A mostly entertaining collection of stories. I give the editors credit for including many different types of supernatural beings and phenomena it's not all ghosts or vampires (just a few.)
Plot overviews and my rating (* to *****):
Lonely Train a' Comin' by William F. Nolan -- a Montana rancher sets out to avenge the death of a loved one which he believes happened on a train that authorities claim can't exist. ****
Vandy, Vandy by Manly Wade Wellman -- a wanderer comes across a family in an isolated valley and helps them in their struggle against an unwanted suitor for their daughter. ***
The Ghost Patrol by Ron Goulart a ghost hunter (and some ghosts) try to help a doctor being harassed by narrow-minded conservatives opposed to any government free-loading, including the clinic the doctor runs. **
The Adventure of the Ball of Nostradamus by August Derleth & Mack Reynolds Solar Pons investigates the unrelated murders of young children in London and beyond. **
Gateway of the Monster by William Hope Hodgson Carnaki the Ghost Finder recounts a terrifying encounter in a haunted room in which at least three people have died under mysterious circumstances. *****
A Good Judge of Character by Susan Dunlap - a woman has a chance encounter with a family on a beach that changes the direction of her life. ***
The Angel of the Lord by Melville Davisson Post -- Uncle Abner confronts a neighbor intent on theft who seems to be taken over by a more powerful personality than his old self. ***
Falling Boy by David Dean -- a man piloting a small plane has an extraordinary encounter that gets him involved in a child kidnapping case. ****
The Existential Man by Lee Killough -- a police detective has strange feelings about a discovered corpse which has connections to a cold case he was involved in. ****
The Midnight El by Robert Weinberg a private detective who can often see dead people looks for a client's loved one on a train ferrying dead souls to the next plane. *****
The Cardula Detective Agency by Jack Ritchie a private detective who only works from 8pm until 4am agrees to protect a man who plans to change his will the next day and has survived one attempt on his life. ***
The Chronology Protection Case by Paul Levinson a forensics detective begins to suspect that there is a universal cause to deaths linked to a research project. ***
Children of Ubasti by Seabury Quinn -- Psychic sleuth Jules de Grandin investigates the story of a young woman who claims she was abducted and subjected to a horrible game. ***
Death by Ecstasy by Larry Niven In 2123 a man looks into the death of a fellow asteroid miner on Earth who starved to death during an overload of current to the pleasure cells in his brain *
A note about Children of Ubasti: although written in 1929, one of the characters expounds about the inhuman blood-thirsty villains in this story thusly: "America is tolerant too tolerant of foreigners. More than due allowance is made for their strangeness by those who seek to make them feel at home, and unsuspected, unmolested, these vile ones plied their trade of death among us."
Plot overviews and my rating (* to *****):
Lonely Train a' Comin' by William F. Nolan -- a Montana rancher sets out to avenge the death of a loved one which he believes happened on a train that authorities claim can't exist. ****
Vandy, Vandy by Manly Wade Wellman -- a wanderer comes across a family in an isolated valley and helps them in their struggle against an unwanted suitor for their daughter. ***
The Ghost Patrol by Ron Goulart a ghost hunter (and some ghosts) try to help a doctor being harassed by narrow-minded conservatives opposed to any government free-loading, including the clinic the doctor runs. **
The Adventure of the Ball of Nostradamus by August Derleth & Mack Reynolds Solar Pons investigates the unrelated murders of young children in London and beyond. **
Gateway of the Monster by William Hope Hodgson Carnaki the Ghost Finder recounts a terrifying encounter in a haunted room in which at least three people have died under mysterious circumstances. *****
A Good Judge of Character by Susan Dunlap - a woman has a chance encounter with a family on a beach that changes the direction of her life. ***
The Angel of the Lord by Melville Davisson Post -- Uncle Abner confronts a neighbor intent on theft who seems to be taken over by a more powerful personality than his old self. ***
Falling Boy by David Dean -- a man piloting a small plane has an extraordinary encounter that gets him involved in a child kidnapping case. ****
The Existential Man by Lee Killough -- a police detective has strange feelings about a discovered corpse which has connections to a cold case he was involved in. ****
The Midnight El by Robert Weinberg a private detective who can often see dead people looks for a client's loved one on a train ferrying dead souls to the next plane. *****
The Cardula Detective Agency by Jack Ritchie a private detective who only works from 8pm until 4am agrees to protect a man who plans to change his will the next day and has survived one attempt on his life. ***
The Chronology Protection Case by Paul Levinson a forensics detective begins to suspect that there is a universal cause to deaths linked to a research project. ***
Children of Ubasti by Seabury Quinn -- Psychic sleuth Jules de Grandin investigates the story of a young woman who claims she was abducted and subjected to a horrible game. ***
Death by Ecstasy by Larry Niven In 2123 a man looks into the death of a fellow asteroid miner on Earth who starved to death during an overload of current to the pleasure cells in his brain *
A note about Children of Ubasti: although written in 1929, one of the characters expounds about the inhuman blood-thirsty villains in this story thusly: "America is tolerant too tolerant of foreigners. More than due allowance is made for their strangeness by those who seek to make them feel at home, and unsuspected, unmolested, these vile ones plied their trade of death among us."
