'Hangman's Hotel And Other Stories' – Guy N. Smith (Black Hill Books)

And so my journey, to read everything that Guy N. Smith has ever written (well, the horror stuff anyway, maybe everything else in time), continues with what I think is the last of his short story collections. I've read 'From the Dark Hours', 'Tales from the Graveyard' and 'Nightmares from the Black Hill'; I managed to finally track down a copy of 'Hangman's Hotel' and here I am, good to go...

Guy N. Smith began writing short stories at the age of 12. Best known for over 100 novels including ‘Night of the Crabs’, its six sequels, and his Sabat psychic detective series, he has penned numerous shorts over the past sixty years.

This selection includes both a new Crabs and a Sabat story. Many have a supernatural theme incorporating the author’s own brand of horror. Guy has experienced the paranormal on several occasions over the years.

Guy N. Smith was born in Staffordshire but later moved with his wife and four children to a remote area of the Shropshire/Welsh border hills where he still lives. Several of his novels are set in this location which inspires themes of werewolves, vampires and other mythical creatures of the dark forest.

I hate feeling like I'm just saying the same old thing when I talk about books here and so I'll always try and find something different to talk about if I can. With some books though, and it's really not the books fault, you can't help it and the bottom line here is that having already read three Guy N. Smith collections, I'm struggling to find anything new to say that you haven't already heard.

But that's okay because as far as I'm concerned, Guy N. Smith was a great storyteller and 'Hangman's Hotel' is full of examples of this. Not every story hit the mark for me and I suspect that's because this collection has more of an emphasis on ghost stories than horror. I prefer the horror myself but if you're into ghost stories then I think you'll be happy with what's on offer here.

Whether that's the reason or not though, there were enough stories here that did hit the spot and these were what took me through an entertaining hour or so (it's a very slim read and Smith clearly likes his short stories to do their job and then step aside for the next one to have a go). The big highlight for me was 'Crabs: The Survivor' because, well... Giant crabs of course :o) I may have had my ups and downs with the series, as a whole, but I've always enjoyed the short stories and this one was no different. Other highlights included a brief excursion into 'Lost World' territory with 'Savage Safari' and 'Zombie Gunfighter', a title that pretty much explains itself and is a lot of fun to read .

Like I said earlier, the collection moves away from pulp horror and into the supernatural and that's where it lost something for me. These tales are still worth the read though as Smith remains the engaging storyteller, knowing exactly when to hit his readers with the unsettling bits (I'm looking at you in particular, 'Winged Evil'...)

'Hangman's Hotel' ended up being a lot of fun to read and whether you're a long term reader of Guy N. Smith's work or not, there's something here for everyone I think. I'm glad I was able to find a copy and finally give it a go.