It’s something of a cliche in horror stories for someone to make a bet that they will spend the night in a scary mansion. This gives a slightly different take on it. A Major who claims never to have experienced fear in his life finds himself staying in a mansion with set up scares which are not actually dangerous. But after the challenger reveals his reason for wanting revenge on the him, he gives him the final scare. It’s something truly horrendous, but is it real this time? Fear itself can be a matter of life or death. On the other hand, there are exceptions that have dated quite badly: George Fielding Eliot’s The Copper Bowl is a derring-do tale of Chinese torture that reads like a bad pulp tale of the 1930’s. Had it not been for the unforgettable portrayal of a rat, burrowing beneath the skin of a torture victim, this one would not have been memorable at all. This is a genuinely creepy Lovecraftian tale. One dark night a man runs from a gang of louts and takes refuge in an abandoned building. There he encounters obscenely hideous beings. This Hazel Heald woman must have been a real H.P. Lovecraft fan," I said to myself as I read this story, with its references to ancient Gods and tentacled creatures including Cthulu. Later I discovered that it was ghost-written by Lovecraft for Heald. It's a classic. Once again I would love to see it filmed, even if the descriptions Lovecraft gives of his infernal beasties allow us to conjure up something more horrific than even the most imaginative special effects could probably do justice. The Copper Bowl’ by George Fielding Eliot – As punishment, a woman is tortured because a man she knows will steadfastly not give out military information. A fine and gripping little story.

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"].)You bloody ponce! That’s what you are! If you can’t do right by me, why don’t you go out and get yourself some pretty, sweet little queer to have your sex with?” The Growth’ by Bruce Lowery. A mother and son are increasingly worried by the size of a growth on her body. Things don't improve as it soon begins to move. I enjoyed this. It builds nicely, and you wonder where it’s all heading. It’s also a moving tale, with her unable to accept what is happening, and desperately hoping for a successful operation Dulcie Gray (1915-2011) was a British singer and actress of stage, screen and television, a mystery writer and a lepidopterist.

John Burke - A Comedy Of Terrors: Robbie Searidge, a designer for a movie company, practices torture and mutilation on his visitors then reproduces the finer details of their tormented deaths on film for mass consumption. When he catches his girlfriend Dolores prying in his secret room he flays her alive then disposes of her body (and those of her predecessors: burnt alive, hung, drawn and quartered, etc.) at the junkyard. But Dolores brother is convinced that Robbie is a murderer and before she went "missing" Dolores confided to him that lover-boy talks in his sleep: about his greatest fear .... This story was filmed as part of Season 2, Episode 9 of Night Gallery, Nov 17, 1971 starring John Astin. (Once again the character names were changed.)Just to mix things up a bit, this one is a poem. A morbidly humorous tale of uxoricide. Very enjoyable.