Nightmare (Unabridged): optional

Dark crime fiction author Cornell Woolrich (real name George Hopley) brings us this show-stopping collection of grim and twisted stories of murder and other misdeeds. From a falsely accused ex-con who finds himself in an untenable situation in "I'll Take You Home, Kathleen" to the grotesque death of a starlet in "Screen Test", from a profoundly sad and impossible decision in "I O U" to the surprising twists and darkly humorous turns of "Bequest", these stories show Woolrich firing on all cylinders. As the centerpiece of the collection, the title novella "Nightmare" (which has been adapted into a film twice, first in 1947 as Fear in the Night then again in 1956 as Nightmare) begins as a shocking and brutal tale where the border between dreams and reality begin to blur together and where the noose only tightens as things become more clear. These stories show a master of hard-boiled crime fiction at his best.