“#7 The Flying Beast. Masterman again takes the detective formula and runs berserk, this time with a haunted English manor, murder, anti-gravity metal, a lost race of troglodytes, and a hidden abyss in the desert.”
– Karl Edward Wagner, “Thirteen Best Science Fiction Horror Novels” (Twilight Zone Magazine, 1983).
“#10. The Shadow on the House. Hansom is another of the unjustly neglected group of thriller writers. Usually his novels only appeared to have supernatural content, and in the end we learn it was only Uncle Geoffrey in a Mad Monk costume behind it all. The ending to this one is a stunner.”
– Karl Edward Wagner, “13 Best Non-Supernatural Horror Novels” (Twilight Zone Magazine, 1983)
“#10. The Cross of Carl. Antiwar novella concerning a German foot soldier in World War I, horribly wounded and baled up with the other battle casualties to be rendered into soap. After this, things really get strange. Owen is best known for More Things in Heaven.”
– Karl Edward Wagner, “13 Best Science Fiction Horror Novels” (Twilight Zone Magazine, 1983)
Although known as a western and historical writer, Paul Dayton Bailey managed to turn out one genuine over-the-top creepy novel in 1946, Deliver Me from Eva. It’s listed on the 100 Best Modern Horror Novels collection.
“#8 Melmoth the Wanderer. The greatest of the Gothic novels, proving that Gothic and psychological horrors are doubly effective when combined.”
– Karl Edward Wagner, “13 Best Supernatural Horror Novels” (Twilight Zone Magazine, 1983)
The Top Suspense Group has unleashed on the public their latest anthology. In a collection which would do Jim Thompson proud, this is a hard boiled collection for fans of the genre.
#7 The Yellow Mistletoe. A wild one. Masterman was another of those detective writers who at times broke away from formula. This one reads like a cross between Monk Lewis and Sax Rohmer.
-Karl Edward Wagner, “13 Best Supernatural Horror Novels” (Twilight Zone Magazine, 1983)
“#2 Psycho. Can you ever feel safe in a shower again? I think there may have been a film adaptation by Alfred Hitchcock.”
-Karl Edward Wagner, “13 Best Non Supernatural Horror Novels” (Twilight Zone Magazine, 1983)
“#4 The Screaming Mimi. Brown at his terrifying best, and again with a psychotic killer.This was filmed twice; once as The Screaming Mimi and more recently as The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (a/k/a The Phantom of Terror)”
– Karl Edward Wagner, “13 Best Non-Supernatural Horror Novels” (Twilight Zone Magazine, 1983)
“#1 The Deadly Percheron. The opening chapter defies description. Imagine one of those 1930s screwball comedies with the crazy situations, but substitute malevolence for humor.”
-Karl Edward Wagner, 13 Best Non-Supernatural Horror Novels” (Twilight Zone Magazine, 1983)