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Ghost Stories
A new anthology of classic ghost stories—the second volume in the beautiful and collectible Pocket Classics format.
The chilling classic stories gathered here offer a remarkable variety of approaches to the theme of haunting. Revenge comes from beyond the grave in Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Body-Snatcher,” while visions of the dead come between the living in Henry James’s “The Friends of the Friends.” P. G. Wodehouse gives us a farcical take on the haunted house in “Honeysuckle Cottage,” and in L. P. Hartley’s “W.S.,” a writer is fatally stalked by his own aggrieved creation.
Here are ghosts of every stripe and intent in stories from writers as varied as Elizabeth Bowen and Jorge Luis Borges, Eudora Welty and Vladimir Nabokov, Ray Bradbury and Edith Wharton, among others. In the hands of these masters, the ghost story ranges far beyond mere horror to encompass comedy and tragedy, pathos and drama, and even a touch of poetry.
The chilling classic stories gathered here offer a remarkable variety of approaches to the theme of haunting. Revenge comes from beyond the grave in Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Body-Snatcher,” while visions of the dead come between the living in Henry James’s “The Friends of the Friends.” P. G. Wodehouse gives us a farcical take on the haunted house in “Honeysuckle Cottage,” and in L. P. Hartley’s “W.S.,” a writer is fatally stalked by his own aggrieved creation.
Here are ghosts of every stripe and intent in stories from writers as varied as Elizabeth Bowen and Jorge Luis Borges, Eudora Welty and Vladimir Nabokov, Ray Bradbury and Edith Wharton, among others. In the hands of these masters, the ghost story ranges far beyond mere horror to encompass comedy and tragedy, pathos and drama, and even a touch of poetry.
407 pages, Hardcover
First published September 2, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
March 22, 2019
The best thing about this book is that it is not strictly a book of ghost stories--if by "ghosts" you mean "spirits of the dead or other supernatural beings". However, if your definition of "ghost" also includes "past events and people that affect the lives of the living," then you have a definition that comprises all the pieces in this entertaining, well-chosen anthology.
There are plenty of hoary supernatural classics here ("Monkey's Paw," "The Body Snatcher"), but many of the best stories involve no remarkable supernatural events, such as Mansfield's "Daughters of the Late Colonel" or Welty's "Clytie," yet they are haunting and memorable nonetheless.
November 5, 2020
I would have expected the opposite somehow, but as I grow older I seem to have less and less patience for dandified nitwits, theatrical hypochondriacs and whatever involves doilies and potted ferns in too large a measure. Which is to say, the more I read and the older I get, the further I’m sailing away from the classics. It doesn’t entirely make sense to me – doesn’t one get more tolerant over time, more patient? aren't the classics the best? – but there you have it: while this collection is studded with quality names, it felt like hit and miss to me. Mostly miss, sadly.
I think I suffer from literary ennui, this season. Somebody please bring out the leeches.
I think I suffer from literary ennui, this season. Somebody please bring out the leeches.
April 24, 2020
A great selection of ghost stories, some of them (Saki, PG Wodehouse--you will know which one if you know your Wodehouse) a little off the beaten track. For variety and content, easily five stars.
October 8, 2016
Enjoyed some stories more than others, but overall a lovely collection of haunting stories.
March 30, 2017
It's certainly fair to say that I found the stories in this anthology very much hit-and-miss, and as several other reviewers have said, I think its biggest problem is that however broadly you interpret the theme of 'ghost stories' and however well written some of them may be, several just shouldn't have been included in here.
Even some of the darker tales aren't strictly ghostly, though they do at least have some supernatural or strange goings on. Others however are comedies, literary stories with little or no otherworldliness, and one or two even a straight-up romance story. So overall, I have to say this didn't creep me out anywhere near as much as I'd hoped and I think perhaps the editor tried to be a little too alternative with regards to interpreting the supposed genre.
There are some real gems to be found here, however. My favourites were W.W. Jacobs' The Monkey's Paw, which sees a family come into possession of the mysterious eponymous object which grants its owners three wishes, though at a heavy cost, in a classic of the 'be careful what you wish for' trope; L.P. Hartley's W.S., which sees a writer stalked by one of his own characters; Edith Wharton's The Looking Glass, which follows a woman who claims to be clairvoyant so that she can bring comfort to her lovesick friend in the form of fake messages from her deceased lover; and Alison Lurie's The Highboy, in which a woman is convinced she must treat her furniture with the utmost care, lest it try to kill her...
