Nice little collection of eight stories by some of the early-to-mid-20th century's greatest horror authors. "Ancient Sorceries," about a man who recounts his strange experience in a remote French village where the peasants seem to turn themselves into cats, is--in my opinion--the best and most atmospheric of Algernon Blackwood's longer pieces. H.P. Lovecraft hadn't yet hit his stride when he wrote "The Unnamable," but it's one of the first tales in which he grappled with the concept of cosmic horror, and made plain his ambition to produce something more than a standard haunted house story. August Derleth had his moments (see "The Thing That Walked on the Wind" and "Alannah"), but "Mr. Ames' Devil" isn't one of them; it's the sort of throwaway comedy-horror fluff that inspired Jack Laird's silly "blackout" sketches on Night Gallery and not much else. The book closes with a bang, however: "I Kiss Your Shadow" is one of the finest pulp horror tales that Robert Bloch ever wrote. He was a born yarn-spinner, and this story of a femme fatale who becomes even more implacable in death shows Bloch at the top of his game.

Good stuff from William Hope Hodgson, Theodore Sturgeon and Fritz Leiber, too (and an okay story by Robert E. Howard). Horror Hunters is worth picking up if you can find a reasonably priced copy. ( )