Ghostly Stories

by Celia Fremlin

Faber Stories, a landmark series of individual volumes, presents masters of the short story form at work in a range of genres and styles.'Be sure you don't answer the door to anyone you don't know.'A little Patricia Highsmith, a touch of Shirley the long-neglected Celia Fremlin wrote short, sharp stories that threw women's lives into shiver-inducing relief.In each of these twinned tales, a mother and daughter meet again, and an ordinary home becomes the setting for a return of the repressed.Bringing together past, present and future in our ninetieth year, Faber Stories is a celebratory compendium of collectable work.

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Fiction, Gothic, Ghost Stories, Ghosts, Mystery

48 pages, Paperback

Published October 17, 2019

About the author

Celia was born in Kingsbury, now part of London, England. She was the daughter of Heaver Fremlin and Margaret Addiscott. Her older brother, John H. Fremlin, later became a nuclear physicist. Celia studied at Somerville College, Oxford University. From 1942 to 2000 she lived in Hampstead, London. In 1942 she married Elia Goller, with whom she had three children; he died in 1968. In 1985, Celia married Leslie Minchin, who died in 1999. Her many crime novels and stories helped modernize the sensation novel tradition by introducing criminal and (rarely) supernatural elements into domestic settings. Her 1958 novel The Hours Before Dawn won the Edgar Award in 1960.

With Jeffrey Barnard, she was co-presenter of a BBC2 documentary “Night and Day” describing diurnal and nocturnal London, broadcast 23 January 1987.

Fremlin was an advocate of assisted suicide and euthanasia. In a newspaper interview she admitted to assisting four people to die.[1] In 1983 civil proceedings were brought against her as one of the five members of the EXIT Executive committee which had published “A Guide to Self Deliverance” , but the court refused to declare the booklet unlawful.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celia...]

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ve never heard of Celia Fremlin before but I’ve been enjoying the Faber Stories line and I’m a sucker for ghost stories so I gave Ghostly Stories a shot - and unfortunately it was turrible!

This edition collects two stories: The Hated House and The New House. The Hated House is about a young girl who has the house to herself for the evening while her parents go somewhere. Then a strange girl appears at the door and starts behaving increasingly oddly… The premise is sorta interesting but it never developed in that direction and the twist ending made me roll my eyes at how cornball it was.

At least that story was coherent unlike The New House! This one’s about a woman whose sister had a kid with her boyfriend; that kid’s now grown up and moving into her first house. And… that’s it? I had no idea what was going on really, I just knew I was bored and didn’t care.

There are some fine mini-books in the Faber Stories line like Kazuo Ishiguro’s Come Rain or Come Shine, Sally Rooney’s Mr Salary and Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find, all of which are definitely worth picking up, but there’s also a few total stinkers in the mix and Celia Fremlin’s Ghostly Stories is one of them.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two atmospheric ghost stories, decently told.

[Mark Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Be sure you don't answer the door to anyone you don't know".

An unnerving couple of short ghost stories from a brilliant writer who first published in the late 1950's, and whose work is often centred around women in the domestic sphere.

In 'The Hated House', a young girl Lorna is left alone in her house for the night while her parents go out. What at first is pure bliss soon turns sinister. In the supernatural 'The New House', an aunt has an eerie concern for her niece.

Definitely worth a read, particularly for fans of Shirley Jackson or Patrcia Highsmith.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having loved everything I have read by Celia Fremlin so far (as an author she most reminds me of Shirley Jackson) I dipped into this - a mere two stories - as a Halloween treat.

The first story is 'The Hated House,' and concerns a young girl, Lorna, left alone for a blissful evening alone while her bickering parents are out. The second is 'The New House,' which sees an aunt reflecting on how her life has turned out, as well as her concerns on the niece she was left to care for. She often has a hint of the supernatural in her work and uses this to good effect in these stories.

Fremlin is an author whose work is centred around the lives of women and usually have a domestic setting. She had a long career, being involved with Mass-Observation during the war, publishing novels, stories and poetry between 1958 and 1996. It is wonderful that her work is being re-published for new readers to discover.

[Dee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was not for me sadly. I loved the cover! Fantastic design. The idea of a ghost story always has me picking it straight up. Sadly, this one fell short to me In the way of spooky. Or ghostly. I didn't get much of an atmosphere from the stories and I found it hard to keep interested. This was a very short read so I did finish this and it won't stop me trying more from this collection.

[Nigeyb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Celia Fremlin died aged 94 in 2009 having been labelled the grandmother of psycho-domestic noir. An appropriate tag based on the two books I have read by her: The Hours Before Dawn (1958) and The Long Shadow (1975).

At 48 pages Ghostly Stories is less of a book and more of a pamphlet. It contains two short stories (The Hated House & The New House). Both are atmospheric with pleasing twists. In common with her novels, the ordinary, the familiar and the domestic are the root of the tension and danger.

Very enjoyable if somewhat slight

3/5

[Merl Fluin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd never heard of Fremlin before receiving this little book as a stocking filler. On the strength of these two stories, I'm unlikely to go out of my way to find more. They were predictable, and the endings in both cases were glib. But the build-ups were nicely done, and the middle section of "The Hated House" in particular was genuinely creepy.

[Callum McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

These classic tales of domestic horror are at once quintessential of their period and shrewdly observant of how stifling the female experience can be. In the first, a teenage girl’s delight to be left home alone soon dwindles when the phone won’t stop ringing and the doorknob starts to rattle. In the second, a woman is haunted by distressing dreams that her adult niece is in danger. The prose is simple yet effective, and both follow a defined arc that culminates in a satisfying twist. Neither felt particularly ground-breaking, but I enjoyed both and would certainly read more of Fremlin’s work.

[Fiona MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

How does she do it? She makes everything she writes nauseatingly unsettling, which to me is far scarier than outright horror.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

And so on to another of the faber90 stories - this time a number of atmospheric ghost stories. Now I will start by saying that I didn't connect with them as well as some of the other instalments in this series but still it was an interesting insight in to an author how comes as highly acclaimed Celia Fremlin.

Although the two stories here were printed in 1968 and 1970 they hark back to a much earlier time with open hearth fires and cooking ranges - and I think for me they epitomise the ghostly story. You have the weather, the location and the people all adding up to a sense of unease. These types of stories for me are best read at the height of winter where everywhere the dark closes in. I guess that could have been a contributing factor.

So again we have a short booklet that acts as a staging point to a winder and deeper body of works and as always you cannot help but want to learn more. A great series and yes I am sure I will be picking another one up shortly.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first taster of Fremlin and on the back of this I'd definitely read more: these have an old-fashioned air but are good on the stifling and claustrophobic nature of women's lives, confined to the domestic sphere. It's no surprise, then, that this Faber edition seems to feature a lace doily, emblematic of suburban, middle-class niceness - which is exactly what these stories rip into.

'The New House' is probably way more predictable now than when it was written so it's easy to see the denouement; 'The Hated House' is more subversive and rings with a kind of repressed violence finally let loose.

Fremlin is no stylist: her writing is plain and to the point, but effective all the same, and short sentences build menace nicely.

[Ella Oakley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two very short ghost stories. The first was lovely and atmospheric with a clear suspense and tension. But the second one just fell slightly flat for me.

[Celia Diaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saw this book randomly while exploring the bookshop. I took it just cause the writer is called like me and there was crochet tapestry on the front page (my essence). It was a must then!
It was ok… first story is nice, but the second one left me quite puzzled, didn’t get the end…
Anyway, I liked the old times writing style and I learnt loads of vocabulary I did not know

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Low-key kinda corny tbh

[saguaros]

I don’t really want to rate this, as it is only a tiny little book made up of 2 short stories and it feels too short to make up my mind about it. That said, I quite enjoyed both stories. Though the title of the collection is Ghost Stories, only one of them really was (the second was still strange). Both were predictable, but I enjoyed the writing and some of the ideas/elements, and I would research this author more and seek out her longer works

[Megan Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two excellent ghost stories. I love a twist and both of these have them. My favourite is the second story! Full review at Have You Read This.

[Jess Kallberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two quick horror stories that center the dangers of the home. Fremlin captures domestic horror in the same vein as Angels Carter and Shirley Jackson.

[alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

randomly decided to read this without having ever heard of celia fremlin before and i’m so glad i did. the first story, the hated house, was definitely the best of the two and tugged at my heart a little bit. the new house had a bit of a confusing ending but was entertaining nonetheless.

fremlin’s writing is so addictive and engrossing. i really have no idea why i’ve never heard about her before but i’ve made it a priority to look more into her other works.

[fran ☻ · Rating 4 out of 5]

a spooky little offering of a book! two stories called “the hated house” and “the new house”, one follows a daughter meeting her mother in a darker way and the repressed return.

if Celia Fremlin has written more ghostly stories then I will definitely read them!

[lydia smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

took me a hot minute to realise it was two uber short stories in one short story book (clever), the first one was just sad but i was hooked in that second one and finished reading it right before going to bed and then was too scared to switch off my light. horror story mission accomplished, even in a short and not so sweet 41 pages

[naya · Rating 2 out of 5]

★: 1.5

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 stars for the first story of this volume, 4 for the second. Rounding up because they paired well.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two well crafted domestic ghost stories.

[ezgi · Rating 3 out of 5]

ilk öykü çok iyi başlamıştı ama plot twisti ve olayların ona bağlanış şeklini pek sevemedim. 2/5
ikinci öyküde de anlatıcının tekrarları biraz sıktı ama genel olarak baktığımda sevdim sanırım. 3.5/5

[Sheena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was delighted when I saw this attractive little book: ghost stories by a woman who they assure me is an underappreciated author? Yes, please!

Unfortunately, I didn't find either of the stories particularly enjoyable or well-written. The first had charming characterisation but was ruined by the world's most glaringly obvious plot 'twist'. The second had too much repetition which, rather than building suspense, bogged it down. When the narrator suddenly, melodramatically changed her tone I had to laugh because I was irresistibly reminded of the Mitchell and Webb Poirot parody in which the guilty party puts on 'ze Evil Voice' when they are caught.

A quaint read, but not for me.

[Sandra Armor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, old time spooky stories! Lots of fun!

[Tamika Watts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the Hated House so much that I read it twice. It was such a classic ‘at home alone’ story but at the same time I found myself wondering where each point of suspense would go. A very satisfying end with such a simple, relatable plot.

[Simon Howard · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume contains two short horror stories: The New House and The Hated House. These were very much 'genre' short stories, in that they didn't seem to reach for anything beyond the straightforward "ghost story".

Neither did much for me: while competently written and easy to read, I found them fairly bland and forgettable. The plots were predictable. I don't think I've read anything by Celia Fremlin before, and these stories wouldn't encourage me to seek out more of her work.

[nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tiny booklet by an author I had never heard of before ! But when her name fell together with that of Shirley Jackson, I had to give her a shot ! I enjoyed these two stories immensely - even though they were far too short for my liking ultimately !
I’m glad I picked up this little Faber Stories copy so that I can now discover more of Celia Fremlin’s works !

[Kate Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

fabulous storytelling - tense and quick to the point. lovely twist at the end of both of them leaving quite a lot to the reader’s interpretation as well. really enjoyable and can be read very quickly, perfect for a train journey or with your breakfast.