August Derleth was always a good anthologist. These twenty stories are part of a trio of anthologies that Derleth did for Rinehart during and after WWII. They are all culled from Weird Tales or from British writers that had not seen much print in the US. All would end up in Arkham House books somehow. You get twenty stories and two Lee Brown Coye illustrations for each tale, what could be bad? Derleth includes one of his own hidden stories under the pen name of Stephen Glendon.

I never cared for Derleth’s sf or Mythos writing but his straightforward spook tales are gruesomely good. Beyond his masterful editorship he was also a successful regional writer. If you appreciate midwestern US regional writing, you might try to find his less uncanny scribblings. ( )