The Dream Woman

by Wilkie Collins

This thrilling compilation includes tales of mystery by the finest master of the genre, Wilkie Collins. The inscription is about a protagonist's dream in which a woman haunts. The mystery gets more interesting when dream becomes his reality.

"He stops and grows restless on a sudden. We see him writhing on the straw. He throws up both his hands and gasps hysterically for breath. His eyes open suddenly. For a moment they look at nothing, with a vacant glitter in them--then they close again in deeper sleep. Is he dreaming still? Yes; but the dream seems to have taken a new course."

Genres: Classics, Horror, Short Stories, Mystery, Fiction, Gothic, Novella

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1855

About the author

Wilkie Collins was an English novelist and playwright, best known for The Woman in White (1860), an early sensation novel, and The Moonstone (1868), a pioneering work of detective fiction. Born to landscape painter William Collins and Harriet Geddes, he spent part of his childhood in Italy and France, learning both languages. Initially working as a tea merchant, he later studied law, though he never practiced. His literary career began with Antonina (1850), and a meeting with Charles Dickens in 1851 proved pivotal. The two became close friends and collaborators, with Collins contributing to Dickens' journals and co-writing dramatic works.
Collins' success peaked in the 1860s with novels that combined suspense with social critique, including No Name (1862), Armadale (1864), and The Moonstone, which established key elements of the modern detective story. His personal life was unconventional—he openly opposed marriage and lived with Caroline Graves and her daughter for much of his life, while also maintaining a separate relationship with Martha Rudd, with whom he had three children.
Plagued by gout, Collins became addicted to laudanum, which affected both his health and later works. Despite declining quality in his writing, he remained a respected figure, mentoring younger authors and advocating for writers' rights. He died in 1889 and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. His legacy endures through his influential novels, which laid the groundwork for both sensation fiction and detective literature.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dream Woman: A Mystery in Four Narratives is an 1855 gothic horror novella.

A medical man who had gone to another town for a consultation encountered a hotel landlord and heard a rather odd tale about an old man in his employ. This man would only sleep during the day because of horrible dreams that plagued him at night. The medical man’s interest was piqued believing he may be able to help this man, so he asked the landlord to tell him everything he knew about this man’s past life. Over lunch, the medical man settled in to hear the “extravagant and incredible” story from the landlord. And as he spoke, the story within a story began.

I listened to an excellent audio narrated by Doug Bradley. In the voices used, you could hear the emotion, sometimes frantic, sometimes calm. The whispers were eerie. The sinister background music added a layer of atmosphere beyond the words spoken. This was like an epic campfire story where normal sounding events returned to haunt.

If you’re not quite a horror fan, but enjoy spooky little tales, you may like this one. I also recommend The Haunted Hotel: A Mystery of Modern Venice, another fine tale by this author that is a perfect seasonal read.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Dream Woman is a classic mystery and was written by Wilkie Collins in 1885. Francis Raven, one year on his birthday, had a dream about a woman killing him. Then Francis Raven meet a girl called Alicia Warlock who look like the person in his thoughts. The readers of The Dream Woman will continue to follow Francis Raven to find out the mystery of Alicia Warlock.

Dream Woman is a cosy mystery, and I enjoyed reading it. However, I did find The Dream Woman slow in parts for me. The photos of Wilkie Collins early life allows me to learn a little bit about the author. The Dream Woman is an old form of Multi-POV with each chapter is a narrative by the main character of that section. I do like this style of writing, and Wilkie Collins does a great job in implementing it for his readers.

The readers of Dream Woman will learn about the problems people have when convicted of a crime they did not do. Also, readers of Dream Woman will wonder about the ending of this book. To me, the end of Dream Woman left me confused about what happened to the real murder.

I recommend this book.

[Quirkyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful story in classic Wilkie Collins style.

