Customer Reviews

The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories

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"The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories" is one of a very large series of 'Mammoth Books.' It's a fun series, including "Mammoth Book of Historical Detectives," "Mammoth Book of New Erotica," "Mammoth Book of Dracula," so on and so forth.

Clocking in at almost 600 pages, this extensive compilation should enthrall readers of the supernatural for an extended time. What I liked most about this book, besides the 30-plus short stories dealing exclusively with ghosts/haunted houses, was the inclusion of a near Hall of Fame list of great writers, among them Algernon Blackwood, Virginia Woolf, Robert Block, Ramsey Campbell, James Herbert, M.R. James and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Oddly enough, these writers' most famous supernatural stories are not included, but rather their lesser known works. So there are some great discoveries to be had.

I encountered one of the finest haunted house stories I've read in a while with Basil Cooper's "The Grey House." This chilling 1967 tale details a young couple's renovation of an old French manor, where they soon discover the evil history of the home. Once the renovation is complete, hideous forces are in motion as tragedy pays the couple a visit by way of an ancient ladder connected to the terrace. Part Lovecraft, part Blackwood, the terrifying account is a highlight of this compilation.

The stories are separated into chapters including Haunted Places, Avenging Spirits, Shadowy Corners and Phantom Lovers among others. Each story has an enlightening introduction detailing the haunted structure, plus a brief summary of the author's career. The tales are wildly diverse - which is not a recommendation - with a combination of moody 19th century goth and sexually aware modern sensibilities.

For lovers of the haunted house/supernatural genre, "The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories" will be an enjoyable addition. But first-time readers of the genre would be better served to track down the classics before opening these doors.

Peter Haining has included some very good stories in "The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories" that have been collected elsewhere, e.g. "Lost Hearts" by M.R. James and "The Whistling Room" by William Hope Hodgson. He also included stories that have never (to my knowledge) been included in an anthology--and for a good reason. They usually weren't worth reading (at least, if you're looking for a good scare). There were also too many humorous ghost stories for my taste -- authors always seem to come off as over-arch and coy when they strain for levity in a ghost story.

I'd recommend "Haunted Houses - The Greatest Stories" which was edited by Martin H. Greenburg over this collection of Peter Haining's. Haining seemed to be straining for 'mammoth' rather than for 'haunted'.

The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories is a vast collection of stories touching on hauntings in about every situation one could imagine. The book is divided into topical sections: Haunted Places, Avenging Spirits, Shadowy Corners (restless spirits), Phantom Lovers, Little Terrors (Ghosts of Children), Psychic Phenomena, and Houses of Horror (favorite stories of movie stars like Vincent Price).

For me, the overwhelming majority of the stories were new with The Judge's House (by Bram Stoker) and Lost Heart's (M. R. James) being the most familiar. There are stories that are frightening and others that struck me as quite tame by comparison. The beauty of this volume is that all voices from the literary world are heard and I am sure that some stories that I found less rewarding would appeal to other readers. For me the most frightening was the first story The Haunted and the Haunters by Bulwer-Lytton. It is the kind of story that has one jumping at minor sounds in the house. Equally scary was Authentic Narrative of a Haunted House, a story by Le Fanu that I was not familiar with. The Grey House by Basil Cooper was nicely written and atmospheric but not particularly frightening; it would make an interesting film. The House of Dust is a nicely written story injecting a bit of sex into haunted house tales.

A story that I was very interested in reading was In Letters of Fire by Gaston Leroux (who also wrote The Phantom of the Opera. I would not strictly categorize this story as involving a haunted house but one that has an evil room. The book has a nice selection of stories with an informative introduction to each providing us with the location and peculiarities of the haunted house and some brief biographical data about the author. There also is a helpful appendix that describes haunted house novels that I found intriguing.

When I read ghost stories I want real ghosts and real chills. I want a tale that causes shivers. This book delivers. Great selection of ghostly tale that will make you think twice about turning that bedroom light out.

This huge anthology is a wonderful treat for any lover of the spookiest of all horror genres - the haunted house. The selections are highly eclectic, although weighted toward the coziness of the British 19th century tradition (although there's NOTHING cozy about "Lost Hearts," the M.R. James tale included here!). You'll find a terrific balance between familiar names like William Hope Hodgson and Robert Bloch (best known for Psycho) and the more obscure - this anthology was my introduction to Basil Copper and H. Russell Wakefield, whose "Ghost Hunt" is a highly enjoyable bit of pulp. Also included are a number of stories by "literary" writers not known for the horror genre, including Penelope Lively, Fay Weldon, and Virginia Woolf.

Some of the stories are mostly of historical interest - modern tastes aren't likely to be thrilled by misers getting tediously Victorian comeuppances in the afterlife, and the "funny" stories are painful to sit through. But this eclectic collection offers gem after gem as well, and if you want a survey of the breadth and depth of the haunted neighborhood, here is your field guide.

I had high hopes for this book, but the stories just aren't scary. I don't recommend this book, especially if you enjoy nail biting, edge of your seat ghost stories. This book is boring.

I found this volume to be very good reading. Pretty much all of these stories were thrilling, and some were extremely scary, necessitating a brief break before I could continue reading. It took several months to finish reading this book, but this is the kind of book you read in sessions anyway. Definitely makes me glad that I live in a brand new house. One of my favorites was "The Whistling Room" by William Hope Hodgson. Highly recommended.

This book was excellent! It's suspenful and he uses very vivid description to build you up to the moment. He should follow through with detail's more though cause he sometime's says things that make you wonder or make you kind of lost. But otherwise he did a wonderful job! It was very interesting and entertaining to read, and I would like to read more of his novel's, if there is anymore like these stories. This book was a real pageturner, the suspense was great after each end. To wrap it all up I would suggest this book to anybody because if you're looking for something to do on a stormy evening, the best thing to do is to grab a good book and this is a good book to do that with.

This book is a collection of ghost stories. It is part of the popular "Mammoth Book" series. The stories are dry and anything but scary. I didn't care for the book at all, and if you are looking for scary, or even interesting, ghost stories don't buy this book.

Mysteries written in the 1800's and early 1900's were among the best ever
written. I don't know why but today's writers just do not have the experise
these writers had. You have Charlotte Riddell (remember the door on the
old house that would not close). Charlotte was one of the very best. Also,
M. R. James, E. F. Benson, Ellen Glasgow (unfortunately Ellen did not write
many ghost stories; I wish she had written more. Her "The Shadowy Third"
is thrilling about a NY physician and his invalid wife and a little girl
no one can see except the wife's nurse and the wife-the ending is great.
Sometimes in collections of stories there can be some one doesnt like but
I was enchanted with all of them.