13 Tales of Horror Review

13: Tales of Horror

-       Edited by Christopher Pike

Publisher: Point Horror: First published in 1992

Assembled on the pages of this anthology are 13 original short stories by the best known writers of the genre: Christopher Pike, R.L. Stine, A. Bates, D.E. Athkins, Lael Littke and Pat Windsor---just to name a few. They have given us their best...You'll be cast into an endless night of wax museum horrors, vampire love, deadly dolls, and...who knows what else may await you?So let the masters take you and do their worst---with their best.

This is an anthology of top teen horror writers in the early 90s who each contribute one tale to the collection. I first read this when I was a teenager in the early 90s and picked a second-hand copy earlier this year to relive some of the YA of my youth. Was it successful? Some stories are more memorable than others – Christopher Pike’s Collect Call stands out to me as I think he captures what it means to be a teenager – complete with getting drunk and having sex – not that there is anything explicit but it is talked about.

House of Horrors by JB Stamper is probably the scariest tale here – about being trapped in a wax work house overnight. Some of the tales are a little dated – especially Hacker by Sinclair Smith as most teenagers these days are much more savvy with computers. Some are a little strange – like Where The Deer Are by Caroline B Cooney which tries too hard to scary. Overall though this is a good taste of the type of horror that was popular twenty years ago and a nice flash back to my youth. I wasn’t blown away by any one writer or story and don’t think I’ll be hanging onto this copy any more than I did my original copy.

Recommended for fans RL Stine and LJ Smith. 6 out of 10.