Pan Book of Horror Stories: Volume 1

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One of my all time favourites of the Not at Night’s, and the climactic pursuit across the rooftop is genuinely exciting. Lost Boyis a gory, gutting retelling, one that would not work without a strong central character we know, like, and understand. Jamie is that character, a nurturing type who looks after the other Lost Boys while Peter plays his games. When the novel begins, he loves Peter best of all. They have been together literally longer than Jamie can remember. He is Peter’s favorite. But, as Jamie begins to become disillusioned by The Island and Peter’s games, all of that changes. The empathy of Lost Boy. Some of the stories included featured works from authors such as Peter Fleming, C S Forester, Ray Bradbury and Bram Stoker.

It really gets into this issues of fandom and ownership and what is the authentic character?” said Henry. “Is there an authentic character or is there space for all of these ideas to exist?” What’s next?

Where did the idea for Lost Boycome from?Henry has an 11-year-old son who was obsessed with the story of Peter Pan when he was five. They would watch the 1953 Disney animated film and read the story over and over again. I have to hold my hands up and admit to never having heard of the Pan Horror series prior to receiving this, so where better place to start than with the reprint of the book that started it all off. First published in 1959 and edited by Herbert van Thal, the Pan Horror series came to feature many prolific writers of the horror genre and ran till 1989, six years after van Thal’s death.

While this book is intended for adults, not children, Henry doesn’t spare the horror because of the characters’ young age. “People talk about kids like they’re really innocent,” said Henry, “but I always say that the reason why Roald Dahl’s books have been so successful for so many years is because Roald Dahl doesn’t pretend that the world is a good place. He believes that bad things happen and bad things happen to kids and that’s present in all of his books: an awareness.” In tribute to this once ubiquitous set of books, here’s the cover art, accompanied in each case by a listing of the stories, and featuring also an index of the stories, listed by author. It’s this empathetic, relationship-driven question that drives the thrust of the Lost Boynarrative, and makes the booka fascinating exploration of boyhood, friendship, and the intersection of the two.As a result of reading the more trashy stories in the 1980s I was inspired to read more in the series and this provided exposure to classic authors and their deeper story-telling in the earlier editions. Personal highlights were The Horror in the Museum by Hazel Head, a story about the horrors of working in a waxwork museum after dark, and Bram Stoker’s The Squaw in which a cat (as illustrated on the front cover) takes revenge on a man for accidentally killing her kitten. Also included is a A Brief History of the Horrors by Johnny Mains to get you up to speed on exactly why these books are considered a standard in the history of British Horror anthologies. You will see some unexpected inclusions in this list, and some surprising absences. Certain big names are missing because their greatest contributions are in short form, or because their books tread ground better travelled by others. Equally, some of these choices may cause horror fans’ eyes to wrinkle in confusion. But perhaps, in the end, that’s the secret of horror: it’s personal. It’s about how it makes you feel.

I should not have doubted author Christina Henry, who also successfully added to and commented upon Alice in Wonderland canon with her novels Alice and Red Queen. The characters and world of Peter Pan is in safe hands. The story of Lost Boy. Somewhat reluctantly, he decides to put up there for the night. At first, his main cause of concern is that the landlord is eyeless and reminds him of a slug, but there’s also a beautiful girl hanging around and at least she must be harmless … One of the things that I do and one of the things that I think a lot of authors do when they’re retelling stories is they’re finding the empty space in the original story and filling it in for themselves. That was me, wanting to answer this question of ‘Why does Hook hate Peter Pan?’ I filled in the space. I don’t think I answered every question, and so there’s still imaginative space in there for the reader to fill in that space for themselves. Stanley Ellin - The Speciality Of The House: Laffler introduces his underling Costain to the delights of Shirro's restaurant, the finest men-only meaterie one could ever wish to find, especially when "Lamb Amirstan" is on the menu .... I'm hugely indebted to Mr Duncan Ball, who very kindly provided me with scans and contents listings for the volumes I had missing - many thanks to him. Due to his contribution, this is now a complete listing of all thirty volumes.

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It’s not a YA book. It’s a book that’s written for adults. It goes in the adult section, so I hope that will mitigate some of the concerns, but I have spoken to a few parents who have come up to me at signings and said, ‘I have a 12-year-old who really loves Peter Pan. Would she like this?’ And I’m like, ‘Maybe you want to wait a couple of years.’ It’s a case-by-case basis. Usually I do say that my editor calls it Lord of the Flies meets Peter Pan. If your kids aren’t ready for Lord of the Flies, they’re probably not ready for my book, either.” Putting a spin on an existing story is nothing new.

The thing that first attracted me to the books was the lurid cover design that would sometimes thrill, occasionally titillate but usually disgust and intrigue. Combine the strong, vivid cover designs together with stories from new authors as well as classic authors and you had a winning combination. This was in the nature of a coffin supported by six headless bearers goose-stepping towards a white headstone. Underneath … with grim irony, the legend ‘Ye Journey’s End’”. Our Non-Fiction publishing is going from strength to strength, sharing stories that make a powerful, human connection with their readers.One of the things I was trying to get at in the book,” said Henry,“is the way groups of boys can be both really brutal with each other in a careless way, but also really tender and how they’ll tend to follow the most charismatic leader. And, obviously, Peter’s a charismatic leader. And so they follow him.” The early editions of the Pan Book of Horror Stories were notable for their lurid cover art [2] and Van Thal's introduction of stories by new authors alongside classics of the genre. The first edition included works by Peter Fleming, Muriel Spark, Bram Stoker and C. S. Forester. Later volumes featured Ray Bradbury and Lord Dunsany among others. Basil Copper made his debut in fifth volume, with the story "The Spider". [3] The series also published work by Charles Birkin, R. Chetwynd-Hayes and Alex Hamilton. [4] After volume nine, Van Thal placed a heavier reliance on new authors. The series grew in popularity and was the stepping stone for much new talent. [1] In the 1970s, the increasingly violent content of the Pan Books provoked some controversy. [4] In the early 1980s a slow decline in standards was observed. Popularity rose again in the late decade, but a multitude of reprint stories from Stephen King and a severe slide in quality ended the iconic series in 1989. The last book is now a rare collectors item, owing to the small print run it received. Pan Fiction is the UK’s third largest fiction imprint, the leading imprint in Romance & Sagas and home to giants of crime and thriller publishing.