Even some of the darker tales aren't strictly ghostly, though they do at least have some supernatural or strange goings on. Others however are comedies, literary stories with little or no otherworldliness, and one or two even a straight-up romance story. So overall, I have to say this didn't creep me out anywhere near as much as I'd hoped and I think perhaps the editor tried to be a little too alternative with regards to interpreting the supposed genre.
There are some real gems to be found here, however. My favourites were W.W. Jacobs' The Monkey's Paw, which sees a family come into possession of the mysterious eponymous object which grants its owners three wishes, though at a heavy cost, in a classic of the 'be careful what you wish for' trope; L.P. Hartley's W.S., which sees a writer stalked by one of his own characters; Edith Wharton's The Looking Glass, which follows a woman who claims to be clairvoyant so that she can bring comfort to her lovesick friend in the form of fake messages from her deceased lover; and Alison Lurie's The Highboy, in which a woman is convinced she must treat her furniture with the utmost care, lest it try to kill her...
September 29, 2021
Eh. A few good stories but a lot of bland and forgettable ones, they also seem to use the term ‘ghost story’ quite loosely! Unfortunately not as atmospheric or spooky as I was hoping for but I did enjoy some so for that reason I’m glad I read it! Plus it was definitely something different for me to try some short stories!
July 21, 2015
I like to think of myself as broad-minded, but when the title of an anthology is Ghost Stories I don't think I'm wrong in forming a certain expectation of the book's contents. I will also grant that confounded expectations are central to both horror and comedy, but this isn't scary and I'm not laughing. There is a hint in the dust-jacket blurb, where we find the suggestion a "a remarkable variety of approaches to the theme of haunting," but I still find myself catching on the title. Promise ghost stories, and there should be ghosts. The variety of approaches disappoints in this, and I'll run through the included stories to expand upon that.
Before I do, though, one other minor complaint-- it would probably help the appreciation of the stories to have a sense of when they were written. There is some of this found at the end under "Acknowledgements" but it's lamentably incomplete.
Now, on to the stories and their claims to be ghost stories:
- "The Body-Snatcher," Robert Louis Stevenson: A brief ghost, hoorah, although there's a lot of digging to get to it.
- "The Horla," Guy de Maupassant: If one stretches, one may find the supernatural at work in this story, but it's more usually interpreted as someone descending into madness.
- "The Friends of the Friends," Henry James: Possibly the most patience-trying of the stories in the thing. I lift from a review of a film adaptation of one of his other stories one of the best articulations of the problem with James--
I frankly forgot what was happening in the story as I was reading it. There might be a ghost in it, but apart from it being something about a young man and woman who may or may not meet, I can't recall a thing about it.
- "The Monkey's Paw," W.W. Jacobs: A jolly good story, and while whatever is out there isn't a ghost as such it as least has some narrative tension.
-"Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad," M.R. James: The infinitely preferable James. It is at least a supernatural entity; I might say "hound" rather than "haunt" regarding its behaviour. It also throws a sheet over its head, which makes it more ghost than a lot of what follows.
- "The Open Window," Saki: Actual, unquestionable ghosts, for all the flatness of their presentation.
- "The Daughters of the Late Colonel," Katherine Mansfield: Here is where the editor's whimsy really starts to let us down. The "haunting" is no more than Victorian social conventions playing upon two women who find themselves unable to sort out life in the wake of an over-bearing father's death. Oh, look how they're haunted by his memory! Bah. It's well-written, but it's not a ghost story.
- "Honeysuckle Cottage," P.G. Wodehouse: Wodehouse is at least clever, so this story isn't a struggle. No ghost, though, apart from a pretty imposing genius loci, and it's not even necessarily supernatural.
- "W.S.," L.P. Hartley: No complaints here. Although it's once again not a ghost as such, it is something out of the common experience, and there's a nice development of suspense.
- "The Looking Glass," Edith Wharton: A possible and ambiguous spectral influence. I'd recommend it for reading anyway, as the narrating character gives an excellent view of the upper crust of the Gilded Age from the servant's perspective.
- "The Happy Autumn Fields," Elizabeth Bowen: Beautiful in writing and in the imagery presented, and there's an element of human spirits wandering beyond the mortal shell. If it were to appear in a more ghostly anthology of ghost stories, I wouldn't kick.
- "A Visit to the Museum," Vladimir Nabokov: Absolutely not a ghost story. It does develop into a good Weird Tale with an inexplicable disjointing of space, but I can't really see a good argument for its inclusion even using the broad interpretation of "haunting" being applied here.
- "Clytie," Eudora Welty: There's a similarity between this and the Mansfield story that makes me wonder that both are included. Despite the undeniably elegant writing, the only thing doing any haunting here is regrets and errors.
- "The Circular Ruins," Jorge Luis Borges: Overtly supernatural, with the sort of contemplative aspects one expects of Borges. It seems almost as if he were responding to a call for stories set in H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands. Ghosts? Spirits, perhaps, and the unguarded mysticism gets it a lot closer to being a ghost story than many others.
- "Poor Girl," Elizabeth Taylor: Almost pure romance, nary a ghost regardless of how broadly one uses the term. There are some rather startling shifts in the point of view, the sort of thing one doesn't really expect in a professional author (not, by the way, the acting Elizabeth Taylor, so that's not an excuse).
- "The Quincunx," Walter de la Mare: Possession! The spirit of a departed relative! Oh, boy! It veers toward comedy at a couple of points, but doesn't stick there, which is good news in the face of what follows....
- "Uninvited Ghosts," Penelope Lively: ...which are 1940s comedy film ghosts. I guess since I'm whining about the lack of ghosts, I shouldn't complain when a swarm of them appear. So I will only mutter under my breath.
- "The Highboy," Alison Lurie: With a broad interpretation of "ghost", the sort of animism engaged in here fits well with a more traditional collection of ghost stories.
- "Another Fine Mess," Ray Bradbury: Definite ghosts, at least. I have a little trouble with Bradbury when he's got his 'sweetly nostalgic' mechanism fully engaged, and it's running at top speed in this story, but that's a purely subjective issue.
Before I do, though, one other minor complaint-- it would probably help the appreciation of the stories to have a sense of when they were written. There is some of this found at the end under "Acknowledgements" but it's lamentably incomplete.
Now, on to the stories and their claims to be ghost stories:
- "The Body-Snatcher," Robert Louis Stevenson: A brief ghost, hoorah, although there's a lot of digging to get to it.
- "The Horla," Guy de Maupassant: If one stretches, one may find the supernatural at work in this story, but it's more usually interpreted as someone descending into madness.
- "The Friends of the Friends," Henry James: Possibly the most patience-trying of the stories in the thing. I lift from a review of a film adaptation of one of his other stories one of the best articulations of the problem with James--
His sentences wind daintily around and through themselves, timidly brushing against their meanings every fifteenth comma or so before withdrawing in a flutter of apologies for having approached anything so upsettingly coarse as sense or clarity. His characters are forever cutting off each other’s lines for fear that an utterance brought to completion might commit the intolerable affront of direct communication, but their worries on that score are ill-founded. Even an honest innuendo is too readily intelligible for James and the people who populate his writing— with them, you get innuendos to an innuendo.
I frankly forgot what was happening in the story as I was reading it. There might be a ghost in it, but apart from it being something about a young man and woman who may or may not meet, I can't recall a thing about it.
- "The Monkey's Paw," W.W. Jacobs: A jolly good story, and while whatever is out there isn't a ghost as such it as least has some narrative tension.
-"Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad," M.R. James: The infinitely preferable James. It is at least a supernatural entity; I might say "hound" rather than "haunt" regarding its behaviour. It also throws a sheet over its head, which makes it more ghost than a lot of what follows.
- "The Open Window," Saki: Actual, unquestionable ghosts, for all the flatness of their presentation.
- "The Daughters of the Late Colonel," Katherine Mansfield: Here is where the editor's whimsy really starts to let us down. The "haunting" is no more than Victorian social conventions playing upon two women who find themselves unable to sort out life in the wake of an over-bearing father's death. Oh, look how they're haunted by his memory! Bah. It's well-written, but it's not a ghost story.
- "Honeysuckle Cottage," P.G. Wodehouse: Wodehouse is at least clever, so this story isn't a struggle. No ghost, though, apart from a pretty imposing genius loci, and it's not even necessarily supernatural.
- "W.S.," L.P. Hartley: No complaints here. Although it's once again not a ghost as such, it is something out of the common experience, and there's a nice development of suspense.
- "The Looking Glass," Edith Wharton: A possible and ambiguous spectral influence. I'd recommend it for reading anyway, as the narrating character gives an excellent view of the upper crust of the Gilded Age from the servant's perspective.
- "The Happy Autumn Fields," Elizabeth Bowen: Beautiful in writing and in the imagery presented, and there's an element of human spirits wandering beyond the mortal shell. If it were to appear in a more ghostly anthology of ghost stories, I wouldn't kick.
- "A Visit to the Museum," Vladimir Nabokov: Absolutely not a ghost story. It does develop into a good Weird Tale with an inexplicable disjointing of space, but I can't really see a good argument for its inclusion even using the broad interpretation of "haunting" being applied here.
- "Clytie," Eudora Welty: There's a similarity between this and the Mansfield story that makes me wonder that both are included. Despite the undeniably elegant writing, the only thing doing any haunting here is regrets and errors.
- "The Circular Ruins," Jorge Luis Borges: Overtly supernatural, with the sort of contemplative aspects one expects of Borges. It seems almost as if he were responding to a call for stories set in H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands. Ghosts? Spirits, perhaps, and the unguarded mysticism gets it a lot closer to being a ghost story than many others.
- "Poor Girl," Elizabeth Taylor: Almost pure romance, nary a ghost regardless of how broadly one uses the term. There are some rather startling shifts in the point of view, the sort of thing one doesn't really expect in a professional author (not, by the way, the acting Elizabeth Taylor, so that's not an excuse).
- "The Quincunx," Walter de la Mare: Possession! The spirit of a departed relative! Oh, boy! It veers toward comedy at a couple of points, but doesn't stick there, which is good news in the face of what follows....
- "Uninvited Ghosts," Penelope Lively: ...which are 1940s comedy film ghosts. I guess since I'm whining about the lack of ghosts, I shouldn't complain when a swarm of them appear. So I will only mutter under my breath.
- "The Highboy," Alison Lurie: With a broad interpretation of "ghost", the sort of animism engaged in here fits well with a more traditional collection of ghost stories.
- "Another Fine Mess," Ray Bradbury: Definite ghosts, at least. I have a little trouble with Bradbury when he's got his 'sweetly nostalgic' mechanism fully engaged, and it's running at top speed in this story, but that's a purely subjective issue.
July 16, 2014
The earliest selections were quite strong. But as the collection moves into the 20th century, it seems to depend more on famous names, Garcia Marquez, Nabokov, and less on the strength of the ghost stories as ghost stories. Apparently, I'm some kind of purist.
Kudos for including Wodehouse's HONEYSUCKLE COTTAGE. It's hilarious.
Kudos for including Wodehouse's HONEYSUCKLE COTTAGE. It's hilarious.
July 24, 2019
What a truly mixed bag! I'm a little confused by this book - what inspired these particular selections? There are a LOT of magnificent public domain ghost stories out there, but Washington went out of his way to secure rights to some right clunkers, and some stories that aren't remotely ghostly. Why?
Anyway, high points were:
"The Body-Snatcher"
"Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad"
"The Open Window" (this made me round up to a 3-star rating)
"The Looking Glass"
"The Highboy" (the nicest surprise in the bunch aside from Saki)
Middling:
"The Monkey's Paw" is rightfully a classic, but not a ghost story.
"The Daughters of the Late Colonel" - disturbing account of a haunting without the need for any supernatural element
"The Happy Autumn Fields" - what's going on? somewhat intriguing and poignant, but didn't know where to go with the concept
"The Visit to the Museum" - highly effective weird tale that is not a ghost story
Painful:
"Clytie" - neither ghostly nor well written. Why does "depressing story about a strange family" read as "quality literature" so often, regardless of actual merit?
"The Circular Ruins" - akin to an acquaintance regaling you with their latest dream - both in content and tone, and in relevance or entertainment value
"Another Fine Mess" - not only entirely without plot or any engaging content, but more schmaltzy than a Chicken Soup for the Soul book. This may literally be the worst thing Bradbury ever wrote. It would put off even Rachel Bloom.
Anyway, high points were:
"The Body-Snatcher"
"Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad"
"The Open Window" (this made me round up to a 3-star rating)
"The Looking Glass"
"The Highboy" (the nicest surprise in the bunch aside from Saki)
Middling:
"The Monkey's Paw" is rightfully a classic, but not a ghost story.
