SOURCE: "Tales of the Eerie, the Bizarre, and the Grotesque," in Irvin S. Cobb, Twayne Publishers, 1986, pp. 108-23.

In the following essay, Chatterton examines Cobb's horror stories.

In a letter to editor Thomas Costain (12 May 1941), Irvin Cobb suggested that the firm of Doubleday, Doran, consider publishing in one volume "twelve or fifteen of the so-called 'horror yarns' I've done, including such as 'Darkness,' 'The Escape of Mr. Trimm,' 'An Occurrence up a Side Street,' 'The Exit of Anse Dugmore,' 'The Belled Buzzard,' 'One Block from Fifth Avenue,' 'Fishhead,' 'Snake Doctor,' 'The Gallowsmith,' 'Three Wise Men of the East Side,' etc.'" Later in the same letter, Cobb said of the suggested collection, "Some of these stories had quite a vogue. Some are now forgotten, probably. And some people apparently have forgotten or never knew that I wrote plenty...