Strange Tales (Combined Illustrated Ed.) is a collection of 29 horror stories, many of which are set in the Maltese Islands, and 49 illustrations. Ranging from Max the doll who ends up being a preternatural killer, through Meinertzhagen the man who turns into a boy after death who tries to entrap his best friend, to Loki the shaman who visits with the dead, Charles Coyne manifests himself a true master at sleight of hand in these tales. Coyne keeps his readers on edge, gripping the seat of their chairs, both during the telling of the tales and in their surprise endings.