A collection of fourteen unsettling tales by a variety of authors.

xi • Introduction (Ready or Not: Here Come Fourteen Frightening Stories!) • (1987) • essay by Joan Kahn
1 • Please, No Strawberries • (1980) • short story by Hayes Wilson
6 • Peter Two • (1946) • short story by Irwin Shaw
18 • The Vinegar Mother • (1976) • novelette by Ruth Rendell
40 • Robert • (1958) • short story by Stanley Ellin
60 • The Doll's Ghost • (1911) • short story by F. Marion Crawford
76 • Paul's Tale • (1945) • short story by Mary Norton
85 • If Big Brother Says So • (1977) • short story by Alice Rudoski
90 • A Private Ghost • (1960) • short story by Joyce Cary
102 • The Playground • (1952) • short story by Ray Bradbury
120 • The Girl in the Mirror • (1976) • short story by Margot Arnold
130 • The Thing Waiting Outside • (1977) • short story by Barbara Williamson
138 • Fair's Fair • (1967) • short story by Jane Speed
149 • A Hell of a Story • (1982) • short story by H. R. F. Keating
155 • The Wish • (1948) • short story by Roald Dahl