I read this book years ago, but I can still recite two of the stories in it almost word-for-word. It helps that they're short (every story has to be under two thousand words), but some of the stories are really exceptional. And for those that aren't great... big deal! How long does it take to read two thousand words?

As Frederick Douglass once said, "I confess I love littleness in all things." These ironic and timeless tales are less horrifying than startling for their perfection and originality. There appear to be no prescriptions or standards for the short short horror. Each victim, each critical moment in time and place is unique and unlike its companions in the collection. And why not, when some of the authors are named Twain, Saki, Poe, Lovecraft, Hawthorne and Crane to name a few. Every tale is narrated by a voice that gives away nothing while it adds to the tension. Guaranteed to make you shiver, from laughter, dread or awe, this collection is an extended experience within the unexpected and the unpredictable. My favorite has to be Dark Wings by Phyllis Eisenstein, where the sight of a large bird in flight against a white moon, becomes an obsession with the strangest end a soaring climax I can recall in fiction of this length.
As the editors and contributors, Al Sarrantino and Martin H. Greenberg point out in the preface; this form, the short short story, is the hardest of all literary forms to perfect. Every word and every mark of punctuation is critical and must be exact. Though they appear brief and simple, they are about as effortless as say---flying. Just about every decade in the 20th century and many from the 19th are represented in some of the greatest literary giants. Giants of brevity and brilliance. Savor it, but definitely get a copy.

Wow. I buy these collections to get acquainted with authors I'm unfamiliar with. With any luck, there'll be two or three stories which stand out enough that I'll seek out the authors' other works. Alien Abductions features an amazing array of stories veering between thoughtfully humorous and nightmarishly frightening. I can't recall a collection from any genre I've more thoroughly enjoyed. This is not just a gathering of great authors--Alien Abductions is a wonderful gathering of some top-notch sci-fi!

i enjoyed this compilation of many good sci-fi authors, i recommend it to anyone who likes sci-fi.

This one is captivating! These short stories are wonderful, well written with a turn at the end of each page. I highly recommend to any reader looking for a good set of short stories with mystery and murder included!!

Mr. Greenberg shows prolific knowledge on his subject. His style is engaging and informative. Highest recommendation.

Every story in this collection is a gem that has been embedded in the pegmatite ledges of Maine until the publication of this book. Some of the stories are American classics, some are classics only here in Maine, and some have emerged from obscurity to grace the pages of this amazing book. No matter which way the story came to be in "The Best Maine Stories" they will be loved by all (not just those from Maine)! My favorite story: The Viking's Daughter.

Francis Nevins has provided an introduction with a bit of biographical information about Fred Dannay and Manfred Lee, the two cousins who became Ellery Queen, and an overview of the evolution of the character. Nevins also lists the contents of each of Queen's short story collections.

Ellery, incidentally, sometimes ridicules the idea of really elaborate dying clues, but they occur nonetheless.

"The Glass-Domed Clock" (1933) Dying clue. Martin Orr has been found murdered in his curio shop, clutching an amethyst and one of the clocks on display.

"The Bearded Lady" (1934) Dying clue. Old Mrs. Shaw suspected her grown stepchildren of attempting to poison her, so despite her late husband's wishes she disinherited them, leaving most of the money to her husband's niece in England, with instructions that Edith would live in the Shaw house for at least 2 years, with regular checkups by Dr. Arlen, Mrs. Shaw's own physician (who got the rest of the money in trust). Alas, the stepchildren are the residuary legatees, and Dr. Arlen has been found murdered - leaving only an oddly defaced painting in his hobby studio as a clue.

"The Mad Tea-Party" (1934) This story was adapted for the TV series starring Jim Hutton as Ellery, as "The Adventure of the Mad Tea Party"; it's one of the strongest episodes. (Few of the episodes corresponded directly to any Queen story, oddly enough.) Richard Owen is staging a reenactment of the Wonderland tea party for his son's birthday; Ellery consented to visit only because he wanted to meet one of the actresses involved. Owen mysteriously vanishes on the day of the birthday itself, so Ellery (despite his best efforts) has to get to work.

"Man Bites Dog" (1939) A cyanide-laced hotdog at the Polo Grounds, in this case, during a subway series: Ellery's NY Giants vs the NY Yankees.

