Re-reading Ray Bradbury

[King Bob]

This book was also early work, c. 1943-1955, but this time focused on horror themes. By today's standards it's probably pretty tame stuff, but clever and mostly well-done. I found it much more convincing than his early SF stuff. (I think you could cite it as a direct precursor to, although perhaps not influence on, Steven King.) There are several strong stories here: The Emissary, The Small Assassin, The Man Upstairs, The Scythe. Over half the stories were good, and he mostly avoided trying to write poetically or experiment with style, which tend to ruin his stories for me. Plus the illustrations are good.

Next is The Machineries of Joy...