The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories

by Michael Cox (Editor), R.A. Gilbert (Editor), Mrs. Henry Wood (Contributor)

The Victorians excelled at telling ghost stories. In an age of rapid scientific progress, the idea of a vindictive past able to reach out and violate the present held a special potential for terror. Throughout the nineteenth century, fictional ghost stories developed in parallel with the more general Victorian fascination with death and what lay beyond it. Though they were as much a part of the cultural and literary fabric of the age as imperial confidence, the best of the stories still retain their original power to surprise and unsettle.
In Victorian Ghost Stories, the editors map out the development of the ghost story from 1850 to the early years of the twentieth century and demonstrate the importance of this form of short fiction in Victorian popular culture. As well as reprinting stories by supernatural specialists such as J. S. Le Fanu and M. R. James, this selection emphasizes the key role played by women writers--including Elizabeth Gaskell, Rhoda Broughton, and Charlotte Riddell--and offers one or two genuine rarities. Other writers represented include Charles Dickens, Henry James, Wilkie Collins, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and R. L. Stevenson. There is also a fascinating Introduction and a chronological list of ghost story collections from 1850 to 1910.

Includes:

The old nurse's story by Elizabeth Gaskell
An account of some strange disturbances in Aungier Street by J.S. Le Fanu
The miniature by J.Y. Akerman
The last house in C-Street by Dinah Mulock
To be taken with a grain of salt by Charles Dickens
The Botathen ghost by R.S. Hawker
The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth by Rhoda Broughton
The romance of certain old clothes by Henry James
Pichon & Sons, of the Croix Rousse by Anonymous
Reality or delusion? by Mrs Henry Wood
Uncle Cornelius, his story by George MacDonald
The shadow of a shade by Tom Hood
At Chrighton Abbey by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
No living voice by Thomas Street Millington
Miss Jéromette and the clergyman by Wilkie Collins
The story of Clifford House by Anonymous
Was it an illusion? by Amelia B. Edwards
The open door by Charlotte Riddell
The captain of the "Pole-star" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The body-snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson
The story of the rippling train by Mary Louisa Molesworth
At the end of the passage by Rudyard Kipling
"To let" by B.M. Croker
John Charrington's wedding by E. Nesbit
The haunted organist of Hurly Burly by Rosa Mulholland
The man of science by Jerome K. Jerome
Canon Alberic's scrap-book by M.R. James
Jerry Bundler by W.W. Jacobs
An Eddy on the floor by Bernard Capes
The tomb of Sarah by F.G. Loring
The case of Vincent Pyrwhit by Barry Pain
The shadows on the wall by Mary E. Wilkins
Father Macclesfield's tale by R.H. Benson
Thurnley Abbey by Perceval Landon
The kit-bag by Algernon Blackwood

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, Gothic, Ghosts, Victorian

497 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 1991

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

This is Michael^Cox, where ^=space. (default profile)

About the Author:
Michael Andrew Cox was an English biographer, novelist and musician.
He also held the position of Senior Commissioning Editor of reference books for Oxford University Press.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review from Badelynge.
Excellent selection of 35 ghost stories from the Victorian age, chronologically compiled here dating from 1852-1908. The stories included have been selected as much for aspects of innovation or for the part they played in influencing stylistic developments within the genre than their actual quality. Though there are some great ghost stories here and barring three or four stories are generally of very good quality.
Along with the stories are a comprehensive list of all ghost story collections published during the half century of years following 1840, full source details for the 35 stories and an introduction by editor Michael Cox.
Highlights for me include:
The Old Nurse's Story by Elizabeth Gaskell. It's probably the best written ghost story here with superb characterisation, lush prose and as a ghost story endlessly imitated even today.
An Account Of Some Strange Disturbances In Aungier Street by J.S.Le Fanu. One of his best and the veteran of countless anthologies.
The Open Door by Charlotte Riddell. Not particularly scary but a well written example of its type and introducing a rare detective element.
The Captain of the Pole-star by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Eery arctic tale coloured by Doyle's own experience of life on a steam-whaler.
The Kit-bag by Algernon Blackwood. Only Blackwood could imbue such an innocent inanimate object with such a deep sense of malevolent dread.
The only ones I'd have left out would be:
An Eddy On The Floor by Bernard Capes which although suitably macabre is also a shade too long compared to the other entries and probably the least accessible due to its convoluted syntax.
Miss Jeromette And The Clergyman - a very weak effort by Wilkie Collins.
The Tomb of Sarah by F.G.Loring - Nice story but very much a vampire tale.
Reading these in order shows how the genre developed. It's a genre that in the Victorian era was very much designed to be read aloud at the fireside after dinner and ever associated with mid winter and Christmas. It goes through phases of doomed love triangles, vengeful victims, tragic victims of accident defeating mortality to see their loved ones a final time, portentous warnings, cursed objects and places, spiritualism, tragic reenactments etc.
There will probably never be a definitive collection of ghost stories. The editor could easily have selected 35 alternate stories and still pleased this reader as much. I wouldn't have it any other way.

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reader of this volume of Victorian ghost stories must come equipped with a pre-existing fondness for the form. Any reader with that fondness would do well to obtain the spooky tome. The editors have done a fine job of pulling together some of the many gems of the genre. It has a nice mix of big names and lesser knowns, along with a couple of stories by our old friend “anonymous.” Among the biggies are Mrs Gaskell, Dickens, Henry James, M.R. James, Wilkie Collins, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, Jerome K. Jerome, and Algernon Blackwood. I like the way the editors arranged the stories in chronological order. The careful reader will notice growth and change in the form as the years roll on, as well as seeing how the changing times affects the stories. If you are a sensitive soul like myself (I feel a case of the vapors coming on right now) you may want to read something cheerful between the ghastly tales. Such a concentrated dose of dark Victoriana does tend to darken one's mood.

[Bill FromPA · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. The Old Nurses's Story - Elizabeth Gaskell - A mistreated ancestor's ghost attempts to lure a child to her death.
2. An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu - Hauntings in the house where a judge hung himself.
3. The Miniature - J. Y. Akerman - An account of a duel from a madman's diary
4. The Last House in C- Street - Dinah Mulock - A family visiting London percieves the spirit of the mother passing away at home in childbirth.
5. To Be Taken With a Grain of salt - Charles Dickens - A juror sees the ghost of a murdered man at the trial of his murderer.
6. The Botathen Ghost - R. S. Hawker - The laying of a spirit by a minister shortly after the English reformation.
7. The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth - Rhoda Broughton - An epistolary story about the leasing of a haunted house - an apparition that frightens its viewers out of their wits.
8. The Romance of Certain Old Clothes - Henry James - A ghost story that is all set up, with not enough preparartion for the supernatural happening at the end.
9. Pichon & Sons, of the Croix Rousse - Anonymous - The ghost of a man murdered in post-revolutionary France, a disguised survivor of the aristocracy.
10. Reality or Delusion? - Mrs. Henry Wood - Did a woman encounter the ghost of a man who hung himself after killing his unfaithful fiancee?
11. Uncle Cornelius His Story - George MacDonald - The ghost of a former sweetheart keeps household accounts in the afterlife.
12. The Shadow of a Shade - Tom Hood - The portrait of a murdered man forces a confession from his killer and romantic rival.
13. At Chrighton Abbey - Mary Elizabeth Braddon - A ghostly hunt appears when tragedy is in the offing for a family.
14. No Living Voice - Thomas Street Millington - A ghostly cry warns an English visitor in Italy of his pending murder.
15. Miss Jeromette and the Clergyman - Wilkie Collins - A clergymman takes as pupil the man who married and murdered the clergyman's former mistress.
16. The Story of Clifford House - Anonymous - A family leases a house haunted by the sounds of a murder.
17. Was It an Illusion? - Amelia B. Edwards - A travelling school inspector sees the ghost of a murdered boy. The body is uncovered when a lake drains into a mine. Also in All Saints' Eve
18. The Open Door - Charlotte Riddell - The hidden will of a murdered man is at issue in this tale of a door that will not remain closed. An undaunted ghost hunter is offered poison fruit to get him out of the way when fright fails. The motivation for the haunting and attempted poisoning seems strained: surely the miscreatnts could have searched out the will during the many days the house was apparently vacant?
19. The Captain of the 'Pole-Star' - Arthur Conan Doyle - A sea captain is haunted by a former love on a polar voyage. Also in Tales of Unease
20. The Body-Snatcher - R. L. Stevenson - A medical student handling cadavers for an anatomy instructor winks mightily at the possible misdeeds of his suppliers. Also in The Ghouls
21. The Story of the Rippling Train - Mary Louisa Molesworth - A brief tale of an apparition at the moment of a woman's distant death. The spirit appears to move in reverse, like a film run backwards.
22. At the End of the Passage - Rudyard Kipling - An official in India is haunted by his doppelganger. An atmosphere of true misery is described.
23. 'To Let' - B. M. Croker - Also set in India, another tale of a house lease sharply discounted due to an unnerving haunting by sounds of death.
24. John Charrington's Wedding - E. Nesbit - A man whose death is as of yet unknown returns from London to keep his wedding date.
25. The Haunted Organist of Hurly Burly - Rosa Mullholland - A young woman has seemingly inherited a curse of organ playing from a spirit that died before her birth.
26. The Man of Science - Jerome K. Jerome - A tale of a doctor who has unknowingly purchased the skeleton of the man he murdered.
27. Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book - M. R. James - An English tourist buys a manuscript volume that comes with a haunting by a nasty creature.
28. Jerry Bundler - W. W. Jacobs - Travelers swapping ghost stories in an inn leads to imposture and inadvertent murder.
29. An Eddy on the Floor - Bernard Capes - A prison warden is haunted by a man he unlawfully imprisoned and starved in vengeance for an insult to his literary ambitions.
30. The Tomb of Sarah - F. G. Loring - A lurid vampire tale, influenced by Dracula
31. The Case of Vincent Pyrwhit - Barry Pain -
32. The Shadows on the Wall - Mary E. Wilkins - A murderer joins his victim as a shadow cast on a library wall.
33. Father Maccelsfield's Tale - R. H. Benson - A priest recounts the tale of a ghost that faded with each of three successive appearances.
34. Thurnley Abbey - Perceval Landon - A guest encounters a horrid revenant, which he first takes to be a practical joke, on a visit to his friend's manor.
35. The Kit-Bag - Algernon Blackwood - A law clerk is accidentally loaned the kit-bag an insane murderer used to dispose of a dismembered body.

