The Open Door and the Portrait

by Mrs. Oliphant

Margaret Oliphant was a Scottish author who ranked as one of the most popular writers of the Victorian era. Oliphant's books were known for their realism and she was prolific in the historical and supernatural genres of fiction. Oliphant is perhaps best known today for the classic novel Miss Marjoribanks. The Open Door and the Portrait are two of Oliphant's greatest horror stories.

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Classics, Ghost Stories, Victorian, Fiction, 19th Century

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1881

About the author

Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant (née Margaret Oliphant Wilson) was a Scottish novelist and historical writer, who usually wrote as Mrs. Oliphant. Her fictional works encompass "domestic realism, the historical novel and tales of the supernatural".

Margaret Oliphant was born at Wallyford, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, and spent her childhood at Lasswade (near Dalkeith), Glasgow and Liverpool. As a girl, she constantly experimented with writing. In 1849 she had her first novel published: Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland which dealt with the Scottish Free Church movement. It was followed by Caleb Field in 1851, the year in which she met the publisher William Blackwood in Edinburgh and was invited to contribute to the famous Blackwood's Magazine. The connection was to last for her whole lifetime, during which she contributed well over 100 articles, including, a critique of the character of Arthur Dimmesdale in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.

Reviews

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining fantasy listening 🎶🔰

Another will written fantasy Sci-Fi haunting horror and ghost 👻 short stories by Mrs. Margaret Gautier, two horror haunting ghost 👻 adventure thriller novellas of families relationships with stressful day to day lives with the unknown. I would recommend this novella to readers of fantasy horror haunting ghost novels 👍🔰. Enjoy the adventure of novels 👍🔰🏰 and books 📚. 2022😮

I listened to this as part of the Classic Tales of Horror - 500+ stories. very enjoyable for a second time 2023

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fathers and Sons

I love ghost stories and both of these are wonderful. One of the best things about them is how grounded they are. No fantastic monsters jump out of the forest, no blood spurts, no one even screams…very much. ‘The Open Door’ is a five star read and while ‘Portrait’ is very good it’s not as good as ‘Door’, in fact it doesn’t turn in to a ghost story until the last several pages. Oliphant sets a unique atmosphere in all her writing but she excels in her ‘unseen’ stories. “Door’ is set in Scotland and upholds its otherworldly traditions. A young boy hears a distressed voice on his way from school as he rides through the deserted grounds of the family’s estate. He appeals to his father to help this soul in trouble. His father does so taking the local doctor and minister with him as backup. What they find surprises them.

In ‘Portrait’ a young man returns home because of an illness and finds his 70 something father worried about his business affairs as well as wistfully contemplating his past. There’s something amiss and the son feels compelled to try and right the situation while at the same time confronting his own past. I liked that both these stories have a resolution. They have a beginning, middle, and an end. You’re not left hanging and wondering. ‘The Open Door’ is among the best ghost stories I’ve ever read.

A word about this kindle edition: I don’t remember seeing any typos, there’s no navigable table of content, and the stories aren’t shown as chapters meaning the ‘time remaining’ per chapter isn’t given though ‘time remaining in book’ is. No introduction or preface is included. The publication date given is as 1881.

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

ENGLISH: The first story in this book, "The Open Door," is a mild ghost story, whose most thrilling part is the reaction of the human characters to the ghost. The outcome seemed to me a little weak.

The second story, "The portrait," is more original, dealing with a young man who is sometimes possessed, for a reason, by his dead mother.

ESPAÑOL: La primera historia de este libro, "La puerta abierta", es una historia de fantasmas suave, cuya parte más espectacular es la reacción de los personajes humanos ante el fantasma. El desenlace me pareció un poco flojo.

La segunda historia, "El retrato", es más original, y trata sobre un joven poseído por su madre muerta, por una razón que debe descubrir.

[Samichtime · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first one’s good, the second one’s dogwater. 🍿

I like the quote in The Open Door “a sceptic’s presence ruins everything!”, yes, that is mostly true… but if I hear a ghost I’m gonna run over to it. It’s too lame when people in tv/movies hear/see a ghost (invisible being which has never been proven to exist), and they don’t run over to it. Take the fall! Bring a camera! 📸😱

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4⭐

The Open Door 3.25⭐
The Portrait 3.5⭐

[Vania Russo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I veri artisti non hanno bisogno di auto-dichiararsi tali, nemmeno si pongono il problema. Vivono quel che sono e già questo basta, altro che personal branding sui social. Questa raccolta è deliziosa, tutto qui, e in fondo non serve altro.

[Eugenia Fontana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The open door (leído en diciembre 2017) - 3 estrellas
The portrait - 4 estrellas

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this as part of the Classic Tales of Horror - 500+ Stories. It was very entertaining 2023

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stuff for a wet Bank Holiday Monday! Good old traditional Victorian ghost stories. 'The Open Door' is full of creepy shadowy description, clinging ivy and hair raising shrieks. 'The Portrait' is about possession, very disturbing for Phil, but worse for his father. Both have a clear resolution, both are page turners and both are way better than much modern trash sold by the bucketful in supermarkets.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I need to read more books by this author, specially after I have started to proofreading recently one of her books to become available soon at Project Gutenberg.

[Catherine Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two nice short ghost stories that entertain without giving you nightmares at bedtime.

[Tonk82 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magaret Oliphant fue una escritora escocesa del siglo XIX, especializada en novelas realistas e históricas. Pero, como muchos otros escritores de aquella época, no resisitió la tentación de realizar algunas historias sobrenaturales con toques góticos.

The open door (La puetra abierta) y The portrait (El retrato), son dos de esos relatos sobrenaturales que realizó.

-The open door: Probablemente el relato suyo que mas veces se reedita, alabado por el propio M.R. James como uno de los grandes relatos de fantasmas de su época. Es una historia muy sencilla, con un niño que cae enfermo por las voces que oye en las ruinas de un edificio abandonado junto a la casa donde vive.

No tiene, el niño, realmente miedo. Siente una pena enorme por esa aparición y le pide a su padre que haga algo, que le ayude. A partir de ahí vemos las sucesivas investigaciones que el padre realiza, y como va pasando del miedo a la comprensión, enfrentando ciencia y religión, intentando resolver el problema.

Solo la descripción de la primera noche y la puerta, es mas que suficiente para hacer de esta una historia memorable. 5/5

-The portrait: No es realmente una historia de fantasmas, aunque si contiene un elemento sobrenatural.

Oliphant tuvo una vida algo desgraciada, sobre todo en lo que respecta a la pérdida de sus hijos. Es algo que resulta dificil no tener en cuenta al leer este relato, donde un joven (que perdió a su madre siendo pequeño) vuelve a la casa de su padre tras una enfermedad. Como en toda historia gótica, hay ecos del pasado que vuelven y cosas que su padre está intentando ocultar. Me ha gustado bastante como se va desarrollando y el tipo de comentario social que incluye... pero la resolución final tiene algún elemento un poco folletinesco que no me acaba de convencer. 3.5/5

[Cathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Persephone Bookshop featured an article about Margaret Oliphant, writing that she was one of the most popular Victorian novelists for over 50 years, selling as many novels as Trollope, Hardy, and Collins. Since I wasn't familiar with her, I thought it would be fun to give her a try. The Open Door and the Portrait are stand-alone stories within one book, each one a ghost story. I liked The Open Door more; it had more texture and more of a plot than The Portrait, but I enjoyed reading both. Both play upon psychological suspense, morality, and guilt, as ghosts stories often do. They do seem "of the time," with somewhat static characters and a profusion of descriptive detail--but if you like Victorian literature--these would be satisfying reads.

[Eileen · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25 stars overall (ok)

- The Open Door -
2 stars (ok)
A family takes a temporary home in Brentwood, Scotland in the summer and their son is afraid of sounds he hears near some ruins.  I enjoyed the setting descriptions more than the plot.

- The Portrait -
2.5 stars (ok)
A son lives with his father and the discussion ultimately revolves around a portrait of a woman in their library. I thought the writing itself was fine but the outcome was rather anti-climactic.

In my opinion, these two stories did not compare with the story "The Library Window" which I enjoyed and rated 4 stars.

[Iza Brekilien · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know Mrs Oliphant even existed until I picked a few free classics of hers on Amazon. This is the first book I've read and it was good.
Ghost stories, including people visiting haunted ruins in the night, with little or no light at all, and a ghostly possession to force someone to do what's right.
I really enjoyed those stories - I'm so chicken I don't know if I would have read them if I was alone at night in my house, but since there were people not far, that was OK ! I'm looking forward to reading other books of hers that I have snatched.

[Éowyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t like horror at all but so far I have been relatively unmoved by anything in the genre. So bear that in mind while I rate it: while some may be deeply disturbed I was merely fascinated. I don’t think any will need this warning really because if you did you wouldn’t read the book to begin with. So.

Yes, the tales were very interesting and pulled me in for sure. Sometimes you just need a little supernatural salt for a story. I certainly do not read this type very often, but when I do it’s tales like this.

[ASusana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dos relatos góticos que si bien empiezan de manera tradicional, se diferencian en la forma en que están narrados y de lo que realmente tratan. La familia y el amor paternal están presentes describiéndonos hasta el día de hoy que hay cosas que no cambian con el tiempo.
Una excelente lectura para todas las edades.
Desgraciadamente no he podido encontrar una traducción al español de The portrait seguiré buscando.

[Jolie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dreamy little Victorian ghost stories.

[Mariè · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed parts of it while reading but the moment I was done nothing stuck with me .. it's not memorable I mean I can't seem to remember even one thing that happened here

[ElenaSquareEyes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Open Door, and the Portrait: Stories of the Seen and the Unseen are two short spooky stories.

The Open Door is from the perspective of Mortimer a father who’s brought his family to live in an old Scottish manor but when his son is taken ill, having apparently heard a lost spirit, Mortimer promises to solve the mystery and help the lost soul. The Portrait is about Philip, a man who returns home to his elderly father and becomes enchanted by the portrait of his dead mother who he never knew.

Both stories are eerie and are set in old, manor houses that hide their secrets and have male leads that like to believe they are sound of mind but maybe that’s not the case.

Out of the two stories I preferred The Open Door. It was a creepy ghost story that made full use of its setting in the wilds of Scotland, owls hooting, characters not wanting to believe the stories and a child that has seen things that can’t be explained. I also liked that when Mortimer was investigating his sons claims and talked to people who worked for the house, the way it was written you could clearly see the thick Scottish accent. It was another thing that helped pull me into the story.

The Portrait was more of a mystery than a horror story. There were hints at supernatural goings on but it was Phillip and his relationship with his father that was the main focus of the story. Also, while obviously a lot happens in a short space of time in a short story, I found the ending of The Portrait felt quite rushed and not that satisfying.

Still, I did enjoy reading The Open Door, and the Portrait: Stories of the Seen and the Unseen. I haven’t read any Victorian fiction out of choice before (definitely read some during my school life) and these short stories were a nice way to dip my toes in as it were.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oliphant's classic "horror" stories, quite interesting tales.

[Bettie]

to become available soon at Project Gutenberg.

[Voracious · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly good Victorian ghost stories.

[Holland · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Open Door creeped me out! Good ghostly tale!