Tales of Terror: 58 Short Stories Chosen by the Master of Suspense

Be afraid--be very afraid: the master of suspense is serving up 58 bloodcurdling tales for your delectation. These suspenseful stories all appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and in the words of Hitch himself, they "are guaranteed to chill and unnerve." Bill Pronzini contributes "The Arrowmont Prison Riddle," Margaret B. Maron has "A Very Special Talent," Barry M. Malzberg offers "A Home Away from Home," and Patricia Matthews chronicles "The Fall of Dr. Scourby." Meet a girl who stalks Jack the Ripper, a clairvoyant writer of newspaper obituaries, a homicidal partygoer in a sanatorium, and a police detective who lives vicariously through the exploits of one of his most notorious suspects: they all populate these frightening pages. Caution: not recommended for late-night reading--except for the very brave CONTENTS Killed by Kindness ..... Nedra Tyre Just a Minor Offense ..... John F. Suter A Home Away From Home ..... Robert Bloch Death of a Derelict ..... Joseph Payne Brennan The Arrowmont Prison Riddle ..... Bill Pronzini The Dettweiler Solution ..... Lawrence Block The Whitechapel Wantons ..... Vincent McConnor Cora's Raid ..... Isak Romun Life or Breath ..... Nelson deMille A Private Little War ..... William Brittain Have You Ever Seen This Woman? ..... John Lutz Joe Cutter's Game ..... Brian Garfield A Cabin in the Woods ..... John Coyne The Long Arm of El Jefe ..... Edward Wellen Kid Cardula ..... Jack Ritchie Career Man ..... James Holding The Perfidy of Professor Blake ..... Libby MacCall Sea Change ..... Henry Slesar The Blue Tambourine ..... Donald Olson Graveyard Shift ..... William P. McGivern A Bottle of Wine ..... Borden Deal Man Bites Dog ..... Donald Honig Never Trust an Ancestor ..... Michael Zuroy Another War ..... Edward D. Hoch Sparrow on a String ..... Alice Scanlan Reach The Missing Tattoo ..... Clayton Matthews The Fall of Dr. Scourby ..... Patricia Matthews The Loose End ..... Stephen Wasylyk That So-called Laugh ..... Frank Sisk A Very Special Talent ..... Margaret B. Maron The Joker ..... Betty Ren Wright The Very Hard Sell ..... Helen Nielsen The Tin Ear ..... Ron Goulart The Time Before the Crime ..... Charlotte Edwards After the Unfortunate Accident ..... Barry N. Malzberg The Grateful Thief ..... Patrick O'Keeffe The Inspiration ..... Talmage Powell Death is a Lonely Lover ..... Robert Colby The Witness was a Lady ..... Fletcher Flora Scheme for Destruction ..... Pauline C. Smith To the Manner Born ..... Mary Braund Black Disaster ..... Richard O. Lewis The Marrow of Justice ..... Hal Ellson Innocent Witness ..... Irving Schiffer We're Really Not That Kind of People ..... Samuel W. Taylor Pocket Evidence ..... Harold Q. Masur The Death Desk ..... S.S. Rafferty A Left-handed Profession ..... Al Nussbaum Second Spring ..... Theodore Mathieson Bank Night ..... Arthur Porges The Contagious Killer ..... Bryce Walton Bad Actor ..... Gary Brandner Free Advice, Incorporated ..... Michael Brett The Real Criminal ..... James M. Gilmore The Hard Sell ..... William Dolan The Prosperous Judds ..... Bob Bristow The Dead Indian ..... Robert W. Alexander The China Cottage ..... August Derleth