Danger in the Dark

This has 3 short stories, and the first is my favorite. Billy buys a whole island, basement bargain price, still inhabited by a very angry temperamental god who takes Billy's technology as a contest of his powers. You can find all kinds of old stories about sailors running into the local beliefs and customs of the South Pacific islanders, such as those captured in the biographies of Captain Cook, but normally science prevails and all is proven a myth, the sailors tromp all over local customs without recourse from the gods. Nice to prove the islanders right this time! Give Billy a run for his money and see who wins, the myth or the man.

I'm sorry to say that I haven't read any of Hubbard's work aside from `Battlefield Earth'. I'm also sorry that many people haven't read his works, but associate his name more with Scientology (he founded it) & all of the notions (negative & positive) that go along with it. It's far too easy for people to forget that first & foremost, Hubbard was a skilled writer. This book reminded me of that. There are three stories in this volume, all of which have supernatural tones to them. The first story is `Danger in the Dark', a tale about a man who bought himself an island, but didn't take into account that the deity of the natives may actually exist. The second story is `The Room', & is about a man who inherits a strange room from his missing & enigmatic uncle- a room where strange & mysterious things happen. The final story is `He Didn't Like Cats', a dark tale about a man who doesn't like cats... and is in danger of paying the price for that hate. This book was a very quick read, & I devoured it within an hour or so of picking it up. I wasn't quite sure if I'd like it or not, since I tend to go more for mystery or urban fantasy, but I really enjoyed this book. The stories in it were clearly written in another time, but the basic idea of them comes across very well. I also thought that this would make an excellent gift for those little readers who have started to read the genre (sci-fi/fantasy/horror) & want to get into the more familiar names in the field. (My nephew will love this book, I'm sure!)I also have to give kudos for the cover- it puts me in the exact mind frame for this type of book & brings to mind the pulp fiction age of yore. It's absolutely perfect. I really can't say enough good things about this slender volume. It's not a very thick book, but what it lacks in length it makes up in quality. For those who are curious about the man behind the book, there's a short biography of Hubbard during what the book editors describe as the "Golden age of fiction". Again, this book will be a must have for fans of Hubbard's work & this is what he is best at- creating stories that tickle our imaginations!

I read a lot of authors and a lot of genres, but Hubbard never ceases to amaze with his vivid imagination. There were 3 stories in this book and the one thing they had in common as that they were fantasy written by him. "The Room" was especially nice with an ending that could have been sad, but ended good. And "He Didn't Like Cats" takes the concept of karma to a whole new level.

Before he became an icon of the Scientology movement, L. Ron Hubbard was a working writer whose popular stories appeared in many of the pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s. Now Galaxy Press is bringing those tales of fantasy, adventure, mystery, westerns, and romance back into print in their 'Stories from the Golden Age' series. "Danger In The Dark" finds that when Billy Newman purchases a South Sea island he finds it to be haunted by the giant shark-god Tadamona who is bent on destroying the entire island and everyone on it -- including Billy! L. Ron Hubbard was a master storyteller and Galaxy Press is to be congratulated for bringing this vibrant and entertaining stories back in print as 'time lost' classics and the enjoyment of a whole new generation of appreciative readers.