When I was in middle school I borrowed science fiction book from my town’s bookmobile when it came to the school. The book was an anthology of pulpish sci-fi stories that had a picture of some mutant type creature on the cover. I remeber the first story being about some guy who lived in a house in the woods somewhere who had some blob-like thing start to come out of his basement and his attempts to battle it. I can’t really remember any of the other stories off the top of my head, but I don’t think I ever finished to book. I would like to re-read it again for nostolgic purposes more than anything. Any ideas about what book it was?
Er… Conan The Blobarian?
Sorry, I got nothing.
I’m familiar with plenty of blob-creature stories, but not that one.
One of those early 1970s Marvel comics Monster comics had a cover with a hippy type and his girlfriend being menaced by a blob-thing in an old house, but that wasn’t a written story.
I suspect Ghosts and More Ghosts by Robert Arthur. Don’t let the title throw you; there are hardly any ghosts to be found here.
The first story (which I have encountered elsewhere under the title The Believers) deals with a man who does a supernatural-themed radio show. To give his show a touch more atmosphere, he has himself chained to a bed in a creepy old house in a swamp in the middle of the night. He spins a tale for his listening audience about a horrible blob-like creature “with a face like an oyster”…and then he starts to hear the noises outside…
This story scared the pants off me when I was a kid. I still love it, and the other stories in the book are great too.
I don’t believe that was it, but it sounds like a similar tale.
The frustrating thing is that I can, to this day, vividly see the cover of the book, but I have no idea what the title was.
After thinking about it some I remember one other story being told from the perspective of semi-intelligent moster type creature culminating with its eventual run-in with a grandfather/father/grandsons hunting party.
Did the blob story have kind of a Lovecraft feel to it? I seem to recall … something …
The game is afoot!
It did. I seem to recall the main charactor believing that he had to stop the blob-type-thing there or it would become unstoppable. It also may have been that he inherrited the house, but don’t quote me on either of the things as its been 15+ years.
My own searches have revealed the book The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction pub. 1952 to potentially fit the bill but I can’t find a picture of the book.
I’ve read it, too, then. That matches with my recollections. It may, however, be on the order of a decade or two older than you’re thinking. I think I read it in one of my Dad’s collections when I was a lad, which were mostly from the 30s and 40s.
Its funny because I recall that story having a distinctly older feel than some of the other stories in the book. Overall I would have said 50’s for the anthology, but that story definetely felt more 30’s to me.
Alright, that makes sense.
Now to dig thru some old boxes …
Dang! I was so sure!
That one sounds like “It”, by Ted Sturgeon.
Could the first story be either “The Worm” or “The Thing in the Cellar” by David Keller? The book Creatures from Beyond edited by Terry Carr may be it. It has the “It” story by Theodore Sturgeon and “The Worm” in it. I’d have to read one of the stories to be sure but that may be it.
The Thing In The Cellar has the right flavor, but the details are different. Can’t find The Worm or The Boneless Horror to check them out. I suspect you have hit on the right author, tho, as Keller definitely has a Lovecraft feel.
I read that in junior high. It was fresh stuff back then, and I really liked that story. The oyster face lets me know it’s the one I read. I doubt any other story has those plot points.
I think that book may have had the story about the mummy that a kid digs out of an Indian mound and puts it the basement. The mummy is animated though, and gets even with the kid. It gave me bad dreams once in a while.
I believe the title of that particular story is “Wendigo’s Child” by Thomas F. Monteleone. (Not to be confused with the more famous Algernon Blackwood story “The Wendigo”.) Yeeps creeps it was scary! I still have vivid memories of it as well.
After a little Googling I think it appeared in an anthology called Monster Tales: Vampires, Werewolves and Things. I remember it also had a story about a boy who voluntarily became a werewolf to get revenge on the cruel lord who lived in a nearby castle.
If you vividly remember the cover still, perhaps a more detailed description would be in order.
Sounds good!
Harmonious, that story wasn’t in my book, but there was one about an Egyptian curse…