El Coleccionista de Espantos

Catalog Note *El Coleccionista de Espantos* (The Collector of Horrors), by Curtis Garland, is a crime-detective serial from the Spanish *Selección Terror* series (no. 317, March 1979). The narrative begins in medias res: protagonist Barry Wade, a newspaper reporter, finds himself imprisoned in a flooded basement cellar, at the mercy of a mysterious criminal mastermind known as "the Collector"—a sadistic killer who curates a collection of horrors and murders. Wade is held captive, bound and helpless, awaiting execution. The serial then flashes back to Wade's recent arrival in London as an ambitious young journalist from Cardiff, hired by the *London Mail* through lord Durham's recommendation. Wade meets his demanding editor Harvey Greeson, who warns him that success requires years of experience and that he will compete against the paper's star crime reporter, Trevor Vincent. The narrative establishes Wade's confidence and impatience for advancement, setting up the chain of events that will lead to his confrontation with the Collector.