Shocking tales

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"What is presented herewith is a collection not simply of grim tales but of grim tales of a peculiar type: tales in which some atrocity, physical or mental, is not only committed by the hero but also endorsed by the author, who seems to side not with the victim but with the perpetrator of the deed. This, aggravated by the fact that in almost all of these stories cruelty prevails and crime pays, must be a shock to the reader. Yet this is exactly the effect the tellers of these tales are aiming at: they seek to shock the reader in the same manner that he writers of horror tales try to frighten him... The collection is divided into eight sections, subtitled Caustic Tales, Cynical Tales, Cruel Tales, Crime Tales, and Tales of Vengeance, jealousy, Frenzy, and Obsession."--p. [v].