[(Classic Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories)] [Author: Rex Collings] published on

by Rex Collings

Wordsworth Classics covers a huge list of beloved works of literature in English and translations. This growing series is rigorously updated, with scholarly introductions and notes added to new titles.

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

Paperback

First published April 1, 1996

Reviews

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with the majority of short story collections, there were some that I'd possibly recommend, and some, I'd steer well away from. This collection was no exception to that, and overall, this was a mixed bag.

I purchased this book around a year ago, in an amazing Book Barn, which is absolutely crammed with books. My little piece of heaven, if you like. I was initially going to save reading this until Halloween, but, obviously, I just couldn't resist reading it now.

Now, I couldn't say that this collection could be classed as "horror" because I wasn't unsettled in the slightest, but there are a couple that play with the mind. There were a handful of well known authors in here, and surprisingly, they wrote the stories which I found more rewarding. Overall, a pretty mediocre collection of ghost stories, that I won't be in a rush to read again.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.82⭐

Introduction • essay by Rex Collings 3.25⭐
The Tapestried Chamber • (1828) • Sir Walter Scott 4⭐
The Spectre of Tappington • [The Ingoldsby Legends] • (1837) • Richard Harris Barham 3⭐
The Botathen Ghost • (1867) • R. S. Hawker 3⭐
The Tell-Tale Heart • (1843) • Edgar Allan Poe 5⭐
The Squire's Story • (1853) • Elizabeth Gaskell 3.5⭐
The Story of Mary Ancel • (1840) • William Makepeace Thackeray 3.5⭐
The Story of the Bagman's Uncle • (1837) • Charles Dickens 4⭐
To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt • (1865) • Charles Dickens 4⭐
An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street • (1853) • Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 4⭐
Narrative of a Ghost of a Hand • (1863) • Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 5⭐
Fisher's Ghost • (1853) • John Lang 3⭐
The Traveler's Story of a Terribly Strange Bed • (1852) • Wilkie Collins 3.5⭐
In the Cliff Land of the Dane • (1919) • Howard Pease 3⭐
The Phantom Coach • (1864) • Amelia B. Edwards 5⭐
Laura • (1914) • Saki 5⭐
Eveline's Visitant • (1867) • Mary Elizabeth Braddon 4⭐
Markheim • (1885) • Robert Louis Stevenson 3.25⭐
Man-Size in Marble • (1966) • E. Nesbit 5⭐
The Canterville Ghost • (1887) • Oscar Wilde 5⭐
The Haunted Doll's House • (1923) • M. R. James 3⭐
A School Story • (1911) • M. R. James 4.25⭐
Thurnley Abbey • (1907) • Perceval Landon 5⭐
The Story of Euphemia Hewit • (1835) • James Hogg 3⭐
A Ghostly Manifestation • (1884) • A Clergyman 3⭐
Correspondence on 'A Ghostly Manifestation' • (1884) • A Clergyman 3⭐
Ghost in the Tower • (1860) • Edmund Lenthal Swifte 3⭐

[Mizumi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still four stars, in despite of my complaining at the beginning.
I read the stories in chronological order (which is how they're printed in the book), and honestly, until Charles Dickens, I wasn't sure if I was going to like this. Half of the first six stories do not feature a ghost at all, and in the case of The Story of Mary Ancel by William Makepeace Thackeray, I was completely baffled it was in a ghost stories book at all, even if you stretch the meaning of 'ghost' to 'eerie'. Either it's just really subtle, or there simply isn't anything spooky about it. Not to me, at any rate. Don't get me wrong, I liked it - it just wasn't a ghost story.

When we enter the later Victorian era, things start to get good. I already mentioned Charles Dickens, and can I just say I'm absolutely delighted I still have a collection of twenty of his ghost stories to read left? I love his style and his humor and, gah. Okay. Among the other stories that really stood out for me were Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost, which is apparently a children's story, but it was lovely and so much fun, especially the middle part. Then we have the two stories by Montague Rhodes James, The Haunted Doll's House and A School Story; both rather short, but I loved the whole idea of the object from the title in the former. I also really liked the final story (the final 'fictional' one, anyway), which was Laura by Saki. It really stood out to me by it's matter-of-factness. It's only five pages, straight to the point, and has some nasty sentences I secretly loved.

The volume ends with three supposedly 'true' ghost stories, published in magazines as eye witness accounts, but to be honest, they didn't really stand out to me. (And I was expecting more from the story about the Tower of London, honestly.)

So overall, I think it's a solid collection, but it would have been just a bit better had the editor been more clear about what he thinks counts as a 'ghost' story.

[Elin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love old-fashioned ghost stories and I'm happy to say that I had only read one of the tales included in this anthology before; The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe. I never pick this sort of book up to get scared, but mostly to enjoy the old-fashioned story-telling and hopefully to get a few chills. As expected the stories I did enjoy the most were the two by Charles Dickens and the two by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu; especially Narrative of a Ghost of Hand, which gave me such chills and stayed with me for a whole day. Man-Size in Marble by Edith Nesbit also gave me chills. Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost was a wtf scenario, but was obviously meant as a comedy. The levity of this story was much appreciated after all the doom and gloom which had been the book up until this point. The last story was Laura by Saki. It was extremely short, but very strange, and I'm not sure what to make of it. These were the stories that stood out to me especially, but I feel like if I go to honorary mentions it will be the rest of the book, however, The Spectre of Tappington gets a mention for having a pants-obsessed ghost; A School Story gets a mention for having a perfect dun-dun-DUUUUN movie-ending, and Eveline's Visitant gets a mention for being so heart-wrenchingly romantically told.

[neeksmeeks · Rating 5 out of 5]

especially loved the one about the vengeful otter

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection! Lots of fun to read around Halloween. Just finished this tonight, so I'm not sure how soundly I'll sleep...

[Cécile · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 van de 8 verhalen gingen tot nu toe over geesten de rest weet ik niet. Ik stop en ga af en toe maar een verhaaltje lezen wanneer ik zin heb

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

the tapestried chamber (scott): 3/5
the tell-tale heart (poe): 5/5
an account of some strange disturbances in aungier street (le fanu): 2/5
the phantom coach (edwards): 4/5
man-size in marble (nesbit): 3/5
the haunted doll's house (james): 4/5
a school story (james): 4/5
Thurnley abbey (Landon): 5/5
laura (Saki h.h. munro): 5/5



still unread:
the spectre of tappington (barham)
the botathen ghost (hawker)
the squire's story (gaskell)
the story of mary ancel (thackeray)
the story of the bagman's uncle (dickens)
to be taken with a grain of salt (dickens)
narrative of a ghost hand (le fanu)
fisher's ghost (lang)
the traveller's story of a terribly strange bed (collins)
eveline's visitant (braddon)
markheim (stevenson)
the canterville ghost (wilde)
in the cliff land of the dane (pease)
the story of euphemia hewitt (hogg)
a ghostly manifestation (clergyman)
ghost in the tower (swifte)

[Angela Maher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag of stories, some are really good, some are average, and (as at least one other reader has noted) some don't have a ghost in them at all. The editor chose them based on not being 'horror' so they aren't that scary, but some will make you think, and most are entertaining. At any rate it is always nice to read something written in a different era.

[Mark Doherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some really good stories in this collection that are quite creepy; others weren’t ghost stories at all, or a bit bland.

It took me a while to get through the collection because of the language differences between now and the 18th/19th centuries.
A mixed bag so 3 stars.

[Juliane Bang · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,75 ⭐️

De fleste historier var gode, men den var lidt langsom at komme igennem.

[Andrew Sherwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book of ghost stories containing some stories with no ghosts or indeed anything supernatural.