[Steven Belanger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Effective enough collection of [see title]. Some struck me as more creepy than others. I read this because I'm writing a historical horror novel that takes place, mostly, in 1890s New England--an area profoundly effected by Victorian mores. I was also interested in how people behaved and spoke at that time. How does one turn on a gaslight? How important was it to the time? How was it to ride in a horse-carriage? And so on...you get the idea.

Many of the authors are familiar: Wilkie Collins; Robert Louis Stevenson; Mary Wilkins (before she became Wilkins Freeman); Jerome K. Jerome; W.W. Jacobs...

But some of the more chilling ones were from authors I'd not heard of. E. Nesbit's "John Charrington's Wedding," for example. Now there's a guy who'll get married at all costs, as he said. Even if dead! The scene of him riding away with his new bride was very well-written and creepy. Memorable.

Jerome's "The Man of Science" was good. I tell you, I will not hold scientific studies in the basement next to a skeleton of a recently-deceased guy.

"The Last House in C--- Street" by Dinah Mulock was good, if not too long.

Very memorable was Henry James's "The Romance of Certain Old Clothes." Two very combative sisters, both in love with the same man. One dies in childbirth, so the other moves in on the guy. Said guy is apparently witless and marries the other sister as well, though she's the only one blamed for this social miscue. But then she tries on the other (dead) sister's expensive clothes...Women never like it when another woman tries on her clothes...

Tom Hood's "The Shadow of A Shade" was good, even if the title's not. The shadow of a murdered man follows the murderer until he goes nutty.

"At Crighton Abbey" was good, though you knew the guy was going to die in that hunt. A Victorian staple, apparently. The story could've been edited better.

Wilkie Collins's story was very good. The writing was spare, yet clean and descriptive. I'd forgotten his reputation as a good writer of the macabre and of mysteries. I was too influenced by Dan Simmons's excellent Drood to remember that Collins was a good writer, if not a bit of a fool.

Perhaps the best was of a murder of a daughter by her father, witnessed and not stopped by the eldest daughter. Fast-forward many years. The father has died of a natural cause, but the house is haunted and the surviving daughter is a haughty older woman above it all. At the end the sister's ghost comes through the wall, followed by the father's ghost. He kills her again, but the old woman sees it again and dies from the shock of it. A better story than I'm describing, and written and detailed very well at the end. Very creepy.