"Mind Over Matter" (1939) Paula Paris (Ellery's girlfriend from California), is covering the heavyweight title fight between champion Mike Brown and challenger Jim Coyle, and offers to get Ellery and the Inspector tickets. (Ellery at first refuses: "I'm a jinx. If I went, something catastrophic would be sure to happen. So why should I want to go?" "He's afraid somebody will knock somebody off," said the Inspector. "Well, doesn't somebody always?")

"The Inner Circle" (1947) The 1913 class of Eastern University, the 1st graduating class, formed a special organization within the Alumni Club: the Januarians. But 5 of them formed a club within a club as a clandestine business partnership, of which 3 have now died, organized as a tontine. Who will be the last survivor?

"The Dauphin's Doll" (1948) Cytherea Ypson, even at 78, made a hobby of collecting dolls. Upon her death, the collection is to be auctioned to establish a fund for orphans, but only 1 entry in the collection is really valuable: partly for historical associations, partly for the $110,000 diamond in its crown. But Miss Ypson's will provides that on the day before Christmas, the entire collection is to be displayed in Nash's department store...

"The Three Widows" (1950) Locked-room. Penelope and Lyra, after their husbands died, moved back in with their dad, Theodore Hood. After his death, their stepmother feared that (under the terms of the will) they had a great deal of motive to murder her, so she took extraordinary precautions to thwart them. Nevertheless, somehow someone managed to poison her.

"Snowball in July" (1952) Diamond Jim Grady, specializing in jewel robbery at gunpoint, has had Lizbet as his girl for 2 years, 10 months - eternity, in the circles where he moves. But she's put on weight, so when he picks up a new girl, Lizbet (nobody's fool) stages a vanishing act before Grady can clean up any loose ends.

"'My Queer Dean!'" (1953) Matthew Hope, one of Ellery's Harvard professors, is much given to spoonerisms. Very awkward, when he's been hurt badly in an attempted robbery, and Ellery's trying to interpret his attempt to say what happened and who did it.

"GI Story" (1954) Wrightsville + dying clue. One of Clint Fosdick's 3 stepsons (each named for a president: Wash the lawyer, Linc the MD, and draftee Woody) seems to be the murderer, but his last scrawled clue doesn't seem to fit the other evidence.

"Miracles Do Happen" (1957) Henry and Claire Witter have 4 children and no money - but Jody has expensive medical treatments, and hasn't been able to walk for 3 years. So when Tully the moneylender begins calling in debts on the eve of upcoming prosecution, Witter is the prime suspect, as the last victim to see Tully alive.

"Last Man to Die" (1963) Just as Ellery gets stuck with The Butler in his novel-in-progress, the granddaughter of one the last 2 survivors of the Butler's Club comes to him with a problem. The club treasury is tied up with a tontine...

"Abraham Lincoln's Clue" (1965) DiCampo, having fallen on hard times, must now sell his prize: a book bearing the signatures of Poe and Lincoln, with an accompanying document in Lincoln's own hand. The 2 competing bidders (one a Poe collector, the other a Lincoln enthusiast) have agreed to buy it jointly and let him select who takes custody. But the items are hidden somewhere suggested by the manuscript itself, and everyone's stuck figuring out the Lincoln clue.

"Wedding Anniversary" (1967) Wrightsville + dying clue. Ellery, through the police chief, attends the 1st anniversary bash of Ernst Brauenfel and his 2nd wife Zelda. Mr. B has been tactless, not only marrying his pretty bookkeeper within weeks of his 1st wife's death, but on his 1st wife's birthday. Somebody, however, has been much more crass, poisoning the liqueur he drinks only on very special occasions.

Pamela Sargent very very rarely lets me down with her science fiction. I was luckily enough to just find this collection of her short stories and read it through in only two days. The vast majority of the stories are excellent -- well written and populated by enticing characters. Well worth the time and money if you like strong but realistic female characters.

This book is recommended by Dr Spock, Dr Dodson, and Norman Cousins. An extraordinarily sensitive book on what it feels like to become a father in gradual steps. An invaluable guide to fatherhood, because a baby needs a nuturing father too!