An expedition in South America uncovers a terrifying race of men without bones who literally suck the life out of their prey. A man in 20th-century London makes a horrifying discovery about a monster found off the coast of Brighton in 1745. A sea captain goes ashore on a deserted island and finds what seem to be the bones of a previously unknown species of monster, only to learn that the bones tell a much more tragic tale than he could ever have imagined. A war correspondent meets a soldier who claims to be 438 years old. These are the plots of just a few of the weird tales you will find in this book. Gerald Kersh (1911-1968) was a brilliant and inventive writer acclaimed in his time for his gritty novels of London life and his often bizarre short fiction, but he has unfortunately become neglected since his death. This volume includes an introduction by award-winning science fiction author Harlan Ellison, who also selected the eleven stories that appear in this collection and which represent the very best of Kersh's short fiction. "No mortal can write this well." - Harlan Ellison "Sometimes funny, sometimes nightmarish, always first-class entetainment." - The New York Times "Kersh had a wild imagination matched by a vivid, near-hallucinatory style ... the cumulative impact of his short stories is horrific in the extreme." - Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural

Harlan Ellison In the worst, poorest, most benighted corner of London is Fowlers End, one of the most godforsaken spots on the face of the earth. It is here that young Daniel Laverock, starving and nearly penniless at the height of the Great Depression, takes the only job he can find: manager of the Pantheon Theater, a rundown old silent cinema owned by Sam Yudenow. Yudenow, an incorrigible swindler and one of the great comic grotesques in English literature, at first seems merely an amusing old fool, but Laverock soon discovers he is actually a despicable rogue. And when one of Yudenow's schemes finally goes too far, Laverock and his co-worker Copper Baldwin decide to teach him a lesson with a grand scheme of their own, with hilarious and unpredictable results.

Venture into this alarmingly convincing world, meet the horse whose stubbornness changed history, or the man damned to everlasting love, or the murderer who confessed... and confessed... and confessed. Learn, too the secret of the Mona Lisa's smile, or what really happened to Ambrose Bierce. And ponder, if you can, the case of Simple Simon, who lost the only important thing he had--and never even missed it. Lean back, relax, take a long look at the world of Kersh. You may never recover.

This occult classic reveals the supernatural roots of Nazism and the power Hitler gained access to by acquiring a legendary holy relic. Get the astounding history behind the Spear of Longinus mentioned in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny! Ever since it pierced the side of Christ more than 2,000 years ago, it has been said that the Spear of Destiny has been invested with amazing occult powers. In this book, Trevor Ravenscroft records its legend and involvement in the decline of the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, and the twentieth century. He tells the story of the chain of men who possessed the Spear, from Herod the Great to Adolf Hitler, and how they sought to change the face of history by wielding its powers for good or evil. The Spear of Destiny is identified as the Spear of the Holy Grail mentioned in the sagas of the Dark Ages. It is believed the holder of the Spear possesses the power of mind expansion—as applicable today as it was at the courts of King Arthur and Charlemagne. The final chapters of this book describe a Manichean battle of the worlds behind the changing scene of the twentieth century. For the first time, the Satanic occult development and faculties of Adolf Hitler are described in authentic and documented detail, showing how he furthered his aims and his conquest of the world by black magic.

First published: London: Secker and Warburg, 1957.