Customer Reviews

Great Ghost Stories

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is quite a nice collection of ghost stories, very cheap in the Dover Thrift Editions.

Some of the selections are classic, such as Amelia B. Edwards' "The Phantom Coach," and W. W. Jacobs' "The Monkey's Paw," which is an excellent story to be told around a campfire at night. A story by J. Sheridan Lefanu is almost obligatory, of course, in this case, "Dickon the Devil," and one may also expect a story by Ambrose Bierce, "The Moonlit Road," which appears in a Bierce anthology, as well.

Others, such as Charles Dickens' "To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt," Bram Stoker's chilling, "The Judge's House," and E. F. Benson's "The Confession of Charles Linkworth," are more unusual.

These stories are from the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century, and provide and interesting insight into many of the moral values of the time.

Why an "introduction"? If you are a fan of ghost stories and have a collection of books on the subject, you probably already have all the stories in this book. I will not list them all since another reviewer has already done so.

Although all of the stories deal with ghosts (well, "The Monkey's Paw" is arguably not a ghost story, but spooky nonetheless), most of them do not deal with a malevolent spirit bent on our destruction. Only "The Judge's House" and "A Ghost Story" deal with an angry spirit. The rest are tales of ghostly happenings, but nothing like you might find in a horror movie.

Given the price, I would recommend this to someone who does not normally read a lot of ghost stories. Otherwise, you probably have these in your collection already.

Ten classic horror tales that will have you keeping the lights on at night! These tales were published between 1864 and 1912, which is considered by some to be the "golden age" of horror and supernatural fiction. These stories are a great cross-section of the genre, and at this low price, it makes a wonderful introduction to the classic ghost stories.

With all fairness to these legendary authors who have endured with us beyond their time, and to their mastery of writing to which we all aspire, it is a difficult old world, almost archaic, style of writing for me- to understand the story beyond the writing. I most enjoyed the first story, the haunted coach ride, and one of the other stories with the rat on the bell rope, but after that, my interest waned somewhat. The stories weren't frightening to me. But the importance of these readings- these are classic writers. I highlighted new words and looked them up- something gained after all.

This slim collection of ghost stories contains the following 10 short tales:

1) `The Phantom Coach' by Amelia B. Edwards, first published in All the Year Round, Christmas Number, 1864.
2) `To be Taken with a Grain of Salt' by Charles Dickens, first published in All the Year Round, Christmas Number, 1865.
3) 'Dickon the Devil' by Sheridan Le Fanu, first published in London Society, 1872.
4) `The Judge's House' by Bram Stoker, first published in Illustrated Spoorting and Dramatic Life, December 1891.
5) `A Ghost Story' by Jerome K. Jerome, first published in The Idler, September 1892, as part of the serial Novell Notes. The title is the present editor's
6) `The Moonlit Road' by Ambrose Bierce (1894)
7) `The Monkey's Paw' by W. W. Jacobs, first published in Harper's Monthly Magazine, September, 1902.
8) `The Rose Garden' by M. R. James, first published in More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary in 1911.
9) `Born to His Bone' by E.G. Swain, first published in The Stoneground Ghost Tales, Compiled from the Recollection of the Reverend Roland Batchel, Vicar of the Parish, in 1912.
10) `The Confession of Charles Linkworth' by E. F. Benson, first published in The Room in the Tower and Other Stories, 1912.

1) is about a man who encounters the titular coach, and its consequences.
2) tells about the mysterious thirteenth juror in the courtroom.
3) is a typical eerie Le Fanu story with folklore touch
4) is about the chilling experience of a young tenant who decided (unwisely) to move in an old house of the title.
5) tells a tale of an avenger who fulfills his wish in a most bizarre fashion.
6) is a three-part short story about a murder, seen from three perspectives. It is unique in that the narrative includes that of the dead (or a ghost)
7) is a classic tale of horror, a truly chilling masterpiece. It follows the fate of one family peacefully living together, who get what they wish for at a great price.
8) is a short tale in which a meddlesome lady learns the value of the saying: Do not disturb things at rest.
9) tells a small adventure of a bookish bachelor who finds someone else is in his library.
10) is the most unique among the ten stories, where the dead send his message through a modern invention.

The stories are all readable and well-written though fans of Victorian ghost stories must have already read most of them. Still it is good as starting point for those who are newly interested in the genre.

From their late Victorian heyday until the present, ghost stories have been at popular fiction's forefront, entertaining countless readers and entering the popular consciousness. One could fill whole libraries with them, and there is an incredible amount of collections, making it nearly impossible for the curious to know where to start. This excellent collection saves them the trouble. More deluxe and comprehensive omnibuses can easily be found, but this is one of the most widely available and affordable - not to mention great in itself -, making it an ideal introduction.

It has ten stories over 100 pages, ranging from 1864-1912 - the genre's apex. The sheer number of ghost stories, to say nothing of the many superb ones, means picking ten is more or less inherently arbitrary. It is easy to lament missing favorites but very hard to argue with what is here. The selections are more or less representative, including some of the best-known ghost story writers (J. S. LeFanu, M. R. James), mainstream writers who sometimes tried their hand at it (Charles Dickens, Ambrose Bierce, Jerome K. Jerome, W. W. Jacobs), and some of general horror's absolute masters like Bram Stoker. However, one of the standouts is the earliest story ("The Phantom Coach") by the little-known Amelia B. Edwards, which truly whets the appetite for the rest; the similarly obscure E. G. Swain's "Bone to His Bone" is also top-notch. Not all the stories are equal, but several are absolute classics: Stoker's "The Judge's House," Bierce's "The Moonlit Road," James' "The Rose Garden," E. F. Benson's "The Confession of Charles Linkworth," and of course, Jacobs' "The Monkey's Paw." Several of these are so great as to transcend the genre, simply becoming great literature and some of the best short stories of all-time, and none are weak.

All told, one can hardly go wrong with this book. It should not be anyone's last ghost story stop, but it leads one to read other genre entries - no small virtue -, and the price is near-unbelievable. This is one of the few books everyone should own.

This rather good Dover book is a collection of ghost stories and tales by a lot of different writers who have tried their hand at the genre.

Generally, it is pretty good. At Dover prices, it is hard to complain in general, at all. Well worth a try, this one, if a few spooks are your thing.

Great Ghost Stories : The Phantom Coach - Amelia B. Edwards
Great Ghost Stories : To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt - Charles Dickens
Great Ghost Stories : Dickon the Devil - J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Great Ghost Stories : The Judge's House - Bram Stoker
Great Ghost Stories : A Ghost Story - Jerome K. Jerome
Great Ghost Stories : The Moonlit Road - Ambrose Bierce
Great Ghost Stories : The Monkey's Paw - W. W. Jacobs
Great Ghost Stories : The Rose Garden - M. R. James
Great Ghost Stories : Bone to His Bone - E. G. Swain
Great Ghost Stories : The Confession of Charles Linkworth - E. F. Benson

Any transport will do if the weather is bad enough.

4 out of 5


Pre-judged murderer.

3 out of 5


Fraternal loopiness.

3 out of 5


Don't stay with anyone who fancies large rats and nooses.

3.5 out of 5


Supernatural belief discussion.

3 out of 5


Strangled relations.

3.5 out of 5


Wishes not so handy.

4 out of 5


Arbour been a bit scared.

3.5 out of 5


Gardening instructions.

2 out of 5


Condemned revisit.

3.5 out of 5

Keeps one amused for a while