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Twelve Tales of Suspense and the Supernatural
Grubb's legendary collection of tales, gathered here for the first time in four decades. The famed author of Night of the Hunter is at his best in this much-prized and rare anthology. Settle in for a night of bone-chilling terror.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1964
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About the author
Davis Grubb
84 books55 followersFrom Wikipedia
Born in Moundsville, West Virginia, Grubb wanted to combine his creative skills as a painter with writing and as such attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. However, his color blindness was a handicap he could not overcome and he gave up on painting to dedicate himself to writing fiction. He did, however, make a number of drawings and sketches during the course of his career, some of which were incorporated into his writings.
In 1940, Grubb moved to New York City where he worked at NBC radio as a writer while using his free time to write short stories. In the mid 1940s he was successful in selling several short stories to major magazines and in the early 1950s he started writing a full length novel. Influenced by accounts of economic hardship by depression-era Americans that his mother had seen first hand as a social worker, Grubb produced a dark tale that mixed the plight of poor children and adults with that of the evil inflicted by others.
The Night of the Hunter became an instant bestseller and was voted a finalist for the 1955 National Book Award. That same year, the book was made into a motion picture that is now regarded as a classic. Deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
Grubb went on to write a further nine novels and several collections of short stories. His 1969 novel Fools' Parade would also be made into a motion picture starring James Stewart. Some of Grubb's short stories were adapted for television by Alfred Hitchcock and by Rod Serling for his Night Gallery series.
Grubb died in New York City in 1980. His novel Ancient Lights was published posthumously in 1982, and St. Martins Press published 18 of his short stories in a book collection titled You Never Believe Me and Other Stories.
His longtime canine companion was a Lhasa Apso named Rowdy Charlie.
Born in Moundsville, West Virginia, Grubb wanted to combine his creative skills as a painter with writing and as such attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. However, his color blindness was a handicap he could not overcome and he gave up on painting to dedicate himself to writing fiction. He did, however, make a number of drawings and sketches during the course of his career, some of which were incorporated into his writings.
In 1940, Grubb moved to New York City where he worked at NBC radio as a writer while using his free time to write short stories. In the mid 1940s he was successful in selling several short stories to major magazines and in the early 1950s he started writing a full length novel. Influenced by accounts of economic hardship by depression-era Americans that his mother had seen first hand as a social worker, Grubb produced a dark tale that mixed the plight of poor children and adults with that of the evil inflicted by others.
The Night of the Hunter became an instant bestseller and was voted a finalist for the 1955 National Book Award. That same year, the book was made into a motion picture that is now regarded as a classic. Deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
Grubb went on to write a further nine novels and several collections of short stories. His 1969 novel Fools' Parade would also be made into a motion picture starring James Stewart. Some of Grubb's short stories were adapted for television by Alfred Hitchcock and by Rod Serling for his Night Gallery series.
Grubb died in New York City in 1980. His novel Ancient Lights was published posthumously in 1982, and St. Martins Press published 18 of his short stories in a book collection titled You Never Believe Me and Other Stories.
His longtime canine companion was a Lhasa Apso named Rowdy Charlie.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 22, 2016
There are two reasons why I picked up this book; one, because this is the author of The Night of the Hunter, one of my favorite films of which I have read the novel, the screenplay and the making of the film; and two, because the last story in this collection, Where the Woodbine Twineth, was the basis of an excellent Alfred Hitchcock episode that totally blew my mind. I have to ask myself, where the devil have I been to not find this author’s short stories before? While some of the stories worked better than others, I enjoyed all of them with my favorites being the previously mentioned story, One Foot in the Grave, and The Horsehair Trunk. I’m going to have to seek out all of Mr. Grubb’s work.
April 29, 2013
The key to such a book, I soon discover, lies in the acknowledgments on the back o' the title page. Some of these tales came from the pulps: Weird Tales, Nero Wolf, and Ellery Queen, while others came from more mainstream publications such as Colliers and The Women's Home Companion. This explains the openness of the tales within, roughly, the Gothic genre; sub-genre the vaguely American weird tale.
All-in-all these tales, written between 1946 and 1963 as far as I can tell, remind me the most of the old Twilight Zone TV series, as, like that show, the settings and types of stories here are quite varied, including the supernatural, some more of the fairy-tale variety (several are seen through the eyes of children), and some surprisingly urban and quasi-science fiction in their depiction of invasive, modern technology gone awry--a radio that refuses to leave a man alone and a television techie who learns how to transmit more than mere images across the airwaves. (In fact one of the stories here--with a not altogether felicitous re-setting--made its way to Rod Serling's other, later, 1970's show, Night Gallery.)
Therefore, if you're looking for modern horrors, forget it, these are also much less horrifying and wryly humorous than the most known of the later Weird Tales and TV writers, the great Robert Bloch. Grubb rather brings us back to the Cresap's Landing of his most famous novel, Night of the Hunter, for some Ohio river suspense and murders--and back to the same raw world of children either in peril or even perilous themselves, a tad a la Ray Bradbury as well. Tame terrors by today's bloodier and more sexist standards--my favorite of this collection was the slightly romantic supernatural story of the ne'er do well elementary school drop-out boy who (with the help of traveling supernatural magician) turns his uptight teacher into a March hare. It was remarkably beautiful in that way that imaginative fiction sometimes is while apparently trying to do something else altogether.
