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The Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories #10
10th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories
Non-Paying Passengers • shortstory by R. Chetwynd-Hayes
The Birthright • (1931) • shortstory by Hilda Hughes
The Chapel Men • shortfiction by A. E. Ellis
Monkshood Manor • (1954) • shortfiction by L. P. Hartley
Wicked Captain Walshawe • (1864) • shortstory by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (aka Wicked Captain Walshawe of Wauling) [as by Sheridan Le Fanu ]
Two Trifles • shortfiction by Oliver Onions
The Moonlit Road • (1907) • shortstory by Ambrose Bierce
Master Ghost and I • (1973) • shortstory by Barbara Softly
'Smee' • shortfiction by A. M. Burrage (aka Smee 1929 ) [as by Ex-Private X ]
The House In The Wood • (1937) • shortstory by John Hastings Turner
On the Brighton Road • (1912) • shortstory by Richard Middleton
In the Mist • (1971) • shortstory by Elizabeth Walter
Fear • (1938) • shortstory by P. C. Wren
The Furnished Room • (1906) • shortstory by O. Henry
To Keep Him Company • shortfiction by Rosemary Timperley
Introduction (The Tenth Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories) • essay by R. Chetwynd-Hayes
The Birthright • (1931) • shortstory by Hilda Hughes
The Chapel Men • shortfiction by A. E. Ellis
Monkshood Manor • (1954) • shortfiction by L. P. Hartley
Wicked Captain Walshawe • (1864) • shortstory by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (aka Wicked Captain Walshawe of Wauling) [as by Sheridan Le Fanu ]
Two Trifles • shortfiction by Oliver Onions
The Moonlit Road • (1907) • shortstory by Ambrose Bierce
Master Ghost and I • (1973) • shortstory by Barbara Softly
'Smee' • shortfiction by A. M. Burrage (aka Smee 1929 ) [as by Ex-Private X ]
The House In The Wood • (1937) • shortstory by John Hastings Turner
On the Brighton Road • (1912) • shortstory by Richard Middleton
In the Mist • (1971) • shortstory by Elizabeth Walter
Fear • (1938) • shortstory by P. C. Wren
The Furnished Room • (1906) • shortstory by O. Henry
To Keep Him Company • shortfiction by Rosemary Timperley
Introduction (The Tenth Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories) • essay by R. Chetwynd-Hayes
- GenresHorrorShort Stories
192 pages, Paperback
First published November 28, 1977
67 people want to read
About the author
R. Chetwynd-Hayes
139 books58 followersRonald Henry Glynn Chetwynd-Hayes aka Angus Campbell.
Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes was an author, best known for his ghost stories. His first published work was the science fiction novel The Man From The Bomb in 1959. He went on to publish many collections and ten other novels including The Grange, The Haunted Grange, And Love Survived and The Curse of the Snake God. He also edited over 20 anthologies. Several of his short works were adapted into anthology style movies in the United Kingdom, including The Monster Club and From Beyond the Grave. Chetwynd-Hayes' book The Monster Club contains references to a film-maker called Vinke Rocnnor, an anagram of Kevin Connor, the director of From Beyond the Grave.
He won the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement for 1988, and the British Fantasy Society Special Award in 1989.
Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes was an author, best known for his ghost stories. His first published work was the science fiction novel The Man From The Bomb in 1959. He went on to publish many collections and ten other novels including The Grange, The Haunted Grange, And Love Survived and The Curse of the Snake God. He also edited over 20 anthologies. Several of his short works were adapted into anthology style movies in the United Kingdom, including The Monster Club and From Beyond the Grave. Chetwynd-Hayes' book The Monster Club contains references to a film-maker called Vinke Rocnnor, an anagram of Kevin Connor, the director of From Beyond the Grave.
He won the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement for 1988, and the British Fantasy Society Special Award in 1989.
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November 9, 2025PLACEHOLDER REVIEW:
As I'm working through a list of short fiction authors in the early W's (Karl Edward Wagner through Ian Watson, if you must know), I'm currently reading some Elizabeth Walter pieces, and pulled this off the shelf to read "In The Mist"
An older couple, driving to Scotland, pick up a soldier on a desolate, fogbound Yorkshire road, a young man who seemingly is in the RAF and attempting to return to base. Sadly, while well written, this is very much a "sentimental" ghost story, and even less effective for being drawn out (it isn't the twist you think it is, but then it is anyway). A traditional "phantom hitchhiker" type thing, with some interesting attitudes towards class, and general courtesy. .
Hilda Hughes' "The Birthright" has Martin Drake, clairvoyant, extremely troubled by his father's enmity after the older man's death - and seeing a frightening and malignant vision of him at night, which leads to the discovery a previously unknown will... well, that might sound like the formula for a "sentimental ghost story", but in this case, it's a bit of misdirection. Not a bad little yarn!