"The Daughters of the Late Colonel" - disturbing account of a haunting without the need for any supernatural element
"The Happy Autumn Fields" - what's going on? somewhat intriguing and poignant, but didn't know where to go with the concept
"The Visit to the Museum" - highly effective weird tale that is not a ghost story
Painful:
"Clytie" - neither ghostly nor well written. Why does "depressing story about a strange family" read as "quality literature" so often, regardless of actual merit?
"The Circular Ruins" - akin to an acquaintance regaling you with their latest dream - both in content and tone, and in relevance or entertainment value
"Another Fine Mess" - not only entirely without plot or any engaging content, but more schmaltzy than a Chicken Soup for the Soul book. This may literally be the worst thing Bradbury ever wrote. It would put off even Rachel Bloom.
November 2, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed this collection that offered many angles on what makes a story haunted. Some of the most terrifying nightmares don’t need to be made manifest by a shimmering phantom—instead they live in our minds and stalk our every move. I discovered new authors by reading this, and though there were a few stories that didn’t particularly catch my fancy, there were so many others that had me contemplating memory, loss, beauty, and the human condition in new and insightful ways.
Some of my favorite stories include The Horla, The Daughters of the Late Colonel, and Poor Girl. Reading this during October really enhanced spooky season for me! I can’t wait to experience the adventure Everyman’s Library takes me on next!
Some of my favorite stories include The Horla, The Daughters of the Late Colonel, and Poor Girl. Reading this during October really enhanced spooky season for me! I can’t wait to experience the adventure Everyman’s Library takes me on next!
April 5, 2018
Absolutely love this collection. The book itself is physically charming; a solid little book, built in book mark, beautiful jacket. The stories themselves are a great collection, widespread in age and style, an aspect which I enjoyed very much. These stories certainly qualify as classics, and I would recommend the book to anyone who likes tales of the strange. Some of the stories are much more subtle though, and sometimes harder to grasp, so I wouldn't qualify this as light reading, but quality literature.
August 11, 2021
These ghost stories were mostly a miss for me. Didn't enjoy them very much. Won't be rereading.
The body snatcher: 3/5
The horla: 4/5
The friends of the friends: 3/5
The monkeys paw: 4/5
Oh whistle and I'll come to you, my lad: 4/5
The open window: 3/5
The daughters of the late colonel: 1/5
Honeysuckle cottage: 5/5
W.S: 4/5
The looking glass: 3/5
The happy autumn fields: 3/5
The visit to the museum: 2/5
Clytie: 2/5
The circular ruins: 2/5
Poor girl: 3/5
The quincunx: 4/5
Uninvited ghosts: 3/5
The highboy: 3/4
Another fine mess: 2/5
The body snatcher: 3/5
The horla: 4/5
The friends of the friends: 3/5
The monkeys paw: 4/5
Oh whistle and I'll come to you, my lad: 4/5
The open window: 3/5
The daughters of the late colonel: 1/5
Honeysuckle cottage: 5/5
W.S: 4/5
The looking glass: 3/5
The happy autumn fields: 3/5
The visit to the museum: 2/5
Clytie: 2/5
The circular ruins: 2/5
Poor girl: 3/5
The quincunx: 4/5
Uninvited ghosts: 3/5
The highboy: 3/4
Another fine mess: 2/5
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November 18, 2020Generally great, but - and perhaps I'm missing something terribly subtle and meta... - but what is Mansfield's 'The Daughters of the Late Colonel' doing in here? Please enlighten this thickie - this seemed to me to be about the pointless bumbling of a couple of spinsters. Am I missing an obvious ghost? :/
October 25, 2022
An anthology of the worst kind, full of either stories that have been anthologized a million times ("Monkey's Paw"??) or extremely dull stories of upper/upper-middle class life. No fear here, no shock, no blood, no questioning, nothing to say about our existence. Just boring, privileged, genteel coziness. The antithesis of what horror should be.
August 17, 2023
Got this as a gift, and I was really looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately reality didn’t live up to expectation. Most of the stories aren’t ghost stories, or even remotely spooky. Most of them come from long dead authors, so the writing can be very archaic, and sometimes difficult to read. There were a couple where it was completely incomprehensible Victorian gibberish.