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Τρίτο βιβλίο του Γουίλκι Κόλινς που διαβάζω, μετά την καλούτσικη αλλά γενικά μάλλον μέτρια νουβέλα "Ο ζωντανός νεκρός" που διάβασα τον Μάρτιο του 2013 και το άκρως ατμοσφαιρικό και αρκετά καλογραμμένο μυθιστόρημα "Το στοιχειωμένο ξενοδοχείο" που διάβασα τον Απρίλιο του 2018, και δηλώνω αν μη τι άλλο ικανοποιημένος. Πρόκειται για μια νουβέλα μυστηρίου με υπόνοιες υπερφυσικού τρόμου, που ναι μεν δείχνει τα εκατόν εξήντα πέντε χρόνια της -τόσο σε πλοκή όσο και σε γραφή-, από την άλλη όμως διαβάζεται πολύ ευχάριστα και γρήγορα, έχει φοβερή ατμόσφαιρα και ωραία σκηνικά, ενώ κρατάει το ενδιαφέρον του αναγνώστη μέχρι το (σχετικά προβλέψιμο) τέλος. Και, τέλος πάντων, είμαι από αυτούς που απολαμβάνουν σε μεγάλο βαθμό την ολίγον τι παλιομοδίτικη γραφή των συγγραφέων της Βικτωριανής περιόδου, με τον Γουίλκι Κόλινς να είναι από τους κορυφαίους συγγραφείς της εποχής του. Οπότε, έστω και την τελευταία στιγμή, τσιμπάει ένα τέταρτο αστεράκι. (7.5/10)

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A supernatural short story originally published as The Ostler, which was the second part of The Holly Tree Inn a collection of short stories in Charles Dicken's English weekly magazine Household Words for December 1855. It was later included in The Queen of Hearts as Brother Morgan's Story of the Dream Woman (1859). It also was adapted by Collins for his reading tour of America and enlarged within a narrative framework for The Frozen Deep and Other Stories (1874). Collins really got a lot of mileage out of this nifty supernatural short story.

In his Introductory Note to The Dream Woman: A Mystery in Four Narratives in The Frozen Deep and Other Stories Collins states that "The original version of this story was published, many years since, in Household Words, and was afterwards printed in the collection of my shorter stories called The Queen of Hearts. In the present version — written for my public readings in the United States — new characters and new incidents are introduced; and a new beginning and ending have been written. Indeed, the whole complexion of the narrative differs so essentially from the older and shorter version, as to justify me in believing that the reader will find in these pages what is, to all practical intents and purposes, a new story." (p. 222 Volume I).


The introductions to the story vary in the different editions. This version is from The Frozen Deep and Other Stories. Mr. Fairbank and his wife while out riding find her horse has gone lame and need assistance in acquiring a ride. In the nearby town the ostler, Isaac Scatchard, an itinerant ostler, in driving the Fairbanks back to where they are staying tells them this this tale in his own words.
One night while sleeping Isaac wakes on the night of his birthday to see the apparition of a woman trying to stab him with a clasp knife. Seven years later he marries Rebecca Murdoch, against the wishes of his mother who recognizes her from Isaac's description as the dream woman. Rebecca takes to drink and fulfills the prophecy by attacking him on his birthday. She disappears and Isaac can never again sleep at night for fear she will return to kill him.

THE DREAM WOMAN A MYSTERY, IN FOUR NARRATIVES:
FIRST NARRATIVE Introductory Statement of the Facts by Percy Fairbank ✔
SECOND NARRATIVE The Ostler's Story. Told by Himself ✔
THIRD NARRATIVE The Story Continued by Percy Fairbank ✔
FOURTH NARRATIVE The Statement of Joseph Rigobert ✔
LAST LINES Added by Percy Fairbank ✔

[Toast · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a little gem written by a master storyteller. And it only takes an afternoon to read. Most people remember WC for great bricks of books - Gothic masterpieces like The Woman in White or The Moonstone - but this is a diamond of a novella, a mere 100 pages, ready to spook the living day lights out of you. I had never read it before and I loved it. Treat yourself, you'll be glad you did.
Toast

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

So now I've read something by Wilkie Collins...
And, I think it's fair to say that he has some...issues...with women.

The most fascinating thing about the femme fatale archetype is how much it actually appeals to women! But then, who doesn't want to act on their id impulses? Who wouldn't (secretly) want to hit a man back...while gaining his favor?

It's only human...but nothing to aspire to, if you ask me. Ultimately, fight is just as panicked as flight. Worse, because you're living fear, perpetuating it, emulating what has harmed you most. Above all, I'd like to see a gentler world.

This "ghost story" didn't frighten me. It didn't even disturb me. It just made me very sad...for everyone.

