The Wordsworth Book of Classic Horror Stories

by Christine Baker (Selected & Editor)

From time immemorial, man the world over has drawn upon the worst fears of his conscious and subconscious mind to furnish legends of terror. This volume presents classic tales from three centuries that have many traditional elements in common, yet illustrate vastly differing perceptions of horror.

Contents:
Sir Walter Scott - "Wandering Willie's Tale"
A.M. Pushkin - "The Ace of Spades"
Honore de Balzac - "The Mysterious Mansion"
Lord Lytton - "The Haunted and the Haunters"
Nathaniel Hawthorne - "Young Goodman Brown"
Edgar Allan Poe - "The Black Cat"
Charles Dickens - "The Signalman"
Sheridan Le Fanu - "Green Tea"
Wilkie Collins - "A Terribly Strange Bed"
Ambrose Bierce - "The Damned Thing"
Henry James - "The Jolly Corner"
Bram Stoker - "Dracula's Guest"
Guy De Maupassant - "Vendetta"
Robert Louis Stevenson - "Thrawn Janet"
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - "The Brazilian Cat"
M.R. James - "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad"
W.W. Jacobs - "The Monkey's Paw"
Rudyard Kipling - "The Mark of the Beast"
Violet Hunt - "The Prayer"
Saki (H.H. Munro) - "Sredni Vashtar"
A. and C. Askew - "Aylmer Vance and the Vampire"
W.H. Hodgson - "The Gateway of the Monster"
Hugh Walpole - "Tarnhelm"
D.H. Lawrence - "The Rocking-Horse Winner"
W.F. Harvey - The Beast with Five Fingers"

Genres: Horror, Fiction

329 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Christine Baker has been writing on and off for twenty years. Her most loyal fans include her two Shih Tzu, Tonks and Darwin. Whenever she’s writing, there’s sure to be snackems around. She currently resides in the dusty town of Winnemucca, Nevada, and one day hopes to live where there are real trees (The kind with leaves, not needles) where she can ride her motorcycle year round. Her husband Jeramie has yet to complain of less than appetizing meals when she’s on a roll, and her three boys know when to tip-toe through the house.

Reviews

[Veronique · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*

Carrying on with my seasonal reading of classic horror stories :O)

I’ve had this cheap anthology for many years and it hasn’t weathered well (cheap binding rarely does). On the other hand, it collects so many great stories, 25 ordered chronologically, especially a few of my favourites (Wilkie Collins’s has stayed with me since my very first reading) that it has a special place on my shelves. My only problem is that women aren’t represented more here... Going to remedy this by reading Women's Weird: Strange Stories by Women, 1890-1940 next.

* 'Wandering Willie’s Tale’, by Sir Walter Scott
* 'The Ace if Spades’, by A.M. Pushkin
* 'The Mysterious Mansion’, by Honore de Balzac
* 'The Haunted and the Haunters’, by Lord Lytton
* 'Young Goodman Brown’, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
* 'The Black Cat’, by Edgar Allan Poe
* 'The Signalman’, by Charles Dickens
* 'Green Tea’, by Sheridan Le Fanu
* 'A Terribly Strange Bed’, by Wilkie Collins
* 'The Damned Thing’, by Ambrose Bierce
* 'The Jolly Corner’, by Henry James
* 'Dracula’s Guest’, by Bram Stoker
* ‘Vendetta’, by Guy de Maupassant
* 'Thrown Janet’, by Robert Louis Stevenson
* 'The Brazilian Cat’, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
* 'Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, my Lad’, by M.R. James
* 'The Monkey’s Paw’, by W.W. Jacobs
* 'The Mark of the Beast’, by Rudyard Kipling
* 'The Prayer’, by Violet Hunt
* 'Sredni Vashtar’, by Saki
* 'Aylmer Vance and the Vampire’, by A. and C. Askew
* 'The Gateway of the Monster’, by W.H. Hodgson
* ‘Tarnhelm’, by Hugh Walpole
* 'The Rocking-Horse Winner’, by D.H.Lawrence
* 'The Beast with Five Fingers’, by W.F. Harvey

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This mass-produced horror anthology isn't the most handsome of book editions; it's the kind of softcore volume that's going to end up looking very bedraggled after you've finished reading it. However, that doesn't stop it from being interesting in respect of the calibre of the stories contained, which are all exclusively classics from the 19th and early 20th centuries. There are 25 of them in total, arranged chronologically in order of publication.

Walter Scott opens proceedings with WANDERING WILLIE'S TALE, a classic old-fashioned short. The fire-and-brimstone shenanigans are fun, but be prepared for the dialogue written in Scots dialect. A.M. Pushkin's THE ACE OF SPADES concerns a magic deck of playing cards, more of a morality piece than a proper horror effort. THE MYSTERIOUS MANSION sees Honore de Balzac tackling historical horror with a back story involving a Spaniard and his adulterous wife. It's a 'buried alive' tale before Poe and is well written.

Lord Lytton's THE HAUNTED AND THE HAUNTERS explores the classic 'spend a night in a haunted house' theme with a decent twist into unexplored territory, although it tails off towards the end with far too much self-indulgence. YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN is a religious-themed short from Nathaniel Hawthorne exploring witchcraft. It plays with reader expectations quite nicely and has a couple of unexpected twists en route. Next up is the first real classic, Poe's THE BLACK CAT, a simple psychological tale which still has the power to haunt and thrill.

