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The Demanding Dead: More Stories of Terror and the Supernatural
With eight outstanding ghost stories, this collection highlights Edith Wharton's ability to switch genres seemingly without effort. The same literary genius evident in her best known works such as The Age of Innocence, Ethan Frome, and The House of Mirth is here dedicated to giving the reader a damned good scare. Stories such as "Kerfol" (adjudged by aficionados to be Wharton's best ghost story) and "Pomegranate Seed" are perfect illustrations of consummately crafted horror fiction. Wharton's vivid sense of the supernatural betrays her deeper anxieties about the claustrophobia of domestic life and the pain of a failing relationship.
The moving finger --
The eyes --
Kerfol --
Miss Mary Pask --
Mr. Jones --
Pomegranate seed --
Roman fever --
All Souls' --
Beatrice Palmato.
The moving finger --
The eyes --
Kerfol --
Miss Mary Pask --
Mr. Jones --
Pomegranate seed --
Roman fever --
All Souls' --
Beatrice Palmato.
- GenresHorrorShort Stories
220 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1937
About the author
Edith Wharton
1,556 books5,422 followersEdith Wharton emerged as one of America’s most insightful novelists, deftly exposing the tensions between societal expectation and personal desire through her vivid portrayals of upper-class life. Drawing from her deep familiarity with New York’s privileged “aristocracy,” she offered readers a keenly observed and piercingly honest vision of Gilded Age society.
Her work reached a milestone when she became the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, awarded for The Age of Innocence. This novel highlights the constraining rituals of 1870s New York society and remains a defining portrait of elegance laced with regret.
Wharton’s literary achievements span a wide canvas. The House of Mirth presents a tragic, vividly drawn character study of Lily Bart, navigating social expectations and the perils of genteel poverty in 1890s New York. In Ethan Frome, she explores rural hardship and emotional repression, contrasting sharply with her urban social dramas.
Her novella collection Old New York revisits the moral terrain of upper-class society, spanning decades and combining character studies with social commentary. Through these stories, she inevitably points back to themes and settings familiar from The Age of Innocence. Continuing her exploration of class and desire, The Glimpses of the Moon addresses marriage and social mobility in early 20th-century America. And in Summer, Wharton challenges societal norms with its rural setting and themes of sexual awakening and social inequality.
Beyond fiction, Wharton contributed compelling nonfiction and travel writing. The Decoration of Houses reflects her eye for design and architecture; Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort presents a compelling account of her wartime observations. As editor of The Book of the Homeless, she curated a moving, international collaboration in support of war refugees.
Wharton’s influence extended beyond writing. She designed her own country estate, The Mount, a testament to her architectural sensibility and aesthetic vision. The Mount now stands as an educational museum celebrating her legacy.
Throughout her career, Wharton maintained friendships and artistic exchanges with luminaries such as Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Theodore Roosevelt—reflecting her status as a respected and connected cultural figure.
Her literary legacy also includes multiple Nobel Prize nominations, underscoring her international recognition. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature more than once.
In sum, Edith Wharton remains celebrated for her unflinching, elegant prose, her psychological acuity, and her capacity to illuminate the unspoken constraints of society—from the glittering ballrooms of New York to quieter, more remote settings. Her wide-ranging work—novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, travel writing, essays—offers cultural insight, enduring emotional depth, and a piercing critique of the customs she both inhabited and dissected.
Her work reached a milestone when she became the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, awarded for The Age of Innocence. This novel highlights the constraining rituals of 1870s New York society and remains a defining portrait of elegance laced with regret.
Wharton’s literary achievements span a wide canvas. The House of Mirth presents a tragic, vividly drawn character study of Lily Bart, navigating social expectations and the perils of genteel poverty in 1890s New York. In Ethan Frome, she explores rural hardship and emotional repression, contrasting sharply with her urban social dramas.
Her novella collection Old New York revisits the moral terrain of upper-class society, spanning decades and combining character studies with social commentary. Through these stories, she inevitably points back to themes and settings familiar from The Age of Innocence. Continuing her exploration of class and desire, The Glimpses of the Moon addresses marriage and social mobility in early 20th-century America. And in Summer, Wharton challenges societal norms with its rural setting and themes of sexual awakening and social inequality.
