This horror anthology promotes itself as containing the "original stories that inspired the great horror movies." It features the original stories for "Duel," "Total Recall," "The Company of Wolves," "Freaks," "The Fly," "The Beast with Five Fingers," "Die Monster Die" and "The Golem." It also features two stories that inspired segments of "Asylum" and "Twilight Zone-The Movie." A curious addition is "The Swimmer," a story that doesn't seem to have much to do with horror at all.
It's a particularly interesting collection if you are familiar with the film versions of the stories as you can't help comparing them to their screen siblings. Some are remarkably similar as with "The Fly" and "Duel," whereas others like "The Golem" and "The Beast with Five Fingers" disappoint. In some cases, the screen versions actually improve the source material ("Freaks," "Total Recall."). In his introduction, editor Sebastian Wolfe examines the print and screen versions of these stories but his comments aren't very in depth.
Ratings below are out of five.

"Duel" by Richard Matheson.
The original road rage classic still shines. A truck driver tries to kill a businessman on the lonesome highways. (5/5)

"Spurs" (filmed as "Freaks") by Tod Robbins
A circus midget exacts revenge on those who have wronged him. The biggest disappointment in the collection. (2/5)

"While Zombies Walked" (filmed as "Revenge of the Zombies") by Thorp McClusky
A man encounters zombies and their slave-masters at an isolated farm. Surprisingly rousing pulp. (4/5)

"We can remember it for you wholesale" (filmed as "Total Recall") by Phillip K. Dick
Humorous story about memory implants and the trouble they cause. For better or worse, a zillion light years away from the film. (3/5)

"The Fly" by George Langelaan.
A man's experiments with teleportation lead to a drastic outcome. Closer to the original than the remake. (5/5)

"The Swimmer" by John Cheever.
A man swims from backyard pool to backyard pool throughout the neighborhood. Out of place in this collection. (2/5)

"The Beast with Five Fingers" by William Fryer Harvey.
A decapitated hand returns for revenge. Dated and not as good as it sounds (2/5)

"The Company of Wolves" by Angela Carter
Little Red Riding Hood meets the werewolf (2/5)

"The Golem" by I.L Peretz
The (too damned short) legend of the Golem (1/5)

"Lucy Comes to Stay" (filmed as a segment in the movie "Asylum") by Robert Bloch
Classic psycho-thriller that plays with reality (5/5)

"The Color out of Space" (filmed as "Die Monster Die") by H. P. Lovecraft.
A meteorite brings strange changes to a community. (4/5)

"It's a Good Life" (filmed as a segment for "Twilight Zone-The Movie) by Jerome Bixby.
An omnipotent little boy controls his family and community. (4/5)

It's a hit-and-miss collection, but one worth having for the stronger stories.

I'm the same reader as the one below. I forgot to mention, don't get your hopes up; even though the editorial review says that Stephen King and Ray Bradbury have stories in it, neither do. Even so, it is a very good book.

This book contains the original stories that many movies were based on. This includes such titles as "The Beast With Five Fingers", "The Fly", "Duel", and others. Hell, it has the story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale"--the story that "Total Recall" was based on. Good stuff. Some pretty freaky stories (I will never forget "The Fly"--ORIGINAL movie or story, it doesn't matter). Good book.

Outstanding illustrations of celebrities in verious fields, such as movie stars, singers... Great reference and resource for character design.

sebastian kruger is the best caricaturist of his generation. i would put him up there with levine and hirshfeld. but unlike those two kruger doesn't have a style. his consistency lies in his constant exploration of other styles. He approaches each celebrity with a fresh eye. No two pictures in this book look the same, but all are done with impeccable skill. This book is wonderful at showing some of his more popular subjects. The reproductions are great except for two blurry images. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in celebrities, caricatures, acrylics, airbrushes, and people with big noses.

No need to say that it is again the collection of Mr Kruger's brilliant caricutures of stars from which you can find out those great brush strokes stand out.

This is a captivating book about the amazing underworld and life of the US/Mexico border between Tijuana and San Diego. Rotella did many in depth interviews and first-person research in writing this book. The reader can feel the desperation of those he met with and quotes frequently, several of whom have been killed in the past few years for their efforts to end corruption and drug trafficking in Mexico. For anyone not familiar with the corruption and assassination scandals to come out of Mexico in the past decade, this book will simply amaze you. For those who are more familiar with Mexico's political situation and how it relates to the U.S.'s southern border, and the people directly affected by immigration there, this book is still an informational, emotional account worth reading.

