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The Interruption

W. W. Jacobs

First published 1935
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story

Goddard murders his wife and is blackmailed by his cook, Hannah. Hannah is very clever and frustrates Goddard's attempts to be rid of her.

A non-speculative story of psychological suspense. There is a slight hint at the end that Fate may be taking a hand in Goddard's downfall, but that's not enough to bring the story into genre territory. First published in the magazine The Strand, November 1925.

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
1935 The Third Omnibus of Crime Coward-McCann Anthology 615
July 1937 Cover Fifty Masterpieces of Mystery Odhams Press Anthology 370
1942 Cover The Third Omnibus of Crime Coward-McCann Anthology 615
January 1943 Cover The World's Great Mystery Stories World Publishing Co. Anthology 218
1944 Cover Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural Modern Library Anthology 85
1947 Cover Terror at Night Avon Book Co. Anthology 52
1947 Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural Hammond, Hammond & Co. Anthology 83
1947 Cover Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural Modern Library Anthology 85
1957 Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural Hammond, Hammond & Co. Anthology 83
1958 Cover Antología de cuentos de misterio y terror Editorial Labor Anthology 678
1971 Cover Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural Hammond, Hammond & Co. Anthology 83
1971 Cover The Monkey's Paw and The Interruption Caedmon Collection |2
1972 Cover Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural Hammond, Hammond & Co. Anthology 83
1976 Cover Cries of Terror Arrow Books Anthology 178
1977 Cover Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural Book Club Associates Anthology 83
1982 Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural Hutchinson Anthology 83
November 1982 Cover Great Short Tales of Mystery and Terror Reader's Digest Association Anthology 483
1984 Cover Chamber of Horrors Octopus Books Anthology 190
1985 Cover Chamber of Horrors Octopus Books Anthology 190
1987 Cover Chamber of Horrors Gallery Books / W. H. Smith Anthology 190
1994 Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural Modern Library Anthology 83
October 1994 Cover Tales of Terror and the Supernatural Bracken Books Anthology 65
October 1994 Cover Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural Modern Library Anthology 83
1996 Cover Tales of Terror and the Supernatural: A Classic Collection Leopard Anthology 65
1997 Cover The Monkey's Paw and Other Tales of Mystery and the Macabre Academy Chicago Collection 93
October 2012 Cover Cries of Terror Bloomsbury Reader Anthology
June 2018 Cover Twin Spirits: The Complete Weird Stories of W. W. Jacobs Hippocampus Press Collection 223
October 2022 Cover The Monkey's Paw and Other Horrors: The Best Horror and Ghost Stories of W.W. Jacobs Oldstyle Tales Press Collection 195