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Title: I Want My Mummy
Series: ----------
Editor: Alfred Hitchcock
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Crime Fiction
Pages: 186
Words: 73K

Synopsis:

From the Inside Cover & TOC

TERRORS OF THE TOMB. . .

An Italian Prince is selling something more sinister than art objects in View by Moonlight.

The Sword of Damocles is put to murderous modern use in There Hangs Death!

An insane killer explains the method of his madness in The Pattern.

When Emma discovers the secret ingredient in her lover’s tobacco, their romance goes up in smoke in Pipe Dream.

Mr. and Mrs. Duvec argue fiercely, but death has the last word in The Sound of Murder.

CREEP INTO THE CRYPT

WITH HITCHCOCK

Hitchcock’s favorite Mummy is guarding a horde of horrible treasures. Before your terrified eyes, he will unwrap an unrivaled collection of ghoulish murders that will age you overnight. . .suffocating suspense that will leave you gasping for air. . .and evil artifacts whose curse you can never escape.

Read if you dare, these macabre masterpieces.

TOC

STORIES

View by Moonlight • Pat McGerr

There Hangs Death! • John D. MacDonald

Lincoln’s Doctor’s Son’s Dog • Warner Law

Coyote Street • Gary Brandner

Zombique • Joseph Payne Brennan

The Pattern • Bill Pronzini

Pipe Dream • Alan Dean Foster

NOVELETTE

Shottle Bop • Theodore Sturgeon

STORIES

The Magnum • Jack Ritchie

Voices in the Dust • Gerald Kersh

The Odor of Melting • Edward D. Hoch

The Sound of Murder • William P. McGivern

The Income Tax Mystery • Michael Gilbert

Watch for It • Joseph N. Gores

NOVELETTE

The Affair of the Twisted Scarf • Rex Stout

My Thoughts:

This was originally titled “ Stories to be Read with the Door Locked, Vol 2”. Vol. 1 I didn't particularly care for and it got a barely passing nod from me. So when I saw the little blurb on the cover stating this was a retitled work, I kind of groaned to myself.

Then I opened up the book and realized there was a Nero Wolfe novella by Rex Stout. Without even reading a word, I mentally bumped this up half a star. I also knew that no matter how this book went, since it was ending on a Nero Wolfe story that I would go away from this a happy camper. Thankfully, my enjoyment of this collection didn't rest on Wolfe alone.

The story “Lincoln's Doctor's Son's Dog” felt like something that “I” would have written. It was bombastic, it was ego-filled by the narrator and it was stupendously outrageous and the ending was beyond ridiculous. I LOVED it!

I also enjoyed Foster's “Pipe Dream”. It was pretty obvious from the get-go where this semi-horror story was going, but the ending where the main character gets rolled into the fireplace, well, that just lit a glow of satisfaction in my heart ;-)

And then of course things wrap up with Nero Wolfe. I thoroughly liked this novella and just like every other Wolfe mystery, I was simply along for the ride. And I liked that ride. It was a good way to end the book and just made me happy. Probably means it is time to add Wolfe back into my reading rotation.

★★★★☆ ( )

This was a collection of short mystery stories, many very creepy (which makes sense considering Alfred Hitchcock is the one who curated the collection--or at least has his name on the front of the book). Everything from human anger to supernatural forces are covered, some more successfully than others (as is typically the case in a short story collection, some stories are just stronger). I'm really glad, after reading this, that I own a few more Hitchcock collections, and look forward to reading them. ( )