ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S TALES TO MAKE YOUR HAIR STAND ON END

by Eleanor--Ed. Sullivan ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 25, 1981

In both quantity and quality, this new gathering from the A.H. Mystery Magazine (selections going back to the Fifties), is a cut above recent Ellery Queen anthologies. True, there's not a single spellbinder among the 24 stories here--but there are few total washouts and little of the lame, tongue-in-cheek whimsy favored by EQ lately. The emphasis throughout is on good old murder, with top honors to a neat Talmage Powell winner in the pure Hitchcock-TV tradition, complete with fine final twist. Also notable: black-comic turns by Jack Ritchie and Theodore Mathieson. And the best of the non-murder tales (which range from counterfeiting and bank-robbery to ghosts and moonshining) is S.S. Rafferty's derivative but well-turned Twilight Zone-r about death premonitions. Plus--one curiosity: a 1970 ""Nameless Detective"" story by Bill Pronzini which reads like a miniature first-draft of last year's Labyrinth. Decent mystery-pulp start to finish, with a photo-quiz on Hitchcock films as a bonus.

Pub Date: June 25, 1981

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dial

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1981

Categories: FICTION