The Cold Embrace: And Other Ghost Stories

by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Richard Dalby (Editor)

Amongst Miss Braddon's prodigious output were many tales of the supernatural and the weird, scattered throughout her collections of short stories and her magazine appearances; but the scarcity of these tales has led to all but a handful being overlooked by anthologisers. Richard Dalby has now collected together eighteen of Miss Braddon's finest tales of the uncanny, all of which demonstrate her mastery of the form and show why she was one of the best-selling authors of her time. In his extensive introduction, Dalby also takes a thorough look at a fascinating woman, who lived through hardship and scandal to become a respected and much-loved literary figure.

CONTENTS:

* Introduction by Richard Dalby
* The Cold Embrace
* Eveline's Visitant
* My Wife's Promise
* The Scene-Painter's Wife
* Sir Philip's Wooing
* John Granger
* At Chrighton Abbey
* Her Last Appearance
* Dr Carrick
* The Shadow in the Corner
* The Face in the Glass
* From a Doctor's Diary
* A Revelation
* My Dream
* His Oldest Friends
* The Ghost's Name
* The Island of Old Faces
* Good Lady Ducayne
* Appendix: Miss Braddon at Home by Mary Angela Dickens

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Ghosts, Victorian, Ghost Stories

285 pages, Hardcover

First published March 8, 2002

About the author

Mary Elizabeth Braddon was a British Victorian era popular novelist. She was an extremely prolific writer, producing some 75 novels with very inventive plots. The most famous one is her first novel, Lady Audley's Secret (1862), which won her recognition and fortune as well. The novel has been in print ever since, and has been dramatised and filmed several times.

Braddon also founded Belgravia Magazine (1866), which presented readers with serialized sensation novels, poems, travel narratives, and biographies, as well as essays on fashion, history, science. She also edited Temple Bar Magazine. Braddon's legacy is tied to the Sensation Fiction of the 1860s.

She is also the mother of novelist W.B. Maxwell.

Reviews

[Gilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed every one of these short stories of apparitions, the weird and uncanny. Many take place in the autumn or winter, often in an old English country house or isolated château, making them ideal spooky season reading. Miss Braddon develops her characters fully and writes with pleasing economy of prose, her plots perfectly paced, with swift but satisfying dénouements. While her works are typically categorized as Victorian "sensation", I would dare to call these ghost stories gentle, even cosy. Yes, she offers us creeping tales of mystery and paranoia, murder and the occult, but they're never over the top, full-on horror. In other words, just the way I like them!

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked The Cold Embrace. Wished he did realise in the end what he had done to her though. Men…

[Phil Syphe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book I'm reviewing is actually entitled 'Collected Stories', but as Goodreads don't have it listed and the opening story of this book is 'The Cold Embrace', I opted for this as being the nearest to it.

'The Cold Embrace' features two young lovers who have to part for a while. They vow to remain faithful to each other. Separation makes the heart of one grow fonder, yet with the other it's a case of out of sight, out of mind. An oath they both swore before parting comes back to haunt the male half of the pair.

'The Shadow in the Corner' is a haunted house tale in which history repeats itself. 'At Chrighton Abbey' is a similar story but is much longer.

'Eveline's Visitant' is an 'I'll come back and haunt you when you least expect it' tale with a sad ending.

'Good Lady Ducayne' is the only non-ghost story. Although it's neither horror nor supernatural as such, is does have elements of both those genres.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

A spooky tale by the Victorian writer Mary Braddon.