Danger in the Dark: A Fantasy Short Stories Collection - Perfect for Nighttime Reading & Fantasy Lovers

Danger in the Dark is the fourth audiobook I have reviewed from Galaxy Press's Stories from the Golden Age. In which all their titles are by L. Ron Hubbard. Many may have different opinions about him because he was the founder of the religion Scientology, but many forget that he was a talented writer. He wrote more than 150 stories during the 1930s and 1940s, mainly being published in Pulp fiction magazines of the time. He published a wide variety of short stories, such as air adventure, sea adventure, far-flung adventure, mysteries, and tales from the orient, science fiction, fantasies, and westerns.The audiobook consists of three stories, Danger in the Dark, The Room, and He Didn't Like Cats," on 2 discs.The main character in Danger in the Dark, which was first published in the May 1939 issue of Unknown, is Billy Newman who becomes rich when he strikes gold while mining in the Philippines. He may be rich, but he likes a good bargain as anyone else does. He buys a South Seas island for a low price. Billy believes that he is the luckiest person alive, but the island comes with another price. Soon the crops start dying and the local natives become ill. The tribal chiefs tell Billy that he has angered the island's 75-foot god Tadamona because he bought the island, as the island can not be owned by anyone. The only way to stop the Tadamona is a sacrifice of a young girl. Billy tells them not to go to that extreme and to give him 24 hours to cure their ill ones. Now Billy doesn't actually believe in the god, and dares the god to show himself, but to Billy's surprise Tadamona does exist.Uncle Tobey, a veterinarian, goes missing in The Room. He is known to go missing for days at a time, but after sixteen days everyone knew that he was not coming home. He was also known for spending countless hours or even days in his room, in which his nephew Joe has now inherited. Joe walks with a limp and plans on taking over the veterinarian business and help his Aunt Cynthia with the farm. There was one rule when he inherited the room; no one else can ever go in it except for him. He found this a bit odd, but then again, his uncle was odd. As soon as he enters the room he learns that it is a gateway to things of the unimaginable.He Didn't Like Cats is simple story about a Washington D.C. man named Jacob Finley who doesn't like cats! He hates them with a passion. One day he gives a little nudge to a stray cat causing it get run over by two vehicles, but the cat doesn't die right away as it has a slow agonizing death that Jacob witnesses. Unknowingly, his hatred for cats will become his own destruction.These are three odd little tales that I enjoyed listening to. Once again each one reminded me of the Twilight Zone and Tales from the Crypt! I'm a cat lover, so I instantly disliked Jacob Finley, but let me just say that the cat gets even.The talented voice cast includes Karen Black (Easy Rider, The Great Gatsby, Day of the Locust and Five Easy Pieces) R.F. Daley, Christina Huntington, Jim Meskimen, Gino Montesinos, Noelle North and Josh R. Thompson.Danger in the Dark and the other two tales were a delight to listen to and I recommend them to other fantasy fans.Disclaimer: I received the audiobook free from Galaxy Press.