[Amanda Borys · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collections of short stories by different authors are hard to rate, as some may be great and others not so good.

The differences in writing styles also make this a hard book to rate. Maybe because the gothic/horror tropes that modern stories rely on are just being created at the time the stories were being written or because an age that does not have T.V. and movies to create images for people relies more on detailed descriptions. And lengthier narratives to convey feelings. But all the stories felt long and draggy.

Victorian and Edwardian ghosts also seem content on hanging around the same place and doing the same thing, scaring people. So they seem a little tame in an era with the likes of Freddie Kruger and Jason.

[Mr Macura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compared with some of the other ghost story collections in the "Tales of Mystery and the Supernatural" - series this one unfortunately (and quite contrary to the title) fell somewhat short of my expectations. There are still some very good stories in here but some others sadly can't even be considered proper ghost stories and still less classics of the genre. There are a few stories I want to give a bit more detail about (there might be some spoilers):

"The Tapestried Chamber" by Sir Walter Scott was a fitting pick for the first story in the collection. It is pretty frightening even on a reread. It also has less exposition than most other victorian short stories.

"The Spectre of Tappington" by Richard Barham mixes fright and comedy in a rather unusual way. The apparition is described as a ghastly skeleton-like figure but its habit of stealing the breeches of a man who becomes increasingly annoyed prevents it from appearing genuinely threatening.

"The Botathen Ghost" by R. S. Hawker contains the diary of a monk who excorzised the spirit of woman who daily appeared to a boy on his way to school. This one had a lot of pretext and the encounter with the Ghost is pretty uneventful.

"The Tell Tale Heart" is written in classic Poe style but actually does not include an actual apparition. The narrator is an obviously insane murderer who tries to convince the reader of his sanity while murdering an old man, whose remains, after hidden away, apparently start to make noises - at least as it seems to the murderer. The reader is left wondering, whether that may just be a delusion of his. The story stands out by choice of setting and narrator but in my oppinion there are other stories of Poe's which would have fit this anthology better.

"The Squire's Story" by Elizabeth Gaskell is a tale about a wealthy gentleman who moves to a small country village, marries a young local woman and (as it turns out) murders an old woman to rob her. The last part is meant to constitute a sort of murder mystery but everything is pretty clear from the start with the man visiting a friend on the eve of the deed and giving him a pretty acurate account of what took place while feigning ignorance as to the identity of the murderer. The only "supernatural" element in this story is a chill gust of wind felt only by the murderer when relating the story which makes him feel cold despite sitting next to a fire.

"The Story of Mary Ancel" by William Thackeray takes place in France during the Revolution and is about a young soldier whose superior tries to threaten the father of the soldier's childhood love interest into arranging a marriage between her and himself. This is exposed in a public trial and the traitor executed. In this story there not even a hint of any supernatural agency, which is not helped by the narration being pretty boring and dragging.

"The Story of Bagman's Uncle" by Charles Dickens tells of a man who, upon falling asleep on an old cartridge, has a dream about a pretty lady abducted by two men one of whom intends to force her into marriage. Bagman's uncle eventually manages to free the lady and promises to marry her only to awake and find that he had had a dream of past events. It is in my opinion not a bad story but also not very interesting.

"To be taken with a Grain of Salt" also by Dickens is about a lawyer who has a vision of a murder happening in London before attending the trial of the very same murderer and seeing there the ghost of the victim who wants him to bring about a conviction. This one introduced a different setting and was reasonably entertaining.

"The Canterville Ghost" by Wilde and "Laura" by Saki are comedy stories with the latter seeing the titular character reincarnated time and time again to continue harassing her archenemy. While some people might enjoy them I found both stories to be flat and not really what I was looking for when buying the book.

The two stories each by M.R. James and Le Fanu are (as is to be expected) pretty good although "A School Story" (by James) seems to me like one of his weaker stories which should have been substituted another one.

"The Phantom Coach" by Amelia Edwards is my favorite out of those I did not know before. A man loses his way in the snow and has no choice but to board a rotten carriage he suddenly encounters and whose other passengers, as he comes to realise, are no longer living beings.

"Eveline's Visitant" by Miss Braddon is probably the most classic (in style) of all stories in this collection. A man curses his murderer with his dying breath to come upon him in the hours of his greatest joy. The cursed man unheeding this marries a beautiful lady and they are happy at first until the ghost of the victim starts to torment the lady until she loses her will to live. This one makes for some very well told gothic romance drama.

"Man-Size in Marble" is yet another example of why Edith Nesbith is such a successful author. The story is equally haunting and tragic and a perfect fit for this book.

Of the other stories I have not much to say except that I did not find anything remarkable in them. For me, the book was worth its modest price, although only for "The Phantom Coach" and "Eveline's Visitant" as the few other stories I liked have already made their way into countless other anthologies, most of which made a better job at selecting good accompanying stories.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the charms of ghost stories is that you do not even have to believe in ghosts to love them. Some people struggle to enjoy stories that express different political or religious beliefs to their own. Stories advocating psychics or horoscopes may be fun if not taken too seriously, but will annoy sceptics if presented as fact.

However most people enjoy a good ghost story. I’m not sure that I believe in ghosts, and the alleged ‘true stories’ at the end of this book did not interest me much. A ghost story in the hands of a good storyteller on the other hand is enormous fun.

This collection selected by Rex Collings indicates one of the reasons for the appeal of the ghost story. It is a sub-genre that lends itself to infinite variety in terms of tone and content. Stories can be frivolous, as in the case of Oscar Wilde’s story, The Canterville Ghost, where an American family refuse to be frightened of their ghost, and even play practical jokes on it.

Other stories may have a more biting wit, such as Saki’s contribution to the book, Laura, a story in which the vindictive Laura is reincarnated as an otter, and proceeds to wreak malicious damage on the property of her friend.

A more jaunty spirit of adventure prevails in The Story of the Bagman’s Uncle, one of two Dickens stories here, in which the uncle falls asleep in a carriage, and wakes to find a number of ghostly carriages, and a young lady who needs rescuing.

Dickens was in fact a remarkably good ghost story writer. The Signalman, my favourite of his ghost stories is sadly missing from here. However Collings does include To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt, which is an excellent substitute.

This shows the other side of the ghost story, its capacity to pleasantly chill the bones. The narrator sees the images of two men, one a murderer, and one his victim. Then he is asked to serve as foreman of the jury in a trial. He instantly recognises the defendant as the murderer. Throughout the trial and jury room deliberations, the dead man can be seen influencing the actions of court officials and jury members while being invisible to everyone else.

Curiously my other favourite story in this volume also has a murder victim seeking revenge. M R James is one of the most famous writers of ghost stories. A School Story is extraordinarily economic, and offers hardly any back story, but this only adds to the sense of mystery.

A new school master receives cryptic clues from the subconscious of one of his pupils that a man whom he killed and dropped down a well may be coming back to kill him. The story ends with a grim fulfilment of the warning.

Some stories here have a dubious claim to be included in a book of ghost stories. Thackeray’s The Story of Mary Ancel is more about Revolutionary intrigue in France, but ends on a satisfying note. The Squire’s Story (by Elizabeth Gaskell) is about a man who insinuates himself into favour with the local gentry, only to turn out to be a highwaymen.

Still these stories are good fun, as is the Wilkie Collins inclusion here, The Traveller’s Story of an Incredibly Strange Bed, which has a wealthy young man winning a fortune at the casino, but making the mistake of staying overnight in a lodging that has a sinister secret.

We may question whether Markheim, by Robert Louis Stevenson, is a ghost story. While the story is a little overwritten, it channels a creepiness worthy of Crime and Punishment. Markheim murders an unpleasant dealer, who buys items from the impoverished Markheim. The story has a suitably supernatural element when Markheim is approached by a sinister figure who may or may not be the devil, who seeks to tempt Markheim into further sin.

In the introduction, Collings draws our attention to how often ghosts seem to be upper class. It seems that just as only the higher echelons of society are capable of a good murder in an Agatha Christie novel, then so only the noblest of people come back as ghosts.

This is not strictly true of course, and there are a number of good ghost stories about members of the lower class. Still there is a disproportionate number of aristocratic ghosts. Perhaps this is because we imagine that a house has to be a large size to attract a ghost, and this immediately favours nobility. Also we imagine that the ruling class had more interesting, and therefore more sinful lives than the rest of us.

Ghosts may return out of malevolence, or from a sense of mischief. Some are seeking revenge, or to set right an injustice. Some are merely pathetic, sad figures. This is also part of the appeal of the ghost story. We like to believe in a sense of otherworldly justice for the crimes committed here, or we want to see ghosts that are dangerous.

Not every story in the collection is a classic, but there are a number of gems, many of which will be familiar to anyone who has read other ghost story selections. It is fun to read a few news ones and to revisit some of the fun tales that I haven’t read in a while.

[Corinna (Cocchan) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like often happens, with short story collection there are some amazing, some others just interesting and again some are not very successful.

The stories are presented in chronological order by date of birth of the author, with a final Appendix of "Three True Ghost Stories", without following a precise topic or intent, so it frequently happens to read works with very different tones, from the sarcastic and humors one (like Hawker's "The Spectre of Tappington" or Oscar Wilde's "The Canterville Ghost") to the pure horror (the two pieces by Le Fanu, "An Account of Some Strange Disturbance in Aungier Street" and "Narrative of Ghost of a Hand", which are the most frightening as per their detailed description of terrible presences).

In this collection, remarkable works of very well known horror masters stand out from the rest: Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" (which delivers in few pages a perfect uptight story upon guilt) and Robert Louis Stevenson's "Merkheim" (tale about devil, and not ghost presence, and a kind of revisit of the Faust legend).
Some tales are presented in here, but they feel more like fantasy stories (for instance the two ones by Dickens, "The Story of the Bagman's Uncle" and "To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt") or social commentary on dreadful human acts (as in Gaskell's "The Squire's Story" on robbery, Thackeray's "The Story of Mary Ancel"on threatening and Lang's "Fisher's Ghost" on murdering for money).

Personally, I mostly appreciated those stories with a hint of comedy in them, especially "The Spectre of Tappington", which is about a strange disappearance of men's... breeches! Wilde's tale also is a brilliant ghost story with a bittersweet ending that turns the humorous tone into a reflection upon memory and forgiveness. Poe and Steveson's, of course, are truly captivating, both focusing on human's guilty feeling after a murder.

Overall, it was a pleasant reading to carry out in October and finalize on Halloween day!

[Colin Clay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this ghost stories collection from Blackwell's for 3£, and since I love good spooky tales, I thought that I should know more of the classic ones. However, this book is a 50/50. Half of the stories weren't even supernatural and were quite boring, but there are some good examples, like The Tell-Tale Heart by Poe (of course), An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street and Narrative of a Ghost of a Hand by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (one of the best horror story writers of that era), The Phantom Coach by Amelia B. Edwards, Man-Size in Marble by Edith Nesbit or Wilde's The Canterville Ghost. The three real ghost stories in the end were entertaining too. For example, I missed some story by Francis M. Crawford (like The Upper Berth), whose tales were also pretty frightening, or some better stories by M. R. James, who was the master of scary short stories (try Ghost Stories of an Antiquary).

