The Collected Ghost Stories of E.F. Benson [Paperback]

E.F. Benson (Author), Richard Dalby (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1996

This collection brings together 50 of E.F. Benson's masterfully frightening literary ghost stories, ranking with the best chillers of M.R. James and Henry James. "The apparitions Benson creates never fail to chill and mesmerize--late-night reading fare, to be sure!"--Booklist.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Turn-of-the-century gothic master Benson's ghost stories come together in one volume for the first time.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

E.F. Benson (1867-1940) was the son of an Archbishop of Canterbury and wrote over a hundred books during his lifetime, including many popular novels and biographies. He lived in Rye from 1919 to his death, and was mayor of this Sussex town. Several of his ghost stories are set in Rye, which has also been immortalized as 'Tilling' in his wonderful 'Mapp & Lucia' novels. He was best known in his day for his ghost stories. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub; 2nd edition (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786703652
• ISBN-13: 978-0786703654
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #913,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Incredible Collection!, February 24, 2000

By 

Richard Liedholm (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Collected Ghost Stories of E.F. Benson (Paperback)

A reader serious about his/her love of the ghost story may have already encountered such greats as M.R. James, Algernon Blackwood, or the wonderful Oliver Onions. You should immediately add E. F. Benson to your list of "absolute musts" to read and collect. His ghost stories, collected in a handsome volume published by Carroll & Graf, are wonderfully readable. In fact, there are more frights per page then in most modern horror stories. I will not single any story out, because one and all is worth your time and energy. I am confident that you will find many, many hours of entertainment and chills here. This is book that I was proud to buy and proud to share with my friends. You will not go wrong here! Happy reading!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jewels of 1920's English Supernatural Fiction, August 1, 2004

By 

Nigel Jackson "'Nigromancer'" (Adocentyn) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Collected Ghost Stories of E. F. Benson (Paperback)

E.F. Benson, perhaps best known for his amusing 'Mapp & Lucia' comedy-of-manners stories also wrote a respectable body of ghost stories which are gathered together in this excellent omnibus anthology. All make for quality reading as examples of the English supernatural genre but a few stand out as darkly-luminous masterpieces, unforgettable in their haunting hold upon the reader and written with real verve. 'The Room In The Tower' is an undeniably chilling narrative of vampirism featuring a truly terrifying female revenant - the words spoken recurrently by Mrs Stone to the protaganist: "Jack will show you to your room: i have given you the room in the tower" are enough to instil a frisson of pervasive dread every time one reads this story. 'The Sanctuary' is a delectably macabre tale of damned souls and secret diabolism at an English country house complete with a hidden Satanic chapel for nocturnal celebrations of Le Messe Noir. 'The Man Who Went Too Far' unfolds by awful degrees the seductive but injudicious immersion of an artist in the deeps of nature mysticism which can only culminate in the most hideous revelation of truth and the sign of the cloven hoof - it is marvellously written, exquisite prose and descriptive passages and has a most beguiling undercurrent. 'The Cat' likewise is utterly engrossing and 'Mrs Amworth' stands as a unusual classsic of the vampire tale. But these are just a few of the delights this packed volume offers to the curious reader, there are many other marvellous tales to cause one to look over one's shoulder as the clock strikes twelve and a sighing midnight wind scrapes the twigs of an overhanging bough against the window. Quintessentially English, wrought with a delicious lightness of touch and a hint of a stylish insouciance but nevertheless conveying a genuinely disturbing charge of the uncanny these tales will be read again and again. E.F.Benson's contribution to the field of supernatural terror is of a very high standard. This anthology is well-worth obtaining.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic ghost stories from a master storyteller, May 30, 2004

By 

gac1003 "gac1003" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Collected Ghost Stories of E.F. Benson (Paperback)

E.F. Besnson, the son of an Archibishop of Canterbury, is a master of the ghost story. This collection contains stories of troubled spirits, both good and evil; séances; vampires; the occult; curses; ancient gods; etc. All of them show off his remarkable talent for creating an eerie atmosphere and realistic characters, as well as his knowledge of the spirit world, especially with the last entry "The Recent 'Witch-Burning' at Clonmel," an article he wrote for a magazine which describes primitive exorcism practices.

One thing I most enjoyed about his stories is that even though the subject matter can become tiresome, Benson interjects enough new twists and types of spirits and other creature to make them feel new and unique. With "Caterpillars," for example, involving an empty bedroom in which someone passed away from cancer, Besnon creates a materialization of the disease in such a creepingly disgusting way that you are repulsed and entranced at the same time. Fortunately, all the stories are classics that are sure to enthrall any ready and to keep them up until the early hours, wanting to read just one more story.