Mr. Jacobs serenely continues to distribute wholesome food for laughter. These characters elicit fresh admiration for the inexhaustible inventions of their creator. William Wymark Jacobs was an English author of short stories and novels. Quite popular in his lifetime primarily for his amusing maritime tales of life along the London docks (many of them humorous as well as sardonic in tone). Today he is best known for a few short works of horror fiction. One being "The Monkey's Paw"(published 1902). It has in its own right become a well-known and widely anthologized classic. This volume includes "The Money-Box," "The Castaway," "Blundell's Improvement," "Bill's Lapse," "Lawyer Quince," "Breaking a Spell," "Establishing Relations," "The Changing Numbers," "The Persecution of Bob Pretty," "Dixon's Return," "The Third String," "Odd Charges," and "Admiral Peters."