The Giant Book of Classic Ghost Stories

by Richard Dalby (Editor), J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Erckmann-Chatrian

The Victorians, and later the Edwardians, had a passion for the weird, scary and richly embroidered tales of the bizarre and supernatural.

In this deliciously chilling volume are many of literature's greatest names, spanning the Victorian era from 1839 right up the end of the Edwardian decade in 1910.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Ghost Stories, Anthologies, Classics, Paranormal

573 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1995

About the author

Richard Dalby (1949-2017) was an editor and literary researcher.

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.86⭐

Introduction • Richard Dalby ✔
Ghosts • Poem • (1887) • Anonymous 3⭐
Schalken the Painter • (1851) • Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 5⭐
M. Anastius • (1857) • Dinah Maria Mulock Craik (variant of M. Anastasius) 3⭐
The Lost Room • (1858) • Fitz-James O'Brien 3.5⭐
No. 1 Branch Line: The Signalman • (1927) • Charles Dickens (variant of The Signalman 1866) 4⭐
Haunted • (1867) • Anonymous 2.75⭐
The Romance of Certain Old Clothes • (1868) • Henry James 4⭐
John Granger • (1870) • Mary Elizabeth Braddon 3.5⭐
The Ghost in the Mill • (1870) • Harriet Beecher Stowe 4⭐
The Ghost in the Cap'n Brolwn House • (1870) • Harriet Beecher Stowe 3.25⭐
Poor Pretty Bobby • (1872) • Rhoda Broughton 4⭐
The New Pass • (1870) • Amelia B. Edwards 4.25⭐
The White and the Black • (1867) • Erckmann-Chatrian 3⭐
The Underground Ghost • (1864) • John Berwick Harwood 4.5⭐
Christmas Eve on a Haunted Hulk • (1889) • Frank Cowper 5⭐
Dog or Demon? • (1889) • Theo Gift 4⭐
A Ghost from the Sea • Dick Donovan [as by J. E. P. Muddock] 3.25⭐
A Set of Chessmen • (1890) • Richard Marsh 3.75⭐
The Judge's House • (1891) • Bram Stoker 4⭐
Pallinghurst Barrow • (1892) • Grant Allen 5⭐
The Mystery of the Semi-Detached • (1893) • E. Nesbit 4⭐
Sister Maddelena • (1895) • Ralph Adams Cram 4⭐
The Trainer's Ghost • (1893) • Lettice Galbraith 3.5⭐
An Original Revenge • (1897) • W. C. Morrow 5⭐
Caulfield's Crime • (1892) • Alice Perrin 3.5⭐
The Bridal Pair • (1902) • Robert W. Chambers 3.25⭐
The Watcher • (1903) • R. H. Benson 3⭐
The Spectre in the Cart • (1904) • Thomas Nelson Page 3.25⭐
H. P. • (1904) • Sabine Baring-Gould 4⭐
Yuki-Onna • (1904) • Lafcadio Hearn 4⭐
The Ash-Tree • (1904) • M. R. James 4.5⭐
The Story of the Green House, Wallington • [The Ghost Hunters • 1] • (1905) • Allen Upward 4.5⭐
The Slype House • (1904) • A. C. Benson 3.25⭐
A Ghost-Child • (1906) • Bernard Capes 3⭐
The Bead Necklace • (1906) • Alice Perrin 3.5⭐
A Dead Man's Bargain • (1906) • Clive Pemberton 4⭐
The House That Was Lost • (1908) • Tom Gallon 4.25⭐
The Jolly Corner • (1908) • Henry James 4⭐
The Doll's Ghost • (1896) • F. Marion Crawford 4.25⭐
The Moonlit Road • (1907) •Ambrose Bierce 5⭐
The Forbidden Floor • (1912) • Alexander Harvey 2.5⭐
The Shadow • (1910) • E. Nesbit (variant of The Portent of the Shadow 1905) 4.5⭐
The Gateway of the Monster • [Carnacki (Hodgson)] • (1910) • William Hope Hodgson 4.25⭐

[Liza · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Victorian and Edwardian ghost stories are incredibly scary. Its a good book to keep on your nigth table and read a story each night before bedtime.
You might not be able to sleep but its sure fun to read it at night.

This is a classic book that will forever remain in my library for years to come.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting mix of stories from some quite famous authors (and some less so, of course). Some are okay, some are terrible. Pretty much what you'd expect from an anthology. I wasn't really bowled over by any of it, after dipping in and out for a while.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable collection. Not every story was amazing, but I liked most of them. I'm glad I was able to buy the book from Thriftbooks so that I have my own copy. I want to go back through and mark my favorites with post it notes so I can pick them up again when I'm in the mood.

I like reading these old fashioned ghost stories. I feel like they give a snapshot of their age since they were published in magazines to the general public assuming that the audience is familiar with the settings. Both in America and England, the Victorian era started to think of itself as being very modern, but people could ride a train to isolated areas where things were more isolated and less advanced. The readers could imagine ghosts in rural and urban settings. That effect was even more pronounced in the Edwardian era. There were modern advances, like houses with electric lights, but a strong sense of nostalgia and mystery surrounding the time, only a few years earlier, when the nights were only dimly lit by fire and gaslight, and spiritualism was widely influential.

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Since it's a collection of short stories from different authors, some were better than others. I did sip over some stories if I wasn't interested in them or was getting bored, but there were some stories that I really did enjoy.

My top three favourite stories were:
1. The Lost Room by Fitz James O'Brien
2. A Ghost from the Sea by J.E.P Muddock
3. Caulfield's Crime by Alice Perrin

Since these are classic ghost stories and they were written a long time ago, some of the language is different and sometimes hard to understand. Plus sometimes instead of saying "he yelled", they would say "he ejaculated". And it was hard not to laugh when it said stuff like "the man was very gay".

Something I would offer as a trigger warning is that in a couple of the stories there is a bit of racism and use of the n-word.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a worthwhile selection of English-language ghost stories from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The title is slightly misleading as it suggests that these are British stories whereas many are from the USA. None the worse for this and many of the US stories are very good.

Dalby includes a few familiar warhorses such as Dickens' The Signalman, Stoker's The Judge's House and M. R. James' The Ash Tree, but for the most part, these are some of the less familiar tales of the supernatural. The best ones are those which rely on suggestion and atmosphere than direct horror, but there is enough variety in this collection to satisfy the enthusiast for this genre.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

As to be expected, the quality of the stories was somewhat uneven, but fascinating nonetheless.

The editor included a mini-bio for each author at the top of their story, which added to the appeal.

I also appreciated that there were quite a few female authors in the collection, which is certainly not always the case in anthologies of this time period.

[Melissa Arenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so sad that I have completed this! Hands down, this is one of my top all time short story collections. Ranging from supernatural to everyday occurrences, each story was different enough to prevent this large collection from feeling stale. And it was always perfect for a rainy or snowy day

[Sheena · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG. Awesome Book. A Page Turner From The Start. A Must Read For Anyone Who Loves Ghost Stories. 🐹

[Helen Carolan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific collection of ghost stories.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great compilation. Perfect for stormy October nights.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF

[Jeff Hobbs]

Read so far:

*Schalken the painter / Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu --
M. Anastasius / Dinah Maria Mulock --
The lost room / Fitz-James O'Brien --2
No. 1 branch line: The signalman / Charles Dickens --3
The romance of certain old clothes / Henry James --3
John Granger / Mary E. Braddon --3
The ghost in the mill / Harriet Beecher Stowe --3
The ghost in the Cap'n Brown house / Harriet Beecher Stowe --2
Poor pretty Bobby / Rhoda Broughton --3
The new pass / Amelia B. Edwards --3
*The white and the black / Erckmann-Chatrain --
The underground ghost / J.B. Harwood --
Christmas eve on a haunted hulk / Frank Cowper--2
Dog or demon? / Theo Gift --
A ghost from the sea / J.E.P. Muddock --
*A set of chessmen / Richard Marsh --
The judge's house / Bram Stoker --3
Pallinghurst barrow / Grant Allen --2
The mystery of the semi-detached / E. Nesbit --3
Sister Maddelena / Ralph Adams Cram --3
The trainer's ghost / Lettice Galbraith --
*An original revenge / W.C. Morrow --
Caufield's crime / Alice Perrin --
The bridal pair / Robert W. Chambers --1
The watcher / Robert Benson --2
The spectre in the cart / Thomas Nelson Page --
H.P. / S. Baring-Gould --
Yuki-Onna / Lafcadio Hearn --3
*The ash-tree / M.R. James--
The story of the Green house, Wallington / Allen Upward --2
The Slype house / A.C. Benson --
A ghost-child / Bernard Capes --1
The bead necklace / Alice Perrin --
A dead man's bargain / Clive Pemberton --
The house that was lost / Tom Gallon --
The jolly corner / Henry James --2
The doll's ghost / F. Marion Crawford --3
The moonlit road / Ambrose Bierce --3
The forbidden floor / Alexander Harvey --
*The shadow / E. Nesbit --
The gateway of the monster / William Hope Hodgson--2

[Aurel Mihai · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this seems like an appropriate collection of stories from the Victorian era, the editor's choices in including a few of them boggle my mind. Some of the stories are excellent while a few are so bad that I could not enjoyably finish them. Stranger still, the bad ones seem to be scattered mostly in the beginning and end of the book, where somebody casually picking it up and reading is likely to see them. Not a bad read overall, but I might've preferred a slimmer novel where the editor had been a bit pickier in choosing what to include.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the book I have set beside my bed. I usually read through 1/2 or one short story a night. They're very interesteing - it's great to see how the idea of ghost stories has evolved over the generations. As of yet, none of them have been particularly scary, but these are good cultural reads. And fun!

[Zombaby Cera · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great collection of antique ghost stories. I especially liked "Poor Pretty Bobby" by Rhoda Broughton!

[Jeannie Sloan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of boring.No exceptional stories but many that are 'ok'.

[Carmen Tudor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent Dalby collection.

[Barb Shadow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of ghost stories. All classic.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of stories. Some where short stories you will find familiar from school but many of them were new and beautifully 'stodgy' in that victorian way.

[Tania · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing really stood out in this collection of Ghost stories but nice to pick up from time to time.