Status Updates From Weird Women: Classic Supern...

2 stars. The Pocket-Hunter's Story by Mary Austin (1909) A pocket-hunter is someone who looks for pockets of rich ore within poorer ore. In this story, the pocket-hunter tells a story of four miners and a supernatural event in the American desert. I didn't care for this. The writing is fine but the story was convoluted with too many unnecessary characters. The rape of a native woman is implied.

3 stars. The Third Drug by E.Bland (Edith Nesbit)-1908. A man falls into the clutches of a mad scientist trying to create the perfect human. It was a serviceable effort at an unoriginal plot.

5 stars. The Dream-Baby by Olivia Howard Dunbar (1904). Two retired schoolteachers become obsessed with a baby in a dream. This is the most original tale so far in this collection. It was just the right length and I had no idea where it was going. Towards the end, I feared a horrific resolution but it turned out to be bittersweet and far more satisfying instead.

4 stars. In the Closed Room by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1904) A little girl feels as though she is not of this world. This is a creepy story that mostly worked but it was too long. It is divided into two unnecessary parts and I think it would have worked better if it had been one shorter and more concise piece.

1 star. The Banshee's Halloween by Herminie Templeton Kavanagh (1903). An Irishman has an eventful Halloween night with a banshee. Ok, I assume this story was included for comedy relief. Interesting plot but the Irish stereotypes were bad. The whole story was written phonetically to impart a heavy Irish accent. Pretty distracting. Plus the main character beats a poor donkey for scaring him in a graveyard. Ugh.

4 stars. The Wind in the Rose-Bush by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (1903). A woman decides to bring her dead sister's daughter to live with her, but the daughter is missing. First story with a female protagonist and a female antagonist. I was impressed with the cat-and-mouse tension between the two women. The shivering rose bush was eerie. This was almost a five star except for the unsatisfactory ending.

4.5 stars. Transmigration by Dora Sigerson Shorter (1900.) A cruel man trades souls with a kind man. This is described as a harrowing story and I agree. It's pretty brutal and reminds me of both The Picture of Dorian Gray and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It was an effective story which disturbed me but I had to take a half point off. I hate abrupt endings!

4.5 stars. The Were-Wolf by Clemence Houseman (1896). A werewolf in the guise of a beautiful woman comes between two brothers. This is longer than a typical short story. I took a point off because I've read this plot before but I had to add a 0.5 because it has some tense and creepy scenes. Plus it surprised me with the bloody violence and unexpected body count. Huzzah!

3 stars. The Lady with the Carnations by Marie Corelli (1896). A man views a painting of a lady with carnations, after which her manifestation begins following him. It was a nicely written story with effective atmosphere. The plot was unremarkable though.

2.5 stars. The Giant Wistaria by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1891). A merry group of English people rent a house with a tragic past. This story started off strong with an unmarried mother in colonial America suffering harsh treatment from her family. Fast forward to the 1800s and a haunting in the house. Ended too abruptly and I'm not quite sure what happened to the young woman. So much potential lost.

5 stars. "In A Far-Off World" by Olive Schreiner (1890). A man and a woman live in a world in of a far-off star. This story is only three pages long but it almost had me in tears. Short but impactful.

2 stars. The Gray Man by Sarah Orne Jewett (1886). The story of a mysterious stranger and the treatment he receives from a town. This story is quite short. I appreciated the writing but nothing else had much substance.

4 stars. Nut Bush Farm by Charlotte Riddell (1882). I liked this! It was fun with creepy moments! A man rents a farm whose prior tenant mysteriously disappeared. This had three parts and I would call it more of a novelette than a short story. It had supernatural elements but it was far more of a mystery than a ghost story with a lead sleuth, an investigation and suspects. Only downside was a way too abrupt ending.

2 stars. "An Itinerant House" by Emma Frances Dawson. A group of young men witness the unexpected death of their landlady and conduct an experiment. This was a discombobulated story. It was choppy and almost stream of consciousness at times with unnecessary poetry included (!) Frankenstein was probably an influence. Two stars though for having a positive portrayal of a Mexican woman!

4 stars. "What was the matter?" by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (1869). A widow sends for her sister to come live with her but the sister never arrives. At first I was going to rate it 3 stars but the story's mood has just stuck with me. Melancholy and mysterious with secrets hinted at in the sisters' pasts. I just wish the story had delved into that past.

4 stars. "Lost in a Pyramid, or the Mummy's Curse" by Louisa May Alcott (1869). A young explorer tells his bride about a strange experience involving the mummy of an ancient Egyptian priestess. This was a fun and lively story with an ending that was unexpectedly dark.

3.5 stars. The Moonstone Mass by Harriet Prescott Spofford (1868). Wow! If I didn't know any better, I would have thought this was written by William Hope Hodgson or HP Lovecraft. A man goes on an expedition to the Arctic where his ship is stranded and he goes for help. Hallucinatory things happen. I'm not a big weird fiction fan; hence the lower rating. But this is impressive considering the time it was written!

5 stars. The Old Nurse's Story by Elizabeth Gaskell (1852). This is at least the third time I've read this short story and it is still one of my favorites ever. An old nurse tells the story of when she was a young girl in charge of a child sent to live with relatives in an old manor. That manor turns out to be haunted by an old tragedy. Creepy and so hard to believe it was written in 1852!