Beyond fiction, Wharton contributed compelling nonfiction and travel writing. The Decoration of Houses reflects her eye for design and architecture; Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort presents a compelling account of her wartime observations. As editor of The Book of the Homeless, she curated a moving, international collaboration in support of war refugees.
Wharton’s influence extended beyond writing. She designed her own country estate, The Mount, a testament to her architectural sensibility and aesthetic vision. The Mount now stands as an educational museum celebrating her legacy.
Throughout her career, Wharton maintained friendships and artistic exchanges with luminaries such as Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Theodore Roosevelt—reflecting her status as a respected and connected cultural figure.
Her literary legacy also includes multiple Nobel Prize nominations, underscoring her international recognition. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature more than once.
In sum, Edith Wharton remains celebrated for her unflinching, elegant prose, her psychological acuity, and her capacity to illuminate the unspoken constraints of society—from the glittering ballrooms of New York to quieter, more remote settings. Her wide-ranging work—novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, travel writing, essays—offers cultural insight, enduring emotional depth, and a piercing critique of the customs she both inhabited and dissected.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
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November 23, 2022I didn't read this whole book, just these stories that appear in it, and which I got from online, but as I have no where else to put the review.
"Miss Mary Pask" - a man recovering from some kind of nervous affliction by taking a painting holiday realizes that he is in the locale of the lonely home of the maiden sister of his best friend's wife. Feeling honor bound to pay her a call, he sets out into the fog with a rented carriage, barely finding the isolated, dilapidated, seaside house. Yet, as he knocks on the door and hears the owner approach, he suddenly remembers (his memory having been affected by the nerve problem) that the maiden sister is supposedly dead.... This is a nice little piece of atmospheric writing - spooky and unnerving - and even though there is an "explanation" for what would appear to be inexplicable, the main character's overturned mental state still makes it effective.
"The Moving Finger" is a ghost story - in a sense - but almost a non-genre ghost story and certainly not intended to be "scary" (or even "spooky"). A man, following the death of his controlling wife, remarries marvelously - a perfect woman who compliments and uplifts his life in every way. Sadly, this wonderful woman also dies unexpectedly, and the man is left with her lifelike portrait that perfectly captured her spirit in the image. So, as time passes, he asks the talented painter to age the portrait so that his wife, who he feels is still with him, will not be "left behind." An excellently considered, bittersweet, charming piece. And now, having writ about "the Moving Finger", I move on...
"Mr. Jones" has a woman inherit a large old country house that has remained untenanted (though staffed) for decades. She soon finds that the staff acts as a kind of mouthpiece for the house manager, the titular character, who is supposedly deathly ill and can't be visited but who has very firm ideas on how the place should be run, what rooms should be used and what questions asked. But as the new householder and her friend begin to investigate the history of the place, disruption causes an effect...
Well, I liked this quite a bit. Wharton has a crisp, clear, style that not only gets across almost everything you need to know (I say almost everything because "Is Mr. Jones on the premises?" never seems to get asked) but her handling of dialog is light and true to life. Those worried that this might be a Henry-James styled ghost story with no threat will be satisfied with the ending. A solid read.
"Miss Mary Pask" - a man recovering from some kind of nervous affliction by taking a painting holiday realizes that he is in the locale of the lonely home of the maiden sister of his best friend's wife. Feeling honor bound to pay her a call, he sets out into the fog with a rented carriage, barely finding the isolated, dilapidated, seaside house. Yet, as he knocks on the door and hears the owner approach, he suddenly remembers (his memory having been affected by the nerve problem) that the maiden sister is supposedly dead.... This is a nice little piece of atmospheric writing - spooky and unnerving - and even though there is an "explanation" for what would appear to be inexplicable, the main character's overturned mental state still makes it effective.
"The Moving Finger" is a ghost story - in a sense - but almost a non-genre ghost story and certainly not intended to be "scary" (or even "spooky"). A man, following the death of his controlling wife, remarries marvelously - a perfect woman who compliments and uplifts his life in every way. Sadly, this wonderful woman also dies unexpectedly, and the man is left with her lifelike portrait that perfectly captured her spirit in the image. So, as time passes, he asks the talented painter to age the portrait so that his wife, who he feels is still with him, will not be "left behind." An excellently considered, bittersweet, charming piece. And now, having writ about "the Moving Finger", I move on...