These are the best ones here, IMO. Some fall into the Victorian habit of narration, and no action; or of one character just telling a story, a la Jekyll and Hyde. The ones I mentioned creeped me out memorably; though they were not scary, they seemed timeless. There were many that I just skimmed.

Interesting, different, and entertaining overall, though I would only read a couple of them more than once.

[Books from Faeries · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelent selection of Victorian Ghost Stories, it contains stories from 1852 to 1908. As the tittle suggests, most of them are ghost stories but they differ in their narrative style and the way they portrait ghosts is different. It is so interesting to notice that many elements that are used nowadays in horror films, sere used first in this stories. There are also plenty of inspirational quotes. I personally enjoyed the following stories so much:

°"An Old Nurse's Story" by Elizabeth Gaskell:
I love how Gaskell used imagery, Nature, sounds and contrast to give you a delightful tale that you will never forget. It is so easy to see your self standing there in the middle of the snow under the moonlight contemplating how the ghosts come alive.

°"The Last House in C-Street" by Dinah Murlock:
"The only real parting is when there is no love left to part from" (51).

°"The Botathen Ghost" by R. S. Hawker:
"No angel or fiend, no spirit, good or evil, will ever speak until they have been first spoken too" (72).

°"Reality or Delusion?" by Mrs. Henry Wood:
"This is a ghost story. Every word is true. And I don’t mind confessing that for ages afterwards some of us did not care to pass the spot alone at night. Some people do not care to pass it yet" (115).

°"The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth" by Rhoda Broughton:
"Vainly we tried to bring back the life of that strong young heart; it will never come back again till that day when the earth and the sea give up the dead that are thein" (82).

°" The Open Door" by Charlotte Riddle:
"Some people do not believe in ghosts. For that matter, some people do not believe in anything" (256).

[Maria Lago · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quizás un poco menos lograda que la recopilación anterior, The Oxford Book of Ghost Stories, pero igualmente valiosa en cuanto a su calidad.
Recuerdo haber leído este libro en 2004 (o quizás 2005), durante un apagón que duró varias horas, desde la media tarde hasta casi la madrugada de un oscurísimo día de noviembre, tal como hoy. En esos momentos la idoneidad de esta lectura, a la luz de las velas, claro, fue tanto un cliché como un placer.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. The good stories are really good. The problems are with the extensive filler stories, which often amount to little more than Victorian melodrama (which can be pretty dated for a modern reader) with an attached "Boo" of some sort.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most anthologies this has some really great stories, a lot of rather average stories and one or two really awful stories. Most of the stories were interesting but could have been either longer or shorter to improve them. One thing that got annoying was that every other story would be told by a narrator who says they don't believe in ghosts but here is a story that is REALLY real. It seems no one was actually allowed to believe in ghost stories in Victorian times but they sure as heck liked telling them anyway. There were some standout stories but to be honest I have forgetten their names already. The best ones were eerie and involved things like weird rats, bodies being sold for money and vampires. Although I didn't think the vampire story truly qualified as a ghost story since it was a vampire story. There were also some abysmal stories. Rudyard Kipling anyone? I hated his story just like I hate pretty much everything by him that I have ever read. Then there was one story where a man wronged another man and the man who wronged the first man ran from the former man. You get the idea. There were one or two that I didn't quite get also. There was one about what seemed like a haunted book that just seemed totally random. Also I am not sure what a kit-bag exactly looks like yet there was a story about a haunted one. It was hard to picture. But all in all I would recommend reading this book. Just skip over any story that starts out boring because the ones that start that way really don't get any better.

[Catherine Siemann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Victorians liked to tell ghost stories at Christmastime, so I've been working my way through this collection, half a dozen or more stories at a time, for the last . . . four or five? . . . years. Some of them are more memorable than others, and there's a certain same-ness that my method of reading helped to minimize, but overall, thoroughly enjoyable.

Also delighted, towards the end of the collection, to rediscover "Thurnley Abbey" by Perceval Landon, in which a rationalist Edwardian's response to the skeleton reaching towards him from the end of his bed is utterly priceless . . . an imagine which had stuck in my mind since reading it in another anthology probably decades ago and which I was pleased to rediscover. Oh, and M. R. James remains the best of the best.

[Sreemoyee Acharya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love stories about the paranormal. Also I'm fascinated by Victorian era literature--the manors, countrysides, Downton Abbey like plots. So this book mixed the two passions and was an excellent read for a Friday evening, post work. Yes I am quite weird.

[Lee Foust · Rating 4 out of 5]

See the updates below for a few words on each of the tales.

[Jensine Varens · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to understand exactly how some male Victorian writers regarded women, this book is a great resource.

Just a few enjoyable ghost tales are included amongst a plethora of stories about womens' weakness, jealousy, or ignorance leading to their death, someone else's, or both. Occasionally, they're just too stupid and haunted to help themselves.

Read at your own risk. It's as enlightening as it is grating.

[Jed Mayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wide-ranging and eclectic, this painstakingly edited collection is ideal as both introduction to the genre and satisfying smorgasbord for seasoned ghost enthusiasts. The introduction is as fine as one would expect from the knowledgeable Cox, and the volume also includes a great list of publications for the curious to track down: outstanding!

[Renata · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this is probably one of only a few books I never finished. But I got to page 375 out of 525 so feel I deserve credit for it! The stories were Victorian so very wordy, very "flowery" and most not even close to being scary. I had higher hopes....

[Seanan DeGrave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stellar!

The best stories are:

The Old Nurse’s Tale by Elizabeth Gaskell
No Living Voice by Thomas Street Millington
Miss Jéromette and the Clergyman by Wilkie Collins
The Haunted Organist of Hurly Burly by Rosa Mulholland
The Tomb of Sarah by F. G. Loring

[Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the vast majority of these 35 stories! There were only 3 I didn't like, so overall this is a successful collection of great ghost stories from a wide variety of Victorian authors.

My favourites were An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, To be Taken with a Grain of Salt by Charles Dickens, The Shadow of a Shade by Tom Hood, The Story of Clifford House by Anonymous, The Body-Snatcher by R.L. Stevenson, The Man of Science by Jerome K. Jerome, Canon Albric's Scrap-book by M.R. James, Jerry Bundler by W.W. Jacobs, The Tomb of Sarah by F.G. Loring, The Case of Vincent Pyrwhit by Barry Pain, and The Kit-bag by Algernon Blackwood.

[Tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The spectre bride
Ainsworth
Понятно, конечно, что истории с привидениями должны быть бредом, но не настолько же. Не понравилось совсем. Без смысла и морали, без сюжета и прекрасных описаний. Как-то слабовато. Странно, что перечисляется вместе с достаточно симпатичными произведениями.

The old nurse's story
Gaskell
Вот это история так история! Какой прекрасный язык! А как страшно... ну вернее жутко как-то. Опять же - история-то ведь простая, но рассказана просто отлично. Поняла, что истории про привидений не для меня. А вот Гаскелл, пожалуй, надо почитать - пишет так, что не оторваться.

Bulwer-Lytton, "The Haunted and the Haunters; Or, The House and the Brain"
(1857)
Ой, я её точно читала! И опять же, мне нравится язык - он принципиально отличается от Эйнсворта в первом рассказе. Занятное объяснение призракам. Интересно, почему он ни одно имя не придумал? Спасибо, что объяснил всё.

Mary Elizabeth Braddon, "At Chrighton Abbey"
Как грустно! Этот не столько страшный, сколько грустный. Похоже, у госпожи Бреддон был кузен, в которого она была влюблена - уже вторая прочитанная история её пера говорит если не о любви в полном смысле слова, так о привязанности барышни к своему двоюродному брату.

Elizabeth Gaskell
The crooked branch: the ghost in the garden room.
Ещё одна грусть во плоти. Тяжело, когда такое читаешь. Кажется, что это ты сам обманываешь, когда читаешь и не можешь ничем помочь.
Все пассажи с диалектом понимаются тяжеловато, как будто приходится продираться через кусты.
Это называется предательством. Никак иначе. Можно говорить, что как единственный и поздний ребёнок он стал жутким эгоистом, и наверняка такие истории не редкость, но как же тяжело читать!
Кстати, на 35 из 59 страниц всё ещё не было ни одного призрака. Впрочем, ни одного и не появится до конца. Это история о человеческой жестокости, а не о сверхчеловеческой.
Совсем не поняла название, Сломанная ветвь ещё может как-то относиться к сыну, сделавшему такое, но вот призрака ни одного не встретила.


