Classic Tales of Creatures from Beyond, says the subtitle. These things are always subjective. Lovecraft's 'Dagon' is a classic, no question, but this version of War of the Worlds, an abridgement for a continental abridgement, and a Boys' Magazine version of King Kong belong more in the Interesting Curiosity department. The latter, by the way, is much better than the former, despite the former being done by Wells himself.
Among the others, I liked 'The Dragon of St Paul's' by Reginald Bacchus and C Ranger Gull and 'Discord in Scarlet' by A E Van Vogt, which Vogt successfully claimed was source material for the Alien franchise. These stories illustrate the dichotomy editor Ashley has juggled with here. 'Dragon', like 'Dagon', is really weird fiction, or even weird adventure; 'Discord' is science fiction, pure and simple. I am perfectly happy with the mix but suspect purists might jib.
Of the others, I found 'Personal Monster', by 'Idris Seabright' aka Margaret St Clair (1911-95) stayed with me longer than any other. The ending I thought was masterful.
NOTE: Turns out I made it to my 1000th post sooner than expected. This is it. Monsters, sci fi, classic and weird ... I guess that about sums up this blog. On to the next milestone!
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