"Galaxy of Ghouls" by Judith Merrill

This collection of 16 “science-fantasy” stories is themed around various monsters, from the classic to the out-there.

We open with “Wolves Don’t Cry” by Bruce Elliott, turning the traditional werewolf story upside down when a wolf inexplicably turns into a human being. It’s an emotionally muted tale, with the primary sensation being loneliness. The ending story is “”Mop-Up” by Arthur Porges. The last human on Earth after the War and Plague meets the last monsters. But none of them imagined there were other threats…some nice imagery in this one.

Notable stories include Manley Wade Wellman’s “O! Ugly Bird”, the first of the John the Balladeer stories, in which John and his silver-stringed guitar go up against a hoodoo man and his flying familiar; “Fish Story” by Leslie Charteris, a non-Saint story about a man who is far more familiar with the sea than you’d think, and “Desertion” by Clifford D. Simak, which inquires into why no explorer returns from Jupiter

Judith Merril edited some very good science fiction and fantasy anthologies in the early days of the field. I never thought she was as accomplished as Groff Conklin or Sam Moskowitz, but she did produce some fine books. This Lion Library edition has sixteen stories, and is a pleasant mix of fantasy with horror and science fiction. There's a nice werewolf story by Bruce Elliot, a John the Balladeer story by Manly Wade Wellman, a non-Saint short by Leslie Charteris, as well as good works from Theodore Sturgeon, Clifford D. Simak (my favorite), Walter M. Miller, Jr., Ray Bradbury, Robert Sheckley, Arthur Porges, William Tenn, J.B. Priestly, Fredric Brown, Fritz Leiber, Anthony Boucher, etc. One of the neatest things about the book is the cover, by B. Thomas with whom I am unfamiliar, which features a bunch of small paintings of devils and astronauts and monsters and sirens, interspersed with the blurb: "A HANDY GUIDE for VAMPIRES and WEREWOLVES, of SPELLS and SORCERY of SWITCHES on WITCHES of SHAPE-STEALERS and SOUL-SWAPPERS of DEMONS and DAMNATION." It's quite striking, and has long been one of my favorites.  (Skjam! and Craig, Goodreads)