Classic Tales of Horror, from Canterbury Classics.
This isn't my usual review. There is simply too much within this book to break down each short story or novella that makes up its entirety. I bought this book purely out of the desire to possess many of the stories within its pages that I had never gotten around to reading. It was worth the price simply for the excellent quality of the book. At over 900 pages, this is a massive selection of stories, and many of them are well known, but others are less so. Some are only a couple of pages long, while others run for several chapters, each of them possesses its own style, but each fits the overall theme. I have my favorites, such as The Pit and the Pendulum, but there were many that I read for the first time. I enjoyed The Turn of the Screw, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, and The Willows by Algernon Blackwood. Many of these stories are from the late 19th century and the early 20th century, and the language used can be a little jarring for those who have not read books from those time periods before.
As I said earlier, this isn't the typical review. It is hard to give the contents a review, and with such a great variety of works, it becomes hard to provide an overall grading. So I'll do my best and rate this book on the quality of the product, the overall quality of the range of contents, and the selection of stories. The leather seems of good quality with a simple but well-designed cover. There were no signs of damage, and the material appears hardy and well maintained. It is a chunky book with fifty-five stories within. That is more than I had expected, and they are well-written and great examples of the genre. There are some of my favorite stories within, which makes me a little biased, but even without those, I found this product to be a great read. I would recommend this to any horror fan, and it would be a greater recommendation to those that prefer works reflecting an earlier period in history.
This is an easy eight out of ten for me. The contents alone are worth the price and will satisfy any horror fan. Give this book a go if you are looking to add a collection of short stories to your book collection or if you are just looking to find some elusive tales that you might not have come across yet. If you can recommend any other classic collections of stories, let me know. Always looking for new books to add to my personal collection.
