The Bell in the Fog and Other Stories [Paperback]

Gertrude Atherton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2007

"The Bell in the Fog" is the tale of an author who buys a country estate. Along with the property come a furnished house -- and, of course, two paintings. They are paintings of a young boy and girl, siblings who died in childhood. When Orth -- the author -- sees these paintings, they begin to haunt his every thought until they finally become flesh and bone. . . .

Gertrude Atherton was an early American writer who was known for writing historical novels set in California. However, she is also associated with the gothic and supernatural genres, in which "The Bell in the Fog" is considered a classic.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Aegypan (February 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1603120440
• ISBN-13: 978-1603120449
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good,Not Great, Ghost Story Collection, October 24, 2008

By 

Stephen Hancock "Scholar born 300 years late." (Snellville, GA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Bell in the Fog & Other Stories (Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural) (Paperback)

I wouldn't have bothered to review this particular book of ghost stories, but I thought that the previous review-more the star rating than the review itself- left a unfair impression. It's true that Atherton was no M.R James or J.S Le Fanu, but how many are? I think this collection is a perfectly fine example of the second tier of late Victorian ghost story collections. After you've read the masters of the genre, if you, like me, love these old stories, you'll want to take a look at some of the works of the lesser lights of the period, which thankfully have suddenly been reprinted en mass by Wordsworth Books in the U.K. It's been a long time since a publisher has bothered to take a bunch of these wonderful old collections and even a few novels (like Le Fanu's "House By the Churchyard") and reprinted them in very inexpensive editions. Up until now, many of these were only available (IF available at all) in very expensive sets by small press publishers, or in the original collections which fetch high prices on the auction and second hand book sites.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for one sitting, January 23, 2010

By 

Curtis Field (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Bell in the Fog & Other Stories (Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural) (Paperback)

These are fine, well-constructed stories. And uniformly grim. Not grim in a gruesome sense (in "The Striding Place", Atherton does indulge in the lurid, but it's tame by today's standards), since most of these are neither supernatural or mystery stories but psychological studies that explore, with a heavy dose of irony, life as tragedy. Well worth reading, just not straight through.

8 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Uninspiring..., February 15, 2008

By 

Tebes "Buchlieber" (Niagara Region, ON) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bell in the Fog & Other Stories (Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural) (Paperback)

I couldn't get through this collection. The stories I read were well-written but not memorable. There are so many great books to read by more competent writers of "mystery" and the "supernatural" - Poe, M.R.James, Borges, Doyle, Lovecraft, Chesterton, Collins. When you have nothing better to read, when you have explored other avenues and read everything else you have ever wanted to read in your lifetime and just need something to pass the time, then I might recommend it. Otherwise, well, read Poe, M.R. James, Lovecraft, etc...