I had admired Aickman's work but never really liked it very much. I had failed to be enchanted or haunted by it. Then, making my way through this collection, I read "The Same Dog" and found myself incredibly moved, moved onto Aickman's particular wavelength. I fell in love with the story and started the whole book over again.
Aickman writes like nobody else. It seems to me that he has no obvious literary antecedents. Hoffmann, perhaps. Thomas Mann, I suppose. Maybe Gogol, Kafka, Algernon Blackwood? His tales are extremely odd even for supernatural fiction. where oddness is expected. What is Aickman doing in his tales? I still don't know, but it's finally working on me, the taste acquired.

This Faber & Faber paperback edition is printed on the most beautifully textured paper! It was a joy just to feel the pages, reminding me that e-books are an abomination unto the Lord.