THE SIGNALMAN is by Dickens, of course, and very nearly as good, telling of a ghostly figure at a railway tunnel. The tale is rich in atmosphere and subtle dread. J. Sheridan Le Fanu's GREEN TEA is about the apparition of an evil monkey and sounds ridiculous but isn't, proving instead to be a worthwhile menace. I only wish Le Fanu had taken time to explore the concept further. A TERRIBLY STRANGE BED is a fantastic effort from the underrated Wilkie Collins, with a horrifying concept and great execution. An instant favourite of mine, this is thoroughly exciting. Ambrose Bierce's THE DAMNED THING is very short and about an invisible demon; it does what it sets out to do in a brief way.

THE JOLLY CORNER is by Henry James, an author I don't normally have much truck with, although his short stories are more engaging than his endlessly long-winded novels. The idea of a man haunting himself is first-rate and even though nothing much happens this is very creepy. DRACULA'S GUEST is a chapter excised from Bram Stoker's DRACULA novel and just as good as the rest of the book, so comes thoroughly recommended. Guy De Maupassant's VENDETTA is a revenge story, quite gruesome albeit predictable.

Robert Louis Stevenson's THRAWN JANET is a witch story and again written in Scots dialect, making it a chore to read. Still, the descriptive passages are effective enough. Conan Doyle's THE BRAZILIAN CAT is an intense little thriller with a premise I won't spoil, other than to say that it has stood the test of time very well. And, of course, I need to say very little about M.R. James' 'OH WHISTLE, AND I'LL COME TO YOU, MY LAD', one of the all-time best British ghost stories out there, a tale that turns a plain bed-sheet into something hair-raisingly disturbing.

THE MONKEY'S PAW is another classic, this time by W.W. Jacobs. It's a textbook example of how to frighten the reader through a carefully-constructed narrative structure. Rudyard Kipling's MARK OF THE BEAST is a standard werewolf story with an interesting setting in Tibet, but otherwise quite average. THE PRAYER sees Violet Hunt writing of a woman unable to accept her husband's untimely death, only to have him return to life with unexpected consequences. It's solemn and sinister and has a fine atmosphere of decay and regret. SREDNI VASHTAR is one of Saki's short-shorts, about a pet ferret used for revenge, and is pretty decent. A. & C. Askew contribute AYLMER VANCE AND THE VAMPIRE, a nice little psychic detective story about a traditional vampire which is quite Holmesian in nature.

Another psychic detective, the famous Carnacki, is present in William Hope Hodgson's GATEWAY OF THE MONSTER, a personal favourite haunted house story that has some very scary plot ingredients. It's very frightening and exceptionally written, a real favourite. Hugh Walpole's TARNHELM combines ancient legend with a modern-day incantation, and is quite interesting, if not quite a favourite. THE ROCKING-HORSE WINNER is an original story by D.H. Lawrence with an interesting premise and strong, likeable characters. It's not really horror, although the downbeat ending is suitably horrific. Finally, W.F. Harvey's THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS is the incredibly influential severed hand classic, still untouched to this day.

[N Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genuinely enjoyed reading these. It's a mix of classics, e.g. The Signalman and Dracula's Guest, and lesser-known works. Sir Walter Scott writing in Scottish was a challenge after a glass of wine, but it is a good story! I very much enjoyed the Rocking-Horse Winner and the Black Cat.

* 'Wandering Willie’s Tale’, by Sir Walter Scott
* 'The Ace of Spades’, by A.M. Pushkin
* 'The Mysterious Mansion’, by Honore de Balzac
* 'The Haunted and the Haunters’, by Lord Lytton
* 'Young Goodman Brown’, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
* 'The Black Cat’, by Edgar Allan Poe
* 'The Signalman’, by Charles Dickens
* 'Green Tea’, by Sheridan Le Fanu
* 'A Terribly Strange Bed’, by Wilkie Collins
* 'The Damned Thing’, by Ambrose Bierce
* 'The Jolly Corner’, by Henry James
* 'Dracula’s Guest’, by Bram Stoker
* ‘Vendetta’, by Guy de Maupassant
* 'Thrown Janet’, by Robert Louis Stevenson
* 'The Brazilian Cat’, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
* 'Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, my Lad’, by M.R. James
* 'The Monkey’s Paw’, by W.W. Jacobs
* 'The Mark of the Beast’, by Rudyard Kipling
* 'The Prayer’, by Violet Hunt
* 'Sredni Vashtar’, by Saki
* 'Aylmer Vance and the Vampire’, by A. and C. Askew
* 'The Gateway of the Monster’, by W.H. Hodgson
* ‘Tarnhelm’, by Hugh Walpole
* 'The Rocking-Horse Winner’, by D.H.Lawrence
* 'The Beast with Five Fingers’, by W.F. Harvey

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an anthology I picked up some years ago and this year I finally made it part of my Hallowe'en reading. The stories are printed more or less in the chronological order that they were published, from the early 19th century up to the mid-20th century. The Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson stories are written in Scottish dialect, so unless you know that dialect, they are a bit hard to follow, although I mostly did. Some of the authors represented, like Edgar Allan Poe, Sheridan Le Fanu, Bram Stoker, and M.R. James, are perhaps best remembered for their horror/vampire/ghost stories. Others represented do a creditable job with the genre. Overall, it's an excellent collection of stories.

[Sheryl Sato · Rating 5 out of 5]

A chilling collection of classic horror from some of the masters of the genre. Creepy and entirely enjoyable.