Terrifying Ghosts Short Stories

by A.C. Benson, E.F. Benson, Ambrose Bierce

Ghastly castles, haunted mansions, shadowy forests and long, dark corridors... This new addition to the Gothic Fantasy series is packed with tales of terror, bringing together the new and the familiar, the unusual and the unexpected. Featuring many stories from open submissions by new writers, Terrifying Ghosts Short Stories delivers a satisfying read for the anyone fascinated by glimpses of the beyond: master storytellers featured include A.C. Benson, E.F. Benson, Ambrose Bierce, Algernon Blackwood, Marjorie Bowen, Francis Marion Crawford, Charles Dickens, Sheridan Le Fanu, William Hope Hodgson, Henry James, M.R. James, Bram Stoker and Edith Wharton.

The Flame Tree Gothic & Fantasy, Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections bring together the entire range of myth, folklore and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Short Story Collection

432 pages, Hardcover

First published April 13, 2021

About the author

Arthur Christopher Benson was an English essayist, poet, author and academic and the 28th Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge.

Benson was born on 24 April 1862 at Wellington College, Berkshire. He was one of six children of Edward White Benson (1829-1896; Archbishop of Canterbury 1882–96; the first headmaster of the college) and his wife Mary Sidgwick Benson, sister of the philosopher Henry Sidgwick.

Benson was born into a literary family; his brothers included E.F. Benson, best remembered for his Mapp and Lucia novels, and Robert Hugh Benson, a priest of the Church of England before converting to Roman Catholicism, who wrote many popular novels. Their sister, Margaret Benson, was an artist, author, and amateur Egyptologist.

Reviews

[S. Wigget]

I wish I'd known about this back when the publisher was seeking submissions, because this is my cup of tea.

[Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flame Tree, I always say I'm done, but here you go, winning me back with a four star anthology. Gotta hand it to this one: it has Henry James', "The Turn of the Screw" in its entirety. And while I've already loved/gushed over that one, there's tons of other interpretations of ghosts to keep even the specters themselves satiated: one's throwing out Bluebeard vibes, one ghost haunts a modern man's workplace as a strange pseudo flirtation (not gonna lie, that one has a strangely happy ending/shows healthy communication between mortal and paranormal that you don't generally see in those types of romances-what a tangent... where's my head at?), ghosts manifesting as grief, ghoulish creatures, you name it. As always here are the ones (new ones to me, that is) that kept me enthralled:

*"Out of the Sea"-A.C. Benson
*"The Face"-E.F. Benson
*"Of Water"-Die Booth
*Passing Through Peacehaven"-Ramsey Campbell
*"Ones and Zeros"-Dan Coxon
*"Flannery House"-Felix Flynn
*"Georgie"-Robert Ford
*"I Exist"-Lyndsay E. Gilbert
*"Consorting with Filth"-Lisa L. Hannett
*"The Cold Earth"-Sarah Hans
*"A Soap Opera for One-O.R. Kennett
*"An Inverted Haunting"-John Kiste
*"Floating Ghosts"-Jessica Landry
*"We Were Supposed to be Happy"-J.A.W. McCarthy
*"The Sounds of the Bamboo Forest"-Michelle Tang

Every time I go into on particular bookstore, I'm guaranteed to find a Flame Tree that at least intrigues me enough to leaf through on the spot. So, when it comes to anthology buying, never say never. Also, took my dumb ass way too long to realize why Edith Wharton's always at/near the end: the stories are arranged in alphabetical order according to author last name. Where's my head, indeed.

[Kal ★ Reader Voracious]

I legit was drooling over this collection at my local indie, so I am beyond excited that I won this collection in Flame Tree Press' summer sale giveaway!

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[K Ogie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This took me forever to read as I wanted to give my time and attention to each individual story. That being said, Turn of the Screw was not as exciting of a classic as many have made it out to me. I was unimpressed, to say the least. I've read many many ghost stories, and I just didn't understand why this held everyone's attention. There were many more demonstrations throughout this collection to show what a classic ghost story should be.
The favorites that stood out were the very last The Pomegranate Seed by Edith Wharton, The Sounds of a Bamboo Forest, the Moth, We were supposed to be happy, and of water. Overall, this is a phenomenal collection. There are lots of enertaining stories to pull out when I'm in the mood for a ghost tale.

[Spencer Koelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, this book is well worth the price. You get a boatload of short stories, new and old, a whole classic novel folded in there, and real gold and silver text on a gothic volume that any bibliophile would treasure.

Overall I liked this very much. My preference leaned towards the older ghost stories a bit more than the new ones, but I've always had a weakness for the M. R. James and Benson style old public domain ghost tales. Still, there are plenty of good new stories in this volume.

Some of my favorites among the new works were The Sounds of a Bamboo Forest, Praying that You Feel Better soon, and Fudakaeshi.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omg this took me soooo long! Some of the stories were great! I loved that there was a mix of old and new! I'm sad to say that I found The Turn of the Screw difficult to read. I need to read something light and silly next.

[Allanah Dedić · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay 👍

[Kara Keegan · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was a few good stories but I was not a fan of how the end of the stories were so abrupt and sudden cut offs. The stories were mediocre scary and I found myself not being s fan of short stories with no backstory or context other than something weird and creepy happening

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find Flame Tree anthologies are very touch or go for me as a reader, but I really enjoyed this one. A solid spooky season read!

[Jordan Belknap · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was good, some short stories miss or hit it depends!!

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fantastic addition to the gothic fantasy collection, this anthology is full of short stories blended perfectly with old classic writers and new modern writes as they tell their dark, gothic, macabre, gloomy, haunted, creepy, tragically heartbreakingly sad, thrilling, spine chilling, spooky, stories of terrifying ghosts and their victims. This book was fantastic to read I absolutely adored reading this book, this book is perfect for curling up on a cold rainy winters night by the fire. The book cover captivated me in the story immediately and after a glancing at the book knew immediately I had to read it. I love the variety of stories and authors throughout the book giving you an experience with contemporary writers and classic stories. This gothic fantasy collection is ideal for any lovers of horror and gothic hauntings. Some of my favourite stories in this book are….

[Savannah Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

yay