Herbert Van Thal – Pan Horror 17

Herbert Van Thal (ed.) – The 17th Pan Book Of Horror Stories (1976)

Monica Lee – The Remains of Reindeer
Harry Turner – The Hypnotist
Elleston Trevor – They’re Making a Mistake
Barbara J. Eyre – Poor Rosie
Alex White – To Fatima
Jack Shackleford – Thy Intention Turn …
Maureen O’Hara – Nobody’s Child
Myc Harrison – Needle and Thread
Dawn Muscillo – Sister Coxall’s Revenge
Jonathan Cruise – The Claygo Worm
Myc Harrison – The Abscess
Norman P. Kaufman – An Opportunity in Local Government
Roger F Dunkley – The Man Called James

Alex White – To Fatima: Charts the progress of James from acts of sadism versus pets in childhood, through opportunist murder and a lengthy stint as a corpse-raping strangler in maturity to his downfall when he meets Fatima, the beautiful sister of a wealthy Arab and the only woman he ever loved. When Fatima insists on going through with her arranged marriage to Feisal, James falls back into his old ways. But Fatima’s brother and Feisal are more than his match in dishing out suffering and his protracted torture at their hands, boots, whips and irons is hideous.

Alex White is something of a Vault favourite and this is typically nasty if not in quite the same league as Never Talk To Strangers or her masterpiece The Clinic.

Barbara Jane Eyre – Poor Rosie: Mentally unbalanced serial killers do not make the best mothers. Dead baby fun.

Roger F. Dunkley – The Man Called James: A police helicopter hovers overhead and wheelchair-bound Maud finds a young man in her garden. A very personable fellow but he just can’t endure suffering in his fellow creatures. When her cat lashes out at a dove he destroys the bird with his bare hands and tosses it away. Then he notices Maud’s tablets …

Harry E. Turner – The Hypnotist: The under-rated Turner continues his tradition of reworking unpretentious twenties and thirties horror plots as ace reporter Stew McAlpine travels to Montreaux to interview master mesmerist Count Vladimir Von Beck. “All poppycock” reckons McAlpine until he meets with the happy clappy zombies on whom the Count conducts his experiments and, finally, experiences the man’s uncanny abilities for himself. Plenty of gory surgical moments and much nastiness down in the cellar.

Jack D. Shackleford – Thy Intention Turn ….: Jermyn Street. 24 year old Alexandra German has taken the job of secretary to Damon Selby, an authority on all things folklore, occult and witchy. Selby has incurred the wrath of a Black Magician he inadvisedly dismissed in print as a charlatan and this man has vowed to destroy him. Alexandra volunteers to assist Selby in raising a demon to reverse the spell but … it doesn’t go too well.

Thanks to Rog at Vault Of Evil for providing me with a copy of this.

See also Vault Of Evil’s Pan Horror 17 thread.