The Screaming Skull and Other Stories

by F. Marion Crawford

Although ghost stories only formed a small part of F. Marion Crawford's prolific output, they are the stories for which he is now best known. These four classic horror stories represent Crawford at his ghostly best. This collection includes his most renowned story 'The Upper Berth', a chilling tale about a haunted stateroom on a trans-Atlantic passenger ship which was praised by M.R. James as one of the best supernatural stories ever written. Also included are 'Man Overboard', another first-rate nautical ghost story, and 'The Screaming Skull', about a skull which once bore witness to a horrible atrocity (the tale is based on an actual legend). 1. The Screaming Skull 2. The Upper Berth 3. By the Waters of Paradise 4. Man Overboard!

Genres: Historical Fiction, Classics, Audiobook

102 pages, Paperback

Published February 29, 2012

About the author

Francis Marion Crawford (1854-1909) was an American writer noted for his many novels. He was born at Bagni di Lucca, Italy. In 1879 he went to India, where he studied Sanskrit and edited the Allahabad Indian Herald. Returning to America he continued to study Sanskrit at Harvard University for a year, contributed to various periodicals, and in 1882 produced his first novel, Mr Isaacs. This book had an immediate success, and its author's promise was confirmed by the publication of Doctor Claudius: A True Story (1883). After a brief residence in New York and Boston, in 1883 he returned to Italy, where he made his permanent home. He also published the historical works, Ave Roma Immortalis (1898), Rulers of the South (1900) renamed Sicily, Calabria and Malta in 1904, and Gleanings from Venetian History (1905). The Saracinesca series is perhaps known to be his best work, with the third in the series, Don Orsino, set against the background of a real estate bubble, told with effective concision. A fourth book in the series, Corleone, was the first major treatment of the Mafia in literature.

Reviews

[Alexandra Mattson Carton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as a child! Every time I visited my grandparents, I would check it out of the local library (my grandparents were bookworms too and so every visit meant at least one trip to the library). It has at least four excellent ghost stories, including The Upper Berth.