Vic Ghidalia (1926–2013)

So-so collection of horror and dark sci-fi, quite representative of the paperback anthologies of its time. Clark Ashton Smith's story, "The Second Interment," was a vivid reminder of why I don't like Clark Ashton Smith very much: dull, suspenseless, each ten-dollar word that Smith fished out of his thesaurus landing with a boneless splat. (And, maddeningly, the title tells you exactly what's going to happen. The only Smith story that ever made an impression on me was "The Return of the Sorcerer," but I gather that fans consider it one of his worst.) Robert E. Howard's "Dig Me No Grave" is a typically lackluster imitation of H.P. Lovecraft. Howard was a great writer of spooky action tales (see the Solomon Kane series), but his straight horror stuff was always slightly below par.

Among the better stories are "Subterfuge," Ray Bradbury's succinct fantasy about how Earthlings might survive an alien invasion; "By Water," in which Algernon Blackwood cautions the reader never to disregard the predictions of gypsy fortune tellers; and "A Wig for Miss DeVore," a nasty little piece of black comedy by August Derleth. (It was adapted by Donald S. Sanford for an episode of Boris Karloff's anthology television series Thriller.) The Derleth story is the only one that I would recommend going out of your way to read.… (more)

Nice little collection of eight stories by some of the early-to-mid-20th century's greatest horror authors. "Ancient Sorceries," about a man who recounts his strange experience in a remote French village where the peasants seem to turn themselves into cats, is--in my opinion--the best and most atmospheric of Algernon Blackwood's longer pieces. H.P. Lovecraft hadn't yet hit his stride when he wrote "The Unnamable," but it's one of the first tales in which he grappled with the concept of cosmic horror, and made plain his ambition to produce something more than a standard haunted house story. August Derleth had his moments (see "The Thing That Walked on the Wind" and "Alannah"), but "Mr. Ames' Devil" isn't one of them; it's the sort of throwaway comedy-horror fluff that inspired Jack Laird's silly "blackout" sketches on Night Gallery and not much else. The book closes with a bang, however: "I Kiss Your Shadow" is one of the finest pulp horror tales that Robert Bloch ever wrote. He was a born yarn-spinner, and this story of a femme fatale who becomes even more implacable in death shows Bloch at the top of his game.

Good stuff from William Hope Hodgson, Theodore Sturgeon and Fritz Leiber, too. (Plus an okay story by Robert E. Howard.) Horror Hunters is worth picking up if you can find a reasonably priced copy.… (more)