Thursday, August 23, 2007

Super Cool Library Find

I was browsing through the library shelves tonight, waiting for a hailstorm to pass (sidenote: hail?! in August?! that dents my car?!), and I found the perfect addition to the R.I.P Challenge II:

Witches' Brew: Horror and Supernatural Stories by Women

It's an out-of-print book edited by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini with a super-corny cover. But take a look at the table of contents...

"The Haunted Chamer" by Ann Radcliffe
"The Last Man" by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
"The Yellow Wall Paper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
"The Striding Place" by Gertrude Atherton
"Afterward" by Edith Wharton
"Where Their Fire Is Not Quenched" by May Sinclair
"The Lamp" by Agatha Christie
"The Gray Men" by Rebecca West
"The Cyprian Cat" by Dorothy L. Sayers
"A Haunted House" by Virginia Woolf
"The Idol of the Flies" by Jane Rice
"Judgement Day" by Flannery O'Connor
"The Birds" by Daphne du Marier
"Night Court" by Mary Elizabeth Counselman
"The Lovley House" by Shirley Jackson
"Kindling Point" by Marcia Muller
"The Bingo Master" by Joyce Carol Oates

I was stunned to see how many kickass writers, across such a wide time span, were collected. My hat is off to the editors, and I cannot wait for September to begin! For those of you doing the Short Story Sunday Peril, I recommend looking this book up in your library! The only question will be how to decide which ones to talk about. :)

In unrelated news, I've officially given up on The Instance of the Fingerpost, at least for a few months. I'm substituting the P.D. James I reviewed earlier as my last Summer Mystery Challenge read. I concede defeat.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have to admit that I cannot stand The Yellow Wallpaper.

Petunia said...

Thank you, thank you for sharing this! My library has a copy and I reserved it.

Anonymous said...

Very neat! This looks like a cool book.

Somer said...

That looks great! I just checked and I can get a copy from my library. Now, first, those fines... embarassingly enough, I'm a librarian...I should know better. :-)

a.book.in.the.life said...

Hi just came across your blog and already found a book to add to my want list! I will see if it is available in the UK, cheers!

Eva said...

Christopher, I've vaguely heard of The Yellow Wallpaper, but I'm not sure what it's about. I'll have to see if I like it!

Petunia, awesome! We'll be able to compare notes. :)

Heather, I'll have to take a picture of the cover, so you can see how some publisher went horribly, horribly wrong. It involves a floral teapot, lol. The inside is cool though!

Somer, lol at the fines and you being a librarian! My library doesn't have late fees, which is a relief (though I still try to return the books on time). I'm glad you'll be reading it as well!

Book in the Life, glad it sounds good to you as well! I'll have to check out your blog as well-thanks for stopping by. :)

chrisa511 said...

What a cool book! I love stumbling across books like this on the shelves. This one has such a great mix of authors. I agree with Christopher though :p Can't stand The Yellow Wallpaper, mainly because I've had to read it a bajillion times in high school and college. It's weird, some people I know have never had to read it, and others have had to read it tons of time...guess it just depends if you've lucked out on professors! Enjoy the book!

Eva said...

Chris, it makes browing the library feel like a treasure hunt, doesn't it?! I've never had to read The Yellow Wallpaper, so maybe it'll be more enjoyable without any analysis.

Dewey said...

Muller seems to do a variety of these sorts of collections. I'm almost positive I've read one she edited that was mystery short stories by women.

Eva said...

Dewey, that's interesting. What a neat job that would be-collecting great stories by women. :)