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Ghostly Tales: A Spine-Tingling Selection of Short Stories
An exciting collection of spine-tingling short stories from masters of the genre, by notable authors including Bram Stoker, Jerome K. Jerome, Sir Walter Scott, and M. R. James.
Audio CD
First published November 30, 2010
28 people want to read
About the author
Amelia B. Edwards
318 books70 followersAmelia Ann Blandford Edwards (1831-1892) was an English novelist, journalist, lady traveller and Egyptologist, born to an Irish mother and a father who had been a British Army officer before becoming a banker. Edwards was educated at home by her mother, showing considerable promise as a writer at a young age. She published her first poem at the age of 7, her first story at age 12. Edwards thereafter proceeded to publish a variety of poetry, stories and articles in a large number of magazines.
Edwards' first full-length novel was My Brother's Wife (1855). Her early novels were well received, but it was Barbara's History (1864), a novel of bigamy, that solidly established her reputation as a novelist. She spent considerable time and effort on their settings and backgrounds, estimating that it took her about two years to complete the researching and writing of each. This painstaking work paid off, her last novel, Lord Brackenbury (1880), emerged as a run-away success which went to 15 editions.
In the winter of 1873–1874, accompanied by several friends, Edwards toured Egypt, discovering a fascination with the land and its cultures, both ancient and modern. Journeying southwards from Cairo in a hired dahabiyeh (manned houseboat), the companions visited Philae and ultimately reached Abu Simbel where they remained for six weeks. During this last period, a member of Edwards' party, the English painter Andrew McCallum, discovered a previously-unknown sanctuary which bore her name for some time afterwards. Having once returned to the UK, Edwards proceeded to write a vivid description of her Nile voyage, publishing the resulting book in 1876 under the title of A Thousand Miles up the Nile. Enhanced with her own hand-drawn illustrations, the travelogue became an immediate bestseller.
Edwards' travels in Egypt had made her aware of the increasing threat directed towards the ancient monuments by tourism and modern development. Determined to stem these threats by the force of public awareness and scientific endeavour, Edwards became a tireless public advocate for the research and preservation of the ancient monuments and, in 1882, co-founded the Egypt Exploration Fund (now the Egypt Exploration Society) with Reginald Stuart Poole, curator of the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum. Edwards was to serve as joint Honorary Secretary of the Fund until her death some 14 years later.
With the aims of advancing the Fund's work, Edwards largely abandoned her other literary work to concentrate solely on Egyptology. In this field she contributed to the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, to the American supplement of that work, and to the Standard Dictionary. As part of her efforts Edwards embarked on an ambitious lecture tour of the United States in the period 1889–1890. The content of these lectures was later published under the title Pharaohs, Fellahs, and Explorer (1891).
Amelia Edwards died at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on the 15 April 1892, bequeathing her collection of Egyptian antiquities and her library to University College London, together with a sum of £2,500 to found an Edwards Chair of Egyptology. She was buried in St Mary's Church Henbury, Bristol,
Wikipedia: Amelia B. Edwards
Edwards' first full-length novel was My Brother's Wife (1855). Her early novels were well received, but it was Barbara's History (1864), a novel of bigamy, that solidly established her reputation as a novelist. She spent considerable time and effort on their settings and backgrounds, estimating that it took her about two years to complete the researching and writing of each. This painstaking work paid off, her last novel, Lord Brackenbury (1880), emerged as a run-away success which went to 15 editions.
In the winter of 1873–1874, accompanied by several friends, Edwards toured Egypt, discovering a fascination with the land and its cultures, both ancient and modern. Journeying southwards from Cairo in a hired dahabiyeh (manned houseboat), the companions visited Philae and ultimately reached Abu Simbel where they remained for six weeks. During this last period, a member of Edwards' party, the English painter Andrew McCallum, discovered a previously-unknown sanctuary which bore her name for some time afterwards. Having once returned to the UK, Edwards proceeded to write a vivid description of her Nile voyage, publishing the resulting book in 1876 under the title of A Thousand Miles up the Nile. Enhanced with her own hand-drawn illustrations, the travelogue became an immediate bestseller.
Edwards' travels in Egypt had made her aware of the increasing threat directed towards the ancient monuments by tourism and modern development. Determined to stem these threats by the force of public awareness and scientific endeavour, Edwards became a tireless public advocate for the research and preservation of the ancient monuments and, in 1882, co-founded the Egypt Exploration Fund (now the Egypt Exploration Society) with Reginald Stuart Poole, curator of the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum. Edwards was to serve as joint Honorary Secretary of the Fund until her death some 14 years later.
With the aims of advancing the Fund's work, Edwards largely abandoned her other literary work to concentrate solely on Egyptology. In this field she contributed to the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, to the American supplement of that work, and to the Standard Dictionary. As part of her efforts Edwards embarked on an ambitious lecture tour of the United States in the period 1889–1890. The content of these lectures was later published under the title Pharaohs, Fellahs, and Explorer (1891).
Amelia Edwards died at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on the 15 April 1892, bequeathing her collection of Egyptian antiquities and her library to University College London, together with a sum of £2,500 to found an Edwards Chair of Egyptology. She was buried in St Mary's Church Henbury, Bristol,
Wikipedia: Amelia B. Edwards
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 15, 2022
The Phantom Coach- ⭐️⭐️
The Tapestry Chamber- ⭐️⭐️
The Judges House- ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Man of Science- ⭐️⭐️
The Tapestry Chamber- ⭐️⭐️
The Judges House- ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Man of Science- ⭐️⭐️
February 14, 2025
Read via audiobook.
Mostly listened to this because I am a huge Bram Stoker fan. Overall, it's a decent read. The stories themselves are alright, but nothing particularly stands out here. I could see this being fun to read around Halloween but don't think it's any great masterpiece.
Mostly listened to this because I am a huge Bram Stoker fan. Overall, it's a decent read. The stories themselves are alright, but nothing particularly stands out here. I could see this being fun to read around Halloween but don't think it's any great masterpiece.
February 5, 2017
Four stories:
The Phantom Coach by Amelia B. Edwards, in which a man who is eager to get home again finds himself walking alone on an old coach road and hitches a ride from a passing coach. But things aren't as they seem...
The Tapestried Chamber by Sir Walter Scott, in which a man is invited to spend a week at a friend's house. But he spends the first night in a particular bed chamber known to be haunted. Nice friend, huh?
The Judge's House by Bram Stoker is the best of the bunch. Excellent pacing, frightful build, and a great climax! The rats and one rat in particular gave me goosebumps.
The Man of Science by Jerome K. Jerome is a story within a story, and a short one at that. One man tells a group of friends of a man he had recently met who had been dead for six months... niiice.
Overall, I liked the grouping. Early storytelling at its best.
The Phantom Coach by Amelia B. Edwards, in which a man who is eager to get home again finds himself walking alone on an old coach road and hitches a ride from a passing coach. But things aren't as they seem...
The Tapestried Chamber by Sir Walter Scott, in which a man is invited to spend a week at a friend's house. But he spends the first night in a particular bed chamber known to be haunted. Nice friend, huh?
The Judge's House by Bram Stoker is the best of the bunch. Excellent pacing, frightful build, and a great climax! The rats and one rat in particular gave me goosebumps.
The Man of Science by Jerome K. Jerome is a story within a story, and a short one at that. One man tells a group of friends of a man he had recently met who had been dead for six months... niiice.
Overall, I liked the grouping. Early storytelling at its best.
December 1, 2011
This was a well-chosen mix of stories, and the readers were outstanding. I'd listen to anything Michael Maloney reads. Worth a listen.
October 24, 2021
Enjoyed the first story/chapter on audible but disliked the 2nd
April 16, 2023
I Didn't Think I Would Like This Book, But...
This is a much better set of stories than I anticipated. Classic horror stories by famous authors are complemented by superlative narrators.
I recommend this book.
This is a much better set of stories than I anticipated. Classic horror stories by famous authors are complemented by superlative narrators.
I recommend this book.
September 30, 2017
Perfect listening for the upcoming Halloween season! Great readers reading classic ghost stories, not normally included in ghost anthologies.
January 2, 2022
A nice mix. Odd how these are a kind of comfort listening?
October 27, 2022
It was a good collection of ghost stories, and the narrators were fantastic.
February 5, 2023
Bram Stoker's was best. Expected more of Sir Walter Scott.
October 28, 2023
Perfectly fine stories.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews