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Haunted Houses: Two Novels
From the once-popular yet unfairly neglected Victorian writer Charlotte Riddell comes a pair of novels which cleverly upholster the familiar furniture of the haunted house story.
In An Uninhabited House, the hauntings are seen through the perspective of the solicitors who hold the deed of the property. Here we find a shrewd comedic skewering of this host of scriveners and clerks, and a realist approach to the consequences of a haunted house how does one let such a property? Slowly the safer world of commerce and law gives way as the encounter with the supernatural entity becomes more and more unavoidable.
In Fairy Water, Riddell again subverts the expectations of the reader, suggesting a complex moral character for her haunting spirit. Her writing style is succinct and witty, rendering the story a spirited and approachable read despite its age.
In An Uninhabited House, the hauntings are seen through the perspective of the solicitors who hold the deed of the property. Here we find a shrewd comedic skewering of this host of scriveners and clerks, and a realist approach to the consequences of a haunted house how does one let such a property? Slowly the safer world of commerce and law gives way as the encounter with the supernatural entity becomes more and more unavoidable.
In Fairy Water, Riddell again subverts the expectations of the reader, suggesting a complex moral character for her haunting spirit. Her writing style is succinct and witty, rendering the story a spirited and approachable read despite its age.
354 pages, Paperback
First published August 30, 2018
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About the author
Charlotte Riddell
165 books49 followersSee J.H. Riddell
Charlotte Riddell aka Mrs J.H. Riddell was a one of the most popular and influential writers of the Victorian period. The author of 56 books, novels and short stories, she was also part owner and editor of the St. James's Magazine, one of the most prestigious literary magazines of the 1860s.
Charlotte Riddell aka Mrs J.H. Riddell was a one of the most popular and influential writers of the Victorian period. The author of 56 books, novels and short stories, she was also part owner and editor of the St. James's Magazine, one of the most prestigious literary magazines of the 1860s.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
September 11, 2018
Entertainingly shivery...
For those who prefer a rather more gentle haunting experience comes this delightful pair of novels from another “forgotten” Victorian, the Irish-born Charlotte Riddell. The second novel, The Uninhabited House, seems to be rather better known than the first, Fairy Water, and I would agree it’s the stronger of the two, especially in terms of the ghostly aspects. But Fairy Water is full of charm with a delightful first-person narrator who grows ever more likeable as the book progresses.
Fairy Water
Our narrator is Mr H Stafford Trevor, a bachelor of independent means who has made it his life’s work to dine out. His natural habitat is the foggy London of good society but he often visits his cousin’s country house, Fairy Water, especially in strawberry season since he’s rather fonder of fresh strawberries than he is of his cousin. Mr Trevor is a delightful combination of self-satisfication and self-deprecation – a man who claims to live for pleasure only, but whom we come to realise is a staunch friend to those he loves. His voice is what makes this story special – he is deliciously snobbish and a little wicked about the society in which he moves...
When the rather boorish, bullying cousin marries a girl young enough to be his granddaughter, Stafford finds himself befriending her; and later, when the cousin dies, he becomes a kind of surrogate father to Mary, the young widow, and unofficial guardian to her several children. He is also attached to a young man, Valentine Waldrum, the son of a woman he once loved. Valentine has become the owner of Crow Hall – the haunted house – following the tragic death of his father who had been driven mad by the ghostly presence there. To help Valentine, Stafford will attempt to rid Crow Hall of its resident spectre.
The ghostly stuff is very mild and often humorous, and is something of an add-on to the story of poor Mary, left in a difficult position because of the iniquitous will of her dead husband, and Valentine, who fears his father’s insanity may be hereditary. The perceptive among you may suspect that romance ensues – I couldn’t possibly comment. But while Stafford tries to do his best for the young people, he still has time for plenty of humorous commentary on the various characters involved in the story. Scare factor very low – entertainment factor very high!
The Uninhabited House
This time our narrator is a young man, Harry Patterson, who works as a clerk in the law firm of Mr Craven. On their books is River Hall, the property of a young girl orphaned when her father took his own life in the library. The girl’s aunt, Miss Blake, is a great comic character – rude, somewhat uncouth, and an opportunity for Riddell to poke fun at her own Irish background. Mr Craven keeps letting the house, but tenants never stay long. Eventually one aggrieved tenant complains bitterly that he should have been warned that the house was haunted. With his reputation at stake, Mr Craven is reluctant to continue letting the house, but our intrepid clerk offers to live in River Hall himself and lay the ghost, if he can. (The perceptive among you may wonder if he’s inspired by feelings of romance for the young owner – I couldn’t possibly comment.)
The spookiness aspect of this is stronger than in Fairy Water but still of the mild shiver variety rather than the hiding behind the sofa kind. It’s soon clear there’s also a mystery surrounding the haunting, and as the book goes on it actually becomes as much a mystery novel as a ghost story. Again our narrator is extremely likeable – brave but not to the point of arrogance, and as amusingly observant of society’s eccentrics as Mr Trevor in Fairy Water. The storytelling in this one is more direct, giving it a better flow overall, and while the mystery might not be the hardest in the world to work out, it gives an added element of interest to the plot.
I found both of these to be highly enjoyable page-turners, with enough spookiness to entertain but mild enough for the scaredest of scaredy-cats out there. The quality of the writing is excellent, with a touch of Victorian sentimentality but not too much, and the warm humour makes both books pleasingly amusing. Apparently Riddell wrote lots of short ghost stories too, and I look forward to seeking them out.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
For those who prefer a rather more gentle haunting experience comes this delightful pair of novels from another “forgotten” Victorian, the Irish-born Charlotte Riddell. The second novel, The Uninhabited House, seems to be rather better known than the first, Fairy Water, and I would agree it’s the stronger of the two, especially in terms of the ghostly aspects. But Fairy Water is full of charm with a delightful first-person narrator who grows ever more likeable as the book progresses.
Fairy Water
Our narrator is Mr H Stafford Trevor, a bachelor of independent means who has made it his life’s work to dine out. His natural habitat is the foggy London of good society but he often visits his cousin’s country house, Fairy Water, especially in strawberry season since he’s rather fonder of fresh strawberries than he is of his cousin. Mr Trevor is a delightful combination of self-satisfication and self-deprecation – a man who claims to live for pleasure only, but whom we come to realise is a staunch friend to those he loves. His voice is what makes this story special – he is deliciously snobbish and a little wicked about the society in which he moves...
Old friends welcome me for the sake of Auld Lang Syne, to speak in the hideous idiom of a people whose accent I detest, and whose ways are abhorrent to me – one degree less abhorrent only than their primitive ballads, always suggestive of the screech of a bagpipe. Young couples welcome me for the sake of the dead and gone; people whose position is assured, because, like dear Lady Mary, who plays a little part in this story, it is quite safe to whisper secret scandals, and the latest and most wicked bon mot in my ear; and the nouveau riche, because, poor wretches, they believe I must be somebody.
When the rather boorish, bullying cousin marries a girl young enough to be his granddaughter, Stafford finds himself befriending her; and later, when the cousin dies, he becomes a kind of surrogate father to Mary, the young widow, and unofficial guardian to her several children. He is also attached to a young man, Valentine Waldrum, the son of a woman he once loved. Valentine has become the owner of Crow Hall – the haunted house – following the tragic death of his father who had been driven mad by the ghostly presence there. To help Valentine, Stafford will attempt to rid Crow Hall of its resident spectre.
The ghostly stuff is very mild and often humorous, and is something of an add-on to the story of poor Mary, left in a difficult position because of the iniquitous will of her dead husband, and Valentine, who fears his father’s insanity may be hereditary. The perceptive among you may suspect that romance ensues – I couldn’t possibly comment. But while Stafford tries to do his best for the young people, he still has time for plenty of humorous commentary on the various characters involved in the story. Scare factor very low – entertainment factor very high!
The Uninhabited House
This time our narrator is a young man, Harry Patterson, who works as a clerk in the law firm of Mr Craven. On their books is River Hall, the property of a young girl orphaned when her father took his own life in the library. The girl’s aunt, Miss Blake, is a great comic character – rude, somewhat uncouth, and an opportunity for Riddell to poke fun at her own Irish background. Mr Craven keeps letting the house, but tenants never stay long. Eventually one aggrieved tenant complains bitterly that he should have been warned that the house was haunted. With his reputation at stake, Mr Craven is reluctant to continue letting the house, but our intrepid clerk offers to live in River Hall himself and lay the ghost, if he can. (The perceptive among you may wonder if he’s inspired by feelings of romance for the young owner – I couldn’t possibly comment.)
It is as well to confess at once that I was for the moment frightened. Subsequently I saw many wonderful sights, and had some terrible experiences in the Uninhabited House; but I can honestly say, no sight or experience so completely cowed me for the time being, as that dull blackness to which I could assign no shape, that spirit-like rapping of fleshless fingers, which seemed to increase in vehemence as I obeyed its summons.
Doctors say it is not possible for the heart to stand still and a human being live, and, as I am not a doctor, I do not like to contradict their dogma, otherwise I could positively declare my heart did cease beating as I listened, looking out into the night with the shadow of that darkness projecting itself upon my mind...
The spookiness aspect of this is stronger than in Fairy Water but still of the mild shiver variety rather than the hiding behind the sofa kind. It’s soon clear there’s also a mystery surrounding the haunting, and as the book goes on it actually becomes as much a mystery novel as a ghost story. Again our narrator is extremely likeable – brave but not to the point of arrogance, and as amusingly observant of society’s eccentrics as Mr Trevor in Fairy Water. The storytelling in this one is more direct, giving it a better flow overall, and while the mystery might not be the hardest in the world to work out, it gives an added element of interest to the plot.
I found both of these to be highly enjoyable page-turners, with enough spookiness to entertain but mild enough for the scaredest of scaredy-cats out there. The quality of the writing is excellent, with a touch of Victorian sentimentality but not too much, and the warm humour makes both books pleasingly amusing. Apparently Riddell wrote lots of short ghost stories too, and I look forward to seeking them out.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
June 5, 2022
Two light-hearted Victorian novellas about unlucky houses and their (prospective) inhabitants.
Both stories are considered from a - rather surprising - mercantile point of view. Money was one of the key themes in the work of Charlotte Riddell; her work is deeply steeped in the acute economic crises of the 1840s and the 1870s. In both novellas, the problem of how to rent out haunted properties is addressed. In both novellas, an impoverished suitor tries to improve his circumstances in order to marry his beloved. In both novellas, rank and social status play important roles (both novellas also aren't that woke at all in terms of gender and rank).
I particularly enjoyed the first story, Fairy water, as it deals with an upper-class protagonist with self-mocking properties (his one talent is dining out) who seems to have ulterior motives in not wanting his widowed niece to remarry. The other story, The uninhabited house is partly marred by its length, but the descriptions of nightly, spooky London make up for that.
All in all, a very enjoyable read, with the 'haunted house'-trope brought from a slightly different perspective.
Both stories are considered from a - rather surprising - mercantile point of view. Money was one of the key themes in the work of Charlotte Riddell; her work is deeply steeped in the acute economic crises of the 1840s and the 1870s. In both novellas, the problem of how to rent out haunted properties is addressed. In both novellas, an impoverished suitor tries to improve his circumstances in order to marry his beloved. In both novellas, rank and social status play important roles (both novellas also aren't that woke at all in terms of gender and rank).
I particularly enjoyed the first story, Fairy water, as it deals with an upper-class protagonist with self-mocking properties (his one talent is dining out) who seems to have ulterior motives in not wanting his widowed niece to remarry. The other story, The uninhabited house is partly marred by its length, but the descriptions of nightly, spooky London make up for that.
All in all, a very enjoyable read, with the 'haunted house'-trope brought from a slightly different perspective.
dnf
June 9, 2020Read the first novella "The Fairy House" and liked it but no longer in the mood for Victorian ghost stories so set aside to read the second novella another time.
April 22, 2021
Once again the star rating seems inadequate. Fairy Water, like the title, is a rather pusillanimous and feeble tale whilst the Uninhabited House, whilst not a classic certainly merits reading. It is a shame that so many female authors of gothic fiction (Mary Shelley excepted) have been forgotten whilst Bierce, le Fanu, Lovecraft and James are still widely read.
August 24, 2022
two very enjoyable novels by charlotte riddell - a more obscure author the kind for which this whole series was created (as also evident by this being the second entry ever in the series).
both novels are written with a great sense of humour and wit, striking a good balance between the ordinary and the supernatural. they are both easy and engaging reads with vibrant characters - though i do find myself having a slight preference for "the uninhabited house".
both novels are written with a great sense of humour and wit, striking a good balance between the ordinary and the supernatural. they are both easy and engaging reads with vibrant characters - though i do find myself having a slight preference for "the uninhabited house".
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 2, 2019
For the past few years the British Library has been doing a sterling job of rediscovering unjustly forgotten writers and publishing high quality editions of their work.
The latest candidate for literary reanimation is Charlotte Riddell, a prominent nineteenth century novelist and magazine editor. Her fiction consists, mostly, of novellas with variously supernatural themes, two big strikes against her in the occasionally myopic eyes of the arbiters controlling admission to the canon.
The two books reprinted here show there was far more going on in Riddell 's work than just making things go bump in the night
An Uninhabited House, the most straightforwardly spooky of the two novellas has some nice creepy moments. None of them quite tingle the spine in the way M R James or Edith Nesbit can when they're on their A-game, but Riddell is clearly well able to turn all the right screws to make our flesh creep.
Fairy Water is a more rewarding read, despite or maybe because the spooky stuff is kept to a minimum most of the time, although there is one good scare near the end. In its place is a deftly handled comedy of manners revolving around marriage, inheritance and the awkward social position of widows.
Neither of these books perhaps merit the fussy business of academic introductions and learned footnotes that would go with being published as Penguin Classics. They do suggest that Charlotte Riddell's back catalogue is ripe for re-examination, maybe through a decent television adaptation of Fairy Water
The latest candidate for literary reanimation is Charlotte Riddell, a prominent nineteenth century novelist and magazine editor. Her fiction consists, mostly, of novellas with variously supernatural themes, two big strikes against her in the occasionally myopic eyes of the arbiters controlling admission to the canon.
The two books reprinted here show there was far more going on in Riddell 's work than just making things go bump in the night
An Uninhabited House, the most straightforwardly spooky of the two novellas has some nice creepy moments. None of them quite tingle the spine in the way M R James or Edith Nesbit can when they're on their A-game, but Riddell is clearly well able to turn all the right screws to make our flesh creep.
Fairy Water is a more rewarding read, despite or maybe because the spooky stuff is kept to a minimum most of the time, although there is one good scare near the end. In its place is a deftly handled comedy of manners revolving around marriage, inheritance and the awkward social position of widows.
Neither of these books perhaps merit the fussy business of academic introductions and learned footnotes that would go with being published as Penguin Classics. They do suggest that Charlotte Riddell's back catalogue is ripe for re-examination, maybe through a decent television adaptation of Fairy Water
January 1, 2023
I believe I've only read (and loved) one short story by Riddell, so I really wanted to read some more of her works, having also heard a lot about her (shout out to Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction). This British Library edition contains two novellas that focus on (haunted) houses. I really enjoyed both of them, even though they are massively overwritten. It's almost as if the author came up with a simple, effective idea for a story, then went on a huge tangent and wrote lots of stuff around it. That being said, though, I very much enjoyed the writing, and both the stories - there were elements of suspense, a bit of comedy, and I did get freaked out a few times. Fairy Water was more of a romance tale, and An Uninhabited House a murder mystery. And there were ghosts, of course! A great start to the new reading year for sure.
December 5, 2022
Very easy to read and entertaining. For a Victorian writer I think Charlotte Riddell has quite a modern style, it has 'aged' well. Not very scary if you're looking for spooky ghost stories but enjoyable nonetheless.
One thing I didn't understand though is why the widow in the first novel is held hostage to the unreasonable whims of someone who is dead. You can say in a will "If she remarries she must never see her children again" - but that doesn't mean she must abide by that absurd 'rule'. She can remarry and continue to see her kids regardless. What's going to happen? Is she going to be taken to court or imprisoned by the ghost of her dead husband?
One thing I didn't understand though is why the widow in the first novel is held hostage to the unreasonable whims of someone who is dead. You can say in a will "If she remarries she must never see her children again" - but that doesn't mean she must abide by that absurd 'rule'. She can remarry and continue to see her kids regardless. What's going to happen? Is she going to be taken to court or imprisoned by the ghost of her dead husband?
October 2, 2021
A droll, first-rate Victorian novel.
January 14, 2023
I wanted to like this more than I did.
I think Victorian era writing is just not for me. I found it too drawn out in its descriptive writing and was not too fond of the romantic storylines. Maybe it's a fair point to make that I was looking for something more spooky and found these novels too light-hearted.
Nonetheless, I do find Charlotte Riddell's writing quite approachable for the era.
I think Victorian era writing is just not for me. I found it too drawn out in its descriptive writing and was not too fond of the romantic storylines. Maybe it's a fair point to make that I was looking for something more spooky and found these novels too light-hearted.
Nonetheless, I do find Charlotte Riddell's writing quite approachable for the era.
January 29, 2024
What an unexpected delight. These two novellas are as much about witty characters as they are the supernatural. For sure, both prominently feature the restless dead but there's also bumbling society characters that P.G.Woodehouse would be proud of
October 25, 2018
The uninhabited house is my fav :)
May 27, 2019
Rating is for 'Fairy Water' the first novel in this collection, which does not appear to be listed on this website separately.
May 15, 2021
Classic Victorian Haunted House story. Light reading
November 9, 2021
I loved the beginning of both these novella’s but in the end they both let me down
March 1, 2024
4 for a Fairy Water and DNF for the second title, An Uninhabited House
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April 12, 2024Good fun but I need more creep
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December 17, 2024Tony Walker reading
Walnut Tree House Charlotte Riddell
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Walnut Tree House Charlotte Riddell
Entry
May 14, 2025
The Uninhabited House is more like The Unbearable Tale. DNF
February 15, 2026
Well written this may be, but it's utterly, utterly tedious.
September 12, 2025
The second volume of the British Library's ‘Tales of the Weird’ series contains two Victorian ghost stories penned by Charlotte Riddell: ‘Fairy Water’ (1873) & ‘The Uninhabited House’ (1875).
‘Fairy Water’ finds H Stafford Trevor, a some time lawyer of independent means purchasing an old house called Crow Hall from a brilliant young doctor, who is struggling financially. He has never been able to make any money on the property before because it has a reputation of being haunted. When Trevor visits the house, he finds the atmosphere strangely unsettling…
‘The Uninhabited House’ is a haunted property called River Hall owned by young heiress Helen Elmsdale. A strange apparition keeps appearing in the library and scaring off prospective tenants and purchasers. A young clerk working for the agents who manage the property determines to solve the mystery by lodging at the Hall himself…
These are two very understated, fairly unremarkable supernatural tales. In fact, the ghostly elements often feel almost incidental, particularly in the case of ‘Fairy Water’. Instead, we get familiar gothic novel tropes such as ‘the missing will’ and ‘the hidden fortune’. Also the stories resolve exactly as you know they will once their basic setup has been established.
On the plus side, Riddell’s writing is not overburdened with a lot of flowery prose, although there is much internal monologuing by both narrators, which gets a bit tiresome but is necessary as there’s often not much going on in either tale. Thankfully, a good deal of humour helps things along, mainly revolving around the slightly pompous self-regard of Trevor in ‘Fairy Water’ and the antagonistic Miss Blake in ’The Uninhabited House’. Both are kind souls at heart who disguise good intentions behind unconvincing bluster. The lead characters are pretty much interchangeable between the two tales, with the plot circumstances providing the little differences between them.
I can’t really recommend these as weird fiction as the supernatural elements are feeble, with the ghost barely even mentioned in the first half of ‘Fairy Water’. Riddell was a successful novelist in her day, but, on this evidence, it’s not hard to understand why she’s mostly forgotten today.
‘Fairy Water’ finds H Stafford Trevor, a some time lawyer of independent means purchasing an old house called Crow Hall from a brilliant young doctor, who is struggling financially. He has never been able to make any money on the property before because it has a reputation of being haunted. When Trevor visits the house, he finds the atmosphere strangely unsettling…
‘The Uninhabited House’ is a haunted property called River Hall owned by young heiress Helen Elmsdale. A strange apparition keeps appearing in the library and scaring off prospective tenants and purchasers. A young clerk working for the agents who manage the property determines to solve the mystery by lodging at the Hall himself…
These are two very understated, fairly unremarkable supernatural tales. In fact, the ghostly elements often feel almost incidental, particularly in the case of ‘Fairy Water’. Instead, we get familiar gothic novel tropes such as ‘the missing will’ and ‘the hidden fortune’. Also the stories resolve exactly as you know they will once their basic setup has been established.
On the plus side, Riddell’s writing is not overburdened with a lot of flowery prose, although there is much internal monologuing by both narrators, which gets a bit tiresome but is necessary as there’s often not much going on in either tale. Thankfully, a good deal of humour helps things along, mainly revolving around the slightly pompous self-regard of Trevor in ‘Fairy Water’ and the antagonistic Miss Blake in ’The Uninhabited House’. Both are kind souls at heart who disguise good intentions behind unconvincing bluster. The lead characters are pretty much interchangeable between the two tales, with the plot circumstances providing the little differences between them.
I can’t really recommend these as weird fiction as the supernatural elements are feeble, with the ghost barely even mentioned in the first half of ‘Fairy Water’. Riddell was a successful novelist in her day, but, on this evidence, it’s not hard to understand why she’s mostly forgotten today.
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