The 24th Pan Book of Horror Stories

by Herbert van Thal

From the dank, dark places of unimaginable terrors...

'His cries joined the screams of the children. He could not breathe. Long claws pierced his back. Rank animal breath was in his face. Teeth raked his scalp. The savage mouth pursued him.' - Gypsy Candle, Alan Temperley.

'A girl with long blonde hair was sticking a knife into the neck of an old man who sat at a kitchen table eating his dinner.' - Woodrow Wilson's Necktie, Patricia Highsmith.

'Huge locked doors... behind which were confined a sea of twisted, dehumanised flotsam...' - The Twisted Ash, Tom Cunniff.

...come more tales to hold you in the vice-like grip of the torture chamber, to turn the blood to sparkling ice...

Genres: Horror

158 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published October 7, 1983

About the author

Herbert Maurice van Thal (1904-1983), known as Bertie van Thal, was a British bookseller, publisher, agent, biographer, and anthologist.

Reviews

[Paul Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series lasted from 1959 to 1989, 30 small volumes of highly unpleasant stories. It started with some literary pretensions – the first one included CS Forester, LP Hartley, Muriel Spark and Angus Wilson. By volume 6 that had been ditched and the brilliantly named editor Herbert van Thal (a real person!) had discovered a group of young writers who thought all the old spooky stuff was lame and just wanted to write stuff about ever more horrible people doing ever more repulsive things to each other. More hacking, more experiments, more body parts in the fridge! This was a pretty successful formula until around volume 16 when the public got sick all this gruesomeness and sales plummeted. So now, thirty years later, you can pick up volumes 1 to 15 for £5 to £10 but then the prices rapidly escalate because there were fewer of them printed and all the rest of them are priced at £50 to £100 plus now.

My copy of the 21st Pan Book has zoomed up in price but as I read it it rapidly zoomed down again because the glue holding the pages together turned to dust and the whole thing fell apart. As did some of these stories.

Fans of this series like to debate which story is the all time most disgusting and it’s generally agreed that at number one is Kowlonga Plaything in No 23, followed by Love on the Farm, in volume 24. Both stories were written by Alan Temperley and I wouldn’t summarise the plots for you for love nor money. Mr Temperley later became a children’s book writer.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of short stories, some better than others. The stand outs for me are:
The Moment of Death
Woodrow Wilson's Neck-tie
The Golden Teddy Bear
The Landlady
Love on the Farm.

There were a couple of duds which made the book harder to get through than such a short volume should be.

[Max Rudd · Rating 3 out of 5]

A definite move toward quality over quantity in this collection. Of the contributors who were new to me; Philip Seymour Jennings stands out. His offering, "The Golden Teddy Bear," has a somewhat predictable ending, but in it Jennings gives us a playfully sardonic narrative that is interesting and engaging. Another writer for the list.

[Kevinjwoods · Rating 2 out of 5]

From that period when the covers were better and more horrific than the contents

[Hugo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A better standard than usual, with Obsession and The Twisted Ash being fine ghost stories, and Alan Temperley's justly notorious Love on the Farm providing the Ick Factor.