Henry James: The Complete Supernatural Stories (20+ tales of ghosts and mystery: The Turn of the Screw, The Real Right Thing, The Ghostly Rental, The Beast in the Jungle...)

by Henry James

Henry James (1843-1916) was an American author regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He is best known for the novels "The Portrait of a Lady", "The Ambassadors", and "The Wings of the Dove". James also wrote several atmospheric, psychologically complex, and emotionally powerful supernatural tales. His gothic ghost novella “The Turn of the Screw” is considered by many — including Stephen King — to be the exemplar of the ghost story.

Genres: Fiction, Horror

527 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 15, 2019

About the author

Henry James was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the son of Henry James Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.
He is best known for his novels dealing with the social and marital interplay between émigré Americans, the English, and continental Europeans, such as The Portrait of a Lady. His later works, such as The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl were increasingly experimental. In describing the internal states of mind and social dynamics of his characters, James often wrote in a style in which ambiguous or contradictory motives and impressions were overlaid or juxtaposed in the discussion of a character's psyche. For their unique ambiguity, as well as for other aspects of their composition, his late works have been compared to Impressionist painting.
His novella The Turn of the Screw has garnered a reputation as the most analysed and ambiguous ghost story in the English language and remains his most widely adapted work in other media. He wrote other highly regarded ghost stories, such as "The Jolly Corner".
James published articles and books of criticism, travel, biography, autobiography, and plays. Born in the United States, James largely relocated to Europe as a young man, and eventually settled in England, becoming a British citizen in 1915, a year before his death. James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912, and 1916. Jorge Luis Borges said "I have visited some literatures of East and West; I have compiled an encyclopedic compendium of fantastic literature; I have translated Kafka, Melville, and Bloy; I know of no stranger work than that of Henry James."

Reviews

[Riddhiman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A myriad of stories by Henry James, tagged as supernatural stories. However, there are 2 distinct categories here. One is purely ghost stories, the other is stories with a hint of supernatural. Most of these which could be interpreted in many ways.
Among the ghost stories my favorites would be 'The Romance of Certain Old Clothes', 'Sir Edmund Orme', 'The Third Person', 'The Way it Came', 'The Real Right Thing' and of course 'The Turn of The Screw' (which I had read earlier). Among the 2nd Category my favorites would be 'The Beast in the Jungle', 'Sir Dominick Ferrand', 'The Private Life' and 'The Jolly Corner'.

The stories have humor as well as deep speculations. 'The Private Life' would be the most curious story that I've come across in this collection, 'The Beast in the Jungle', the most beautiful one, 'The Third Person', the most hilarious one and 'The Jolly Corner', the most psychological one (all these are excluding 'The Turn of the Screw', which I had read earlier)

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read about half of these stories. I love Gothic and Victorian prose but these are a slog. I ended up reading the synopsis on Wikipedia for the rest. A lot of them are barely supernatural and focus on romance, nostalgia, or longing.

If you're looking for good ghost and mystery stories I would turn to MR James, Algernon Blackwood, Charles Dickens, and Wilkie Collins. Their collections felt a lot more solid and easy to read.

[Karu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raamat, mis vajab vastavat hetke, et nautides lugetud saaks. Raamatus on neli juttu, millele eelneb lühikirjeldus. See kindlasti aitab natuke kaasa, et mõista tagapõhja. Jutud ise venivad natuke, algus on selline pikk jutustus ja kirjeldus, et luua õige õhustik. Lõpp või siis püant on jutustuse täitsa lõpus. See pidavatki Henry James’i kirjastiil olema.
Iseenesest väga hea sõnastuse ja hästi kokkusobituvate kirjeldustega raamat, kuid kohati ikka natuke liiga pikk. Lõpud on huvitavad ja tasub lõpuni ikka lugeda :)

[Aaron Badgley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, creepy and sometimes funny short stories.