"Mr. Jones" has a woman inherit a large old country house that has remained untenanted (though staffed) for decades. She soon finds that the staff acts as a kind of mouthpiece for the house manager, the titular character, who is supposedly deathly ill and can't be visited but who has very firm ideas on how the place should be run, what rooms should be used and what questions asked. But as the new householder and her friend begin to investigate the history of the place, disruption causes an effect...
Well, I liked this quite a bit. Wharton has a crisp, clear, style that not only gets across almost everything you need to know (I say almost everything because "Is Mr. Jones on the premises?" never seems to get asked) but her handling of dialog is light and true to life. Those worried that this might be a Henry-James styled ghost story with no threat will be satisfied with the ending. A solid read.
August 28, 2022
So good I audibly gasped a bunch of times
December 6, 2009
I have to say that I really enjoyed this little book.I have read some of Edith Wharton's ghost stories before and found most of the stories in this book were known to me.I understand that this is a companion edition to the editor's previous series of short stories called Ghost-Feelers.That said, it was nice to have one book with a lot of her best supernatural stories in it.The contents are as follows:The Moving Finger,The Eyes,Kerfol,Miss Mary Pask,Mr. Jones,Pomegranate Seed,Roman Fever,All Soul's and part of Beatrice Palmato.
All of the stories are good with no sloucher's among them.Beatrice Palmato's fragment was very interesting and it is a shame that she didn't live to finish it.
Overall, this is a very nice collection and I have already ordered Ghost-Feeler's from Amazon to compliment this set of short stories.
All of the stories are good with no sloucher's among them.Beatrice Palmato's fragment was very interesting and it is a shame that she didn't live to finish it.
Overall, this is a very nice collection and I have already ordered Ghost-Feeler's from Amazon to compliment this set of short stories.
June 28, 2020
This book contains eight short stories about old ghosts and other supernatural horrors. Each story is written in a distinctly Victorian style. There isn't any real horror in this book; each story is an intellectual exercise in adjusting your perceptions to fit something that is unnatural or unexpected. As expected, Wharton's writing is sharp and I genuinely appreciated how well crafted these little stories are. Unfortunately, Wharton effectively telegraphs the mystery behind each story, which leaves little satisfaction at the end.
October 2, 2019
Really like this one. Wharton is a wonderful writer and the stories here were a nice little teaser for the upcoming Halloween season. Not too scary but enough to give you some chills.....I will say that the last story in this collection completely pulled the rug out from underneath my feet. They saved the most disturbing for last! Not to mention Wharton's way with words is magnificent and seeing her take on the ghost story genre was a real treat.
4/5
4/5
August 28, 2025
Vaguely creepy but not much terror
July 12, 2012
This book was great. It took a little while to get used to Wharton's style of writing, but once I did, I loved these ghost stories. My favorites include "The Eyes" where an old man describes to his guests how he was haunted in his youth by ghostly eyes that appeared in his room at night. There was also the story of a woman who had married a widower and had to fight for his affections when a mysterious series of letters appear, written in his dead wife's hand, a haunted painting, a woman who seems to come back from the dead, and a woman who spends a terrifying weekend alone in a mansion where time seems to have stopped. This collection was great, and it prompted me to download some of Wharton's other works, though I have heard that her Pulitzer Prize winning novels are very different from her ghost stories.
August 13, 2013
Some stories were better than others. I did not like the Pomegranate Seed for the ending left so unclear about what had actually happened. But even though it wasn't really terrifying, it was an interesting read.
November 9, 2014
Fine set of of ghost stories by a writer I always think of as arguably superior to her friend Henry James. Beautifully understated, and balanced on the edge of the modern and the late Victorian world.
December 12, 2014
Beautifully written. Intelligent and understated. You can imagine reading it in a high backed chair, beside a roaring open fire on a dark winter afternoon, whilst your maid pours you tea. Delicious.
on-hold
August 16, 2016On-hold because... I just lost the book. I brought it out with me and I just... lost it :"(
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews