William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 - 23 September 1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. His best-known works are The Woman in White (1859), No Name (1862), Armadale (1866) and The Moonstone (1868). The last is considered the first modern English detective novel. Born into the family of painter William Collins in London, he lived with his family in Italy and France as a child and learned French and Italian. He worked as a clerk for a tea merchant. After his first novel, Antonina, was published in 1850, he met Charles Dickens, who became a close friend, mentor and collaborator. Some of Collins's works were first published in Dickens' journals All the Year Round and Household Words and the two collaborated on drama and fiction. Collins published his best known works in the 1860s and achieved financial stability and an international reputation. During that time he began suffering from gout. After taking opium for the pain, he developed an addiction. During the 1870s and 1880s the quality of his writing declined along with his health.
A very entertaining bunch of short stories, with a misleading title. Of the dozen stories in this book, only two could possibly be deemed supernatural, and even those two might have more mundane explanations for the events described. Two other stories in this collection might be called action/suspense tales. But the others have nothing to do with terror or the supernatural at all. Rather, they are mysteries, or tales of false identity, or tales of blackmail, or of suspicion. All eminently readable, and all good fun. My favorite story in the book is "Mad Monkton," one of the tales with a more supernatural cast. This longish story takes its time but builds to a very satisfying conclusion. The mystery tales show Collins developing the type of format he would later perfect in "The Woman in White" and "The Moonstone." I feel that any fan of Collins would enjoy these varied stories. Just don't go in expecting a really scary time.
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