Sad Road To The Sea’ by Gerald Kersh. A tailor, who is owed money, needs money to pay his rent. When the rent collector calls round, he loses it… This is more of a crime story than a horror story, but it’s easily one of the best in the collection. Like the previous story, it’s built around tragic circumstances and a sad desperate character. One to be approached with caution by animal-lovers. A man sadistically kills his pets before turning his eye on his wife. This is another one which is not a good story, being noteworthy mainly for its sadism, but it does provide a bit of variety and is very short. In the meantime, here’s a brief overview of each of the 22 stories in this first, groundbreaking volume.

Seabury Quinn was another big name author in Weird Tales with his stories of Dr Jules de Grandin. ‘The House of Horror’ (1926) features that Frenchman in an adventure with his good friend Dr Samuel Trowbridge. En route to a medical emergency, they are forced by bad weather to stop at a large, mysterious house where a handsome man asks for their help treating a beautiful young girl who seems ill. They soon realize they are prisoners of an evil doctor. Based on this sample I must agree with Brian Stableford who said that the Grandin stories were marred by stereotyped characters and poorly resolved plots. Having a tree fall on the villain at just the right moment is hardly fair play. De Grandin is really a poor man’s Poirot. Still, it’s kind of fun and if you’re reluctant to use crude Anglo-Saxon swear words it will provide you with a fine alternative vocabulary. Marbleu! Parbleu! cordieu! Par la moustache du diable! Nom d’un chat rouge! The latter phrases can be translated into English. THE MOST PRECIOUS, by John D. Keefauver: A dentist tours the Middle East and meets a boy with perfect teeth. Keefauver had a thing for Eastern horror, but this isn't one of his best stories - it had me scratching my head in confusion rather than feeling genuinely chilled. 2/5 The Nursery Club." Reminiscent of the overrated The Veldt (love Bradbury, hate that story), but nowhere near as good. The kids in this story are creepy, but instead of exploring how and why that is, the author takes their malevolence for granted and rushes to the gruesome, yet underwhelming, ending. Jules de Gradin and his friend Trowbridge were the Holmes and Watson of the supernatural realm. Creations of pulp magazine author Seabury Grandin Quinn (1889-1969), they made a previous appearance in the story The House of Horror in the first volume in this series. Here they have a memorable encounter with a women who is as beautiful as she is deadly. A man is buried alive in his family’s vault after he succumbs to a hereditary condition which mimics death. This story embraces its grossness with robust good humour.I feel that I’m cheating a little with this first review because I actually read the book some years ago and this is taken from my basic notes, but I will be reading from volume two onwards - now. Stealing from the dead is always a risky move in horror stories. Williams really lays on the sadism once again. A dentist makes a remarkable discovery while travelling in Syria. Is the twist to this tale of gruesome patriarchal oppression really just a very silly joke? Or am I missing something? Some volumes may have a higher percentage of great stories, but for me each collection is a treasure, the grab bag nature of which is half the fun.

Here's another new story - a tale of vengeance from beyond the grave. This would have been perfect for EC comics or one of those Amicus horror anthology movies. A terrific final image. CLAIR DE LUNE, by Seabury Quinn: Jules de Grandin investigates the case of a young girl who's dying from hunger. A bit of a routine adventure for the detective, with a weak villain and stolid writing; not up to Quinn's usual standard. 3/5Other than the fact the reader is able to indulge in the slightly dubious pleasure of witnessing a deranged sadist get his comeuppance, this is a disappointingly disposable read. Dulcie Gray was a major British stage actress who switched to writing and was pretty good at that too. She came up with a couple of classics for the Pan Books and this is one. The fat 15 year old babysitter ends up taking her anger out on the baby, naturally, and it's a really horrific scene. Don't think anyone would publish this now. The Pan Books stories features a number of evil fat people. Like I say, don't look for any PC here. The Bats’ (David Grant). A boy who is brought up by distant parents gets his love from rearing animals in the garden shed. A good, dark family story with only a rather predictable and flattish ending spoiling the effect. Pelican Cay and Other Disquieting Tales (2010) – Contains the stories "Pelican Cay", "Penny Wise," "Reflection," "Skulls," "The Cannibal Feast," "The War Is Over," "The Cave." (Note: The deluxe, signed edition additionally contains "Penny Wise" (variant draft) and "Twins" [a re-working of a chapter from "Skulls"].)

Originally published in 1967. 8 out of 20 good stories make this one of the lesser books in this series so far, especially considering that 6 really are bottom of the barrel space-fillers (in my humble!). The other 6 I’d place firmly in the middle-of-the-road. Having said that, the good stories are good. If you look for gruesomeness in your horror stories you can’t go past this diabolical tale of revenge. THE TREAT, by M. S. Waddell: A husband tries to keep the truth about his job hidden from his wife. Another gleefully sadistic slice of horror from this author. 3/5

The Books

Although come to think of it he must have noticed that the case he was burying weighed less than his wife's dismembered corpse? Could be men's suits and that extra pair of brogues were really heavy in those days. That must be it. A U.S edition of the first Pan book was released by Gold Medal, an imprint of Fawcett Publications, and books 3, 4 and 5 were released by Berkley Medallion. While the first book was complete in its contents, the other three books gave only a small selection of their UK counterparts. There is no evidence to support PBoH #2 ever having a US release.