The Wimbourne Book of Victorian Ghost Stories: Volume 3

by Alastair Gunn (Editor)

Twenty ghost stories from the supernatural masters of the Victorian age. Wimbourne Books presents the third in a series of rare or out-of-print ghost stories from Victorian authors. With an introduction by author Alastair Gunn, Volume 3 in the series contains stories published anonymously in America and Britain between 1839 and 1896. Most of these tales are here anthologised for the very first time. Readers new to this genre will discover its pleasures; the Victorian quaintness, the sometimes shocking difference in social norms, the almost comical politeness and structured etiquette, the archaic and precise language, but mostly the Victorians’ skill at stoking our fears and trepidations, our insecurities and doubts. Even if you are already an aficionado of the ghostly tale there is much within these pages to interest you. Wait until the dark of the snowy night, lock the doors, shutter the windows, light the fire, sit with your back to the wall and bury yourself in the Victorian macabre. Try not to let the creaking floorboards, the distant howl of a dog, the chill breeze that caresses the candle, the shadows in the far recesses of your room, disturb your concentration.

Includes the stories; The Deaf and Dumb Girl (1839) - The Picture Bedroom (1840) - The Haunted Manor-House of Paddington (1848) - Mabel (1849) - The Bright Room of Cranmore (1850) - Fisher’s Ghost (1853) - The Ghost at Heatherbell Abbey (1862) - The Tale of a Gas-light Ghost (1867) - Pichon & Sons, of the Croix Rousse (1868) - Haunted (1868) - The Ghost at Laburnum Villa (1870) - The Sergeant’s Ghost Story (1873) - The Bryansfort Spectre (1874) - Twelve O’clock, Noon (1877) - The Story of Clifford House (1878) - The Ghost in the Bank of England (1879) - The Carved Mantelpiece of Granton Hall (1882) - The Invisible Hand (1884) - The Old Lady in Black (1894) - Seen By the Coppice (1896).

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Ghost Stories, Gothic, Short Stories

281 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 21, 2017

About the author

ALASTAIR GUNN is an author, musician and professional astrophysicist based in the UK and is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. As well as an active scientist, Alastair is an experienced and popular public lecturer on astronomy and is known for his accessible (though challenging), light-hearted, and visually stunning lectures. He has made guest appearances on many TV and radio shows around the world and has hosted a regular astronomy program on radio. Alastair writes a regular column for BBC Science Focus magazine and has written for The Daily Telegraph, The Independent and The Guardian and is a contributor to many astronomy magazines including Astronomy Now, BBC Sky at Night and StarDate. His fiction includes ghostly short stories, a collection of supernatural stories called Ballymoon and his debut novel, The Bergamese Sect.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great anthology from Wimbourne, this time consisting of stories by anonymous authors. Although a few are a little predictable, most of these are genuinely spooky. Highly recommended.

[Julie Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absorbing Stories

This is a good book for dreary days spent indoors. A comfortable chair and a cup of tea will help the reader become immersed in these picturesque, well written tales.

[Tristram Shandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

”Everybody, or nearly everybody, young or old, loves a ghost story.”

These are the introductory words of the narrator of one of the yarns presented in The Wimbourne Book of Victorian Ghost Stories: Volume 3, collected by Alastair Gunn, and I think there is hardly anyone who would deny the morbid charms of a tale focusing on a sinister presence from the land from which actually no traveller should return. The above-mentioned narrator expounds on the fascination of ghost stories on most people by saying, among other things, that

”[t]he ghost story goes deeper into the mysterious fountains of human nature, and touches on the confines of the great undiscovered land of spirits, whose secrets are not to be divulged on this side of the grave. Hence its charm and fascination, and hence everybody who reads or hears a ghost story, experiences a satisfaction, either in believing in it implicitly, or in explaining it away by natural causes.”

And he may have a big point there. On the other hand, there’s another story in this collection begins like this:

”’As for me,’ said Mrs. Beverley, ‘I am rarely frightened by a ghost story. One knows the stock-in-trade so well — the unbidden guest at table; the handsome cavalier in the family portraits, who is always appearing at odd moments, and frightening his descendants; and the old lady in brocade who haunts the corridor!’”

And however intriguing and atmospheric a good ghost story may be, one likewise cannot deny that our worldly-wise Mrs. Beverly, with her “I’ve-seen-it-all”-attitude, does have a point because ghost stories may run the danger of conjuring up the so-often heard, and so the ghost story, more perhaps than any other genre, depends on originality of style or imagination. This, to a certain extent, is the problem of the collection of stories we have in the third volume of The Wimbourne Book of Victorian Ghost Stories: Most of them follow a pattern which modern readers, possibly more so than Victorians, have grown used to, and consequently rather tired of. There is usually a crime of passion, or a tragedy because of stern parents, unfaithful lovers or fateful misunderstandings, and the result is a haunting presence in a house where this tragedy came to pass. In vain do we seek for the more nameless, insubstantial, yet life-threatening terrors that we link with names like Algernon Blackwood or H.P. Lovecraft. Some of the stories collected in this volume even adopt a tongue-in-cheek tone, which is amusing to read but hardly able to get us into a mood of terror.

One of the merits of this book is that most of the stories gathered here will probably be new to many a reader because Alastair Gunn only included anonymous stories into this volume. In his preface, which is very interesting to read, the editor explains that it was only in the course of the 19th century that writers of fiction made a point of having their names published with their tales. The usual thing up to then, and well into the second half of the century, was for them not to be named, but then it became clearer and clearer that certain names were able to attract larger numbers of readers. Gunn also shares his assumptions as to the identities of some of the writers.

There were two stories that I enjoyed more than the others, which were more like staple food for the ghost-hungry reader. One rather long story, “The Ghost in the Bank of England”, which, as Gunn says, may have been written by Wilkie Collins, is a very surprising, and well-crafted yarn leaving some of its mysteries unsolved. The other superior story, “Seen by the Coppice”, convinced me by its menacing atmosphere. I am not saying that the other stories are downright boring but they will probably not scare you very much. All in all, this collection might be interesting for anyone who loves Victorian literature and who knows enough Victorian writers as to enjoy himself trying to figure out who might actually be the person behind the label “Anonymous”.

[D J Rout · Rating 3 out of 5]

The editor introduces this collection of anonymous stories with an essay on why authors appeared anonymously and how that tradition changed during the Victorian era.

Some of the stories you actually wouldn't want to put your name to, but most are competent if a little wordy by today's 'story on a shopper docket' standards. Not that many are scary, either, but at least you can see how the story form started out, and why M R James did such a good job of refining the English ghost story.

The highlight is "The Ghost in the Bank of England" (1879) which sets its scary ghost in one of the most prosaic settings there is. It reminded me of Lisa Stout's prosaic settings for Faerie in Shadowbound. Get the book just for this one.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

A really good collection of anonymous ghost stories. Thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. A bargain at the price and well worth reading by anyone who enjoys a good psychological ghost story well written rather than a simple blood and guts story.

[David Devine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another interesting group of short stories from times gone by.

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent ghost stories, all credited “anonymous,” and I’d read almost none of them before!