Thirty Hours with a Corpse

Characterized by gratuitous acts of brutality and surprise endings, these tales of obsession and violence are the creations of a twentieth-century French writer whose works were staged by the legendary Th?tre du Grand-Guignol of Paris. The precursors of modern thrillers and slasher films, these stories have been specially selected for this edition and introduced by horror specialist S. T. Joshi. Thirty-nine conte cruel ("e,cruel tales"e,) include "e,In the Light of the Red Lamp,"e, in which a husband's photographs of his dead wife reveal a deeper tragedy, "e,Fascination,"e, the tale of a morbid passion that develops when the narrator, determined to stay at home, shoots his mistress for the sake of peace and quiet, and "e,The Bastard,"e, concerning a father's suspicions about his son's paternity. Other stories include "e,The Taint,"e, a view of infanticide as mercy-killing, "e,The Test,"e, in which an accused murderer is forced to reenact his crime, and "e,A Maniac,"e, recounting a thrill-seeker's ghoulish impulse to witness death-defying stunts gone wrong.