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Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural (Modern Library) Hardcover – October 18, 1994

by Phyllis Cerf Wagner (Editor), Herbert Wise (Editor)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 127 ratings
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When this longtime Modern Library favorite--filled with fifty-two stories of heart-stopping suspense--was first published in 1944, one of its biggest fans was critic Edmund Wilson, who in The New Yorker applauded what he termed a sudden revival of the appetite for tales of horror. Represented in the anthology are such distinguished spell weavers as Edgar Allen Poe ("The Black Cat"), Wilkie Collins ("A Terribly Strange Bed"), Henry James ("Sir Edmund Orme"), Guy de Maupassant ("Was It a Dream?"), O. Henry ("The Furnished Room"), Rudyard Kipling ("They"), and H.G. Wells ("Pollock and the Porroh Man"). Included as well are such modern masters as Algernon Blackwood ("Ancient Sorceries"), Walter de la Mare ("Out of the Deep"), E.M. Forster ("The Celestial Omnibus"), Isak Dinesen ("The Sailor-Boys Tale"), H.P. Lovecraft ("The Dunwich Horror"), Dorothy L. Sayers ("Suspicion"), and Ernest Hemingway ("The Killers").

"There is not a story in this collection that does not have the breath of life, achieve the full suspension of disbelief that is so particularly important in [this] type of fiction," wrote the Saturday Review. With an introduction and notes by Phyllis Cerf Wagner and Herbert Wise.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    1056 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Modern Library
  4. Publication date
    October 18, 1994
  5. Dimensions
    5.71 x 1.97 x 8.33 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0679601287
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0679601289
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This bargain of a book is a thick hardcover anthology--more than 1,000 pages long--containing stories of naturalistic and supernatural terror. First published in 1944, it has stood the test of time and become a classic in the field. Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural is rivaled only by David G. Hartwell's The Dark Descent as the essential horror anthology. Fortunately, there's little overlap: of the 52 tales in this anthology, only 5 are duplicated in The Dark Descent. Included here are such memorable stories as W.W. Jacobs's "The Monkey's Paw"; Saki's "Sredni Vashtar" and "The Open Window"; Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game"; Conrad Aiken's "Silent Snow, Secret Snow"; Arthur Machen's "The Great God Pan"; along with gems by E.F. Benson, H.G. Wells, Ambrose Bierce, Rudyard Kipling, Walter de la Mare, M.R. James, Guy de Maupassant, and O. Henry.

From the Inside Flap

When this longtime Modern Library favorite--filled with fifty-two stories of heart-stopping suspense--was first published in 1944, one of its biggest fans was critic Edmund Wilson, who in The New Yorker applauded what he termed a sudden revival of the appetite for tales of horror. Represented in the anthology are such distinguished spell weavers as Edgar Allen Poe ("The Black Cat"), Wilkie Collins ("A Terribly Strange Bed"), Henry James ("Sir Edmund Orme"), Guy de Maupassant ("Was It a Dream?"), O. Henry ("The Furnished Room"), Rudyard Kipling ("They"), and H.G. Wells ("Pollock and the Porroh Man"). Included as well are such modern masters as Algernon Blackwood ("Ancient Sorceries"), Walter de la Mare ("Out of the Deep"), E.M. Forster ("The Celestial Omnibus"), Isak Dinesen ("The Sailor-Boys Tale"), H.P. Lovecraft ("The Dunwich Horror"), Dorothy L. Sayers ("Suspicion"), and Ernest Hemingway ("The Killers").

"There is not a story in this collection that does not have the breath of life, achieve the full suspension of disbelief that is so particularly important in [this] type of fiction," wrote the Saturday Review. With an introduction and notes by Phyllis Cerf Wagner and Herbert Wise.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Modern Library; 7th edition (October 18, 1994)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 1056 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0679601287
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0679601289
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.13 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.71 x 1.97 x 8.33 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 127 ratings

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  1. Herbert A. Wise

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
127 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Flying Scot
5.0 out of 5 stars Not to Be Opened Until October 31
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2020
Verified Purchase
Strange things happen in October. Leaves take flight on chilly nights; tall oaks' long fingers reach out on moonlit roads; pumpkins appear in fields everywhere, some even leering at visitors from shadowy porches; the moon rises bone-white, casting eerie shadows on lawns and chimneys; owls may call your name; and even small children morph inexplicably into fantastical creatures who walk the night from house to house on October 31...

But none of these is as strange and forbidding as are the bizarre and terrifying stories within this volume. "The Most Dangerous Game" concerns a highly intelligent creature who provides hunting's ultimate challenge, and on an island, no less; also, I must warn you not to "whistle" in the dark or something you don't want may come to visit you; and then there's "The Monkey's Paw." How could a dead monkey's paw possibly harm you? But it might on the night of October 31. Be sensible and pitch it into your crackling fire. WARNING: Don't read "The Monkey's Paw" by yourself after dark. It will make you get up and check your locks. I promise. Not that it will do any good, of course.

There are many others, too, including the fellow who keeps a screaming skull in his house. No accounting for individual tastes, eh? In "Afterward" you won't recognize the shade until it's too late - for you, that is. And if you're up north, watch out for the silent, secret snow. It covers all, including you if you're not careful.

All the great old dead truly rise in this volume: Faulkner, the Southern ghost, whose most recognized quote is, "The past is never dead. It's not even past;" Poe, the mad specter; Bierce, the vanishing ghost (we still don't know what happened to him); even Hemingway, Dickens, Blackwood, Wharton, and both Jameses: Henry and M.R. They're all here. So be careful. To open this tomb... er, tome - is to release their spirits into your home. Buy, but remember... not to be opened until Halloween night, ideally when the house is quiet and abed. And don't forget to put some wolfsbane and garlic on your door... just to be on the safe side, of course.
11 people found this helpful
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Milwaukee Psych Fan
5.0 out of 5 stars You Cannot Go Wrong
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2023
Verified Purchase
Anybody remotely interested in all things that chill and thrill must have this. Wonderful cross-section of seminal works and obscurities in digestible bites.
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Jery Tillotson
5.0 out of 5 stars The Ultimate Book of Classic Horror!
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2020
Verified Purchase
In 1952, I was a high school freshman in a tiny country school but I was lucky to discover in our small library--with books donated by local residents--this tome. It was during a harsh winter and I remember beginning to read the stories and discovered I couldn't stop reading. Armed with a pot of coffee and a platter of homemade brownies, I could hardly wait to resume reading story after story that left me exhilirated and eager to read the next one. Even today at the age of 80, this is probably my fourth copy that I keep on my nightstand and when it storms or snows here in the Blue Ridge Mountains, I eagerly pick up this volume and once more delight in such masterpieces as "Afterward," by Edith Wharton, "The Rats in the Wall" and "The Dunwich Horror" by H.P. Lovecraft, "Sir Edward Orme" by Henry James,' and all those other masterpieces like "They," "Ancient Sorceries", "O Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad", "How Love Came to Professor Guildea." They definitely influenced by writing career and the books and story collections I've written as 'Jason Fury' ("The Secret of Jimmy X) and "The Creaking Door" as 'Andrea d'Allasandra." These stories introduced me to the great story tellers at that time that I had never heard of, especially the ultimate horror masterpiece, "The Great God Pan" by Arthur Machen. In fact, my novel, "Screams of Pan," writing as 'Jason Fury', was greatly inspired by this masterful story.
Even if you're a young reader and might be put off that this book was published in 1943, don't let that discourage you. Great writing never goes out of style. These stories were written in a different era by writers now long dead. Give this collection a try and very likely, like myself, you'll keep this thick book on your nightstand for many years.
28 people found this helpful
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dragonlady620
5.0 out of 5 stars Book arrived in a timely fashion and was in good condition
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2023
Verified Purchase
Arrived in great shape. For a while this book was hard to find so I was delighted to find another copy for a reasonable price.
2 people found this helpful
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James Castle
4.0 out of 5 stars The mediocre and the great
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2014
Verified Purchase
Although there are some very good stories here, there are also some stories that are for various reasons virtually unreadable. Had the following stories been excised, this anthology would have been good indeed:

"Leiningen versus the Ants." A remarkably stupid story. Its main character is virtually an unwitting parody of himself.

"The Haunters and the Haunted." A boilerplate haunted house story, the second half of which is as nonsensical as it is insane.

"Rappacini's Daugher." Although I generally like this author, I thought this work weak and repetitive.

"The Trial for Murder." Forgettable, although (probably through Dickens' influence) well-written.

"The Furnished Room." Terribly overwritten.

"How Love Came to Professor Guildea." Derivative and dull.

"Out of the Deep." Pompous, inflated language and the most ridiculous dialogue I've ever read.

"Adam and Eve and Pinch Me." Overwritten and mediocre.

If one is willing to skip over those listed above, one may find several masterpieces of the short story. These include:

"They." A most moving story; its perfection is almost a justification for the artistic existence of ghost stories.

"Sredni Vashtar." Delectably dry.

"Suspicion." Engagingly written and plotted.

"A Rose For Emily." A masterclass in how to structure a short story; perhaps the finest story collected here.

"The Horla." Truly frightening with a most memorable ending.

"Casting the Runes." Damn scary. A testament to the power of understatement.

"Caterpillars." As viscerally frightening as anything by Cronenberg. Excellently developed suspense.

"The Celestial Omnibus." Beautifully written.

Taken as a whole, this anthology demonstrates a strange mixture of masterpieces and mediocre dreck. Edited down, the book would be essential.
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Siddhartha Dutta
5.0 out of 5 stars MISSING PAGES
Reviewed in India on December 23, 2019
Verified Purchase
The copy I received didn't have the last two tales from the Terror section, and also part of Hamingway's 'The Killers'. Nothing was torn or tampered with, tho. Otherwise all good.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great tales, a great pleasure!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 30, 2016
Verified Purchase
Great book, good quality of the cover and the other materials. Great stories. The introductions of the writers I appreciate. But it are the stories of course that made me buy the book. I didn't regret the purchase. The stories just have the length to read them without putting the book away for the next day. I like that. The stories are terrific! The first story already tells of a horror that you can't imaging. The cruelty of the betrayed husband and the logic he uses to reach his purpose are beyond your imagination. And the book is full with such stories. The one a little more terrifying than the other. I can recommend the book to whoever likes this kind of tales.
H.J. Gordijn, The Netherlands.
2 people found this helpful
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