Customer Reviews

Ghost Stories and Mysteries

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This is a Dover short story collection of Sheridan Le Fanu, master of eerie tales, and this book is a companion piece of `Best Ghost Stories' from Dover by the same author. The following is the list of the titles of 14 stories with the data about their original publication, given by the editor E. F. Bleiler.

Contents:
1) `The Room in the Dragon Volant' from "London Society", 1872
2) `Laura Silver Bell' from "Belgravia Annual", 1872
3) `Wicked Captain Walshawe, of Wauling' from "Dublin University Magazine", 1869
4) `Ghost Stories of Chapelizod' from "Dublin University Magazine", 1851
5) `The Child That Went with the Fairies' from "All the Year Round", 1870
6) `Stories of Lough Guir' from "All the Year Round", 1870
7) `The Vision of Tom Chuff' from "All the Year Round", 1870
8) `The Drunkard's Dream' from "Dublin University Magazine", 1838
9) `Dickon the Devil' from "London Society", 1872
10) `The Ghost and the Bone Setter' from "Dublin University Magazine", 1838
11) 'A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family' from "Dublin University Magazine", 1839
12) `The Murdered Cousin' in "Ghost Stories and Tales of Mystery" (1851) originally published as `Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Contess' from "Dublin University Magazine", 1838
13) `The Evil Guest' in "Ghost Stories and Tales of Mystery" (1851)
14) 'The Mysterious Lodger' from "Dublin University Magazine", 1850

Here is brief summery of each story (no spoilers included).

1) is more like a novella about a young English man in France, who encounters a beautiful French Countess on his way to Paris. He madly falls in love with her, but his kind offer for protection from her evil husband results in an unexpected adventure. Written in the vein of Wilkie Collins, this is no supernatural story, but fairly interesting with some of Le Fanu's attempts to misdirect.
2) is about a naïve country girl and a strange visitation. It reads like an old folktale.
3) is also about a strange visitation, a topic recurrent in LeFanu's tales.
4) contains three shorter stories set in an Irish village; "The Village Bully" "The Sexton's Adventure" and "The Specter Lovers."
5) is like a folklore tale about a boy spirited away.
6) includes five short tales about supernatural occurrences: "The Magician Earl" "Moll Rial's Adventure" "The Banshee" "The Governess's Dream" and "The Earl's Hall"
7) in which a dying wife-beating husband sees a terrifying vision.
8) is similar to 7), and a drunkard in a death bed sees strange things.
9) is also a short story about a dead squire and what he did to the poor lad of the title.
10) is a comical short story about scared narrator's close encounter with a ghost of pompous squire in an castle.
11) Editor E. F. Bleiler says this is a short story often quoted as one of the sources for `Jane Eyre.' Le Fanu himself re-uses the theme in his `The Wyvern Mystery.'
12) is, with its `lady in distress' theme, also regarded as kind of earlier version of `Uncle Silas.'
13) is a novella about a murder case in the country house of one Richard Marston, dissatisfied gentleman. The tale is not about the murder itself, but about the psychological study about the protagonist.
14) is a two-part novella about a self-appointed `infidel' narrator. He is also a husband who takes in a lodger, but his presence soon starts to annoy his family. The subject has a biblical theme and might remind you of one book in the Old Testament. E. F. Bleiler claims in the introduction that though M. R. James attributed this story (published anonymously, like many of Le Fanu shorts) to this Irish writer, it is very unlikely it was really written by him, considering the style and topic. Quite frankly, I am not sure which opinion is right. I need some information about this.

Though this collection do not contain more famous tales of his like `Carmilla' or `Green Tea,' it offers a good night-time read not only for those interested in Le Fanu, but anyone who loves macabre tales.

Along with "Best Ghost Stories of LeFanu",also published by Dover, this completes the set of LeFanu's short stories. Although these stories tend to be a bit longer than masterworks like "Green Tea", they are every bit as worthwhile and are musts for any fan of English-Irish ghost stories. These two volumes comprise multiple collections of LeFanu's work originally published under the titles "Madame Crowl's Ghost" "In A Glass Darkly", "Golden Friars" and several previously uncollected stories. Le Fanu is right behind M.R James and right in front of E.F Benson in the ghost story writing business.

hello,
as one other great writer M. R. James wrote of
joseph sheridan le fanu he stands absolutely in first rank as a writer of ghost storys I share that same verdict after reading many of his storys
this book had some very god storys in it I recommend it to those that like ghost storys and like to be scared where when you are home all alone it is late at night and as you read the ghost storys you get cold chills that run through your body as you begin to think what was that bump, or creak that came from don the hall as you shiver continuing to ead the story and wonder if something is comming toward u :)

enjoy the book and get more from this author and wilkie collins and edgar allen poe