Dipped in and out reading a new short story between other books. It’s taken me a year to finish it.
Not what it says on the tin!!
Dipped in and out reading a new short story between other books. It’s taken me a year to finish it.
Not what it says on the tin!!
October 15, 2017
Unlike the other Everyman's Classics compilations (London Stories, New York Stories, Paris Stories), Ghost Stories is more miss than hit. Some good works by Ray Bradbury, Poe, and Edith Wharton, but a lot of duds as well!
October 15, 2019
This was a pretty dull and not at all spooky collection. Some of these would definitely not even be classified as ghost stories. There were some good ones - The Body-Snatcher, The Horla, The Monkey’s Paw, Another Fine Mess, and Clytie, but overall this was too dry.
October 14, 2022
This is an anthology of famous ghost stories - I don't think there will be many surprises for most readers - but it is a good anthology and beautifully put together. A fine new addition to the revamped and revised 'everyman' series.
did-not-finish
May 21, 202321st May 2023 - I have dipped into this for a couple of stories around Halloween but I can’t see myself reading it front to back so I’m unhauling it. I think I’d rather read a mystery/thriller around Halloween than short stories!
October 25, 2021
Interesting collection of ghost stories with some variance in tone. Some were creepy, others actually funny. All around a good time.
July 19, 2023
Interesting collection of more modern ghost stories.
March 19, 2024
yayy this was fun
July 21, 2025
This book had quite an eclectic mix of stories and about 10 out of the 19 were good. Best ones were Honeysuckle Cottage, The Highboy and The Monkeys paw
November 18, 2011
THE BODY-SNATCHER BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
When the past rings two times.
First time: a group of friends, Fettes among them, are reunited talking and drinking. A sick man in the village needs a doctor, so they are waiting for this doctor to show up. Eventually the doctor rings at the door and Fetter is shocked: MacFarlane enters, he is an old Fetter’s companion from the time of medical school. Fetter and MacFarlane pick up corpses for the school of anatomy; sometimes when dead corpses lack, MacFarlane, in disagreement with Fetter, kills someone.
Second time: Fetter and MacFarlane after resuming a woman’s corpse from the grave and returning to the city from the graveyard, when rain is pouring and every light is (also) dead … they become aware that they are carrying a different corpse: a man who Fetter and MacFarlane have already dissected in the past …
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
THE HORLA BY GUY DE MAUPASSANT
‘But what is this being, this invisible being who is ruling me?
This unknowable creature, this wanderer from a supernatural race.’ (p.57)
The word Horla means - out there - (from the French ‘hors’ meaning out, and ‘la’ meaning there).
The Horla is a short story by Guy de Maupassant, written in 1887 and tells how an invisible being influences the mind of the narrator.
The narrator writes in his journal the progressive domination of the Horla on his thoughts and actions.
Akaky wants to be another person buying a new cloak: The Cloak by Gogol (1842).
Golyadkin thinks that another person has stolen his identity, and this second person step by step replaces Golyadkin’s life: The Double: a Petersburg Poem by Dostoevsky (1846).
A person discovers another side of himself: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Stevenson (1886).
At the end Gregor Samsa becomes a beast: The Metamorphosis by Kafka (1915).
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
THE FRIENDS OF THE FRIENDS by Henry James
‘What was her nervousness therefore but a presentiment? She had been hitherto the victim of interference, but it was quite possible she would henceforth be the source of it. The victim in that case would be my simple self.’ (p.82)
A woman is narrating a weird story of another woman. Every person who meet this strange woman after a while dies, but also reappear as a ghost.
At the end the woman follows the same fate.
///////////// //////////////////// //////////////
THE MONKEY’S PAW by W.W. Jacobs
‘It had a spell put on it (the monkey’s paw) … He wanted to show that fate ruled people’s lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow.’ (p. 107)
The Monkey’s Paw is a horror short story written in 1902 by William Wymark Jacobs.
The paw of a dead monkey is a talisman that grants its possessors three wishes. But the wishes, of course, come with a price to pay.
The White family becomes the owner of this monkey’s paw, a ‘gift’ from their friend Sergeant-Major Morris (just arrived from India).
Mr White’s first wish is 200 pounds. The price is very high: the life of his son.
Mrs White asks to his husband to express their second wish: Herbert (their son) back to life. Mr White has seen the mutilated corpse of his son and disagrees with his wife about this second wish.
But at the end, and after expressing the wish to the monkey’s paw ... the Whites hear knocking at the door …
‘A third knock sounded through the house.
- What’s that?, cried the old woman.
- A rat, said the old man in shaking tones, a rat. It passed me on the stairs.’ (p.117)
/////////////////////// //////////// ////////////////
OH, WHISTLE AND I’LL COME TO YOU, MY LAD
Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You my Lad was written in 1904 and it’s a ghost story from the stories collected in Ghost Stories from an Antiquary by Montague Rhodes James (M.R. James).
‘... there must be rats …’ (p. 142)
One man, two beds, and one ghost, or ...
A professor takes a vacation, unfortunately he can rent only a double-bedded room.
Nearby the inn there is a Templars’ Preceptory, where the professor finds an old whistle with some inscriptions on it.
In the evening the professor blows in the whistle …
Although the professor sleeps only in one of the two beds, the other one is always unmade.
Ghosts, rats, or ‘he should be … careful about using a thing that had belonged to a set of Papists.’ (p.137)
When the past rings two times.
First time: a group of friends, Fettes among them, are reunited talking and drinking. A sick man in the village needs a doctor, so they are waiting for this doctor to show up. Eventually the doctor rings at the door and Fetter is shocked: MacFarlane enters, he is an old Fetter’s companion from the time of medical school. Fetter and MacFarlane pick up corpses for the school of anatomy; sometimes when dead corpses lack, MacFarlane, in disagreement with Fetter, kills someone.
Second time: Fetter and MacFarlane after resuming a woman’s corpse from the grave and returning to the city from the graveyard, when rain is pouring and every light is (also) dead … they become aware that they are carrying a different corpse: a man who Fetter and MacFarlane have already dissected in the past …
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
THE HORLA BY GUY DE MAUPASSANT
‘But what is this being, this invisible being who is ruling me?
This unknowable creature, this wanderer from a supernatural race.’ (p.57)
The word Horla means - out there - (from the French ‘hors’ meaning out, and ‘la’ meaning there).
The Horla is a short story by Guy de Maupassant, written in 1887 and tells how an invisible being influences the mind of the narrator.
The narrator writes in his journal the progressive domination of the Horla on his thoughts and actions.
Akaky wants to be another person buying a new cloak: The Cloak by Gogol (1842).
Golyadkin thinks that another person has stolen his identity, and this second person step by step replaces Golyadkin’s life: The Double: a Petersburg Poem by Dostoevsky (1846).
A person discovers another side of himself: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Stevenson (1886).
At the end Gregor Samsa becomes a beast: The Metamorphosis by Kafka (1915).
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THE FRIENDS OF THE FRIENDS by Henry James
‘What was her nervousness therefore but a presentiment? She had been hitherto the victim of interference, but it was quite possible she would henceforth be the source of it. The victim in that case would be my simple self.’ (p.82)
A woman is narrating a weird story of another woman. Every person who meet this strange woman after a while dies, but also reappear as a ghost.
At the end the woman follows the same fate.
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THE MONKEY’S PAW by W.W. Jacobs
‘It had a spell put on it (the monkey’s paw) … He wanted to show that fate ruled people’s lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow.’ (p. 107)
The Monkey’s Paw is a horror short story written in 1902 by William Wymark Jacobs.
The paw of a dead monkey is a talisman that grants its possessors three wishes. But the wishes, of course, come with a price to pay.
The White family becomes the owner of this monkey’s paw, a ‘gift’ from their friend Sergeant-Major Morris (just arrived from India).
Mr White’s first wish is 200 pounds. The price is very high: the life of his son.
Mrs White asks to his husband to express their second wish: Herbert (their son) back to life. Mr White has seen the mutilated corpse of his son and disagrees with his wife about this second wish.
But at the end, and after expressing the wish to the monkey’s paw ... the Whites hear knocking at the door …
‘A third knock sounded through the house.
- What’s that?, cried the old woman.
- A rat, said the old man in shaking tones, a rat. It passed me on the stairs.’ (p.117)
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OH, WHISTLE AND I’LL COME TO YOU, MY LAD
Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You my Lad was written in 1904 and it’s a ghost story from the stories collected in Ghost Stories from an Antiquary by Montague Rhodes James (M.R. James).
