Hitchcock fiction anthologies

The following are fiction collections and anthologies that have used Alfred Hitchcock's name, sorted by title. A separate chronological list sorted by year of publication is also available and includes alternative publication titles.

For works of non-fiction about the director and his films, see Hitchcock Books.

Overview

Although many of the anthologies included an introduction from Hitchcock, most sources agree that the director had minimal, if any, involvement with the books and that the introductions were typically ghostwritten by the publisher's in-house editor assigned to compile each collection. As with Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Hitchcock simply licensed his name for use by the publisher.

The first books to use his name were published in the 1940s, starting with The Pocket Book of Great Detectives (1941).

According to an advertisement in the New York Times Book Review (07/Mar/1943), Hitchcock provided an introduction to Intrigue: The Spy Novels of Eric Ambler.

In February 1946, Hitchcock's was advertised as one of the "board of judges" for the Unicorn Mystery Book Club, along with Orson Welles, Arch Oboler, Lewis J. Valentine and Dashiell Hammett. It's uncertain if Hitchcock was actually involved in the book selection or just licensed his name for use by the book club.^[1]

During the opening scenes of Strangers on a Train (1951), Farley Granger appears to be reading a hardback copy of Alfred Hitchcock's Fireside Book of Suspense Stories (1947).

A second wave of anthologies followed from 1957, predominantly released by Dell Publishing, to capitalise on the success of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television series. During the 1960s and 1970s, Dell released around 60 titles, many of them undergoing several reprints.

The popularity of the anthologies led to Random House releasing a series of titles edited by Robert Arthur and aimed at children, containing stories more suitable for younger readers. A couple of years later, Arthur created the Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators series.

In the mid-1960s, respected anthologist Peter Haining began editing a series Hitchcock titles for British publishers Four Square and New English Library.

The most recent anthologies have primarily been compiled by Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine editors, including Eleanor Sullivan and Cathleen Jordan.

Hitchcock fiction anthologies

Overview

Fiction Anthologies

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See Also...