Victorian Ghost Stories

by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mary Elizabeth Braddon

By flickering candlelight, these haunting tales were carefully penned by some of greatest writers of the Victorian era, including Sheridan Le Fanu, Catherine Crowe and Mary Elizabeth Braddon.

The Victorian era has been dubbed the "Golden Age of the Ghost Story", producing some of the most iconic and masterful ghost stories the genre has ever seen. In this exquisite collection, you will find 14 terrifying tales which have been haunting readers for more than a century. Be transported to cobwebbed crypts, creaking manor houses, and dusky moors, where peril lies just around the corner.


• The Dream - Sheridan Le Fanu
• The Italian's Story - Catherine Crowe
• Eveline's Visitant - Mary Elizabeth Braddon
• The Body Snatcher - Rudyard Kipling
• And many more!

Perfect for horror lovers, these classic ghost stories are sure to terrify and entertain in equal measure.

312 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2024

About the author

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era. M.R. James described Le Fanu as "absolutely in the first rank as a writer of ghost stories". Three of his best-known works are Uncle Silas, Carmilla and The House by the Churchyard.

Reviews

[Bryce Raffle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few standout stories amidst an otherwise forgettable collection. Unfortunately many of the stories included here are by today’s standards not terribly engaging. Perhaps, to superstitious Victorian folks who may well have believed in ghosts, the mere presence of a ghost within a story, whether the ghost does anything inherently frightening or has a frightening appearance, may have been satisfying enough, for most modern readers, that’s not enough to present much of a thrill.

Fortunately, there were a few stories that had a compelling enough premise, a spooky enough ghost, and a story line that was followed through from beginning to end, (that’s not the case with all of the stories). I believe most of the stories were taken directly from the public domain anthology Victorian Ghost Stories, which was edited by montague summers. No mention made of that in the foreword or blurb, but looking at which stories are included and the title of the anthology, it seems likely.

These are the stories included in the anthology:

The Dream by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
- A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
- The Dead Sexton by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
- The Italian's Story by Catherine Crowe
- Round the Fire by Catherine Crowe
- The Mysterious Stranger by (Unknown German)
- The Ghost Detective by Mark Lemon
- The Shadow of a Shade by Tom Hood
- The Dead Man of Varley Grange by Anonymous
- The Story of Medhans Lea by E. And H. Heron
- The Tomb of Sarah by Frederick George Loring
- Eveline's Visitant by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
- Hugues, the Wer-Wolf by Sutherland Menzies
- The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson

I would give each of these stories a one or two star rating out of five, with the exception of The Dead Man of Varley Grange, the Tomb of Sarah, Eveline’s Visitant, and The Body Snatcher, which each deserve 4 stars; The Mysterious Stranger and The Story of Medhan's Lea each warrant 3 stars.

I will also mention that while the title is Victorian Ghost Stories, many of the stories do not feature ghosts. There are vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural elements at work, as well as a fake werewolf. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as I like other spooky supernatural stories outside of ghosts, but it’s worth mentioning just in case.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection has some pretty good stories in it, but it isn't the best anthology I've read. I'll keep it in my collection anyway.

[Niki (nikilovestoread) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic collection of Victorian ghost stories. Most short story collections are a mixed bag, with some of the stories being pretty poor. However, every story in this collection was well written and a fun read. Originally, I picked this collection up because I'm a fan of Mary Elizabeth Braddon, but I also enjoy Victorian ghost stories in general. I'm not a fan of blood and gore and Victorian ghost stories are the perfect amount of creepy for this reader.

The collection consists of 14 short stories by a variety of Victorian authors, some of them well known and others who were new to me. The following stories are included:

- The Dream by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
- A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
- The Dead Sexton by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
- The Italian's Story by Catherine Crowe
- Round the Fire by Catherine Crowe
- The Mysterious Stranger by (Unknown German)
- The Ghost Detective by Mark Lemon
- The Shadow of a Shade by Tom Hood
- The Dead Man of Varley Grange by Anonymous
- The Story of Medhans Lea by E. And H. Heron
- The Tomb of Sarah by Frederick George Loring
- Eveline's Visitant by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
- Hugues, the Wer-Wolf by Sutherland Menzies
- The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson

I enjoyed all the stories, but my stand-out favorites were: The Italian's Story, The Mysterious Stranger, The Shadow of a Shade, The Tomb of Sarah, Eveline's Visitant, Hugues, the Wer-Wolf, and The Body Snatcher.

I highly recommend this collection by Arcturus. The editors chose a wonderful collection of Victorian ghost stories that well represent the era of writing and are just plain fun to read.