Well-written, sharp and witty. The author's sentences are perfectly stretched for comic effect, with just the right amount of repetition and contrast. Written straight, most of these stories would probably fall flat. Truly, he's is at his best when he is comical (and at his worst when he is seriously brooding about the Other in terms of a patronizing anti-Semitism, which fortunately only happens in one story). ( )

I didn't really care for this book. The main two characters Mr. Pugh and Mr. Tress weren't really all that developed. I found it hard to understand how they felt about each other. They kept talking about being friends and yet they were so underhanded and deceiving with each other. The stories themselves were really odd. They items that the two collectors find were very unique, but that's about where the interest ended for me.

I couldn't get into the writing, I couldn't connect to the characters, and the stories were just too odd for me. ( )

Here is the review I wrote for Amazon.

Curios: Some Strange Adventures of Two Bachelors" by Richard Marsh is a collection of seven short stories told from the perspectives of two rival collectors - the easily-excited Mr. Pugh and the sinister Mr. Tress. Sometimes they manage to work together to solve the mystery of their latest curio, the rest of the time they spend trying to deceive each other. It's this odd and complex friendship that brings a delightfully dark humor to each story.

The adventures vary in theme and are each fun in their own right, though my favorite definitely has to be "The Adventure of Lady Wishaw's Hand" because it's the most gothic and interesting in the collection; although the funniest would have to be "...the Phonograph," thanks to the hilarious antics and interactions of the two gentlemen. I don't want to ruin the experience by giving away too many details, so I've listed each of the titles below.

The Adventure of the Pipe
The Adventure of the Phonograph
The Adventure of the Cabinet
The Adventure of the Ikon
The Adventure of the Puzzle
The Adventure of Lady Wishaw's Hand
The Adventure of the Great Auk's Egg

"Curios" was originally published in 1898 but has been reissued by Valancourt Books, a small press dedicated to bringing back forgotten literature from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. They've done a fantastic job with this little gem and have introduced me other amazing works by Richard Marsh. ( )