Biggest flaw: It needed one more tale to make an ill-fated thirteen. In the acknowledgments there's a story cited that matches none of the titles in the collection--but then I recognized it as a phrase from the final tale "Where the Woodbine Twinith," the most Blochian of the tales. Apparently Grubb got away with publishing that tale twice, in two different magazines, by changing the title. Good for him; it's hard to make a living writing short stories!
All-in-all these tales, written between 1946 and 1963 as far as I can tell, remind me the most of the old Twilight Zone TV series, as, like that show, the settings and types of stories here are quite varied, including the supernatural, some more of the fairy-tale variety (several are seen through the eyes of children), and some surprisingly urban and quasi-science fiction in their depiction of invasive, modern technology gone awry--a radio that refuses to leave a man alone and a television techie who learns how to transmit more than mere images across the airwaves. (In fact one of the stories here--with a not altogether felicitous re-setting--made its way to Rod Serling's other, later, 1970's show, Night Gallery.)
Therefore, if you're looking for modern horrors, forget it, these are also much less horrifying and wryly humorous than the most known of the later Weird Tales and TV writers, the great Robert Bloch. Grubb rather brings us back to the Cresap's Landing of his most famous novel, Night of the Hunter, for some Ohio river suspense and murders--and back to the same raw world of children either in peril or even perilous themselves, a tad a la Ray Bradbury as well. Tame terrors by today's bloodier and more sexist standards--my favorite of this collection was the slightly romantic supernatural story of the ne'er do well elementary school drop-out boy who (with the help of traveling supernatural magician) turns his uptight teacher into a March hare. It was remarkably beautiful in that way that imaginative fiction sometimes is while apparently trying to do something else altogether.
Biggest flaw: It needed one more tale to make an ill-fated thirteen. In the acknowledgments there's a story cited that matches none of the titles in the collection--but then I recognized it as a phrase from the final tale "Where the Woodbine Twinith," the most Blochian of the tales. Apparently Grubb got away with publishing that tale twice, in two different magazines, by changing the title. Good for him; it's hard to make a living writing short stories!
December 27, 2021
Really enjoyable collection of short stories which feel like they invoke tones of both Ray Bradbury and Charles Beaumont. Less supernatural and more suspense, but even so, stories which execute that "twist" at the end very well. Definitely recommend.
November 25, 2024
Macabre morality tales
Not bad, but the collection lacks the poetic brilliance of his novels
Not bad, but the collection lacks the poetic brilliance of his novels
Want to read
July 16, 2011Stephen King recommended book. Noted as "important to the genre we have been discussing" from Danse Macabre, published in 1981.
It appears the book was originally named "Twelve Tales of Horror" and has since been renamed.
It appears the book was originally named "Twelve Tales of Horror" and has since been renamed.
June 27, 2012
Definitely creepy.
August 26, 2013
I was so excited to find this book for my "pulp horror" book collection. $3 well spent. I love The Night of the Hunter, so I expected creepy chills--and I got 'em. . . In spades!
July 1, 2021
Davis Grubb takes the classic ghost story and sets it in the South creating scary stories that linger in the mind long after. Grubb uses Southern speech to develop characters that seem so real. When his characters encounter the supernatural, the reader gets so caught up, you wish the story would never end. I read 12 Stories for two hours one rainy Sunday afternoon and it felt like being in another world. He gets outside your head like Poe or Lovecraft. The first four stories are brilliant and each word is to be savored. Some of the stories are non supernatural and others are crime stories, however, they all have interesting twists that throw you off. The world needs more writers like the forgotten Davis Grubb who is like a great Uncle who can tell you stories that keep you spellbound for all day.
January 15, 2018
A collection of stories I read back in the early 1980's. Have forgotten most of the plots but the flavor of them is one of foreboding, as I recall.
July 25, 2018
It was OK, but skimmed a lot of the stories as they were weird and didn't really hold my attention. Did skip a couple. I liked the one titled The Radio. That was chilling.
June 6, 2020
I dug the stories Radio, Moonshine, & Return of Verge Likens the most.
March 27, 2022
12 tales .. the cover is better then the short stories tbh , the first 3-4 we’re cool it’s hit or miss with some of these stories .. one time read very quick read . Grimms is better lol
November 16, 2023
3.5 rounded up. Of its time. Very much like reading episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents or The Twilight Zone.
April 9, 2016
This is older suspense and some supernatural. These stories were written in the 40's & 50's and in some of the stories you can tell. That just made me like them even more but some people may not. Each story is so different from the others that you would think they were written by different authors. There is no way that a reader can predict how the story will end.
August 4, 2014
This is an interesting group of stories written back in the fifties. They are cross between Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock.
February 26, 2016
Supernatural - all right. Suspense - not so much.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews