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Mysterious Railway Stories
Mysteries of crime and mysteries of the supernatural stalk hand in hand through railway lore, as William Patrick's new selection makes chillingly clear.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 10, 2020
Excellent compilations of stories for readers who love the romance of steam engines and the the railways and mysteries. Two of my favourites were "The Ghost Train" by Arnold Ridley and Ruth ALexander, and "That Hell-Bound Train" by Robert Bloch. The former for its atmosphere and spookiness, and the latter for its more philosophical turn.
October 5, 2024
There are a series of these anthologies edited by William Patrick and I had previously read mysterious motoring stories a few months prior to reading this instalment from 1984 on the railway as the title states. I was somewhat compelled to read this anthology of shorts but no pun intended this one came up short for me. Mysterious Railway stories really cannot touch mysterious motoring stories and I would have given this a two star if it wasn't for a few very strong entries. So as always I will only list the stories which I personally liked because the majority of the picks were a trudge to get through for me unfortunately.
1) The four-fifteen express by Amelia Edwards&Charles Dickens (1867)- A real solid opening to the collection, a haunting tale of greed full of twists and turns.
2) The lost special by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1898)- As a huge admirer of Doyles works I was happy to see a short by him included, a crime mystery thriller by a masterful story teller.
3) The Ghost train by Arnold Ridley&Ruth Alexander (1926)- An atmospheric and quirky tale of things which go bump in the night, in this case a phantom train which is said to pass through little Fal Vale, England.
4) The fishermans special by Hal Thomson (1939)- This obscure hidden gem of a terror tale first appeared in horror story monthly weird tales and I'm so glad William Patrick included it within this anthology because it's quite simply short horror story telling at it's best. You will most definitely look at that person sat next to you on A train in a whole new light after reading this chiller.
5) That hell bound train by Robert Bloch (1958)- I had already read this outstanding tale of horror/mystery in everymans book of horror stories but I am also very happy that William Patrick picked it for this book because it's one of the best short stories ever written in my opinion and the fact it's based on a train it was a no brainer to have it included here for those of you who might not have read it.
6) The last train by Fredric Brown (1961)- A clever, snappy little tale brilliantly written with a punchy end and a perfect way to close the anthology.
There are 13 stories in total and there are more crime entries than horror which came as a surprise although I like crime thrillers many were very drawn out and were a real trudge to get through with no real satisfactory ending.
1) The four-fifteen express by Amelia Edwards&Charles Dickens (1867)- A real solid opening to the collection, a haunting tale of greed full of twists and turns.
2) The lost special by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1898)- As a huge admirer of Doyles works I was happy to see a short by him included, a crime mystery thriller by a masterful story teller.
3) The Ghost train by Arnold Ridley&Ruth Alexander (1926)- An atmospheric and quirky tale of things which go bump in the night, in this case a phantom train which is said to pass through little Fal Vale, England.
4) The fishermans special by Hal Thomson (1939)- This obscure hidden gem of a terror tale first appeared in horror story monthly weird tales and I'm so glad William Patrick included it within this anthology because it's quite simply short horror story telling at it's best. You will most definitely look at that person sat next to you on A train in a whole new light after reading this chiller.
5) That hell bound train by Robert Bloch (1958)- I had already read this outstanding tale of horror/mystery in everymans book of horror stories but I am also very happy that William Patrick picked it for this book because it's one of the best short stories ever written in my opinion and the fact it's based on a train it was a no brainer to have it included here for those of you who might not have read it.
6) The last train by Fredric Brown (1961)- A clever, snappy little tale brilliantly written with a punchy end and a perfect way to close the anthology.
There are 13 stories in total and there are more crime entries than horror which came as a surprise although I like crime thrillers many were very drawn out and were a real trudge to get through with no real satisfactory ending.
February 10, 2025
There are a series of these anthologies edited by William Patrick and I had previously read mysterious motoring stories a few months prior to reading this instalment from 1984 on the railway as the title states. I was somewhat compelled to read this anthology of shorts but no pun intended this one came up short for me. Mysterious Railway stories really cannot touch mysterious motoring stories and I would have given this a two star if it wasn't for a few very strong entries. So as always I will only list the stories which I personally liked because the majority of the picks were a trudge to get through for me unfortunately.
1) The four-fifteen express by Amelia Edwards&Charles Dickens (1867)- A real solid opening to the collection, a haunting tale of greed full of twists and turns.
2) The lost special by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1898)- As a huge admirer of Doyles works I was happy to see a short by him included, a crime mystery thriller by a masterful story teller.
3) The Ghost train by Arnold Ridley&Ruth Alexander (1926)- An atmospheric and quirky tale of things which go bump in the night, in this case a phantom train which is said to pass through little Fal Vale, England.
4) The fishermans special by Hal Thomson (1939)- This obscure hidden gem of a terror tale first appeared in horror story monthly weird tales and I'm so glad William Patrick included it within this anthology because it's quite simply short horror story telling at it's best. You will most definitely look at that person sat next to you on A train in a whole new light after reading this chiller.
5) That hell bound train by Robert Bloch (1958)- I had already read this outstanding tale of horror/mystery in everymans book of horror stories but I am also very happy that William Patrick picked it for this book because it's one of the best short stories ever written in my opinion and the fact it's based on a train it was a no brainer to have it included here for those of you who might not have read it.
6) The last train by Fredric Brown (1961)- A clever, snappy little tale brilliantly written with a punchy end and a perfect way to close the anthology.
There are 13 stories in total and there are more crime entries than horror which came as a surprise although I like crime thrillers many were very drawn out and were a real trudge to get through with no real satisfactory ending.
1) The four-fifteen express by Amelia Edwards&Charles Dickens (1867)- A real solid opening to the collection, a haunting tale of greed full of twists and turns.
2) The lost special by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1898)- As a huge admirer of Doyles works I was happy to see a short by him included, a crime mystery thriller by a masterful story teller.
3) The Ghost train by Arnold Ridley&Ruth Alexander (1926)- An atmospheric and quirky tale of things which go bump in the night, in this case a phantom train which is said to pass through little Fal Vale, England.
4) The fishermans special by Hal Thomson (1939)- This obscure hidden gem of a terror tale first appeared in horror story monthly weird tales and I'm so glad William Patrick included it within this anthology because it's quite simply short horror story telling at it's best. You will most definitely look at that person sat next to you on A train in a whole new light after reading this chiller.
5) That hell bound train by Robert Bloch (1958)- I had already read this outstanding tale of horror/mystery in everymans book of horror stories but I am also very happy that William Patrick picked it for this book because it's one of the best short stories ever written in my opinion and the fact it's based on a train it was a no brainer to have it included here for those of you who might not have read it.
6) The last train by Fredric Brown (1961)- A clever, snappy little tale brilliantly written with a punchy end and a perfect way to close the anthology.
There are 13 stories in total and there are more crime entries than horror which came as a surprise although I like crime thrillers many were very drawn out and were a real trudge to get through with no real satisfactory ending.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews