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Ghosts and Ghastlies
Gathers together eighteen ghostly tales and poems by master storytellers ranging from H. G. Wells to Knut Hamsun
- GenresShort Stories
181 pages, Library Binding
First published September 1, 1976
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 13, 2025
Published in 1976, These 18 tales have the feeling of the vintage about them. They almost all feel like plotless things someone would pull out of their hat at the campfire. They usually don't make sense, and they often start strong and end weird. Most of them have an unnecessary little synopsis at the beginning and an "All's well that ends well" coda. There was not really an intro of any kind from the author explaining why she chose these particular stories, but it feels to me like it was because they were mostly "family friendly". At least a few of these authors were women. All of these authors are dead.
-The Calamander Chest by Joseph Payne Brennan
The owner finally gets rid of the chest, but to his own demise. 3/5
-The Haunted and the Haunters by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
A man, his employee and his dog spend the night in a haunted house where a bunch of phenomena occur (Spoiler; including the death of the dog). The place is eventually made livable again. 2/5
-Local Haunting by Charles Causley
A poem told in verse. I didn't understand the ending. 2/5
-The Haunted Mill by Jerome K. Jerome
Kinda funny I guess. Absolutely no point. 2/5
-The Fireplace by Henry S. Whitehead
A man neglects his duty to the dead and ends up... 2/5
-The Listeners by Walter De La Mare
Another poem in verse that talks about a man knocking on the door as all the ghostly inhabitants listen inside. 2/5
-Meeting with a Double by George D. Painter
Poem in verse about how we all have multiple identites in us. 3/5
-The Mistress in Black by Rosemary Timperley
A tragedy at a girls' school leavs a couple of displaced dead wandering about. I'm sure this one was supposed to be super sad because one of them is a child but it was just weird. 2/5
-A Jug of Syrup by Ambrose Bierce
A village shopkeeper reappears after his death. 2/5
-The Open Window by Saki
I've read this one before and I loved and love it still. The standout of this collection for me. 5/5
-The old wife and the ghost by James Reeves
A poem in verse. What good is a cat going to do? 2/5
-The Wild ride in the Tilt Cart by Sortie Nic Leodhas
Pretty good. 3/5
-Old Wine in New Bottles by John Edgell
Dumb. 2/5
-The Inexperienced Ghost by H.G. Wells
I liked this un-confident ghost and the storyteller who sort of bullied him. Didn't stick the landing though. 3/5
-It by Norman Mailer
1/5
-Invitation to a Ghost by Geoffrey Palmer and Noel Lloyd
A little Rip Van Winkle moment. 2/5
-An Apparition by Knut Hamsun
A man finds a tooth and begins seeing an apparition with a missing tooth. 2/5
-The Apple Tree by Elizabeth Bowen
Like a lot of these, I thought this started out solidly but fizzled. 2/5
Borrowed copy from the Bookmobile
-The Calamander Chest by Joseph Payne Brennan
The owner finally gets rid of the chest, but to his own demise. 3/5
-The Haunted and the Haunters by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
A man, his employee and his dog spend the night in a haunted house where a bunch of phenomena occur (Spoiler; including the death of the dog). The place is eventually made livable again. 2/5
-Local Haunting by Charles Causley
A poem told in verse. I didn't understand the ending. 2/5
-The Haunted Mill by Jerome K. Jerome
Kinda funny I guess. Absolutely no point. 2/5
-The Fireplace by Henry S. Whitehead
A man neglects his duty to the dead and ends up... 2/5
-The Listeners by Walter De La Mare
Another poem in verse that talks about a man knocking on the door as all the ghostly inhabitants listen inside. 2/5
-Meeting with a Double by George D. Painter
Poem in verse about how we all have multiple identites in us. 3/5
-The Mistress in Black by Rosemary Timperley
A tragedy at a girls' school leavs a couple of displaced dead wandering about. I'm sure this one was supposed to be super sad because one of them is a child but it was just weird. 2/5
-A Jug of Syrup by Ambrose Bierce
A village shopkeeper reappears after his death. 2/5
-The Open Window by Saki
I've read this one before and I loved and love it still. The standout of this collection for me. 5/5
-The old wife and the ghost by James Reeves
A poem in verse. What good is a cat going to do? 2/5
-The Wild ride in the Tilt Cart by Sortie Nic Leodhas
Pretty good. 3/5
-Old Wine in New Bottles by John Edgell
Dumb. 2/5
-The Inexperienced Ghost by H.G. Wells
I liked this un-confident ghost and the storyteller who sort of bullied him. Didn't stick the landing though. 3/5
-It by Norman Mailer
1/5
-Invitation to a Ghost by Geoffrey Palmer and Noel Lloyd
A little Rip Van Winkle moment. 2/5
-An Apparition by Knut Hamsun
A man finds a tooth and begins seeing an apparition with a missing tooth. 2/5
-The Apple Tree by Elizabeth Bowen
Like a lot of these, I thought this started out solidly but fizzled. 2/5
Borrowed copy from the Bookmobile
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October 20, 2017If you like reading really scary ghost stories then this is the book for you. It has 12 different story that are good for reading them in the dark.
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October 28, 2025PLACEHOLDER REVIEW
In Elizabeth Bowen's "The Apple Tree" we meet Mr. Wing and his newlywed, young and nervous wife as they are throwing a party over a weekend. But Mrs. Wing (somewhat known for having been involved in a recent scandal at a girl's school) has a predisposition to sleepwalking following the trauma at the school, or is it entirely just that? This is a rather grim little tale, effective in its unseen haunting and shaken characters, but weaker in its ending (in which everything is "solved" off-page, as it were). Interesting, though, in it's grimness.
In Elizabeth Bowen's "The Apple Tree" we meet Mr. Wing and his newlywed, young and nervous wife as they are throwing a party over a weekend. But Mrs. Wing (somewhat known for having been involved in a recent scandal at a girl's school) has a predisposition to sleepwalking following the trauma at the school, or is it entirely just that? This is a rather grim little tale, effective in its unseen haunting and shaken characters, but weaker in its ending (in which everything is "solved" off-page, as it were). Interesting, though, in it's grimness.
January 26, 2016
Of all the Helen Hoke horror anthologies, this one is the most uneven but maybe my sentimental favorite. Blending tales of horror and the uncanny with poetry of a supernatural bent and even a few folktales and more comedic offerings, the tone struck here is a perfect campfire atmosphere. Plus, these stories are among the most evocative and surreal in the whole anthology series. Even the poems, especially Charles Causley's haunting "A Local Haunting," hold up.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews