Stories to be Read with the Lights On 9: Goodbye, Pops by Joe Gores

The next story in my Hitchcock reread is 'Goodbye, Pops' by Joe Gores. This was a weird one for me, as it sort of felt familiar but not as much as some of the other stories. I couldn't say I remembered it in any detail, but it didn't feel totally unfamiliar either.

I liked this one because it was a bit of a change from the others in the book so far. Although it's a 'tale of the unexpected', the twist is the opposite way round to usual. Normally in this type of story, you think things are working out okay and then something bad happens to pull the rug from under your feet. In Gores's story, you constantly feel something bad is going on, before being surprised by something... good, I guess? The story is about a criminal who breaks out of jail and returns to his family home. His father is dying, and he has a bad relationship with his brother and sister-in-law. What happens is certainly unexpected.

This is actually the first story that I'm glad I can't remember clearly, as I enjoyed hitting the big moment without any prior knowledge of what was coming. It's a bit more emotional than the previous ones, so it was nice to be surprised. Hooray for my fuzzy memories of the book!

Next Story 🠆

🠄Previous Story

Stories to be Read with the Lights On 8: No Loose Ends by Miriam Allen deFord

The next story is 'No Loose Ends' by Miriam Allen deFord. And it's a bit of a different experience to the previous story... I remembered this one straightaway. It actually feels like I read this story more recently than the others, but I don't know where or when I might have done so.

deFord's story is about a gang of criminals who are hired of 'get rid' of a woman's husband. They're not a particularly close-knit gang, so you have a feeling from the start that the title might be ironic. When the woman's husband makes his appearance, there's a little hint as to how the story will transpire. As soon as I reread it, I remembered the ending quite clearly.

With the best will in the world, this isn't the most mind-blowing story ever (although it's perfectly enjoyable). So I'm wondering why it's stuck in my head more clearly than some of the others. Either I've read this story more recently in another anthology or 'No Loose Ends' is just way more memorable than it appears.

Next Story 🠆

🠄Previous Story

Stories to be Read with the Lights On 7: Three Ways to Rob a Bank by Harold R. Daniels

I am a bit behind with this, as I haven't really been keeping on top of the 'story-a-day' thing. I'm going to try and read a couple more stories today though. After the giddy nostalgia of 'The Landlady', I have to admit I'm back to 'this isn't ringing any bells' with the opening of Daniels's story.

Ah... partway through this one started coming back to me. I had a glimpse of a memory, and I realized I might be remembering where this one's going... And then I definitely remembered the second half of this one, and the big reveal at the end was familiar. Of course, that might be because the ending is kinda predictable so it's easy to see it coming even if you haven't read the story before! Nevertheless, it's a decent enough little tale. It's sad to think that it's dated because of its depiction of the publishing world. $300 payment for a debut short story by an unknown author? Wow!

Next Story 🠆

🠄Previous Story

Stories to be Read with the Lights On 6: The Landlady by Roald Dahl

This next story should need no introduction... it's 'The Landlady' by Roald Dahl! If you heard me talk about the book on my radio show, then you'll know that this short story is the clearest (and fondest) memory I have of reading the anthology in the 90s. Being too young to have watched the Tales of the Unexpected TV series when it was first broadcast, I wasn't familiar with Roald Dahl's stories for adults until I read 'The Landlady'.

I absolutely adored it back then, and I think it's still one of my favourite short stories of all times (though that's partly because I can remember how much I loved it the first time I read it). The clearest memory I have of reading the Hitchcock anthology when I somehow acquired it in the 90s is sitting in my bedroom at my parents' house, being confused and intrigued as to why Roald Dahl's name was in the table of contents. I've got no idea how many times I've read 'The Landlady' since then, of course. I wrote my undergrad dissertation on Dahl's adult fiction, and I even used 'The Landlady' when I was tutoring KS4 kids. I still reread it for this anthology reread post though. Obviously.

A couple of observations... It probably goes without saying that when I first read this story as a teenager, I pictured the landlady as an impossibly ancient old woman. It's a bit scary/depressing to realize I'm not far off her age myself now. And I suppose it says a lot about my reading habits as a young teen that I knew exactly why the tea tasted of bitter almonds! 'The Landlady' is a bit different to the usual Tales of the Unexpected-type stories (by Dahl, but also by others) in that Billy Weaver doesn't deserve his fate. This isn't a karmic comeuppance, but just horrifying bad luck. I just love the way it's all set up though. And the final line is perfect. It ends in just the right place.

Next Story 🠆

🠄Previous Story

Stories to be Read with the Lights On 5: Granny by Ron Goulart

The next story in my Stories to be Read with the Lights On reread is 'Granny' by Ron Goulart. This one felt familiar from the first sentence, though I couldn't (initially) remember anything about what happens. I knew I'd read this one before but I couldn't put my finger on where it was going. And then BAM! It all just came flooding back, and I remembered the ending as clearly as if I'd read it yesterday! This is the sudden nostalgia rush I'm here for.

I don't know whether it's the nostalgia buzz, but I really enjoyed (re)reading Goulart's story. It's got a great set-up, and the Granny Goodwaller backstory is presented with impressive economy. The bit in the diner where McAlbin chats to Nan Hendry is fun too. Innocuous enough the first time round, but when you go back over it you see exactly what's happening. It's all about that ending though. I can clearly remember being totally shocked by the final paragraph and then dwelling for a while on the implications of the last line. I've got to admit, that ending came back to me so clearly when I was rereading the story that I'm almost wondering if I've reread Goulart's story more recently in another anthology. If not, then wow! apparently it really stuck with me.

Next Story 🠆

🠄Previous Story

Stories to be Read with the Lights On 4: Mr Mappin Forecloses by Zena Collier

Continuing with the fourth story in my Stories to be Read with the Lights On reread... And at first glance... I didn't remember anything at all about this story! However, when we started to get to the meat of things, it definitely started to ring a bell. Mr Mappin's fantasies about murdering his boss started to feel a bit familiar.

Collier's story is very much in the Tales of the Unexpected mode. It's got the ordinary, frustrated man dreaming of something bigger (or more sinister), and the sting-in-the-tail ending you want from a story like this. What I liked about it though was that Mr Mappin's frustrations at being stuck as a mortgage clerk for 20 years have a proper nasty edge to them. I suppose this is partly to make sure we don't have too much sympathy for Mr Mappin. We have to know that he's got a mean streak to him (his thoughts on the secretaries Miss Ashley and Miss Burke definitely reveal this).

I can't work out whether the ending is a bit predictable or I was just remembering it from when I was a teenager. To be honest, I think I'm leaning towards saying it's a bit predictable. But for all its predictability, 'Mr Mappin Forecloses' is very well done. It's a nice example of the... genre? style? mode? that these type of stories employ.

Next Story 🠆

🠄Previous Story

Stories to be Read with the Lights On 3: Shadows on the Road by Robert Colby

Onto the third story in my Stories to be Read with the Lights On reread then... I didn't get as much of a wave of nostalgia with this one as with the previous one, but I definitely remember reading it when I was younger. I also had to stop and check 'Strangers on the Road' wasn't originally a Twilight Zone episode (or inspired by a Twilight Zone episode), because the opening set-up feels a bit Twilight Zone-y. But on reflection, I don't think I've ever seen an adaptation of the story. If I'm missing something here, let me know!

Colby's story begins with two bad lads heading out across the desert towards Mexico, carrying the loot they've got from a recent robbery. There's something about the way the desert is described. Makes you think that they might not make it to the border as planned... Just in time, they see a sign for a motel that looks too good to be true. And what could be more Alfred Hitchcock than an apparently fortuitous motel appearing when you're on the lam?

This story's quite charming (mostly due to atmosphere and description), but I think it is one that has dated a bit. I imagine it probably had a bit more punch to it when it first came out. I don't want to give any spoilers, but the 'reveal' revolves around a technology that's ubiquitous now but probably had more shock value in 1971. Still, it's got that Tales of the Unexpected 'bad guys get a fitting comeuppance' vibe to the ending, and the suspense (the uncertainty & apprehension) lies in not knowing exactly how/when they'll get that comeuppance.

