This is a strong collection of stories by an often overlooked 20th century French horror writer--although two of his stories do appear in Jeff VanderMeer's collection, The Weird (and also in this old Berkley paperback). These stories are quite varied, but all involve characters who are troubled or have few moral qualms about robbery, murder, or other vices. Ray's work has started to be re-published in a series of recent books, but if you can get your hands on this one, do so by all means. It is a thoroughly pleasurable read, and it won't take you long to finish. There's a cheerful nastiness here that makes it stand out from run of the mill horror writing. ( )

Workmanlike translations of a selection of Jean Ray's tales, credited to Lowell Bair, in a classic 60's paperback format with page edges stained a still-lurid red: A BERKLEY MEDALLION BOOK! A DREAD WORLD INHABITED BY THE LIVING DEAD! As the packaging suggests, the collection highlights Ray's gruesome shockers, but you do get two of his very best and weirdest, The Mainz Psalter and The Shadowy Street.

I believe that a number of Ray's stories were published in Weird Tales, and the cheerfully pulpy prose suggests to me that these may be the same texts. If you run across this for pennies in a junk shop, it's a nice find, but it really isn't worth paying a collector's price for.

Contents as follows:

Gold Teeth
The Shadowy Street
I Killed Alfred Heavenrock
The Cemetery Watchmen
The Mainz Psalter
The Last Traveller
The Black Mirror
Mr. Glass Changes Direction

All available English collections of Ray's weird tales are patchy, to say the least, but the best stories have a distinctive oddness that fascinates. A new selection by Iain White, translator of Malpertuis, would be a fine thing to have. ( )