Daphne du Maurier's Classics of the Macabre (1987)

This book includes two of my favorite du Maurier stories -- "The Birds" and "The Blue Lenses." These are brilliant enough on their own, but Michael Foreman's gorgeous watercolor illustrations bring them vividly to life. "The Blue Lenses" especially benefits from pictures, since it's a terrifying story of how a woman's vision changes after what should have been a routine operation. Getting to see what she sees makes the story so much more gripping.

"The Alibi" also benefits quite directly from illustrations. The main character decides to take up art (and murder), and Foreman illustrates du Maurier's descriptions of this psychopath's clumsy attempts to paint.

I love du Maurier's short fiction anyway, but this illustrated collection is really worth looking out for. It doesn't seem to be in print any more, but it's the kind of book libraries tend to carry. ( )

This is a small collection of short stories, only six, two of which have been made into excellent feature films; Don't Look Now and The Birds; these two stories are illustrated on the cover. I enjoyed all six of the stories, but my favourite was The Blue Lenses, which was very surreal; about a woman who wakes from an eye operation and imagines the people around her have become animals. I can imagine this as a film too, perhaps computer technology would solve some of the visual problems involved. ( )

Every horror fan should read "The Birds." It's worth reading this collection for that one story alone. She scared me half to death in only a few pages. The mark of a master. ( )