I read A LOT of ghost and horror story anthologies--several a year. By and large, I found this one to be sub-par. Compared to the best ghost and horror stories from the British Isles, these were hard to follow and didn't keep my attention very well. A few of them were good, but none good enough to redeem the collection as a whole. Even the pieces by the very best-known writers (like Stoker, Shaw, and LeFanu, for instance) were weak compared to those authors' best work. They do have some cultural value as the stories collected focus specifically on Irish culture and mythos, but they aren't actually "the best" of the Irish writers of the supernatural. ( )

The title calls it a "treasury of fear," but after delving into the book, I realized that not all of these stories really should have been put in here. Don't get me wrong; they're very well written and each author gets a little write up prior to his or her story explaining background and what other works for which the author may have been famous.

The book is actually divided into three parts. Part I is "Lurking Shadows: Stories of Fear," and features such authors as Jack Higgins, Dorothy Mcardle and Elizabeth Bowen. In this group, I particularly liked "The Portrait of Roisin Dru," (Macardle); although I did enjoy "The Doomed Sisters" (Maturin) and "The Child Who Loved a Grave," by Fitz-James O'Brien. Part II, "Wake Not the Dead: Traditional Terror," features a wonderful story by Sax Roehmer (I didn't know he was Irish until I read this) entitled "A House Possessed," and second to that one, "The Samhain Feis," by author Peter Tremayne, known for his Dracula stories. Part III, "To Make The Flesh Creep: Chilling Tales," features my favorite Irish author of all time, Sheridan LeFanu (writer of Carmilla, The Rose and the Key, and Uncle Silas) with a small vignette entitled "Footsteps in the Lobby."

While it is true that not all of the stories in here bring on bone-chilling terror, the stories are interesting in that the reader gets a feel for Irish folk belief & history within the context of these little stories. I would recommend it if you don't mind picking through the non-scary stuff to get the hackles raised on your neck a bit. ( )