The man can turn a phrase though. I'll certainly give him that.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ghosts! Femme Fatale! Suspense! Implausible coincidences! Comedy Frenchmen! This is Victorian penny-thrill mystery writing at its very best.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed it

[Izzati · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the style of writing. The story, however, was not as dark as I had expected it to be. It left you wondering, without knowing what's to come. I usually like endings where you can guess for yourself what will happen or what actually happened, but this one, it wasn't that interesting to ponder upon. Still, it was a pleasant read. Just see, that in itself to me was an issue because I wanted to feel disturbed reading this, not to find it pleasant.

[NekroRider · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second Wilkie Collins book and I'm really coming to enjoy his writing. Collins employs more gothic horror elements in this one than he did in Woman in White. There were some chilling gothic scenes during Francis Raven's narrative (the second narrative). Similarly to Woman in White, The Dream Woman is structured as a series of narratives told from the perspectives of three different characters. The atmosphere and narrative made me feel like I was being told a story instead of reading. The basic premise is that the original narrator, Mr Fairbank, comes across a curious Ostler after a mishap while Fairbank and his wife are out riding. His wife becomes obsessed with the man and is convinced he has an interesting to tell. The rest of the novella is concerned with telling us the story of this Ostler, Francis Raven, and the misfortunes that befall him.

When I first read Woman in White I was pleasantly surprised at how much I wound up enjoying it. I still figured I'd probably only read one or two more of his works, including The Moonstone...but after The Dream Woman I've decided I will likely try to read more extensively. I really enjoy his writing style, the tales he wove, the style of humour he employed, and his characters (I do think he excelled at writing distinct and memorable characters).

[Sindy Castellanos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Breve novela en la que la superstición condiciona el comportamiento y relaciones de los personajes.
______
Brief novel in which superstition conditions the behavior and relationships of the characters.

[Halalilodri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Armer Kerl!

[Deadly Corvid · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read 2 versions of this story. In one version there are 4 narratives each from a different character's POV, the main character is named Francis Raven and the dream woman is named Alicia Warlock. In another, there is no such partition into 4, the main character is named Issac Scatchard and the dream woman is unnamed. The supporting characters are slightly different too. I read the 2nd version first and prefer it. Somehow it was eerier than the 1st, even though the 1st one had more details and an actual ending.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do so like Wilkie Collins! The story is spelled out so well, and the characters and justifications are introduced and presented ably and completely. The story had the feel of both a horror story and a mystery, but neither of those truly characterize it. The reader is left both loving and pitying Francis and that same time mistrusting dreams and inner feelings of doubt and general unease...
Now I need to go back and reread _The Moonstone_.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually read the version of this with the main character named Isaac Scatchard. It was only one of the narratives, I suppose.
But wow, this gave me chills! I read it all in one sitting because hard to put down. Classic Wilkie. Creepy, suspenseful, evocative, sensational.

[Carolyn Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy..I have to check out Collins's other works

[Monica. A · Rating 4 out of 5]

La modernità di Collins non smetterà mai di sorprendermi!

[#DÏ4B7Ø Chinnamasta-Bhairav]

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To SEE a WORLD in a Grain of Sand,
And a HEAVEN in a Wild Flower,
Hold INFINITY in the palm of your hand
And ETERNITY in an Hour"
~ William Blake ~

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Form is Emptiness; Emptiness is form.
Form is not different than Emptiness;
Emptiness is not different than form
~ Heart Sutra ~

Like the ocean and its waves,
inseparable yet distinct

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" I and The Father are one,
I am The Truth,
The Life and The Path.”

Like a river flowing from its source,
connected and continuous

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Thy kingdom come.
Let the reign of divine
Truth, Life, and Love
be established in me,
and rule out of me all sin;
and may Thy Word
enrich the affections of all mankind

A mighty oak tree standing firm against the storm,
As sunlight scatters the shadows of night
A river nourishing the land it flows through

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[Eden Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visit JetBlackDragonfly (The Man Who Read Too Much) at www.edenthompson.ca/blog

Originally published in 1855, The Dream Woman is a tidy novella by Wilkie Collins, author of The Moonstone and The Woman In White, both publishing sensations of the 1860's. This nicely keeps open to the reader how much occult they prefer, for the action may indeed be corporeal - or proof that spiritual entities can be called forth.

