Dreadful Tales (2000) is a collection of short horror stories by American cult writer Richard Laymon. Published the year before his death it collects twenty-five stories, most previously published in magazines.
Stories (in order of arrangement) Invitation to Murder The Grab Saving Grace Barney's Bigfoot Museum Herman The Champion The Maiden A Good Cigar is a Smoke I'm not a Criminal Oscar's Audition Into the Pit Spooked The Good Deed The Direct Approach Good Vibrations Phil the Vampire Paying Joe Back The Fur Coat Blarney Dracuson's Driver Roadside Pickup Wishbone First Date Stickman Mop Up
Reception The collection received positive notices from the horror community, including Shivers, which said that it "knocks all other offerings for six and presents a consistent collection of tales, almost every one of which manages to shock, delight and horrify through numerous ideas, characters and situations... a breath of fresh air in the stale UK Horror climate... Gets my vote as the best of 2000 by a long chalk." (Although Laymon was an American writer, throughout his career his books were more popular in the United Kingdom, a fact he blamed on a botched, heavily edited American release of his second novel, The Woods Are Dark.) Books Magazine called it a "terrifying collection of short stories that showcases the dark genius of a true master of the macabre."Amazon listing for Dreadful Tales
References
Further reading The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. United States, St. Martin's Press, 2002. Jones, Stephen. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: 12. United Kingdom, Little, Brown Book Group, 2012. https://www.proquest.com/docview/331783329/A7A76E220B8E4EBFPQ/5?sourcetype=Newspapers