I ran out of steam doing individual reviews of the stories in this anthology, which is no reflection on these tales. The last one, in particular, was very good: A Bit of the Dark World is a thoughtful story of Cosmic Horror, with nods to Lovecraft, but very much with its own sensibility.

Overall, a good collection of stories with some intriguing angles on society and the human experience, viewed through a dark lens.

The Black Gondolier: If Lovecraft wrote Cosmic Horror, then in "The Black Gondolier" Leiber wrote Cthonic Horror. Set in the oil town of Venice, California, it is an oozing and choking horror in which humankind are complicit pawns of a Lower Power. It's an environmental horror about the greed and corruption of the oil industry, right-wing conspiracy theories and ecological shortsightedness evident in 1964 when Leiber wrote this, and of which he'd likely recognise Trumpism as its dreadful culmination.
There's a reference to the John Birch Society which I had to look up, finding it to be a far-right, ultra-conservative organisation, sadly still operating, and setting itself against "the Deep State", and happily proclaiming itself as having shaped the ideology of the Trump administration. Horror indeed, and surprising where a presciently good writer like Leiber can take you. 4 ( )

the excellent imagination needed to write these stories can not be disputed, but the overwritten style of the Elizabethan period surely can not hold one's attention. Leiber seems to be at home with short fiction; I would have hoped, however, that a good editor might have made his pieces shorter still. Located elsewhere in this library is the original isue of "Night Mojnsters," issued as an ACE double in 1969 with "The Green Millennium." I doublt I'll be adding any more Leiber to my collection. I haven't the time to get to the point. I am glad there is a point, however. ( )