The story is told in four narrations, the first being from Percy Fairbank and his wife, visitors of friends to the countryside where, lost during a fox hunt, find themselves at a small village inn. The stableman arranges a carriage home and solves their curiosity as to why he was sleeping, apparently in night terrors, during the day. On the way back to their friends, Mrs. Fairbanks sits up front with him as he offers the longest narration. Many years ago he was travelling in these parts when he also stopped at an inn. It was his birthday, and at 2am, with the door locked and the windows shut, a ghostly image not only appeared at his bedside, she tried to stab him with a knife! Every year since, at 2am on his birthday, he fears this apparition will reappear and complete the job. His story continues - he lives with his mother and aunt, finds new jobs - and falls in love at first sight with a beautiful flaxen haired girl his mother refuses him to marry; for she is the image he described of his Dream Woman!
They marry, but the union is disastrous and she disappears into the night after a violent argument - she vows to kill him! The man is alone again, every year in peril for his life.
Percy continues the story as the couple feel so for the man, they offer him a job at their estate in France. Surely his terrors will abate with a fresh new beginning, and the ghostly spectre of death will not find him. The final narration is from one of the Fairbank's French staff, a new character entwined into this haunted story, a man now accused of murder.

This was very engaging. In my edition, an introduction by Collins describes turning his short story published in Household Words into a longer novella, adding detail and characters sufficient as to make this a new tale. Despite it being written in 1855, the language was not stilted - it could have been written today - and the novella form worked well for the momentum. It had a nice balance between occult and ghostly apparitions (including talk of fortune telling and divination), but it could also be read as a straight mystery of the living world. I find it more fun to believe the former. Either way, it's a well crafted story of a man's powerful bewitchment...
"Again and again I say it, I was a man bewitched!"

[L7xm · Rating 3 out of 5]

" So—beginning in mystery, ending in mystery—the Dream Woman passes from your view. Ghost; demon; or living human creature—say for yourselves which she is. Or, knowing what unfathomed wonders are around you, what unfathomed wonders are IN you, let the wise words of the greatest of all poets be explanation enough:
"We are such stuff
As dreams are made of, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep."

قصة عن رجل يرى منام في الساعة الثانية ليلة يوم ميلاده أن امرأة تحاول قتله.. وفي أحد الأيام يرى هذه المرأة في الواقع.
يفترض الآن أن نتساءل هل سيتحقق المنام؟ ما هو تفسيره؟..
القصة تنتمي إلى رف قصص الغموض لكنها لم تعطي تفسيراً لكل ما حدث، بل وجدت نفسي أتمنى أن يقتل الرجل! - تركت سبب ذلك في الجزء المخفي حفاظاً على الأحداث والحبكة من الحرق - ولم تعطي القصة مسألة الحلم و اليقظة والاختلاط بينهما في عقول البعض إهتمام مثري و ملفت يترك القارئ يتفكر.
طريقة سرد القصة على صورة ( انا فلان الفلاني و سأخبرك ما حدث معي لتحكم بنفسك) ومخاطبة الشخصيات للقارئ طريقة محببه لما تحمله من ذكريات فهي طريقة قص لا أعتقد انها تكتب اليوم
هذه قصة ممتعة لا أكثر.

ملاحظة هامشية :
في إحدى مراجعات رواية ذات الرداء الأبيض لنفس المؤلف كانت القارئة تشير إلى ذكورية المؤلف ونظرة احتقار للنساء، ويمكنني تفهم قولها إذ أنه في هذه القصة يظهر جانب من التعميم على النساء، ففي حديث السيدة عن زوجته يدعي بأن طبعها الانفعالي والعاطفي المبالغ فيه هو طبع بنات جنسها جميعهن، وفي حديث المرأة في المنام تقول هي أيضا ان الطيبة تأسر النساء والكلاب بينما الرجال فوق الطيبة (!) ، لكنني مع هذا لا أتفق بأنه يتبنى تلك الرؤية بل هو كغيره من عامة الناس ابواق تردد ما يقال.. مش ذكوري يعني :)

   "No man has ever struck me yet," she said. "My husband shall have no second opportunity. Set the door open, and let me go."
      She passed me, and left the room. I saw her walk away up the street. Was she gone for good?
      All that night I watched and waited.

هكذا صرحت المرأة في المنام التي تزوجها في أرض الواقع بعد أن عنفها زوجها صاحب المنام لأنها أكثرت من الخمر و طلبت ان تكون في جنازة أمه، وهكذا أصبحت تلاحقه تريد قتله انتقاماً من خدشه لكرامتها هههههههه المعذرة لكن كان من الممكن أن تكون قصة ساخرة عن زوج مهووس بحلمه وزوجه التي تريد تحقيق حلمه على أرض الواقع.

[Kathleen Jewell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dream Woman: A Mystery in Four Narratives. Wilkie Collins. Alma Classics. March 15, 2015. 144 pages. ISBN: 1847494064. Paperback.
“A dream? The woman who had tried to stab me, not a living human being like myself? I began to shake and shiver. The horrors got hold of me at the bare thought of it” (Collins 46).
Francis Raven goes to sleep on the eve of his birthday and envisions a woman attempting to kill him, and spends years afterwards debating whether this encounter was real or just a dream. Little does Francis imagine that, ten years later, he would eventually meet and marry a woman, by the name of Alicia, with an undeniable resemblance to the woman in his dream. As their marriage progresses, his new wife begins adopting strange and dangerous behaviours, which force Francis to question his wife’s true identity: is Alicia potentially the woman from his dream? Is she human, a ghost, a demon? Is his dream destined to one day become a reality?
Wilkie Collins’ short, four part novella, told using first-person narration, gives readers the full extent of Francis’ growing anxieties, frustration, and horror. Having written over 50 published stories over the course of his life, The Dream Woman demonstrates yet again that Collins had mastered the art of the “sensation novel.” Several characters throughout the story, especially Francis and his mother, have very complex personalities and share in some very witty dialogue, which makes the story a compelling narrative for young adults and adults alike. Collins’ rich and drawn out descriptions and scenes give the novella an eerie and suspenseful feeling. Collins’ haunting and mysterious portrayal of the dream woman also resonates with other classic novels, including Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White. Although this novella is not one of Wilkie Collins’ more popular works, The Dream Woman is not a story to be overlooked.

[Michelle's Book Club · Rating 3 out of 5]

In The Dream Woman by English author, Wilkie Collins, the title refers to a dream in which the main character, Francis Raven, has a premonition that a woman attempts to murder him with a knife. The woman ends up being his future wife, Alicia Warlock. Love those names. It’s a short story that might be fun to read or summarize with friends or family on Halloween or around a campfire at night. Be aware it might keep some children from sleeping at night and frighten some adults away from marriage.

Take the story for what it is, otherwise if you think about it too much, you can shoot a lot of holes into it. I’m going to talk some about the plot, so this is your spoiler alert. The Fairbanks try to help Francis out with a job and some protection when they learn about his situation and his dream. But the poor fool entrusts his life to others. If he truly believed the premonition, he would have dealt with his wife, Indiana Jones style, where a small gun beats a big knife. Of course then it wouldn’t be a scary story and not much of a story at all.

The Dream Woman is entertaining and written in Wilkie’s style of first person narratives by different characters from their point of view. It’s a quick read at 62 pages and in the public domain, which means it’s available for free to read on Gutenberg.org or listen to on Librivox.org. My copy was published on demand by Amazon.com.

If you like ghosts and scary stories and you’re a Wilkie Collins fan like me, then this might be for you. Find your quiet place and start reading or listening.

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilkie Collins' "The Dream Woman" is from his "The Queen of Hearts" which has many short stories that 3 brothers tell and this is Brother Morgan's short story. I had heard an old time radio version and found it similar but quite different. This is a supernatural story with many unanswered questions and non conclusive ending.

Story in short- A doctor tells about hearing about a man who is afraid of his dreams.

I didn't not read this edition but from a Delphi collection of his works.

I re-Read this August 24, 2022. I stand by the same review.

“I don’t think you will like this story, miss,” he began, addressing Jessie, “but I shall read it, nevertheless, with the greatest pleasure. It begins in a stable — it gropes its way through a dream — it keeps company with a hostler — and it stops without an end. What do you think of that?”

“Well, then, you must wake up Isaac.” “Wake up Isaac!” I repeated; “that sounds rather odd. Do your hostlers go to bed in the daytime?” “This one does,” said the landlord, smiling to himself in rather a strange way. “And dreams too,” added the waiter; “I shan’t forget the turn it gave me the first time I heard him.”

"The landlord’s manner and the waiter’s manner expressed a great deal more than they either of them said. I began to suspect that I might be on the trace of something professionally interesting to me as a medical man, and I thought I should like to look at the hostler before the waiter awakened him. “Stop a minute,” I interposed; “I have rather a fancy for seeing this man before you wake him up. I’m a doctor; and if this queer sleeping and dreaming of his comes from anything wrong in his brain, I may be able to tell you what to do with him.” “I rather think you will find his complaint past all doctoring, sir,” said the landlord; “but, if you would like to see him, you’re welcome, I’m sure.”


❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌

The radio version didn't include Isaac's mother but it mentioned his birthday having troubled him every 5 years. Also his wife seems to be a killer and has killed others that have been murdered in the neighborhood with a knife and she tries to kill him. She had told him she only married him for his money.

Isaac is very unlucky but had luck enough to have enough money from one employer, on the way home he enters an inn and woman comes into his locked room, unable to explain how she entered, she has a knife and tries to kill him. The inn keeper doesn't believe him and throws him out. It seems this was a dream and he tells his mother all about it and she writes it down. He runs into a beautiful woman that is poor and he falls in love with her, they are engaged and look to tell his mother. When his mother sees her, she warns her son about the dream woman, taking the paper out from long ago which describes her. She tells her son not to marry but he says he promised. He is married to Rebecca for awhile and she starts to behave differently and drinks. His mother dies broken hearted. She looks to kill him and one night like the dream she tries but is stopped. Even though she left, he still is afraid if her coming.


"He led the way across a yard and down a passage to the stables, opened one of the doors, and, waiting outside himself, told me to look in. I found myself in a two-stall stable. In one of the stalls a horse was munching his corn; in the other an old man was lying asleep on the litter."

"He was still talking in his sleep. “Light gray eyes,” he murmured, “and a droop in the left eyelid; flaxen hair, with a gold-yellow streak in it — all right, mother — fair white arms, with a down on them — little lady’s/hand, with a reddish look under the finger nails. The knife — always the cursed knife — first on one side, then on the other. Aha! you she-devil, where’s the knife?”

"SOME years ago there lived in the suburbs of a large seaport town on the west coast of England a man in humble circumstances, by name Isaac Scatchard. His means of subsistence were derived from any employment that he could get as an hostler, and occasionally, when times went well with him, from temporary engagements in service as stable-helper in private houses. Though a faithful, steady, and honest man, he got on badly in his calling. His ill luck was proverbial among his neighbors. He was always missing good opportunities by no fault of his own, and always living longest in service with amiable people who were not punctual payers of wages. “Unlucky Isaac” was his nickname in his own neighborhood, and no one could say that he did not richly deserve it. With far more than one man’s fair share of adversity to endure, Isaac had but one consolation to support him, and that was of the dreariest and most negative kind. He had no wife and children to increase his anxieties and add to the bitterness of his various failures in life. It might have been from mere insensibility, or it might have been from generous unwillingness to involve another in his own unlucky destiny, but the fact undoubtedly was, that he had arrived at the middle term of life without marrying, and, what is much more remarkable, without once exposing himself, from eighteen to eight-and-thirty, to the genial imputation of ever having had a sweetheart."

"Between the foot of his bed and the closed door there stood a woman with a knife in her hand, looking at him. He was stricken speechless with terror, but he did not lose the preternatural clearness of his faculties, and he never took his eyes off the woman. She said not a word as they stared each other in the face, but she began to move slowly toward the left-hand side of the bed. His eyes followed her. She was a fair, fine woman, with yellowish flaxen hair and light gray eyes, with a droop in the left eyelid. He noticed those things and fixed them on his mind before she was round at the side of the bed. Speechless, with no expression in her face, with no noise following her footfall, she came closer and closer — stopped — and slowly raised the knife. He laid his right arm over his throat to save it; but, as he saw the knife coming down, threw his hand across the bed to the right side, and jerked his body over that way just as the knife descended on the mattress within an inch of his shoulder."

[Bill Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't put this down. The Dream Woman was an intriguing mystery. The story is separated into different narratives (typical of Wilkie Collins novels). The first narrative by Percy Fairbank sets the stage for the mystery. The second and longest narration is by Francis Raven; the mystery centers around him. Raven's mystery largely takes place regularly on his birthday (and exact birth) which was March 1 at 2 AM every year. He first dreams of his mysterious woman at 2 AM when he is a young man. He is so startled by his dream that he remembers the details. His mother takes dictation from him and preserves a description of his mysterious woman for future reference. Raven continues his narration and falls in love with a woman who is obviously his mystery woman and known by his mother but he fails to see the connection. The story continues to unfold during Raven's life to an unhappy ending.

If a story such as this was actually true, it would certainly give credence to premonitions and the ability to foretell the future. The one thing stories such as this seem to hammer home is although the future can be seen, it seems that man is unable to change how the future unfolds. The future must take place as it is foretold.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Light grey eyes, with a droop in the left eyelid. Flaxen hair, with a gold-yellow streak in it. White arms, with a down upon them. Little lady's hand, with a rosy red look about the fingernails. The Dream Woman, Francis! The Dream Woman!"

A slim, fairly well formed novella, rewritten by the author after various publications. I am not a great fan of classic Victorian fiction, although I can appreciate this as an example of Collins' multi-narrative style that he uses to great effect in the Woman in White and the Moonstone. For me, the wealthier characters rang true, but the ostler character was rather stereotyped and unbelievable. I guess that is true of many books of this era, and indicative of what readers expected of this kind of novel. The plot was without surprise and the exposition rather clunky - the coincidences just a little too great for my liking. I could imagine this story being included as a tale told within another book, a dinner party anecdote to make the ladies shudder, perhaps!

But it was a nice quick read to finish off 2019.

[Ruth]

A wealthy couple investigate the mystery of Francis Raven, an ostler troubled by nightmare visions of his impending death by a mysterious woman, who may be his wife, a demon or a ghost. Is Raven delusional? Or will be turn out to have been right all along?

Another exciting gothic mystery from Collins, where everyone who attempts to intervene to either help or hinder Francis Raven, only serves to propel him onwards to his inevitable fate. There are class themes as the middle class Fairbanks and their surgeon either mock or abuse Raven, treating him as a creature needing pity. Collins subverts these class roles by proving Raven's story to be correct all along.

The Dream Women is an excellent example of Victorian society's attitudes towards women. The story is told in four narratives by three men. Whilst the three main female characters (Alicia Warlock, Mrs Fairbank and Raven's mother) all play key roles in driving the narrative forward, none of them have their own voice. Their stories are told either by their husband or their son. Raven's mother doesn't even have a name. All three women are uncontrollable by "their men".

[Fatima Ijaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this story from a list of gothic tales, and have found that there is a lot of suspense and delay before gothic elements emerged within the text. The first instance is in the first part, when it is wondered upon whether the Dream Woman was real or a ghost! Overall, a simple story which can be quickly read. I found the ending to be a little contrived, and rooted in reality -- however, perhaps this same tension releases even further notions of absurdity. The 'gothic' though fades away....and something else, like chance and realist-absurdism takes its place.

[Per · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1917/...

Weird Tales reprint of part of a short story that has seen quite a few different publications and editions (with the Gutenberg link above pointing to The Queen of Hearts version):

[...] originally published as 'The Ostler', second part of 'The Holly Tree Inn', the Extra Christmas Number of Household Words for December 1855. It was later included in The Queen of Hearts as 'Brother Morgan's Story of the Dream Woman'. It was adapted by Collins for his reading tour of America and enlarged within a narrative framework for The Frozen Deep and Other Stories (1874).

https://www.wilkie-collins.info/books...

[Ester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Francis spent a night at some inn and had a dream about a woman with a knife attacking him. He thought it was real, but the landlord said there was no trace of an attack.

Later he meets a woman who looks exactly like the woman from his dream and she has the exact same knife. The woman seems familiar but at first he can't place why because he has forgotten.

Francis is thought to be a madman by many, but is he? How will the story end?

It is a classic, but was surprisingly easy to read. One of Collins's lesser-known works and also the first book I've read by him. It is a short book, a novella. It has spooky vibes.