DARK Stories of Madness, Murder and the Supernatural

This collection of creepy stories mixes classics such as Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” and W.W. Jacobs’s “The Monkey’s Paw” with several more recent tales. Especially compelling are three first-person narratives: Graeme Malcolm’s tale, told as if to spook party guests, of A.M. Burrage’s “Smee”; Grover Gardner’s bemused account of encounters with a seemingly delusional lady friend in Isaac Bashevis Singer’s “The Cafeteria”; and Colleen Delany’s descent into madness as her character probes the secrets of “The Yellow Wallpaper” in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s tale. With one exception--a Will Self excerpt that is more sick than spooky--these tales were well chosen and are grippingly performed. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 01]