The Mark of the Beast (Dover Horror Classics) [Paperback]

Rudyard Kipling (Author), S. T. Joshi (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Dover Horror Classics | Publication Date: November 2, 2011

Seventeen of the author's best tales, compiled for the first time in one volume, range from comic ghost stories ("Haunted Subalterns") to psychological terror ("The Wandering Jew") and chilling accounts of the returning dead ("The Lost Legion"). Also includes what is widely considered Kipling's finest horror tale, the celebrated title story.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (November 2, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486414299
• ISBN-13: 978-0486414294
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,612,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kipling in Weird Mode..., May 29, 2001

By 

Rory Coker (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mark of the Beast (Dover Horror Classics) (Paperback)

Kipling was the pre-eminent man of letters circa 1900, but pretty much unread today. Here S. T. Joshi has assembled 17 short stories by Kipling, in chronological order of composition. Contrary to the book's subtitle, these aren't horror tales, and many have no supernatural aspect at all.

It is notable that the stories grow steadily better as one goes through the book. "The Phantom Rickshaw" is a total absurdity, but by the time we get to "They" Kipling, like Barlowe and Lovecraft in "The Night Ocean," is looking ahead to the type of story that would be written by the likes of Robert Aikman in the 1960s and 1970s, probably the ultimate (to date) literary development of the horror tale, before it backslid into the EC-comics imitations of Stephen King and Dean Koonz and other currently and undeservedly popular writers.

Kipling is noted for fiction and verse set in India, but the best stories in the book, for me, had nothing to do with India. These included the before-mentioned "They," and "The Finest Story in the World," both of which appear to be based very loosely on real experiences of Kipling, and both of which seem to break genuinely new ground within their respective themes.

S. T. Joshi contributes his usual perceptive introduction.

Recommended.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpieces of the occult, April 30, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mark of the Beast (Dover Horror Classics) (Paperback)

S.T. Joshi edits Mark Of The Beast & Others, a collection of horror tales by Rudyard Kipling, which pairs his lively manner with chilling tales of the dead and psychological terror. Some, as 'The Phantom Ricksaw', have been widely published and will be familiar to fans of the genre; others such as 'Lost Legion' may be less so. All provide masterpieces of the occult.