By Firelight: A Guide to Speculative Fiction Before 1900

by Denise Longrie

Those who read by candlelight in centuries past left us an embarrassment of riches in stories of ghosts, werewolves, and other spooks, of lost loves and lost worlds, and of the then new world of science. This book, with its one hundred spoiler-free reviews, is your guide to many of those old tales. It offers plot summaries, analyses, not-quite humble opinions, and short author biographies, all told in a lively and engaging style.
Beginning with Daniel Defoe’s 1705 “The Apparition of Mrs. Veal”—often called the first modern ghost story (it’s not)—and ending with John Buchan’s 1899 dreamy “The Far Islands,” the reader will find informative and thoughtful explorations of both familiar and less well-known works such as John Polidori’s “The Vampyre,” Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Wilhelm Hauff’s “The Severed Hand,” and Elizabeth Gaskell’s “The Grey Woman.”
For the reader curious about old-fashioned things going bump in the night, this collection provides an enjoyable directory

ebook

Published April 14, 2017

About the author

Originally from Wisconsin, I currently live in southern California with my husband.

My new book is By Firelight: A Guide to Speculative Fiction Before 1900, available at smashwords and at amazon.

My other books include a short story titled Always Coming Home and a chapbook of poetry titled Sotto Voce . I've also had a short story and various poetry published in small press periodicals.