Alfred Hitchcock's Behind the Death Ball

by Alfred Hitchcock (Editor), Lawrence Treat (Contributor), Ed Lacy (Contributor)

Any artist is only as good as his audience. That master orchestrator of terror, Alfred Hitchcock, is no exception. What good is his fearful brand of fiendish fun if he's no nerves to twist, no teeth to set chattering, no vocal chords to strum into high notes of terrified hysteria? That’s where you come in, dear reader. Just put yourself in his skillful hands. He’ll give you a screaming good time with personally selected stories & novelettes by masters of menace & the macabre.
1. Perfect Shot-Lawrence Treat
2. The Amateur Philologist-August Derleth
3. The Glint-Arthur Porges
4. The Seventh Man-Helen Nielsen
5. Voodoo Doll-Henry Slesar
6. A Friendly Exorcise-Talmage Powell
7. Many Women Too Many-C.B. Gilford
8. Till Death-Fletcher Flora
9. The Hitchhikers-Bruce Hunsberger
10. Store Cop-Ed Lacy
11. Doom Signal-John Lutz
12. See What’s in the Bag-Hal Ellson
13. Fat Jow & the Walking Woman-Robert Alan Blair
14. The Ghost & Mr. Grebner-Syd Hoff

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Horror, Anthologies, Mystery

176 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1974

About the author

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (1899-1980) was an iconic and highly influential film director and producer, who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres.

Following a very substantial career in his native Britain in both silent films and talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood and became an American citizen with dual nationality in 1956, thus he also remained a British subject.

Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career which spanned six decades, from the silent film era, through the invention of sound films, and far into the era of colour films. For a complete list of his films, see Alfred Hitchcock filmography.

Hitchcock was among the most consistently recognizable directors to the general public, and was one of the most successful film directors during his lifetime. He continues to be one of the best known and most popular filmmakers of all time.

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

a very slight collection with not a lot to recommend it. there is another solar pons story here "the amateur philologist" which taxed my ability to suspend disbelief: even the most inept police experts could not possibly be as stupid as this story would have one believe, and the central conceit is too ludicrous. arthur porges, henry slesar and talmage powell offer the strongest contributions aside from the table-turning story "the hitchhikers" by bruce hunsberger. it also features one of the most boring stories around bigamy i've ever read, called "till death" by fletcher flora, and a terribly dated, and stupid misogynistic story called "many women too many" by C.B. Guilford.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an American anthology of various pulp horror/thriller stories that really run the gamut of the genres. Everything's here from an execrable 'comic ghost' story, THE GHOST AND MR GREBNER, by Syd Hoff, to a Holmes pastiche as August Derleth's detective, Solar Pons, hunts down a killer in THE AMATEUR PHILOLOGIST.

A few of the stories are one-note ideas. Henry Slesar's VOODOO DOLL is a short and nasty joke; Talmage Powell's A FRIENDLY EXORCISE is the kind of story you'd expect from the silly pun in the title. THE HITCHHIKERS by Bruce Hunsberger and DOOM SIGNAL by John Lutz are straightforward crime thrillers.

Others are better. SEE WHAT'S IN THE BAG, by Hal Ellson, is a sweaty, hardboiled thriller writ large. FAT JOW AND THE WALKING WOMAN by Robert Alan Blair has a great title and a story that lives up to it. Lawrence Treat's PERFECT SHOT is a good twist-in-the-tale effort Helen Nielsen's THE SEVENTH MAN has a fine hard-bitten narrator. MANY WOMEN TOO MANY, by C. B. Gilford, may seem a little sexist to the modern reader, but it nevertheless adds humour to the collection. Ed Lacy's STORE COP is anecdotal but fun while TILL DEATH by Fletcher Flora is a great, fast-paced police procedural.

The best story is THE GLINT by Arthur Porges, a borderline horror-cum-thriller with a line in vivid characterisation.

[Woody Chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probably have my copy from when I was a kid somewhere, but I know that I would not have read it cover-to-cover like I did this time. Many of the stories were culled from AHMM, some of which I had read & remembered from their original iteration. Pretty cool! I took the book into work (I am a USPS mail handler) & would read it on breaks or during Lunch periods, hence the length of time spent with it. I saved the long novelette for last & was glad that I did. It was a rewarding read to wrap up the anthology.

[Melanie LaFrinea]

Meh. Was thinking it was a book by Alfred Hitchock. It wasn't. He wrote the introduction, and it is a collection of short stories by other authors, only a few of which were really worth reading. Oh well. At least it was a short book!

[Luna Gamez · Rating 3 out of 5]

De esos libros para leer en un rato (o qué tú madre leyó en el colegio y te lo heredó)

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

My younger brother, Fin, swears by these Alfred Hitchcock collections and has read many of them. I have read maybe two, but have been pleasantly surprised at the quality of both collections.