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50 Great Ghost Stories
Headless queens, phantom lovers, and assorted hauntings comprise this macabre collection of international ghost tales
496 pages, Hardcover
First published November 16, 1966
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138 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 15, 2017
Okay so I read this book way back when I was in middle school and let me just say one thing---I found some of the stories to be so scary and creepy that it took me a whole 2 months before I could sleep again without having terrifying nightmares!
June 30, 2016
50 Great Ghost Stories by John Canning, explores a number of legends and accounts involving ghosts and other supernatural and paranormal phenomena.
Much of what is written seems indeed to be taken from eyewitness accounts, and carefully recorded historical documentation, and does indeed put forward the case that ghosts do exist.
The stories are mainly set in Britain, but also involve accounts of ghosts in Egypt, India, China, Germany, France, Iceland, the United States, Canada and Australia.
These stories are rich in history, and we can learn a lot from them, as well as being entertained.
We read about the hauntings and mysterious deaths of those involved in unearthing Tutenkhamen's tomb, and other Ancient Egyptian burial sites; the accounts of the ghosts of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, executed on the orders of the brutal Henry VIII;The White Lady of Berlin; the tragic tales of the ghosts of children who met tragic and untimely ends, which excite pity as well as frightening people; the very different nature of ghosts in China, which are often indistinguishable from the living, and are frequently beautiful maidens who return from the other world, not to frighten man, but to play with him, tease him, make love to him, or help him in his tasks; and ghosts in India, spirits of those cruelly murdered during the 1957 Sepoy Rebellion, as well as the malignant demons known as the ayah.
These tales are both intricate and entertaining, and while all are eery and haunting, the circumstances, times and places vary as to the natures of the ghosts, who can be beautiful or hideous, playful, melancholy, spiteful, vicious and frigthening or simply fulfilling a quest unfulfilled in life.
Many are the ghosts of young people, whose lives have been cruelly cut short. Often these ghosts in these stories resent the living and set out to terrify them, sometimes even ending the lives of their victims.
Many of the stories in this volume involve such ghosts, and often their victims die, or flee the haunted abodes.
In short they will excite a large variation of feelings and emotions in the reader.
In reading these stories , we also learn much of the customs and life of the people during the times examined. For example the cruel punishment for nuns who fell in love or lost their chastity, of being left to die of hunger and thirst, in an enclosed walled up space.
Many of these accounts are taken from the archives of The Society of Psychical Research.
Other records were destroyed during the 1940 German Blitz of Britain.
What follows is a gripping and entertaining, if haunting and eery set of narratives.
Much of what is written seems indeed to be taken from eyewitness accounts, and carefully recorded historical documentation, and does indeed put forward the case that ghosts do exist.
The stories are mainly set in Britain, but also involve accounts of ghosts in Egypt, India, China, Germany, France, Iceland, the United States, Canada and Australia.
These stories are rich in history, and we can learn a lot from them, as well as being entertained.
We read about the hauntings and mysterious deaths of those involved in unearthing Tutenkhamen's tomb, and other Ancient Egyptian burial sites; the accounts of the ghosts of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, executed on the orders of the brutal Henry VIII;The White Lady of Berlin; the tragic tales of the ghosts of children who met tragic and untimely ends, which excite pity as well as frightening people; the very different nature of ghosts in China, which are often indistinguishable from the living, and are frequently beautiful maidens who return from the other world, not to frighten man, but to play with him, tease him, make love to him, or help him in his tasks; and ghosts in India, spirits of those cruelly murdered during the 1957 Sepoy Rebellion, as well as the malignant demons known as the ayah.
These tales are both intricate and entertaining, and while all are eery and haunting, the circumstances, times and places vary as to the natures of the ghosts, who can be beautiful or hideous, playful, melancholy, spiteful, vicious and frigthening or simply fulfilling a quest unfulfilled in life.
Many are the ghosts of young people, whose lives have been cruelly cut short. Often these ghosts in these stories resent the living and set out to terrify them, sometimes even ending the lives of their victims.
Many of the stories in this volume involve such ghosts, and often their victims die, or flee the haunted abodes.
In short they will excite a large variation of feelings and emotions in the reader.
In reading these stories , we also learn much of the customs and life of the people during the times examined. For example the cruel punishment for nuns who fell in love or lost their chastity, of being left to die of hunger and thirst, in an enclosed walled up space.
Many of these accounts are taken from the archives of The Society of Psychical Research.
Other records were destroyed during the 1940 German Blitz of Britain.
What follows is a gripping and entertaining, if haunting and eery set of narratives.
October 23, 2010
A few weeks back I was delighted to learn I could buy Fifty Great Ghost Stories online, and proceeded immediately to do so. I had first purchased it over thirty years ago, while spending the summer at my Grandparents farm, and looked forward to reliving a bit of those days.
Now, after rereading the compilation through the eyes of an adult, I’m glad to say it didn’t let me down. But I do believe a word of warning should be given. If you go into this hoping to get a bunch of thrills and scares, you will probably be disappointed. These stories are mostly historical retellings of famous hauntings, and are generally related to the reader in a rather pedantic fashion.
The effect of this is a somewhat academic experience, as opposed to settling in for a spookfest. Now there are a few places where a hair raising scene or two occurs, (the scene described between a young sentry and a headless woman at Wellington Barracks comes to mind. Also one involving a shallow grave in an Australian cavern) but they are the exception as opposed to the rule. What you DO get is a rich treasury of different types of ghostly memes and haunting situations…and if you are ever thinking of writing ghost stories then I highly recommend this book as a resource. If this is you, then I would rate this book five stars.
If you are reading for pleasure, it is pretty entertaining as well, but in a somewhat informational sort of way. For that kind of reader I would give the book three stars. A good book, worth reading, but a bit dry.
So I will split the difference between that five and three, and give this book four stars overall.
Now, after rereading the compilation through the eyes of an adult, I’m glad to say it didn’t let me down. But I do believe a word of warning should be given. If you go into this hoping to get a bunch of thrills and scares, you will probably be disappointed. These stories are mostly historical retellings of famous hauntings, and are generally related to the reader in a rather pedantic fashion.
The effect of this is a somewhat academic experience, as opposed to settling in for a spookfest. Now there are a few places where a hair raising scene or two occurs, (the scene described between a young sentry and a headless woman at Wellington Barracks comes to mind. Also one involving a shallow grave in an Australian cavern) but they are the exception as opposed to the rule. What you DO get is a rich treasury of different types of ghostly memes and haunting situations…and if you are ever thinking of writing ghost stories then I highly recommend this book as a resource. If this is you, then I would rate this book five stars.
If you are reading for pleasure, it is pretty entertaining as well, but in a somewhat informational sort of way. For that kind of reader I would give the book three stars. A good book, worth reading, but a bit dry.
So I will split the difference between that five and three, and give this book four stars overall.
April 3, 2014
I didn't like the style of... not even writing but rather the way these stories are told. It feels more like reading a text book on ghosts than a spooky, horrific adventure. I got through the first two stories and started to read the third when I gave up on it. It just wasn't capturing my attention.
If you're looking for accounts on ghost encounters, this might work for you, but for someone who needed to pass time on her way to work, it didn't cut it.
If you're looking for accounts on ghost encounters, this might work for you, but for someone who needed to pass time on her way to work, it didn't cut it.
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October 12, 2019Folklore and ghost sightings.
April 12, 2008
I have always been a sucker for a good ghost story, but only two of the fifty made any of my hair stand on end, and only one got me so creeped out that I wanted to hide under the covers.
February 5, 2019
Not sure if the stories are supposed to be based on actual local occurrences. I thought it would be more of a 'case study' style, but it's fictionalized accounts. In one story, you have to wade through 150 years of 'who married who' and all their historical connections to actual get to the ghost stories.
It's a British compilation, and very old style writing. None of the legends referenced in the blurb appear in the book. I'm putting it down halfway through.
It's a British compilation, and very old style writing. None of the legends referenced in the blurb appear in the book. I'm putting it down halfway through.
August 12, 2021
This book brings me nostalgia. I remember my mom retelling this book to my siblings and I to get us to take our afternoon naps. One of the first books I have read when I was really young. I want to read it again and discover how it would make me fell now that I am an adult.
October 17, 2024
There was too much extra detail that had nothing to do with the stories added in. I really didn't find any of them scary or spooky.
January 18, 2013
While I do not believe in ghosts, have never had any real-life experiences that would suggest to me their existence, I enjoy reading ghost stories, especially when they are well-written as are many in this anthology. The idea of an ethereal presentation of a dead person to the living is typical notion of a ghost, but psychic manifestations in general may be used to suggest the presence of the supernatural. In spite of the skepticism of scientists, such writers as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have been known to consider the existence of the psychic or paranormal. This anthology presents tales that demonstrate the variety of the supernatural and the breadth of location and human interaction. Whether in the barracks or the castle, the parish house, school, or high seas, there are ghosts to be found abounding in the imagination of the authors included in this fine volume of tales.
October 3, 2013
A book I first read as a young child, this is more a collection of folklore than of spooky tales. There's a selection from around the world, mostly couched in pretty dated - but quaint - language. None are later than the 1960s.
It's a good collection of older stories. Not blood-dripping, as my mother might say. Bonus points for the header illustrations with each story: if your copy lacks them, you're missing half the fun.
It's a good collection of older stories. Not blood-dripping, as my mother might say. Bonus points for the header illustrations with each story: if your copy lacks them, you're missing half the fun.
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February 25, 2016I tried out the first few stories, but the writing was horrible: incredibly dry and devoid of any suspense. It's surprising that the stories were written by different people because they were all written in a similar, boring way. I guess that's just what the editor thought made a good compilation.
July 14, 2018
50 Great Ghost Stories
Canning, John
some of the stories are weird some are great, this is a broad collection of ghost stories great to share on a sleep over.. just to scare your friends.
February 18, 2015
Splendid collection of short stories set in England
Want to read
October 5, 2017Did not finish. Reads like a textbook. Boring af.
Read
June 8, 2018introduced to me as a child, have love these stories ever since.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews