TWISTED

Picked up this beauty for three bucks at the Taylor Antiques Mall on Memorial Day. TWISTED (May, 1962) is one of several horror anthologies published by Belmont books during the same time period. It's also one of many science fiction/fantasy/horror anthologies edited by Groff Conklin, one of the best anthology editors of the 20th century.

Like all anthologies, the stories in TWISTED are a mixed bag. There are familiar names here such as Ray Bradbury, Theodore Sturgeon, Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft sharing space with lesser known writers. I'll confess straight up that I only read a few pages of the Lovecraft story, THE SHUNNED HOUSE. I just can't get into Lovecraft, try as I might. I did read all of the other stories however. 

THE TELL TALE HEART, the Poe classic, I'd read before but all of the other stories were new to me. The stories I liked include TELL TALE HEART, THE PLAYGROUND by Ray Bradbury, THE THING IN THE CELLAR by David H. Keller, THE LITTLE MAN WHO WASN'T QUITE by William W. Stuart, NIGHT DRIVE by Will F. Jenkins, MRS. MANIFOLD by Stephen Grendon, IMPULSE by Eric Frank Russell (my favorite of the lot), BRENDA by Margaret St. Clair and THE WORLD WELL LOST by Theodore Sturgeon. Stories that just didn't work for me include THE OTHER HAND by George Langelaan, THE DIARY OF A MADMAN by Guy de Maupassant, THE UPTURNED FACE by Stephen Crane (my least favorite), THE SONG OF MARYA by Walter M. Miller, Jr and A HOLY TERROR by Ambrose Bierce

That's nine winners and six losers but another reader might rank these tales differently. All in all, a fine little collection of weird tales. Recommended.