I borrowed The Giant Book of Fantasy All-Time Greats from the library. This is a collection of modern fantasy stories that are considered among the best, but were written before the annual World Fantasy Awards were started in 1975, and so could not be included in the awards.

It starts with Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of the Red Death which was written in 1842, and does read well, although the ambiance is (necessarily) old fashioned. I find that fantasy stories written in different eras have a different feel from those written at other times (I can't really divide it up by decades, but I find that over time, the writing styles and plot styles change).

C.L. Moore's Black God's Kiss, however, envisioned otherworldly realms as well, or better, than current writings.

Some stories, because, I suppose, they are short stories, had tragic endings when I was hoping that things could end happily (so they definitely engaged me), although Michael Moorcock's Kings in Darkness had an uncharacteristically cheerful ending (not that I'm complaining!) - though I haven't read Elric in a while, so I could be wrong.

The first couple of times I read it, I found Ursula K. Le Guin's contribution somewhat harrowing; but then I reconsidered it as a commentary on modern society, and I hope that I am strong enough to be one of The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas.

Generally, it's a good mix of stories, with (as you'd expect) some very strong ones that will stay with me for a while, some that were nice to read and some that didn't grab me. ( )