Being a collection of shorter stories and one novella makes the reward of stars more difficult and has to reflect the overall impression. The fact is I found most of the stories to be good, a couple less so.

Let's start with the positives. The main tale is well known but perhaps less read than it should be. The struggle between Jekyll and Hyde has parallels with most people's experiences. We all have a darker side. That this is set at a time full of such contrasts just adds to the experience.

I also loved Olalla. The mysterious girl he becomes infatuated with and the strange place she inhabits creates a thrilling tension. The ending was a little disappointing.

Markheim is gripping. To be in the mind of a killer made for an interesting journey. That ending felt much better, after the devil had intervened.

Negative for me were the stories told in the authentic Scottish dialect. All very well except I lost the will to try and understand it!

My first bit of horror for a while. The mystery in this story was well constructed, building up a tension that left you wanting to read more. In my usual way, this meant actually putting the book down at times to prevent it all being over too soon.

There are three times streams running and I like books that do this provided you can keep focused. There were no issues with this. I was drawn in to the growing terror.

Good characterisations and plenty of detail on daily life to keep things real. The use of the words and writing style is a pleasure to follow.

I found one or two bits felt contrived, but that is a small complaint for such a thrilling read.