The Pan Book of Horror Stories, ed Herbert van Thal

A facsimile of the first Pan Book of Horror Stories published in 1959, this doesn't contain any of the crudely sadistic stories for which the series later became notorious. Rather, most of the 19 tales here provoke a genuine frisson, simultaneously creepy and pleasurable.

Hester Holland's "The Library" is heavily gothic and although one can see the unhappy ending coming a mile off, it still manages to shock and leaves one with an image which is difficult to forget.

If you suffer even mild vertigo you'll read Jack Finney's "Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket" with bated breath. LP Hartley's "WS" is a brilliantly surreal tale, although let down by a silly ending. CS Forester's "The Physiology of Pain" is a scary fable set in Nazi Germany. Both Hamilton Macallister's "The Lady Who Didn't Waste Words" and Chris Massie's "A Fragment of Fact" are superb examples of the "strange story" genre. And Muriel Spark's quirky ghost story "The Portobello Road" and Angus Wilson's repulsive "Raspberry Jam" both deserve honourable mention.

A welcome reprint of a highly influential and hugely enjoyable collection.