Haunted Tales: Classic Stories of Ghosts and the Supernatural

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

Following their acclaimed Ghost Stories and Weird Women, award-winning anthologists Leslie S. Klinger and Lisa Morton present a new eclectic anthology of ghosty tales certain to haunt the reader long past the closing page.In Haunted Tales, the reader will enjoy discovering masterpieces like Algernon Blackwood’s terrifying “The Kit-Bag,” Oscar Wilde’s delightful “The Canterville Ghost,” and F. Marion Crawford’s horrific “The Screaming Skull,” as well as lesser-known gems by some of literature’s greatest voices, including Virginia Woolf’s “A Haunted House,” H. G. Wells’s “The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost,” and Rudyard Kipling’s “They.” Haunted Tales also resurrects some wonders that have been woefully neglected, including Dinah Mulock’s “M. Anastasius” (which Charles Dickens called “the best ghost story ever written”); E. F. Benson’s “The Bus-Conductor” (the source of one of the most iconic lines in horror); and E. and H. Heron’s “The Story of the Spaniards, Hammersmith” (the debut adventure of Flaxman Lowe, fiction’s first psychic detective). Whether the stories are familiar or overlooked, all are sure to surprise and astonish the reader long past the closing of this book’s cover.

Genres: Horror, Ghosts, Fiction, Short Stories, Classics, Anthologies, Paranormal

319 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 2, 2022

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

[Kathryn Grace Loves Horror · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this collection of classic ghost stories.

Highlights include:

The Phantom Coach by Amelia B. Edwards - A man gets lost and ends up on the wrong coach home (a phantom coach!). The coach crashed years ago, killing all on board. Will our protagonist share their fate?

Man-Size in Marble by E. Nesbit - I've read this one in multiple collections, but never get tired of it. E. Nesbit was most famous for her children's fiction, but she could write a mean horror story, and this is one of her bests.

The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde - You really can't go wrong with Oscar Wilde, and I love all of his dips into the supernatural. The Picture of Dorian Gray is a personal favorite novel, but Ghost is less serious than that masterwork.

The Haunted Organist of Hurly Burly - Am I the only one who got lesbian-y vibes from this one? An evil organ playing spirit drives a sweet girl to play the organ until she dies.

The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost by H.G. Wells - A new ghost is given advice on haunting by a living man who encounters him at his club. I really enjoyed the ending to this one; it wasn't what I thought it would be.

Jikininki by Lafcadio Hearn - Brief but effective tale of a corpse swallowing ghoul. My only problem with this one was that it wrapped up a little too quickly, but I loved the imagery of the ghoul.

The Bus-Conductor by E.F. Benson - I've seen Dead of Night (1945) which features a segment based on this story, so I already knew how it would go. I still enjoyed this one and am recommitted to reading more Benson.

The Kit Bag by Algernon Blackwood - This is one of my favorite ghost stories of all time. It scared me so badly when I first read it as a young kid. It's not quite as frightening as it was then, but it's still a solidly creepy story of the ghost of an executed murderer.

Haunted Tales is a stunning collection for fans of classic ghost stories. Definitely check this one out, if that's your thing. Personally, it is my thing, and I really enjoyed it.

[Rebecca Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book! There were several classic tales that I really enjoyed reading again, and diving into a few that I was not really familiar with.

Get ready for a night of ghosts, a little terror, and a whole lot of fun!

[M. K. French · Rating 4 out of 5]

People often don't think of stories from the 1800s or 1900s as containing many spooky or horror elements, but a lot of that is due to differences in culture and expectations. There are still many macabre tales other than Edgar Allan Poe or Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and we have stories in this collection from well-known authors from that era, as well as some forgotten ones that fit the theme of this book very well.

We open with "The Ghost And The Bone-Setter" by Sheridan Le Fanu of Carmilla fame. I hadn't read some of his other books, from which this entry was taken. As with many stories of the period, it's partially epistolary and partially a nested tale within a tale. Bonesetters were doctors of a sort in that period, but what can they do about a haunting? Dinah Mulock wrote about ghosts in "M. Anastasius," a story that even Charles Dickens praised. The language is easier to read, and progresses slowly, giving you the characters' lives before the haunting is explained and deepens with time. Then again, the anachronisms rendered in dialect could have made the first story a bit more difficult to go through, so that by the time you hit the next several stories, your ability to understand the language from a hundred years ago is already set.

Asterisks and crosses serve as footnotes to explain terms in the stories, though the writing in dialect remains. Get accustomed to the rhythms of the language, because there truly are great scenes of emotion and creepiness in these tales. Ghosts come for the promises made and not kept, for the people they left behind. People fear the unknown, and the characters in this collection are no different. It's a macabre and Gothic set of stories, full of ghosts, creatures, and eerie coincidences. Read this with bright lights on, unless you want to double-check that the corners of your room are empty.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was happy to be able to review Haunted Tales, Edited by Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger. It is a perfect book for the season. It is a great collection of “classic stories of ghosts and the supernatural.” The book starts with an interesting introduction by editors Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger. It discusses how the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century also brought about mass murder. The Napoleonic wars killed more than four million people. Those left behind were looking for new ways to communicate with their loved ones. Ghost stories became a popular genre. They were found in popular magazines and were especially popular at Christmas time, for example the spirits in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. They were published all year round though and not just for holidays.

I loved how this anthology included stories from well-known authors such as Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, H.G. Wells, and Virginia Woolf, but I loved even more that it included stories from authors that were popular in the nineteenth and early twentieth century but aren’t as well read now. At the start of each story, there was a biography of the author. I like the biographies as much as the stories. There were great footnotes throughout the stories to fill in the historical references.

I found the stories to be fascinating and spooky. They gave gothic vibes which would thrill Catherine Morland from Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. All of these stories were new to me, and I was happy to finally read “The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde”. I have to admit, “The Canterville Ghost” was my absolute favorite story in this collection. It was both hilarious and heartwarming. It was also beautifully written. The Canterville Ghost is pretty proud of all of his shenanigans through the years, but when an American Minister and his family move into the estate, he can’t seem to scare them. Worse still, the young twin sons start to terrify the ghost. It is the daughter of the family though who really figures out the mystery of the Canterville Ghost. I thought “They” by Rudyard Kipling was a poignant story especially knowing from the bio at the start of the story that he had lost his own young child.

I also enjoyed the Gothic splendor of “The Cold Embrace” by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. “He was an artist – such things as happened to him happen sometimes to artists. He was a German – such things as happened to him happen sometimes to Germans. He was young, handsome, studious, enthusiastic, metaphysical, reckless, unbelieving, heartless. And being young, handsome and eloquent, he was beloved.” He loves his cousin Gertrude, and she loves him. They promise to devote each other until death, but while his love strays, Gertrude’s remains even after death.

One last story call out was “M. Anastasius” by Dinah Mulock. Charles Dickens himself thought it was the best ghost story ever written. I enjoyed it. It was also Gothic and haunting about two young lovers that are haunted by the ghost of the young woman’s guardian who was lost at sea.

I loved in the notes for “The Canterville Ghost” that it discussed that the phrase in this story “England and America are two countries divided a common language” was first seen in this story although it is commonly attributed to George Bernard Shaw. I had just seen this elsewhere lately attributed to Shaw and I thought this was interesting information.

I highly recommend this collection for lovers of all spooky tales!

Review Copy from Pegasus Books. Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review was first posted on my blog at: https://lauragerold.blogspot.com/2022...

[Dan'l Danehy-Oakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Victorian England it was customary (at least in some strata of society) to tell ghost stories at Christmas. I think this is a fine custom, so I read this in late December, finishing it on Boxing Day.

I must begin by stating that the cover of the book tells a lie. It lists several authors "Included" in the book, and the very first one named -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- does not, in fact, appear between these covers.

No matter. This is a fine collection of mosty-Victorian era (the last few stories are post-Victorian) tales of ghosts and other creepy things, I'd at least heard of well over half the writers here, and the others are quite worthy to stand with J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf, E. Nesbit, and the other better-known writers. It may be significant that most of the writers I didn't know were women; they have had a tendency to be disappeared by literary historians and critics.

The editors provide feetnote that explain a number of terms and references to which a 21st Century American reader might not be quite privy, give a brief blurb about the author (in one case, authors) at the head of each story, and otherwise leave you to enjoy the feast herein.

Stories I particularly enjoyed -- though, to be certain, there isn't a stinker in the lot -- would include:

- Le Fanu's "The Ghost and the Bone-Setter," opening the book with a curious tale told mostly in a rather embarassing cod-Irish dialect. I take it that this was supposed to be humorous. I found that it was, indeed, humorous despite the dialect.
- "The Phantom Coach," by Amelia B. Edwards, in which a horrible fate is barely escaped.
- "The Canterville Ghost," by Oscar Wilde, which is brilliantly witty.
- "The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost," by H.G. Wells, a fine satirical commentary on the then-prevalant spiritualist beliefs.
- "Jikininki," by Lafcadio Hearn, about a Japanese Buddhist monk and a hungry ghost.
- "The Screaming Skull," by F. Marion Crawford, a tale of justice served from beyond the grave, with a fairly unusual narrative technique.

That's six out of twenty that I found simply outstanding, and the other fourteen ain't chopped liver either. This is the fourth volume of old and mostly-forgotten stories Morton and Klinger have edited, and I believe I shall seek out the others (_Ghost Stories_ was the first, followed by two volumes of _Weird Women_).

[Kerry]

Haunted Tales is a marvelous collection of classic stories of ghosts and the supernatural compiled by Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger. They chose twenty unique yarns dating from 1838 to 1929, and this is the fourth such book they’ve published. (You know when I have some discretionary cash I’ll seek out its predicessors!) These respected horror historians dive into old magazines and obscure journals to find stories to delight readers, and in this reader, they succeed! Some of the tales were familiar. “The Canterville Ghost” by Oscar Wilde remains one of my favorites. Authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Virginia Woolf, H. G. Wells, Rudyard Kipling, and Edith Nebit stand beside less familiar writers, with their supernatural delights printed for our enjoyment. In this collection is “M. Anastasius” by Dinah Mulock, a story Charles Dickens dubbed “The best ghost story ever written.” A short biography of the author precedes each imaginative work of fiction, and subtle footnotes explain obscure references or terminology. True, writing styles change. Morals and stances, also, evolve with time and circumstances. However, a good scary story always has a home. After all, “Fear is the most absorbing and luxurious of emotions. One forgets all else if one is afraid,” explains a character in “The Bus-Conductor.” I've enjoyed sharing these fictional gems with my children. It's such fun watching their eyes widen and their minds expand! To experience this fantastic volume yourself, step aboard. “Just room for one inside…”

[Genevieve Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic collection of classic English ghost stories. Each one was a delight and many of them introduced me to authors that I'd never read before. I loved the representation for female writers in this collection, and I'll be eager to pick up other books edited by Lisa Morton because of the excellent taste in picking this selection!

[Linda Rorex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This anthology contains a collection of ghost stories including tales from authors such as Oscar Wilde, Virgina Woolf and H.G. Wells. This diverse selection of stories is admired for its great writing, and insightful commentary provided by the editors, making it a valuable addition to any horror fan's collection. I really enjoyed this marvelous horror fiction novel.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ghost stories aren't usually my genre, but I liked the 1800s and early 1900s setting of these stories. Some of them were particularly chilling, like The Screaming Skull and The Haunted Organist of Hurly Burly. The authors are all famous authors, so the writing was very good throughout.

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some stories are well known and some were new to me, all of them were excellent and I was happy to discover some gems.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Parabolgirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t read all of the stories, but the ones I did read read were really good! Really good book to read during October for Halloween or December for Christmas

[juanmonique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely classic story gems, especially to read into the night.

[Brianna Douglas Preti · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me awhile to get through, but not because I didn’t like it. I overall enjoyed this collection of spooky stories, but probably shouldn’t have started it in Spring.