A Skeleton at the Helm: Tales of Ghost Ships, Derelicts & Hauntings at Sea

by John Richard Stephens

Stories come from such greats as Poe, Bram Stoker, Washington Irving, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, William Hope Hodgson, and even Winston Churchill! The book also comes with a nice introduction by the editor, which includes a discussion of real terrors of the sea which are just as chilling as the stories themselves!

Genres: Horror

343 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Irwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This old book lived up to it's name with some truly scary stories. A great collection!

[Graig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being a collection of short stories, it definitely provides a broad perspective on seafaring scarie tales. Writing styles, vehicles, and topics are hugely varied - so it's a nice break from the monotony of epics I normally saddle myself with. The prologue of sea stories, statistics, and other lore has been the highlight, so far. I can't say that I've been particularly riveted by any of the other pieces, yet.

It has, however, opened my eyes to power behind sailor's superstitions... Since first I cracked the binding, this miraculous book has warded off extended waiting at all manners of functions - doctors, dentists, hair salons, surgical centers, and, yes, even the emergency room cannot hold sway over the power of this tome.

[Trae Stratton]

Reading this collection one story a year to get in the spirit of Halloween.

2012: The Police Officer's Tale by Henry Fielding.
*
2013: The True Fate of the Flying Dutchman by George Griffith.
* * 1/2
2014: -----

2015: The Log of the Demeter by Bram Stoker.
-Exactly what you hope for from a classic author. * * * *

2016: ------

2017: The Last Cruise of the Judas Iscariot by Edward Page Mitchell.
* * 1/2

2018

[Gofita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the classic pirate short stories with supernatural twists. I didn't read through all of them but read a few of the shorter stories. I'll read the rest next year. A fun collection of older scary stories set on the high seas.

[Jadewik]

Stopped p 233.... will pick up again soon.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting collection of stories and poems, not all new to me, but not worth keeping around with the idea of one day rereading.