Weird Women: Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers: 1852-1923

by Lisa Morton (Editor), Leslie S. Klinger (Editor)

From two acclaimed experts in the genre, a brand-new volume of supernatural stories showcasing the forgotten female horror writers from 1852–1923.

While the nineteen-year-old Mary Shelley may be hailed as the first modern writer of horror, the success of her immortal Frankenstein undoubtedly inspired dozens of female authors who wrote their own evocative, chilling tales. Weird Women, edited by award-winning anthologists Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger, collects some of the finest tales of terror by authors as legendary as Louisa May Alcott, Frances Hodgson Burnett, and Charlotte Gilman-Perkins, alongside works of writers who were the bestsellers and critical favorites of their time—Marie Corelli, Ellen Glasgow, Charlotte Riddell—and lesser known authors who are deserving of contemporary recognition.

As railroads, industry, cities, and technology flourished in the mid-nineteenth century, so did stories exploring the horrors they unleashed. This anthology includes ghost stories and tales of haunted houses, as well as mad scientists, werewolves, ancient curses, mummies, psychological terrors, demonic dimensions, and even weird westerns. Curated by Morton and Klinger with an aim to presenting work that has languished in the shadows, all of these exceptional supernatural stories are sure to surprise, delight, and frighten today’s readers.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, Fantasy, Anthologies, Gothic

384 pages, Paperback

First published August 4, 2020

About the author

Lisa Morton is a screenwriter, author of horror fiction, and Halloween expert. She is a winner of both the Black Quill and Bram Stoker Awards, and her short stories have appeared in more than 50 books and magazines. Her first novel, THE CASTLE OF LOS ANGELES, was released by Gray Friar Press in 2010, and her first collection, MONSTERS OF L.A., was published by Bad Moon Books in October 2011. She is a native and lifelong resident of Southern California, and currently resides in the San Fernando Valley.

Reviews

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with all collections of short stories there are highs and lows and this group is the same. It is worth a look though, because there are at least 4 or 5 great yarns here. I would recommend the ones by Elizabeth Gaskell, Francis Hodgson Burnett, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman and Charlotte Riddell. The two I liked best were by authors completely unknown to me: "The Were-wolf" by Clemence Housman and "The Dream Baby" by Olivia Howard Dunbar. Both are spectacular in their own unique way.

The ones by more well known authors tended to be the most hackneyed, such as the one by Louisa May Alcott. I feel like Mr. Bauer would tell his Jo to please be less sensational dear.

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Halloween Bingo 2021

This was an interesting anthology, suitable for people who are intrigued by the history of horror fiction and/or the role of women as authors. As the editors point out in their introduction, writing was a way that women could earn the cash to support themselves and their dependents if there was no man in their lives. Like the Bronte women, they often used pseudonyms or went by their initials to disguise their femininity.

I forget where I read that Louisa May Alcott wrote supernatural stories, but now I have read one of them. In my opinion, it is one of the most enjoyable offerings in the book. She writes a pretty good Mummy's Curse. There are some other well known names: Elizabeth Gaskell, Charlotte Gilman Perkins, Frances Hodgson Burnett, for example.

I was also pleased to read that the anthologists photographed one story from a Special Collections volume in a university library's collection. This made me happy, as I finished out my career as a special collections cataloguer at a university library. Unfortunately I didn't really care for the story (The Swine Gods by Regina Miriam Bloch). It was far too moralistic for my taste, although I appreciated that it is now back in print.

I am a cautious horror reader, having an active imagination and being easily spooked. This collection didn't set my nerves on edge. It could be read after dark without concern—I didn't end up in bed with the covers over my head. Recommended to those who want to dip their toes in the horror genre without scaring their socks off.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Positive: There were only a couple stories I'd read before.
Negative: They were mostly forgettable.
I guess that explains why they weren't reprinted.
Fine, glad I read it, probably won't make an effort to track down more by these authors.

[KWinks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since I read Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction last year, I've been obsessed with reading a lot of these authors whose work I had never really stumbled upon. I am now a huge Gaskell fan (Lois the Witch is crazy good).
This anthology hit the mark for including many of those authors, and some new ones too.
It's so hard to review an anthology. There is always going to be a story or two that I loved and a story or two that didn't work for me, but I think Weird Women kills it with finding works that are hidden gems and are really, really good reads.
New favorites: The Were-Wolf, In the Closed Room, Lost in a Pyramid, What Was the Matter?, An Itinerant House (actually had a dream about this story the night I read it. A moving haunted house? Unlike anything I've EVER read before!!!), The Giant Wistaria, The Lady With the Carnations, The Wind in the Rose-Bush, and The Third Drug.
Seriously, that's a lot of new favorites- all in one collection.
I hope they are working on a second collection!

[Alex (The Bookubus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent collection of stories! I thought all of them were well worth reading and there were only a couple that I thought were good rather than great (but they were still good!) There is a wonderful variety of ghost stories, ancient curses, psychological horrors, and so much more. I rated each story individually and most of them were 4 stars for me. There were two stories in particular that stood out to me as my favourites:

The Were-Wolf by Clemence Housman
A mysterious woman arrives at a small farming community. There are two twin brothers, one of whom starts falling in love with her while the other knows she is not what she seems. This was beautifully written with a real timeless quality to the story. It also got quite violent which I wasn't expecting!

Transmigration by Dora Sigerson Shorter
A bed-bound man swaps bodies with someone else and is able to commit some horrendous acts as this other person. I loved how gleefully demented this story was! It's a well written and compelling story with a really dark edge that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I definitely want to read more by the authors of these two stories along with many of the other authors here. I'm thankful that these stories are not being forgotten and that this collection has introduced me to some wonderful authors.

[Jeanette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just not at all the quality I expected. Basic ghost stories with less imagination by far than any moderns of 4 or 5 types I’ve read. Stilted and then hyperbole swooning/ effusive over description was nearly a pall on all of these. A few of these were 1 star. And they eliminated 50? Meh!

[Danielle Trussoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the introduction to Weird Women, the editors Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger write that horror often seems to be a “genre bereft of female writers.” Here they set out to correct that misperception, highlighting stories by women writers whose work has fallen into obscurity.

One of my favorite stories in this excellent collection is by the British novelist Marie Corelli (1855-1924). A popular author in her day, she regularly outsold her contemporaries Rudyard Kipling and Arthur Conan Doyle, yet her work has all but disappeared from print. Her story, “The Lady With the Carnations,” is a compact masterpiece in which a woman is drawn to a portrait in the Louvre and begins to encounter the subject of the painting — a lady with carnations — first at the opera and again in Brittany. She concludes that the woman is an illusion, but whether she is real or a figment of her mind doesn’t matter: The narrator carries the scent of carnations with her like a curse.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first learned about this book from Mike Mignola's Facebook page. I liked it. My favorite stories were...

1.)Lost in the Pyramid, or The Mummy's Curse by Louisa May Alcott (Author of Little Women)
2.)The Lady with the White Carnations by Marie Corelli
3.)The Were-Wolf by Clemence Housman
4.)The Third Drug by E. Bland (Edith Nesbit)

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

•The Old Nurse's Story, Mrs Gaskell (1935)⭐⭐⭐

•The Moonstone Mass, Harriet Prescott Spofford (1868) ⭐⭐

•Lost in a Pyramid, or the Mummy's Curse, Louisa May Alcott (1869) ⭐⭐⭐

•What Was the Matter?, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (1869) ⭐⭐

•An Itinerant House, Emma Frances Dawson (1897) ⭐⭐⭐

•Nut Bush Farm • Mrs. J. H. Charlotte Riddell ⭐⭐⭐

•The Gray Man, Sarah Orne Jewett (1886) ⭐⭐

•In a Far-Off World, Olive Schreiner (1890) ⭐⭐

•The Giant Wistaria, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1891) ⭐⭐⭐

•The Lady with the Carnations, Marie Corelli (1896) ⭐⭐⭐

•The Were-Wolf, Clemence Housman (1890) ⭐⭐⭐⭐


• Transmigration, Dora Sigerson Shorter (1900) ⭐⭐

• The Wind in the Rose-Bush, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (1902) ⭐⭐

• The Banshee's Halloween, Herminie Templeton Kavanagh (1903) ⭐⭐

•In the Closed Room, Frances Hodgson Burnett (1904) ⭐⭐⭐

•The Dream-Baby, Olivia Howard Dunbar (1904) ⭐⭐

•The Third Drug, E. Nesbit (1908) ⭐⭐⭐

•Mary Austin, The Pocket-Hunter's Story (1909) ⭐⭐

•Twilight, Marjorie Bowen (1912) ⭐⭐⭐

•The Swine-Gods, Regina Miriam Bloch (1917) ⭐⭐⭐

•Jordan's End, Ellen Glasgow (1923)

[Stitching Ghost · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories were pretty good but quite a few were really unmemorable.

[EuroHackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're looking for spooky stories, look elsewhere.

This is exactly what it says on the tin: a collection of stories featuring some sort of supernatural element (or an element that was considered supernatural back in the day but isn't now, like mental illness).

Of the 21 stories, I DNFed 3 and really enjoyed 3, while the other 15 fell somewhere in between. The stories I really liked where:

[+] "Lost in a Pyramid or, The Mummy's Curse" (1869) by Louisa May Alcott: Paul and Evelyn are cousins on the brink of marriage. Paul tells Evelyn the story of one of his trips to Egypt, where he brought back a small golden box with mysterious seeds as a souvenir. Turns out he stole the box from the mummy of a sorceress who "bequeathed her curse to whoever should disturb her rest." Evelyn is a bit of a ninny, so of course she plants the seeds to find out what they are. It blooms very quickly into a beautiful but scentless flower, which turns out to be poisonous to anyone who touches it - so poor Evelyn dies the day after her wedding (as does Paul's professor friend who was studying the plant). Per the story notes, this was the first published story that made use of the mummy.

[+] "Nut Bush Farm" (1882) by Charlotte Riddell: This is probably the longest story in the book, so it definitely has the best chance for full character development. Jack is down in Kent, looking to let a farm in order to bring his family into the country to restore their health. He finds a hauntingly beautiful place, Nut Bush Farm, though the owner is a bit of a nutcase. After he lets the property he starts hearing rumors that it's haunted, perhaps by the previous tenant. Jack dismisses these stories until he runs into the ghostly apparition himself, and then he's determined to learn the fate of the previous tenant, even moreso when the owner rebuffs his questions. This story had a rambling start but it turned into a great edge-of-your-seat sort of thriller.

[+] "The Were-Wolf" (1896) by Chemence Housman: Told in the style of a Scandinavian myth, this is the story of the deadly werewolf that disguises itself as a beautiful woman and bestows a kiss of death upon its victims before they vanish. The story centers around twins, Sweyn and Christian; one believes the creature is a werewolf, while the other thinks his brother is mad and jealous because the beautiful woman is paying attention to him, instead. This one has a violent, but rather fitting, ending. If not for the religious imagery plastered on the ending, it would've been absolutely perfect.

Honorable mentions go to:
[+] "What was the Matter?" (1869) by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, about a servant girl who gets headaches that lead to clairvoyant visions
[+] "An Itinerant House" (1878) by Emma Francis Dawson, which is something right out of The Dead Files
[+] "The Gray Man" (1886), where Death takes on a living presence
[+] "The Lady with the Carnations" (1896) by Marie Corelli, in which the spirit of a painting comes to the narrator, begging for prayers so that she can be released from the ties holding her to earth
[+] "Transmigration" (1900) by Dora Sigerson Shorter, about the consequences of exchanging souls
[+] "In the Closed Room" (1904) by Frances Hodgson Burnett, about a little girl who is a physical medium
[+] "The Third Drug" (1908) by Edit Nesbit, in which a man is injected with 3 mysterious drugs by a physician who's looking for the elixir that can create immortal superhumans, and who barely lives to tell the tale

[Jed Mayer · Rating 2 out of 5]

There have been a number of anthologies of this kind over the past year or two, tracing the evolution of women's supernatural fiction from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries, and they've all had their flaws, but none more so than this. After a few engaging stories the selections very quickly devolved into predictable ghost stories, mawkish sentimentality, or crude religious allegory. The editors would not seem to have a great deal of knowledge or affection for the main line of the Weird tradition, which means tales that merge the uncanny, the supernatural, and science fiction or it really means nothing at all. Many of the stories here have none of these three elements, and rarely, if ever, is a reader likely to feel even a hint of that "pleasant shudder" so beloved of Weird fiction aficionados. That this is also by far the most expensive of these recent collections adds to my disappointment, and I would strongly warn away anyone curious about this collection, and instead recommend the much stronger QUEENS OF THE ABYSS, edited by Mike Ashley.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

You're never going to get a perfect anthology, but there's so many excellent stories in this one and enough powerfully creepy moments to massively outweigh any of the weaker offerings that it's hard not to recommend it.

[April Wathley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an amazing collection of stories I read this back in 2021

[Sucre · Rating 3 out of 5]

sadly this wasn't as interesting as I hoped it would be, to the point I had to take a break from this and return from it many days later. I don't think the title of "Weird Women" is very apt, as most of these stories are very tepid ghost stories, and not even ones with interesting, imaginative ghosts like I've read in other collections. there were a couple I had to outright skip due to the writing, and almost none of them left any kind of impact at all.

the ones I did enjoy were:

The Were-Wolf by Clemence Housman - just a good werewolf story! the werewolf in this one is a beautiful woman and the conflict lies between two brothers, one who is in love with the woman and the other who knows what she truly is.

In the Closed Room by Frances Hodgson Burnett - a quiet, lonely girl finds companionship in the locked room of the new home her and her family have moved into. this one stood out to me simply because of how much I enjoyed the main character and how quietly strange she was.

The Dream-Baby by Olivia Howard Dunbar - a couple of spinster women (read: a lesbian couple) have retired from their teaching jobs and are now living out their lives together when one of them dreams every night of a baby. the dreams form an accurate timeline of the baby's growth, and the other woman becomes obsessed with her dream baby that she can never see or interact with. a melancholy, surreal story that I honestly think could have been extended into a novella that I would have happily read!

The Third Drug by E. Bland (Edith Nesbit) - a man escaping muggers unwittingly falls into the trap of a mad doctor who seeks to create a perfect human through the use of three medications. a tense, interesting tale that was a nice break from the bland ghost stories.

[Juliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

With every anthology, especially one covering so many different authors, it's hard for me to give a coherent rate as I feel like the very nature of the volume leads to an experience of peaks and valleys. I'm not sure I would classify all of the stories collected here as "supernatural" like the tagline on the cover suggests, but they're all certainly not-quite-of-this-world.

I really appreciate that this collection introduced me to authors I didn't know and that it shows a different side of "women authors" that often goes underappreciated by modern readers (women have been writing genre fiction since before that was even a thing commercially speaking).

Favorites: Louisa May Alcott's "Lost in a Pyramid," Emma Frances Dawson's "An Itinerant House," Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Giant Wistaria," Clemence Housman's "The Were-Wolf," Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Closed Room," Olivia Howard Dunbar's "The Dream-Baby."

[Victoria Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cool anthology. Unfortunately like most in its genre, this collection was brought down by its weakest links. There were a couple true stinkers in here, the Itinerant House and Pocket Hunter's Story being the stand-out poor reads.

However, there were also a lot of gems that stood out. I really liked Twilight which made a spooky villainess of Lucretia Borgia. Louisa May Alcott's story about a mummy's curse was fun and campy in all the right ways. I liked the Gray Man and Dream Baby as a bit more mature offerings.

In all, this collection had high points, low points and everything in between. I'd recommend it as whole, with a warning that not every story in it is great.

[Bea Wooding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some deliciously spooky, eerie, and odd stories in here. Well worth a read.

Some favourites:
Moonstone (lovecraftian)
Itinerant house
Far off world
Werewolf (Grimmlike)
Closed room (king ish)
Swine-gods (a bit biblical)

Some footnotes from the editors could have been removed for better immersion

[Tanja · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this! There were a couple of interesting stories, but overall it wasn’t that thrilling unfortunately.

[Juliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars. My thoughts: https://theblankgarden.com/portfolio/...

[angelofmine1974]

No stars DNF

My review of this book can be found on my Youtube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/iJrN1GzwSd4

Enjoy!

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the idea of all these stories being written in a time when women were not know to write stories of such macabre (but, are they now?? Anyway…). I listened to the audio book and the narrators are just amazing. Most of the stories were very good and engaging. However, the majority of them fell short in giving details to major situations. A sister is thought dead for fifteen years. Her whereabouts are discovered through bizarre and supernatural circumstances, she comes home and dies 7 days later. But, we never find out what went down in those 15 years. In another story, a farmer is killed, and that situation unfolds in a pretty complex way for a short story. However, in the end the killers are revealed but the motivation remains confusing. I’m not sure if the complexity of the way these stories are written justifies their disappointing conclusions.

[jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buckle up folks: this is gonna be a long one.
Enjoyable and intriguing! I do think i got more out of it having previously read 'Monster, She Wrote' . Maybe I'm wrong for assuming it would be more racially/culturally diverse? Felt overwhelmingly homogeneously white. Could have used works from a broader background, even if that meant including translated works. But maybe that's not what they were going for - in which case they should market this as Weird White Women or smth idk
The overall impression is one of a very insular section of women's spec history. But it does contain some stories which I know I will be thinking about for a long time to come.

It included the following stories (reviewed individually):

1. THE OLD NURSE'S STORY - ELIZABETH GASKELL. 1852. A nurse tries to take care of a child who goes playing in the snow with a phantom. ☆ boring, forgettable, confusing

2. THE MOONSTONE MASS - HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD. 1868. An arctic explorer discovers a deposit of moonstone. ☆☆ boring but pretty, cool setting, moments of excellent writing

3. LOST IN A PYRAMID, OR THE MUMMY'S CORPSE - LOUISA MAY ALCOTT. 1869. A man accompanying a scientist explore a pyramid, burn a mummy for firewood. Years later, the seeds she was holding grow poisonous flowers which exact vengeance. ☆☆☆ i hate mummies so this creeped me out successfully...the flower curse was cool also. Writing was captivating

4. WHAT WAS THE MATTER? ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS. 1869. Servant has intermittent trances where her eyes seal shut but she can see things that shouldn't be visible. Her mistress grieves a missing sister. ☆☆☆☆ this one was very eerie...i dont understand it and that makes it freaky. Also eyes gross me out so bonus points for that

5. AN ITINERANT HOUSE - EMMA FRANCES DAWSON. 1869. Some men revive a dead woman in a certain room, she curses them for disturbing her rest. Years later, the exact room and its events follow those involved. ☆☆☆☆☆ loved this! Characters were sympathetic, the cyclical structure was effective, the plot was cool + weird

6. NUT BUSH FARM - J.H. (CHARLOTTE) RIDDELL. 1882. A man buys a farm which is supposedly haunted, and tries to uncover the mysterious disappearance of its previous tennant. ☆☆☆☆☆ loved this one too! Read like a sherlock holmes story. Was believable, i cared about the characters, the plot had me hooked.

7. THE GRAY MAN - SARAH ORNE JEWETT. 1886. A man moves into a village. He is friendly, helpful, and wise and everyone loves him. Until they realise he never smiles. He eventually leaves again. ☆☆☆☆ i dont understand this one but it was gorgeous

8. IN A FAR-OFF WORLD - OLIVE SCHREINER. 1890. A woman prays for her lover to have whatever he needs most. She sees him on a ship retreating into the distance. Ergo what he needed most was to be able to leave her behind. ☆☆☆☆☆ very short and succinct. Very thought-provoking and mystical

9. THE GIANT WISTARIA - CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN. 1891. A group of friends stay in an old house with a twisted wistaria that recalls the warped shape of a body. They have weird dreams and find a skeleton in the cellar. ☆☆☆.5 forgettable? Cast of characters made it accessible. Plot/weird elements were interesting but not amazing

10. THE LADY WITH THE CARNATIONS - MARIE CORELLI. 1896. A woman sees the ghost of a woman from a painting and eventually uncovers the story of her death. ☆☆☆☆☆ haunting, romantic, devastating.

11. THE WERE-WOLF - CLEMENCE HOUSMAN. 1896. A werewolf in the form of a beautiful woman is welcomed by an unsuspecting family. A man realises that anyone who kisses her will die. His brother kisses her. So the man determines to pursue her until she turns into a wolf and then kill her. The brother (who didnt believe she was a werewolf) thinks he is jealous, so tracks them and then discovers their corpses: a man and a wolf. He is filled with remorse for failing his brother. ☆☆☆☆☆ i fucking loved this one!! A lot more action/adventure-based than most, and it worked very well.

12. TRANSMIGRATION - DORA SIGERSON SHORTER. 1900. A kind man attempts to give aid to wretched man on his deathbed. The wretch, with help from a devil, transfers his soul to the kind man's body, determined to live a full life. However, he quickly tears apart everything good in that man's live and in those around him. Their souls become switched back. Filled with regret, the wretch attempts to fix his mistakes, but it is too late. ☆☆☆☆ freaky, compelling and devastating. Plot had me on edge

13. THE WIND IN THE ROSE-BUSH - MARY E. WILKINS FREEMAN. 1902. A woman goes to find her niece to adopt her and grows suspicious of her host's excuses as to her niece's whereabouts. Turns out she has been dead for a long time. ☆☆☆ kinda freaky and i liked the motifs/foreshadowing, but overall not sure it has much to say

14. THE BANSHEE'S HALLOWEEN - HERMINIE TEMPLETON KAVANAGH. 1903. A man travels through his village on Halloween. He manipulates a witch/banshee into granting him three wishes, which he uses to heal a dying woman. ☆☆☆☆☆ the audiobook narrator was magnificent. Characters were compelling, setting well-established. Plot was wholesome and gripping

15. IN THE CLOSED ROOM - FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT. 1904. A family house-sit for another. Their child plays with the dead child of the house. ☆☆☆☆☆ fucking obsessed with this one. Wrote both childhood and adulthood convincingly. Setting was vivid and characters entrancing. Plot was phenomenal. Everything about this was just perfect x

16. THE DREAM-BABY - OLIVIA HOWARD DUNBAR. 1904. A woman dreams about her friend having a baby. That friend becomes obsessed with this idea. ☆☆☆.5 not convinced by this one. Was certainly freaky though

17. THE THIRD DRUG - E. BLAND (EDITH NEZBIT). 1908. A scientist is trying to create superhumans. He does the process to a man, then begins it on himself. It fails due to his mistrust of the man - but then again it fails anyway. ☆☆☆.5 really just felt like a frankenstein-wannabe...fun though!

18. THE POCKET-HUNTER'S STORY - MARY AUSTIN. 1909. A traveler encounters corpses. ☆ barely recall what happened. Western setting was established effectively. Used the word "croaked" every 5 mins

19. TWILIGHT - MARJORIES BOWEN. 1912. A man meets an aging queen who was once a great beauty, but is now something else entirely. ☆☆☆☆.5 this one was creeeeepy...was not into it at first but as it progressed it got freakier. Setting/weird elements were convincing, eerie and haunting.

20. THE SWINE-GODS - REGINA MIRIAM BLOCH. 1917. Kings war for power and receive recompense. ☆☆.5 overly long and forgettable. Did have some solid moments, especially more towards the end, and the writing was sometimes captivating.

21. JORDAN'S END - ELLEN GLASGOW. 1923. A doctor tries to help a family whose patriarch is dying of a mysterious illness. ☆ maybe I'm missing something but it didn't seem supernatural to me at all?? Also describing Black people as having ~"a primitive semblance of man" is deeply discomforting...a weak end to a strong collection


(Based on these, my average rating for the collection is 3.6 - but the whole is greater than its parts and the highly rated stories stand out more to me, so my total rating is more like 4.5)

[Tyson Mueller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed that most of the stories were basic ghost stories. I was expecting a lot more weird horror.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's good to know that it wasn't just dudes writing weird fiction back around the turn of the century. If you looked at the mainstream, you would think it was just Lovecraft, Poe, Clark, Howard and the rest. But Louisa May Alcott loved writing about ghosts more than she liked writing about small ladies. There was one female author who Lovecraft counted among his favorites. (Of course, he probably didn't know she was a woman.)

One thing to note is that, oftentimes, the forces in these stories aren't evil. They're warning people that something wicked this way comes or they're trying to finish something that they weren't able to in life. Try getting Lovecraft to write a story like that.

Not all of the stories are jewels, but they're all interesting. I would definitely be into reading a second volume if they ever put one together.

[Emma ( Mrsbreads ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great collection of gothic ghost stories

[Lochsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed the deliciously uncomfortable spine tingle that a majority of these stories gave me. It was fun to be introduced to so many female authors. I probably would have ordered the stories differently as it took me awhile to be fully invested (although the first story was great) and I felt it ended with a less spooky tale. I would however recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good turn of the century ghost story!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Idk, when I started this I was totally loving it but by the end it was dragging where it shouldn't have. I think better stories could have been chosen but what can you do. It wasn't an overall terrible anthology but I wasn't as impressed as I initially was.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a lot of good stories in this compilation. There is some exceptional writing here. There were also a few stories that could be used as a soporific. Before each story is a short biography of the authors.
The Nurse's Tale, by Elizabeth Gaskell. 3 stars. 1852. An orphaned girl is sent to live in a haunted manor house. There is music from an organ that no one plays, as well as a girl who tempts the empathetic orphan to follow her. This is nice fluid writing that smoothly tells the tale of a haunting.
The Moonstone Mass, Harriet Spofford. 4 stars. 1868. Before Shelley and Lovecraft, the creepiness of the Arctic can be found in this adventure story which morphs into an existential crisis. Written at a time when the Arctic was still an undiscovered country allowed speculative fiction a free reign and Spofford created an otherworldly ice cavern in a landscape of "supernatural solitude". It is easy to see how she could have influenced Lovecraft.
A man with a rather covetous nature is tempted by something extraordinary that has a life changing impact on his life.
Lost in a Pyramid, or The Mummy's Curse, by Louisa May Alcott. 1869. 4 stars. A highly original, early mummy story.
What Was the Matter? by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. 1869. 3 stars. This is a rather quiet, unusual tale, involving a sister who disappears, a suddenly clairvoyant servant, and how this affects the family.
Nut Bush Farm, by Mrs. J. H. (Charlotte) Riddell. 1882. 2.5 stars. After leasing Nut Bush Farm, the new tenant starts to wonder what happened to the previous tenant.
The Gray Man, by Sarah Orne Jewett. 1886. "Death himself rode by in the gray man's likeness; unsmiling Death who tries to teach and serve mankind so that he may at the last win welcome as a faithful friend!” Quiet in tone, it moves slowly to the reveal.
In a Far-Off World by Olive Schreiner. 1889. 2 stars. rather ho hum, very short story about self sacrifice.
The Giant Wistaria by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. 1891. 4.5 stars. This is not a traditional ghost story; it is more of an expose of the horrors that some women have faced over the years. Written in 1891 when women had few rights, what better way to display this disparity than in a little ghost story?
The Lady with the Carnations by Marie Corelli. 1895. 4 stars. An enchanting portrait in the Louvre and the scent of carnations haunts a woman. A quiet, atmospheric haunting by a restless wronged soul.
The Were-Wolf by Clemence Housman. 1896. 4 stars. It starts out on a dark night, with a group of people working by lamplight. The ground is covered by snow and they keep hearing someone crying to be let in. Eventually a stranger, a beautiful woman knocks on the door is allowed entrance. It is a night that will change the lives of two brothers irrevocably. A poignant tale of love, sacrifice, and hubris.
An Itinerant House by Emma Frances Dawson. 1897. 1 star. An attempt to bring a woman back to life results in a curse. This one really lost me. There are some interesting ideas but the execution could not keep my attention.
Transmigration by Dora Sigerson Shorter. 1900. 2.5 stars. This is a dark weird story about a man who wants to cheat death so badly he wills it so. A bit disturbing.
The Wind in the Rose-Bush by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman. 1902. 4 stars. This is a creepy, fun story about an aunt who comes to retrieve her niece after her father has died. She is met by the father's second wife who is less than helpful.
The Banshee’s Halloween by Herminie Templeton Kavanagh. 1903. 2 stars. Darby O'Gill is out to trick the Banshee. Annoying narration.
In the Closed Room by Frances Hodgson Burnett. 1904. 4 stars. A beguiling tale where beautiful children go inextricably and peacefully into a beautiful garden filled afterlife. Written at a time when child mortality rates were high, this feels like a story written to combat grief much like the tales of fairies stealing special children. The hope is that the child lives on somewhere else.
The Dream Baby by Olivia Howard Dunbar. 1904. 2.5 stars. This is a weird and twisted tale of two retired spinsters who let their lives be overtaken by a baby that one of them dreams of nightly.
The Third Drug by Edith Nesbit. 1908. 2 stars. Also known as The Three Drugs. While escaping a mugging Roger encounters a strange 'doctor' who treats his knife wound. This mad scientist uses Roger for his own experiments. Not particularly scary or creepy considering the macabre circumstances.
The Pocket-Hunter’s Story by Mary Austin. 1909. 1 star Not for me.
Twilight by Marjorie Bowen. 1912. 2 stars. Twilight; a disturbing encounter with Lucretia Borgia. A young man comes across an aged Borgia in a garden and she would like to confess her sins.
The Swine-Gods by Regina Miriam Bloch. 1917. 1 star.
Jordan’s End by Ellen Glasgow. 1923. 2 stars. A decaying house and property and a crumbling mind are witnessed by the doctor who has been called to the Jordan property. The inhabitants are inbred and are prone to madness. The doctor's sympathies go out to the beautiful wife of Alan Jordan.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed this to read "The Were-wolf" by Clemence Housman and found a great treasure trove of stories. I don't remember all of them, but here are the ones I do.

"The Old Nurse's Story" by Elizabeth Gaskell -- Gaskell should be more famous than Dickens. Yes, I mean it. A haunting story about a younger, rebellious sister and a ghost haunting a young girl. So good!

"Moonstone Mass" -- a man wants to conquer the Arctic and ends up dying? It was weird.

"Lost in a Pyramid" by Louisa May Alcott -- the woman could write Gothic. I loved this one.

"Nut Bush Farm" -- an interesting story about a man who need to relax, so, of course, he ends up buying a farm that seems to be haunted by its former owner. I liked it.

"The Giant Wisteria" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman -- Gilman wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper." And this one is equally haunting and heartbreaking. Dang, she is so good.

"The Lady with the Carnations" -- another good one about a man who investigates the subject of a painting and finds a mystery. Highly recommend.

"The Were-wolf" -- I was most excited about this one, as it's rumored to be the first "modern" werewolf story. It was... sad and tragic and haunting, but a little disappointing. The ending really bothered me. But Housman can write well.

"The Banshee's Halloween" -- Kavanaugh's books about Darby O'Gill became a Disney film and that's all I knew. The stories are MUCH better. Kavanaugh writes in dialect (have a dictionary handy). Darby is young and has a family. This story is about Darby going out on Halloween to deliver tea to a neighbor and there's a scene with a donkey that made me laugh out loud. I loved it so much, I went and found the collection for free (copyright expired) and I love it. Highly recommend.

"In the Closed Room" by Frances Hodgens Burnett -- Burnett is famous for "The Secret Garden" and "A Little Princess." This story is about a little girl and it's sad. I didn't quite see the point of it, unless it's "don't let your kids hang out with ghosts."

"The Dream-baby" -- I was excited about this because it has two older women. Schoolteachers. And they're on their summer break when one starts dreaming the other has a baby. Soon the two women are talking about the baby and how it grows... they become obsessed. And then (spoilers)... the baby dies in the dream and the "mother" ends the story by saying she's going out to buy flowers for the baby. End. What?!

"The Third Drug" -- E. Bland (Edith Nesbit) -- Nesbit is famous for The Railway Children and tons of other British children's lit. I don't know her work well, but this short story was FAB! A man trying to solve a problem takes a walk along the Seine and falls in with Mohawks (Parisian criminals) and is saved by a doctor. Or IS he? So great. I read it again after the disappointment of "The Were-wolf."

"The Pocket-Hunter's Story" -- this one was weird and really hard to follow. The use of language to mimic the speech of the miners does not help. Basically, a bunch of miners get involved in... a scandal (?)and one is so desperate to kill the other that his ghost takes over a dying man and kills his nemesis. I didn't like it.

"Twilight" -- Lucrecia Borgia is an old woman dying (she didn't live to old age) and I didn't like the way Lucrecia is portrayed. I think Lucrecia is as much a victim as her husbands. Anyway, it's spooky.

"The Swine Gods" -- was interesting. It's religious and apocalyptic. Didn't love it.

"Jorden's End" -- a Southern family is cursed for some reason and the wife of the current cursed man asks a doctor for help. It's set in Reconstruction South. I don't remember liking this one. But it's well written.