When I Was Dead

by Vincent O'Sullivan

Alistair, a wealthy eccentric, tests one of his strangest beliefs - he fancies that he can summon a ghostly apparition through sheer concentration. Soon, however, Alistair discovers the dangers of paranormal dalliance when he's trapped in an ethereal nightmare from which he can't escape.

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Fiction

Unknown Binding

About the author

Vincent O'Sullivan was an American short story writer, poet and critic. Born in New York City to Eugene and Christine O'Sullivan, he began his education in the New York public school system and completed it in Britain. He lived comfortably in London, traveling often to France, until in 1909 he lost his income from the family coffee business when his brother Percy made a spectacularly mistimed futures gamble at the New York Coffee Exchange. The entire family was ruined, and Vincent was destitute for the remaining years of his life.

His works dealt with the morbid and decadent. He was a friend of Oscar Wilde (to whom in his disgrace he was often generous), Leonard Smithers, Aubrey Beardsley and other fin-de-siècle figures. O'Sullivan produced his first collection of supernatural fiction, A Book of Bargains, in 1896. It contains the pact-with the devil story "The Bargain of Rupert Orange", and The Business of Madame Jahn and "My Enemy and Myself", which both feature reanimated corpses. "When I Was Dead" (1905), "Verschoyle's House" (1915) and "The Burned House" (1916) are ghost stories, while "Will" is a tale of psychic vampirism.

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

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Reviews

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining horror listening🎧

I listened to this as part of Classic Tales of Horror - 500+ Stories. This story is very interesting with will developed characters.

I would recommed this individual story and box set to readers of horror stories. 2023

[Rhys Causon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing style was bad and the story didn’t outstay it’s welcome. It’s just a shame the title gave away the twist that could have been done a little better.

But I’m not sure how long you could have made that last either

[Mayda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmmmm, if you just refuse to admit you are dead, does that make alive again? That’s the quandary in which this protagonist finds himself. It’s not a good place to be. A creepy story.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10

[Katie Kuntz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man I hate when that happens