[Irka · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I've bought these along with Gothic short stories...and the purchase of both turned out to be a mistake, as this one have in some parts exactly the same stories as the one just mentioned. So... If you think of buying both of them, I suggest to pick one and buy only one. Personally I liked this one less then previous although it has it's moments.
-----
Kupiłam tą książkę razem z krótkimi opowiadaniami gotyckimi...i to był błąd. Większość opowiadań pokrywa się z książką gotycką, więc jeśli rozważacie kupienie obu, sugeruję sprawdzić spis treści kupić tą która Wam najbardziej odpowiada. Choć ta ma swoje momenty, to jednak wybór gotycki bardziej mi odpowiadał.

[Moira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's be clear: I have found the majority of these stories rather dull, being slow and just cliché. However, there were 4 great tales, so if you are looking for a story that might actually spook you, I would recommend these.

My favorite was "The Canterville ghost" which is the best dark, comical and absurd ghost story I have ever read. Thus the 5 stars (would give it 6, even). The other enjoyable tales were:
-The tell-tale heart
-Markheim
-Laura (not very scary, but actually quite entertaining story).

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to rate this book since the stories are completely different from one another. Some do not even seem to have anything supernatural hinted at? Anyway, some of these I really liked others not so much. I guess three is a good average for this book though it's more of a 2 1/2 stars.....
There are a couple stories that made chuckle -something I wasn't expecting to read here - but most were the 'typical' spooky (at the time) stories so do with this information as you will.

[Susan Wight · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed collection with some stories I could never recommend but some classics amongst them including Wilke Collins The Traveller's Story of a Terribly Strange Bed and Laura by HH Munro. Also included is the incomparable Oscar with The Canterville Ghost. The book is worth keeping on your shelf for that alone - a laugh out loud ghost story.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book as it has what I think is the only known short story by Le Fanu that I haven’t read-Narrative of a Ghost of a Hand. There are some classics that I’m familiar with, and others that I enjoyed for the first time such as Eveline’s Visitant. But, quite bizarrely, there are stories included that aren’t even ghost stories and hold no place in such a collection.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the tales are very familiar; Nesbitt's 'Man-Size in Marble', Collins' 'A Terribly Strange Bed' and of course the inevitable offering of MR James. One or two, such as Richard Barham's 'The Spectre of Tappington' less so but nevertheless, equally enjoyable. Wonderful, spooky delights, perfect for the darker evenings (and for teaching the Gothic!)

[Clara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Some amazing stories, some disappointing ones, and some stories that do not contain a ghost and do not pertain to the horror genre - at least not one that I would define.
I overall enjoyed the read, even though the second half was way better than the first. I'll probably re-read some of them.

[Felistuous · Rating 3 out of 5]

as a collection of short stories, it is not a bad selectio. However as is often the case with complilations such as this there are stronger and weaker stories that will appeal to different people.
As it is a collection of stories from the past few cetnuries, people should be aware that the writing style is often cumbersome as it was of the time.
Still, it gives a nice admosphere.

[Asa The Writer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the stories I really liked, such as The Tell Tale Heart, The Canterville Ghost and a few others. With the stories that I did not like, the language was too old, the stories too muddled and not direct to the point. They just rambled on, so badly you could skip until the end of the story and not miss a thing.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's nothing like a good ghost story, and these were nothing like a good ghost story. Not one scared me, not even all of them contained ghosts! There were some I did enjoy, and I particularly found the Oscar Wilde one hilarious. But all in all, this collection was far from a good read

[Hal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent collection, not so focussed on horror/scary ghosts and included a fair few comedy pieces. Though not the slightest idea what the Story of Mary Ancel is doing in here, not a ghost in sight. I enjoyed the Wilkie Collins story and Markheim most.

[Helle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection contains some fine ghost stories by masters of the genre, such as M.R. James, Sheridan Le Fanu and others. However, several of the stories feature no ghosts whatosoever, or even other supernatural phenomena, making the title of the book rather misleading.

[Alex Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edwardian ghost stories > Victorian ghost stories.

‘Eveline’s Visitant’ was excellent.

I skipped a couple of stories here because I’d previously read them/am planning to read them in a collection in the new year.