Haunted Castles: The Complete Gothic Stories, (Paperback)

from JBD1

A compilation of Russell's excellent creepy modern gothic short stories. Del Toro's foreword in the edition I read doesn't add much, but the stories themselves are delightfully dreadful.

from unclebob53703

I bought this book for the story "Sardonicus," which is the basis of a horror movie I saw as a boy and loved. It did not disappoint. That said, if I had to pick a word to describe these stories it would be "quaint," Not to say there aren't some horrors afoot, but the prose style is so mannered it...

from williemeikle

I decided to revisit some Gothic melodrama for Halloween.Firstly, this is a delightful new hardcover edition from Penguin's new series, but having Del Toro's intro be the same in them all is a definite cheat and a big let down.But as for the stories themselves, Sardonicus retains its power even a...

from Nickidemus

The BasicsA collection of gothic-horror short stories as reissued by Penguin Books as part of their horror series. The most famous of which is "Sardonicus", the tale of a man who cannot stop smiling. That sounds pleasant, but it's a rictus smile, large and grotesque and frozen on his face. In the...

from veilofisis

Ray Russell's Gothic work is absolutely the finest the latter half of the 20th Century has to offer in that genre: his tales are theatrical and atmospheric-remarkably macabre for all their sophistication, humor, and gloss. 'Sardonicus,' his most widely-known, is a grotesque and evocative masterpi...