I remember thinking Colby's story was pretty cool but not mind-blowing when I was a teenager. I think it's pretty cool but not mind-blowing now. I wonder if that's going to be a running theme with this book?

Next Story 🠆

🠄Previous Story

Stories to be Read with the Lights On 2: Witness in the Dark by Fredric Brown

I'm continuing with my reread of Stories to be Read with Lights On today. As I said in the previous post, I don't think I'm going to be doing a story-a-day reread, but just story-by-story as and when I can. I did have a bit of a wobble when I read the first story and didn't remember anything about it, in case it turned out my fondness for this book was based on a false memory of reading the book as a teenager. Fortunately, that feeling was dispelled with the second story!

I had a massive wave of nostalgia reading 'Witness in the Dark'. I could even picture where I was the first time I read it (particularly the 'all cats be grey' lines), so that was a bit more reassuring.

'Witness in the Dark' is much more of a crime story than a horror story ('Death Out of Season' probably leans slightly the other way). So I think it's worth remembering that Stories to be Read with the Lights On isn't actually meant to be a horror collection. The introduction (supposedly by Hitchcock himself, but I doubt he personally wrote it) says the selected stories are 'startling, horrifying perhaps', but the overarching genre is 'suspense'. Suspense is defined here (as per the dictionary) as 'uncertainty accompanied by apprehension'. But I think for publishing purposes, it's very much being used as the 'Alfred Hitchcock Brand'. That kinda makes sense as a genre to me. According to the acknowledgements, quite a few of the stories in this collection were previously published in either Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine or Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, which very much fits with this idea of an 'Alfred Hitchcock Brand' story.

Brown's story is about a murder committed in the bedroom of a man who has temporarily lost his sight (he is the 'witness in the dark'), and it's got a nice layer of uncertainty and apprehension to that set-up. I think what I liked about it when I was a teen (being a fan of classic detective fiction) is that, for all its atmosphere of suspense, there's still a mystery here and there are clues along the way to allow the reader to (potentially) solve it. Does it hold up now? Yes - I think so. It's a bit dated in terms of its style and aesthetic, but given it was first published in the 50s, it would've seemed retro when the collection came out in the 70s too.

I'm just glad I remembered this one, to be honest!

Next Story 🠆

🠄Previous Story

Stories to be Read with the Lights On 1: Death Out of Season by Mary Barrett

On my mystery (birthday) themed episode of Hannah's Bookshelf on North Manchester FM earlier this month, I talked about an 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents...' book called Stories to be Read With the Lights On. I mentioned that I got my copy of the book at some point in the 1990s from a jumble sale or charity shop (not sure which) & that I have good memories of reading some of the stories in my teens.

I was curious about what it would be like to go back to it again as an adult. Would it be nostalgic? Would the stories appeal to adult-me as much as they did to teenage-me? I boldly suggested on the show that I would do a full re-read of the book to find out, and so that's what I'm going to do. I was originally going to do a story-a-day reread, but this week has already thrown me off schedule. So it'll be story-by-story, but some days there might be more than one (and some days less!).

The first story in the book is 'Death Out of Season' by Mary Barrett. Let's go...

And a bit of a curveball at the start... I don't remember a single thing about this story! Hmmm... I thought it might all come rushing back to me when I started reading it, but I now I'm just worried that maybe I didn't read this book when I was a teenager after all! Still, even though I don't remember reading it before, I enjoyed Barrett's story. It's got that Tales of the Unexpected feel to it, and an ending that's satisfying although not wholly unpredictable.

Miss Witherspoon is an eccentric and reclusive older lady who spends most of her time tending her garden and making what her glamorous neighbour dismissively calls her 'little May baskets'. What I like about this story is that it's a bit like Se7en, but with an old lady in the John Doe role. In some ways, Miss Witherspoon is a much more unsettling villain as well.

And although I don't remember anything about the specifics of Barrett's story, it's very much in the tone and style I remembered the book having. Not sure why this one didn't stick in my memory, but I enjoyed (re)reading it!

Next Story 🠆