What was this Alfred Hitchcock collection called?

I think it was Alfred Hitchcock. I had a book that was a collection of short stories. Three of them are standing out at the moment.

One involved a boy who found an old piece of scrimshaw that his grandfather (or something) had picked up in his travels. His grandfather told him it was a good luck talisman, of something of that sort, and that you could make a wish on it. The kid sneaks out of bed and downstairs, where his parents are having a bridge game with some friends. He listens to their conversations, where they gossip about other people in the town, using all kinds of cliches and various idioms - “if wishes were horses, Joe would ride”, “Her tongue wags at both ends”, etc etc. Kid falls asleep and makes a wish. Next day all the odd little things his parents had said came true - literally. Suddenly Joe had a herd of horses that kept appearing from nowhere. The town busybody’s tongue suddenly flapped at both ends, etc. etc.

Story 2: A guy has a boarder who keeps a birdcage in his room - but always keeps it covered. One day, curiosity gets the better of the guy, and he sneaks a peek into the cage, only to find that there’s a little miniature house inside. And, apparently, little miniature people. He ends up pissing off the little miniature people, and they move out, which in turn pisses off his boarder, who also moves out, leaving the cage (and house) behind. A new group of mini-people move in, but they’re complete slobs. The main thrust of the story was that the mini-boarders were good luck, but the slobby people brought slobby-good luck.

Third story that I remember involved a guy named Pie(?) who was, for some odd reason, floating at the top of the room. Can’t remember much more than that.

And I just remembered another one, that might help me find this after all - I’m pretty sure it was called “The Extra Berth” or the “something” Berth - it was about a ship with a haunted cabin, as told by some sailor (and for whatever really odd reason, through the mysterious mechanics of my brain, I remember that this story was the first time I’d ever seen the word “sinewy”.

Maybe that will help me find it, but in case it doesn’t… Anyone know?

Well, there’s The Upper Berth by F. Marion Crawford.

It contains the word “sinewy”.

Don’t know about the others.

I recognize the first story. It’s in a collection of stories by Robert Arthur that fellow Doper **Myron Horowitzki ** helped me find (and I am forever in his debt!) It’s called A Collection of Great Ghost Stories (or something of the sort), which is odd, because I’m not sure there are any ghost stories in it.
I’ll be back when I’ve got time to confirm that for you.
However, the other stories I don’t recognize.

First, the correct name of my savior is Myron Van Horowitzki. I cry a thousand pardons, Myron, wherever you are! Second, the correct name of the book I spoke of is Ghosts and More Ghosts. I hope that’s helpful.

I know it’s either Alfred Hitchcock’s Ghostly Gallery or Alfred Hitchcock’s Haunted Houseful. I’ve got the series at home (he did a bunch of middle grade readers, each with a different theme), so I can check and get back to you tomorrow on this.

Thanks, everyone for your great answers. I have verified that it is indeed Alfred Hitchcock’s Ghostly Gallery, as suggested by the aptly-named booklover. And the fourth story I mentioned is, in fact, “The Upper Berth”. I’m going to have to get my hands on a copy of this book - I’d love to give it to my son, who I’m sure would enjoy it as much as I did. Although, I distinctly remember being a little scared by “The Upper Berth”.

Reading through the description, there were some other great stories in there: “Obstinate Uncle Otis” (where I first learned the importance of the phrase “waiting for the other shoe to drop”); “Miss Emmerline Takes Off” (where I finally learned that “salve” is not pronounced the way it looks). I wish I understood why I can remember truly mundane details like where I learned a word, (and in which order I read the stories - “The Truth About Pycraft” was one of the last ones I read, because I couldn’t seem to get into it, and of course, I can’t remember much about it now) but couldn’t for the life of me remember the name of the collection. And the authors - HG Wells, Robert Louis Stevenson, Algernon Blackwood, and as mention F Marion Crawford - what a group!

OK, maybe I need to buy two. One for me, one for the boy.

Can’t go wrong there.

Incidentally, there is a treasure trove of ghost/supernatural/horror stories at http://www.horrormasters.com They add a new one every day, and currently have nearly 1,600 archived in not only pdf format, but many are also downloadable for PDAs. I haven’t even made a dent in them yet, but I’m steadily working through them. They’re organized by author, genre, era of publication, even length.

A motherlode for your Favorites list.

Story #1, the Robert Arthur one, is “The Wonderful Day.”

Story #2 is Henry Kuttner’s “Housing Problem.” Great story. More people should have heard of Kuttner, who is probably most famous for “Mimsey Were the Borogroves.”

The reason fat old Pyecraft was floating up at the ceiling was because he had partaken of an old Gypsy formula for “losing weight.”