort Stories
189 pages, Paperback
First published October 12, 1973
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 6, 2008
The guy on the front is a ringer for my friend Jim after he's been working a few of those night shifts. Those night shifts can be bad.
August 6, 2013
Really nasty, some of the most sadistic of the Pan Stories are in here. "The Clinic" is particularly upsetting. Having now read most of the Pan Horror series this feels like the end of an era of increasing sadism and the beginning of a more marked downward slide in quality. From here on, the frequency of nastiness generally lessens (although even more sadistic stories are yet to come), and the overall tone gradually becomes less grim. Also the filler stories, of which "Shwartz" and "Patent Number" in this book are perfect examples, become more numerous and longer in length.
June 30, 2025
3.5
This collection from 1973 is a bit of a mixed bag of stories. Of the dozen on offer, I'd say a couple are very good and three others make the good mark! The common denominator in what I like is that all five are character driven.
The very good:-
'The Rat Trap' by Myc Harrison - On a remote farm, a lazy drunken bullying brother will not pull his weight. It's a sharp, concisely written piece with plenty of character driven narrative. The story pulls you in because of the extremes of character involved and you (or I certainly did) want to see the bully get his comeuppance! I liked this a lot.
'The Clinic' by Alex White - A daughter who hates her mother is forced to live with her after the death of her father. To add to her dilemma is the fact that her new father and step-sister are no better! It's another very fine character driven horror in which you want the evildoers to get their comeuppance!
The good:-
'Change of Heart' by John Snellings - A man who plans to have his wife killed has second thoughts. This is well written and progresses nicely to its climax. Again, it's the characterisation that pulls you in.
'The Hook' by Gilbert Phelps - Why does a woman fear hooks? We go back in time to discover why. This is quite original. Again, we have a story that builds to its climax and relies on character to draw you in.
'It Came To Dinner' by R. Chetwynd-Hayes - A tramp comes across what he believes to be a dilapidated mansion, only to discover it inhabited by a peculiar family. An entertaining tale from this most enjoyable of horror writers. Told in his usual light manner, but minus the humour this time. The ending was surely not meant to be a surprise, was it? You can spot it a mile off.
I'm not normally one for honourable mentions, but I'll give one to Conrad Hill's 'So Much Work' because it's another fine character driven tale with the only negative being an ending that's a bit silly.
My copy is an original edition with a standout gory cover - a red-eyed skull staring up at us.
Nostalgia is the key word for these. For all lovers of those Amicus compendium films...
This collection from 1973 is a bit of a mixed bag of stories. Of the dozen on offer, I'd say a couple are very good and three others make the good mark! The common denominator in what I like is that all five are character driven.
The very good:-
'The Rat Trap' by Myc Harrison - On a remote farm, a lazy drunken bullying brother will not pull his weight. It's a sharp, concisely written piece with plenty of character driven narrative. The story pulls you in because of the extremes of character involved and you (or I certainly did) want to see the bully get his comeuppance! I liked this a lot.
'The Clinic' by Alex White - A daughter who hates her mother is forced to live with her after the death of her father. To add to her dilemma is the fact that her new father and step-sister are no better! It's another very fine character driven horror in which you want the evildoers to get their comeuppance!
The good:-
'Change of Heart' by John Snellings - A man who plans to have his wife killed has second thoughts. This is well written and progresses nicely to its climax. Again, it's the characterisation that pulls you in.
'The Hook' by Gilbert Phelps - Why does a woman fear hooks? We go back in time to discover why. This is quite original. Again, we have a story that builds to its climax and relies on character to draw you in.
'It Came To Dinner' by R. Chetwynd-Hayes - A tramp comes across what he believes to be a dilapidated mansion, only to discover it inhabited by a peculiar family. An entertaining tale from this most enjoyable of horror writers. Told in his usual light manner, but minus the humour this time. The ending was surely not meant to be a surprise, was it? You can spot it a mile off.
I'm not normally one for honourable mentions, but I'll give one to Conrad Hill's 'So Much Work' because it's another fine character driven tale with the only negative being an ending that's a bit silly.
My copy is an original edition with a standout gory cover - a red-eyed skull staring up at us.
Nostalgia is the key word for these. For all lovers of those Amicus compendium films...
September 12, 2024
Just inexcusable. I started reading some of the stories mentioned by other reviewers on here as being good: Vortex of Horror was the only acceptable one. OK, it's derivative, but I forgave it because it has a funny pay-off. The Spider and the Fly made me cringe; The Man and the Boy is repellent and The Clinic is just some sort of sadistic fantasy. The authors of a few of these probably need to be on some sort of register if that's what's going on in their heads. Ugh.
Anyway, I gave up on the book after that and decided it could go to the Oxfam shop.
Anyway, I gave up on the book after that and decided it could go to the Oxfam shop.
December 12, 2024
I loved the entire series, some of which I remember reading from childhood, and this front cover for gave me more nightmares than any other. Why? I don't know because it's not really scary, unlike the walking skeleton in rags.
February 12, 2022
Unsettling, sometimes funny and overall great read.
May 7, 2014
Decent enough read for its day. A couple of the stories were better than others, of course.
I would recommend Vortex of Horror - Strange Roots - The Spider and the Fly - and The Man and the Boy.
I would recommend Vortex of Horror - Strange Roots - The Spider and the Fly - and The Man and the Boy.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews