A Gathering of Ghost Stories

by Robertson Davies

Robertson Davies first hit upon the notion of writing ghost stories when he joined the University of Toronto's Massey College as a Master. Wishing to provide entertainment at the College's Gaudy Night, the annual Christmas party, Professor Davies created a "spooky story," which he read aloud to the gathering. That story, "Revelation from a Smoky Fire," is the first in this wonderful, haunting collection. A tradition quickly became established and, for eighteen years, Davies delighted and amused the Gaudy Night guests with his tales of the supernatural. Here, gathered together in one volume, are those eighteen stories, just as Davies first read them.

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Ghost Stories

96 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1995

About the author

William Robertson Davies, CC, FRSC, FRSL (died in Orangeville, Ontario) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best-known and most popular authors, and one of its most distinguished "men of letters", a term Davies is sometimes said to have detested. Davies was the founding Master of Massey College, a graduate college at the University of Toronto.

Novels:

The Salterton Trilogy
• Tempest-tost (1951)
• Leaven of Malice (1954)
• A Mixture of Frailties (1958)
The Deptford Trilogy
• Fifth Business (1970)
• The Manticore (1972)
• World of Wonders (1975)
The Cornish Trilogy
• The Rebel Angels (1981)
• What's Bred in the Bone (1985)
• The Lyre of Orpheus (1988)
The Toronto Trilogy (Davies' final, incomplete, trilogy)
• Murther and Walking Spirits (1991)
• The Cunning Man (1994)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robertso...

Reviews

[Mia]

I will never be able to say no to tiny, $2 books at the register of secondhand bookstores.

Never.

[Sanne Van Wanzeele · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 stars

[Julia (snarkyvegan) Moran Martz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six short stories, all good.

[William Bigelow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amusing and cozy. I especially enjoyed the story "The Cat that Went to Trinity." It is a lovely tribute to and gentle parody of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein."

[Catherine Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny ghost stories. Pokes fun at academia and fondly mimics the pretentiousness of (18th. and early (19th. literary ghost stories.

[Mochi · Rating 4 out of 5]

funny stories about the silliness of academia. dan gave me this for passing quals :))

[Ker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny! Who knew?

"[Father Summers] had read so many tales of the supernatural, pored over so many old manuscripts and grimoires, that his writing had been infected by them, and displays a fruit cakyness and portwinyness that makes for very rich literary feeding."

"...thesis abstracts are, with a very few exceptions, the least credible and most horrifying productions of imaginative literature."

"I have often heard it said that the Ph.D. is a vastly overvalued degree, but I had not previously thought it might stand between a man and his eternal rest."

"You know what academics are. Simple folk whose minds rarely stray beyond the present."

[Christine Tran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! Enjoyed these short stories very much.