A terrific journalist, Sebastian Rotella was the LA Times guy in Mexico, now he's in South America. This is a great read for anyone who wonders what goes on at the border besides guards, people spilling over walls and American teens going to Tijuana to drink. He explores both sides of the fence and scratches the surface to find out what lies beneath.

From the first page, you will not be able to stop until the last one. Backed with a deep professional research, this story of real life is told in such an intelligent narrative style that it seems like a novel. Clever, entertaining, revealing and enjoyable. A must!

I would have to hazard a guess that this is probably the most advanced LaTeX book on the market. It is lots of fun to look at with its many esoteric uses of LaTeX--typesetting bridge or chess game diagrams, music notation, optical illusions--in other words, stuff that I wish had enough time to learn but probably never will. However, I do find myself looking at this book more than I initially imagined because it is quite useful on subjects such as fonts and the "dvips" program. For these areas, you'll definitely find things to learn and use even if you aren't ever going to typeset Mozart's lost symphony or fiddle with Encapsulated Post-Script code at the primitive command level.

Nicely crafted guidebook to the graphics and fonts. PSTricks, color, chess, chemistry and music - helps you to typeset all of it, and more. My only complain is that the chapter on fonts is vague at places - because the book tries to be so encyclopedic, I guess

If you use LaTeX and are serious about including graphics in your documents, then this is the book to read. I've never seen a more complete and readable explanation of using graphics with LaTeX.

However, I don't recommend that raw beginners use this book. You really need some knowledge of LaTeX to understand what's going on. If you're an advanced user, THE LATEX GRAPHICS COMPANION is indispensible.

Book gave basic information about the disease. I would like to have seen more in-depth information about the causes, statistics and treatment. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor, and am already aware of the majority of the information in the book.

Having been a patient of Ms. Sebastian's several years ago, I can honestly say that everything she talks about in this book is based on what real women (like me) have been through. I especially liked the coverage of the anxiety that can frequently go along with the depression, of which many people are unaware. This book is easy to read and understand, which can be helpful when you are suffering from depression/anxiety and may be having trouble with memory or concentration. Other women's "stories" in the book help you to realize that you are not alone and that there is successful treatment. I am proof!

This book was very comforting to my wife and me when she went through a depression after our second child. It caught us so off guard. We were hungry for information. This book helped us understand postpartum issues and how to get help.

Dover publishing has succeeded in printing a very affordable edition of the Bach-Gesellschaft editions of these major Bach works. The only complaint is that the print is rather small, so there's not much room to write in fingering,of which there are none. So this book, by the nature of the music and the lack of fingering, is not for the beginner.

That's the only complaint that prevented a five-star rating. Recommended, despite the print size!

Like all the Dover editions I've seen--and I own quite a few--this is great value for the money, but for some reason they've printed this one in a slightly smaller format than, say, the Beethoven Sonatas, the Debussy album or the Chopin albums. WHY? The print is just small enough that an oldtimer like me has to squint and strain to see the notes. So, when I'm learning a piece from this book, I take it to the office and photocopy it, enlarging the pages 15% (which is about as big a size as will fit on a standard sheet of paper)--then it's just about right!

The Bach-Gesellschaft Edition, the definitive catalogue of the composer's keyboard (not organ) works, is reproduced in its entirety in this inexpensive edition by Dover. This is the best collection you will find of the Bach clavier canon outside of the Neue Bach Ausgabe catalog of his entire musical output. Though I have to admit that the print is rather small and difficult to read in places, I've grown accustomed to reading microscopic Baroque scores and had no unusual difficulty playing from the pages. Dover publishes great books at the lowest prices, from Thrift Editions of poetry, short stories, and novellas, to classical music scores, and this edition is perhaps the best value of the latter. Though not as 'standardized' as Schirmer and Carl Fischer, nor as studious as the Urtext version of Bach offered by that conservatory favorite G. Henle Verlag, Dover's Bach-Gesellschaft delivers enough bang for the buck (Bach) to win over both my wallet and a place in my score library.

P. S. This book is not recommended for beginners.

This is a very unique book. The layout of the music makes it seem as if it has 2 books in One! ie. worth the money. The first half consists of the difficult Fantasia and Fugue in a- minor, a fugue in G-Major.The strange "Little Harmonic Labyrinth" (BACH'S ONLY!)a non-tonal peice. The frollicing Fuga et G-Major "JIG",Fugue in D-Major. A concerto in G-Major(571)and the one in Es (E-flat)Major.Trios in G,c,and G. Plus the Delightful Aria in F-Major. The "SECOND BOOK" consists of 18 questionable chorale preludes by Bach.

I recently bought this book for my personal musical enjoyment (and to play out of). It consists of the Six trio sonates for 2 manuels and pedal. The sonates are: 1. E-flat major 2. c-minor 3. d-minor 4. e-minor 5. C-Major 6. G-Major It also includes the Pasacaglia in c-minor, and the beautiful pastoral in F-MAJOR. The book has clear print and nice sized measures. It also has a preface in the beginning.

I recently attended a 40 hour session of master classes that focused on interpretation of Baroque music on the modern guitar. Most of the attendees were students at conservatories - the general consensus was that this edition is superb. There may be others as good, but this one is certainly up to standard. During the class, we often referred to this edition to correct errors in the other student's scores.

Of course, any transcription for the guitar makes changes, drops some notes, looses some voices, etc. The maestro's opinion (a specialist in music of the period) was that the compromises in this edition are quite fine.

Of course, one should always have as close to the original texts as possible for reference.

The text is for advance guitarist. Fingering made perfect musical sense. One of the best by far of J.S. Bach lute transciptions. Notation based from the original works are available for study or evaluation. This work is a necessary tool for those interested in The Lute Suites.

This is not a bad introduction to the life and music of J.S. Bach, however it is nowhere as well written or informative as Christoph Wolff's biography. I found myself falling to sleep reading Boyd, but the Wolff kept me interested all the way. Wolff also presents the death of Bach's parents as a much more central experience, which I found Boyd tended to place less significance on. This is not a poor book, it is just that the Wolff bio is so much better.

Bach scholarship was turned upside down in the 1950s by the acceptance of new scholarship by Alfred Durr and Georg Dadelsen which established a new chronology and authenticity for Bach's music. It took about 30 years for Bach biography to catch up and digest the implications of the new discoveries. Bach biographies published before 1960 are frequently inaccurate in many details, and this include Spitta's famous 3 volume study. Of the recent books on Bach, Professor Boyd's book is one of the very best and the place for anyone with an interest in Bach to start their exploration of his life and work.

This book provides an analyical and important summary of the greatest of all 18th century composers. Boyd succeeds in providing the life of Bach in context with the musical conditions of 18th century Germany, but adds his own perspective as seen from the end of the 20th century. I found this book most enjoyable, along the likes of other biographies of Bach, including Spitta and Schweitzer. To be added to the Bach Plucked! web site's recommended reading list.

Michael Stitt

Sallie Ketcham's wonderful "Bach's Big Adventure" is that rare breed of book which manages to tie together a true story from a major historical figure's childhood with terrific illustrations--and throw in a palatable moral as well.

J. S. Bach apparently was quite a confident young man, boasting by the age of ten to all who would listen that he and he alone was the greatest organist in all Germany. His confidence pierced by the sarcasm and truthfulness of his elder brother (who reared him once their parents had died), Bach decides that he will go to hear a concert by the man his brother says IS the greatest--an organist named Reincken.

Suffice it to say that Bach is humbled by the experience and almost hesitates to join Reincken at the organ--but the elder man is encouraging and soon the two are playing a rollicking tune, much to the delight of both. Reincken cheers the young Bach who does, in time, become the greatest organist in Germany and beyond.

Ketcham's tale is well told, with generous doses of humor. Timothy Bush's watercolor illustrations are cartoonlike and serve to further humanize this great musician. The book is a success and a treat to peruse.

Probably best suited for 5-8 year-olds. It's the story of young Johann Sebastian Bach and his desire to be the greatest organist in all of Germany and the world. Through very good illustrations, and a compelling story, children and adults will be fascinated by this prodigy. The author passes on interesting tidbits of information of Bach's childhood that make for very good reading. However, children younger than 5 will probably tire easily of this story, since it runs a bit long.

This book is well written. Children will want to read it again and again. The author's humor adds sparkle to this historically based novel.