Edith Nesbit, "John Charrington's Wedding" (1891)
Жаль, что не рассказали, как же он заставил её поменять решение и выйти-таки за него замуж. История вроде простая, написана приятно, надо обратить внимание на автора.

Mrs Craik (Dinah Mulock), "The Last House in C---- Street" (1856)
Смешно, что в половине рассказов герой сразу же заявляет, что в призраков не верил и верить не собирался, если бы не... а что "не" на этот раз, нам расскажет автор. Вот такие размышления автора, когда тот извиняется за написанное, не люблю. Пишешь - пиши, не объясняй, почему пишешь так, а не иначе.
Зря сразу накинулась, очень милый рассказ. Мне нравится, когда рассказ идет от первого лица, так получается как-то естественнее. А когда при этом герой рассказывает события прошлого, тогда даже картинка полная получается.
Новая ссылка на роман, который читала героиня. Скачала, надеюсь, хорош.

George MacDonald, "Uncle Cornelius His Story" (1869)
Как же я не люблю таких демагогов! Так ты веришь? Я не сказал, что верю. Так ты не веришь? Я не сказал, что не верю. И теории, теории.

Charles Dickens, "To be Taken with a Grain of Salt"
All the Year Round (Christmas Number, 1865)
Занятно. Всё в наличии - призрак есть, наказанный убийца.
Я только название не поняла.

Bram Stoker, "The Judge's House"
Чем же нас порадует знаменитый любитель вампиров?
Вампиров не было, но страшно достаточно. Жаль, я надеялась, что студент выживет, библию там схватит в последний момент или что-нибудь подобное.

Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards
"No. 5 Branch Line: The Engineer"
Грустно, как большинство историй здесь, но написано хорошо: приятным, понятным языком, и захватывающе.

Wilkie Collins, "Miss Jéromette and the Clergyman"
Очень мило - в том смысле что приятно читается. Мистики умеренно, всего одно привидение.

William Makepeace Thackeray, "The Story of Mary Ancel"
THE PARIS SKETCH BOOK OF MR. M. A. TITMARSH (1840)
Ой какая милота!
Никаких привидений, страхов в смысле сверхъестественного, только храбрость девушки и симпатичная история любви. Удивительно, но я почти ничего не знаю о революции во Франции в смысле социальном. А в таком описании получается, что она совсем так же выглядела, как в России..

[Xyra · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took a long time to finish, but boy, did it end with a good one!

I was given The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories as s Christmas present. As it is a compilation of short stories, I thought I'd just skip around reading whichever title interested me at the moment. I'm certain I read one or two twice as I changed to read from beginning to end instead.

What I've learned...
* Victorian ghost stories have the same style and voice as other Victorian literature. The language is very precise and the exposition quite encompassing following a set style of etiquette. In other words, tedious. Many times I could hear bits of dialogue from the movie Clue..."to make a long story short..." "Too late!"
* Many ghost stories arise from bad relationships, unrequited love, and even ardent love.

While a few of the stories raised little emotion in me, others could really get me going. I am glad I stuck to my resolution of finishing this book. It is an accomplishment and the book will no longer haunt or taunt me from my currently reading list/pile.

Suggestion: If you do not like reading works by Dickens, Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, etc. don't try to attack this volume. Even if you love those authors you may be shocked. One of the entries is by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (a favorite author of mine), it was interesting, but long and not what I had expected.

[Rachel Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ghost stories were ludicrously popular during the Victorian period -- a time of huge transition, an age shaped more than any other by change, mostly industrial, but with the final consequences of these changes remaining unclear. With this shadow of change falling across life in general culminating, no doubt, in anxiety, the ghost story not only gave the Victorian reader an outlet for this anxiety but the ghosts themselves anchored a stable past in an unstable present.

Having said all this I was quite disappointed with this anthology. Some of the stories are brilliant; those by Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Jerome K Jerome, RLStevenson and Conan Doyle stand out particularly of course (although Kipling's offering is poor in the extreme); but most of them are formulaic, haunted house stories, which perhaps in the context of the time, read once a week in a magazine or so forth, were entertaining but when read one after another are a little tiresome.

My favourite was that by Elizabeth Gaskell. However, I'm not entirely sure if this is because it's any better than the others or because it was the first one and therefore still maintained an element of surprise!

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology includes a number of spine tinglers from the nineteenth century. I really enjoy it because the stories are long enough to tell you a real story and establish a connection and engagement with the character and setting before introducing the supernatural element. This makes the reader more invested so that the fear exhibited by the characters is shared in a way that is sometimes absent in other collected works of "scary stories".

I also appreciate this work because I love that stories that were scary in the 19th century are still enough to give me a chill. It reminds you how timeless literature is. I keep this by my bedside and read one story a night. This is sometimes a mistake. The first story scared me enough that I couldn't go to bed right away for fear it might produce a nightmare.

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any anthology, some stories in this book are impressive, while others are underwhelming, and some are both. Unfortunately, many anthologies, particularly those featuring ghost stories, are probably best appreciated when you read each story in its entirety all at once, and you spread the stories out, reading only a couple each week. My life doesn't allow me to do this right now, at least not during the school year, so everything started to blur together and much of the tension-building was lost on me. And so, I am no longer capable of speaking intelligently about the strengths and weaknesses of individual stories, and as a result I am currently re-examining whether it is even worthwhile for me to read short story anthologies given my present mode of living. Sigh.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this as part of the assigned reading for a literature class. Personally, I'm not keen on reading anthologies as I don't like paying full-book prices when it's likely I'll only enjoy a quarter of it, but the syllabus spoke, and for the sake of my GPA, I obeyed.

Being that it's billed as "Victorian" ghost stories, I expected things to be rather fussy, a la Wilkins. To my surprise, many of the stories were downright scary. Modern readers may tend to associate ghost stories with things like the Amityville Horror, with the resulting gore, but these were gems of psychological horror. These were stories that made me twitch at the noises in the house I usually dismissed. I ended up reading the whole thing, and not just the assigned titles, and loved them.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very nice compilation of ghost stories, of varying quality. Thurnley Abbey, the Le Fanu entry, and of course the M. R. James are standouts. A couple are set in India, but, disappointingly to me, use perfectly conventional English ghost story subject matter and only use the Indian setting for a little background color -- I guess in its own way, that tells you something about the British in India. Lots of major writers are represented -- Wilkie Collins, Kipling, Conan Doyle -- as well as some nice pieces from magazine writers I'd never heard of.

The many incidental details of domestic life and dress in English town and country houses are almost as much fun as the spooky bits!

[Micha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully creepy collection with a wide variety of the more high quality Victorian ghost stories. Particularly enjoyed "At Chrighton Abbey" by Mary Elizabeth Braddon and "An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street" by J.S. Le Fanu. It's a really good book for its representation of many female authors.

[Alix Singer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for Disc 1312 Freshman year in college. Great for old ghost stories but are not anywhere near what we would consider scary in our modern day culture. Stories are strictly about ghosts and tropes such as being watched or hearing footsteps. Stories are very un-climactic but considered extremely uncanny and horrific for their time period. Definitely a must read if you are interested in scary stories, but be prepared to be more creeped out or confused than scared out of your mind.

[Joy Robertson-maciel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this collection very interesting. Such a variety of styles, some lyrical and almost poetic, tender and sweet. Others quite brutal, all dedicated to that fascination with ghosts. I loved the detail woven through the stories, dress, food, decor, customs, expression, all from this most fascinating era of our history. A worthy October read, and I must confess, I am inclined to revisit the question of ghosts in our midst.

[Adela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree completely with Adam's review. I think if they took out the really good stories and the above average stories, and put them into one slim volume, the reader would be much more satisfied. There were several stories that were really creepy, and a few that weren't especially spooky but were still enjoyable.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion, what distinguishes this book from others of the kind is its brilliant introduction to the ghost story as a genre. It provided an answer to many questions I'd had and made the reading of some of the stories even more pleasant.
There is also a good selection of stories and my favourites include J.S. Le Fanu, Elizabeth Gaskell, M.R. James and Wilkie Collins.

[Oodles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A marvelous collection of ghost stories specifically gathered to illustrate the way Victorian people viewed these tales. The editors chose stories over the entire Victorian period and they are in chronological order. It's very interesting to see how the tenor of the stories changes over times, towards the end of the period, they're more sinister and less fun. Great book!

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good stuff. Nothing here that really chilled me to the bone in a "think about it late at night and get nervous" kind of way, but a good bunch of stories that also give some insight into the fears and concerns of Victorian society.