A Book of Strange Stories by Herbert Van Thal

A Book of Strange Stories

Selected by Herbert Van Thal

Pan Books, 1956, paperback

Very Good Condition, some edge and shelf wear, some rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, age toned pages, no inscriptions,  (see photographs)

“Though most of the thirteen tales have a strong element of the supernatural in them, some have not, yet can be classed as ‘strange’ – for example, Aldous Huxley’s The Dwarfs, Phyliss Bentley’s Nemesis, Margery Sharp’s The Second Step, and Dylan Thomas’s entertaining A Visit to Grandpa’s.  To chill the spine there are such stories as Man-size in Marble by E. Nesbit, usually remembered now only for her books for children; The Cyprian Cat by Dorothy L. Sayers; Gerald Bullett’s Death’s Farm; and L. P. Hartley’s The Island.  Adrian Alington’s Lady for Drowning perhaps comes in this category too.  Walter de la Mare’s curious tale “What Dreams may Come” is typical of this great poet’s prose works.  Of younger writers who are attracting attention today, W. Stanley Moss and Alan Wykes are represented in this book, the former by The Zombie of Alto Parana, the latter by Miss Sander’s Story.  Also included is The End of Justice by G. Fielden Hughes, which is both original and humorous, and has been broadcast in a dramatized version.  At the end of the book are bibliographical notes on the authors.