‘... there must be rats …’ (p. 142)
One man, two beds, and one ghost, or ...
A professor takes a vacation, unfortunately he can rent only a double-bedded room.
Nearby the inn there is a Templars’ Preceptory, where the professor finds an old whistle with some inscriptions on it.
In the evening the professor blows in the whistle …
Although the professor sleeps only in one of the two beds, the other one is always unmade.
Ghosts, rats, or ‘he should be … careful about using a thing that had belonged to a set of Papists.’ (p.137)
January 27, 2015
This book was an impulse buy at the Met Costume Institute's "Death Becomes Her" exhibit of late 18th/early 19th century mourning attire. I adore ghost stories, was thrilled to see names like Edith Wharton (her "Afterward" is a gold standard of the genre) and Robert Louis Stevenson. But I found myself more amused (Wodehouse, Bradbury) than genuinely chilled. Alison Lurie's "The Highboy" comes close; but again, there's a sort of jokey quality to the story even amidst the horror. I am marking the book "Read" even though I have so far finished only perhaps a third of the stories (including the Wharton, which was a convoluted disappointment). If I go back to it and find myself transfixed by any story here, I will re-write this review. But I have lost interest now. The sort of chill I seek doesn't require long form - in fact, the best short story I have read recently was the one in response to Reddit's question "What is the best horror story you can come up with in two sentences?" and Reddit user Juan J. Ruiz (username justAnotherMuffledVo) came up with this: "I begin tucking him into bed and he tells me, 'Daddy check for monsters under my bed.' I look underneath for his amusement and see him, another him, under the bed, staring back at me quivering and whispering, 'Daddy there’s somebody on my bed.' "
October 26, 2015
A mixed collection, not nearly as exciting as the other entries in the Everyman Pocket Classic's series that I have read (Stories of the Sea, Bedtime Stories and Detective Stories). The selection of ghost stories is largely chronological from Robert Louis Stevenson's The Body-Snatcher to Ray Bradbury's Another Fine Mess--with the stories ranging from classic ghost/supernatural fare to more psychological to more literary and not really belonging in this genre. I don't have any particular complaints about many of the stories but I felt the absence of a more interesting set of organizing themes for the book, an introduction to the overall collection or the individual stories, meant that it was a good collection with nice paper and a nice cover but maybe not the perfect one to choose. That said, I did perfectly well enjoy most all of it.
October 15, 2009
The P.G. Wodehouse ghost story is hilarious - a mystery writer moves into a cottage previously owned by a sappy romance author; soon his mysteries are inexplicably populated with doe-eyed girls and rugged heroes, despite the frustrations of the author - he is haunted by the ghost of bad writing! Other good ones are the Sako classic, Eudora Welty's "Cyltie," and the always amazing "The Horla," by Guy de Maupassant, who really is right up there with M.R. James as one of the best creepy-story-writers of all time. Some of the other stories were only vaguely ghost stories and the tone was all over the place, hence the 4, rather than 5, stars.
December 2, 2013
A few good stories, several interesting stories, but not really a lot of "classic" ghost stories, apart from the older duplicates I had just read in another anthology. Enjoyed Honeysuckle Cottage by PG Wodehouse and The Open Window by Saki. Also The Looking Glass by Edith Wharton; Uninvited Ghosts by Penelope Lively, The Highboy by Alison Lurie and Another Fine Mess by Ray Bradbury. And The Bodysnatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson.
One thing missing that a better anthology included, was biographical notes about the authors and bibliographical notes about the stories. So hard to know why these were included or considered important.
One thing missing that a better anthology included, was biographical notes about the authors and bibliographical notes about the stories. So hard to know why these were included or considered important.
June 4, 2009
Ummm . . . not so scary for me. It was interesting to read short stories by so many famous authors and see what people might have considered thrilling during other time periods. Only a couple of the stories gave me goosebumps though. I bought this book around Halloween and it took me this long to get through all the stories. I guess that's the good thing about a collection of short stories. There is always a stopping point.
November 20, 2008
I'll have to come back to this some time; it's due at the library in two days and since it's new, it's not renewable. I enjoyed most of the stories I read; most were "old time", like "The Monkey's Paw", and some are more modern, like Penelope Lively's "Uninvited Ghosts". It's a good book for this time of year, spooky and classic ghost stories. Definitely recommendable.
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