As I'm working through a list of short fiction authors in the early W's (Karl Edward Wagner through Ian Watson, if you must know), I'm currently reading some Elizabeth Walter pieces, and pulled this off the shelf to read "In The Mist"
An older couple, driving to Scotland, pick up a soldier on a desolate, fogbound Yorkshire road, a young man who seemingly is in the RAF and attempting to return to base. Sadly, while well written, this is very much a "sentimental" ghost story, and even less effective for being drawn out (it isn't the twist you think it is, but then it is anyway). A traditional "phantom hitchhiker" type thing, with some interesting attitudes towards class, and general courtesy. .
Hilda Hughes' "The Birthright" has Martin Drake, clairvoyant, extremely troubled by his father's enmity after the older man's death - and seeing a frightening and malignant vision of him at night, which leads to the discovery a previously unknown will... well, that might sound like the formula for a "sentimental ghost story", but in this case, it's a bit of misdirection. Not a bad little yarn!
June 1, 2020
There’s a higher than average hit rate with this tenth volume of the Fontana Ghost Stories. There are seven stories here that I liked, two of which I’d go as far as to say are amongst the best in the genre.
Rosemary Timperley’s ‘To Keep Him Company’ finds a boy in the company of three other children who no one else can see. It’s a warm and refreshing change to the norm, and for once the explanation isn’t a disappointment.
Richard Middleton’s ‘On The Brighton Road’ sees a tramp walking the roads and constantly meeting the ghost of a boy. This is a rarity, a very short story (only four pages long) which doesn’t feel like a writer’s throwaway. Lots of atmosphere and mystery, and it leaves you thinking after reading it. What was that was about?
The Ex-Private X (A.M.Burrage) story ‘Smee’ sees a group of adults playing a form of hide and seek, but there seems to be an additional player! Another enjoyably atmospheric tale with good characterisation. Smee = ‘It’s me!’
A.E.Ellis’s ‘The Chapel Men’ is set in a small Cornish village where two men battle for importance and position in chapel life. Wonderfully descriptive opening and atmosphere throughout. I only wish we had gotten to know the characters more, other than to simply be told about the competitiveness of the two men involved. Still, an enjoyable read. The opening – ‘The west coast of Cornwall is celebrated for the rugged grandeur of its scenery, rudely hewn into bold buttresses, reverberating caverns and boulder-strewn coves by that tireless sculptor, the Atlantic Ocean. At intervals along this granite rampart are breaks in the formidable coastline where beaches of smooth, firm sand, spangled with delicate shells and backed by marram-bound dunes, form a grateful contrast to the stern cliffs on either hand.’
R.Chetwynd-Hayes, who made the selections in this volume, contributes a typically humorous tale with ‘Non-Paying Passengers.’ A man travelling by train each day is haunted by his dead wife, but he decides to give her a touch of her own medicine. Chetwynd-Hayes was one of the most enjoyable and original of writers in the genre, and it’s just like him to come up with the idea of having the ghost being put upon.
One of the two classics here is provided by the 19th Century Irish master, J.Sheridan LeFanu (whose books In A Glass Darkly and Uncle Silas are well worth a read). His story here is ‘Wicked Captain Walshawe.’ It’s an extremely atmospheric tale of a man who treats his wife abominably.
And lastly we have my favourite, L.P.Hartley’s ‘Monkshood Manor.’ A man stays at the house of someone who has the premonition that one day the house will catch fire. It’s understandably much anthologised as it’s a compulsive read. Very atmospheric.
There are fifteen stories in the collection, with just four, for me, being out and out duds! [For the record, these would be: Fear by P.C.Wren, The Furnished Room by O.Henry, The Moonlit Road by Ambrose Bierce, and the awful Two Trifles by Oliver Onions].
Rosemary Timperley’s ‘To Keep Him Company’ finds a boy in the company of three other children who no one else can see. It’s a warm and refreshing change to the norm, and for once the explanation isn’t a disappointment.
Richard Middleton’s ‘On The Brighton Road’ sees a tramp walking the roads and constantly meeting the ghost of a boy. This is a rarity, a very short story (only four pages long) which doesn’t feel like a writer’s throwaway. Lots of atmosphere and mystery, and it leaves you thinking after reading it. What was that was about?
The Ex-Private X (A.M.Burrage) story ‘Smee’ sees a group of adults playing a form of hide and seek, but there seems to be an additional player! Another enjoyably atmospheric tale with good characterisation. Smee = ‘It’s me!’
A.E.Ellis’s ‘The Chapel Men’ is set in a small Cornish village where two men battle for importance and position in chapel life. Wonderfully descriptive opening and atmosphere throughout. I only wish we had gotten to know the characters more, other than to simply be told about the competitiveness of the two men involved. Still, an enjoyable read. The opening – ‘The west coast of Cornwall is celebrated for the rugged grandeur of its scenery, rudely hewn into bold buttresses, reverberating caverns and boulder-strewn coves by that tireless sculptor, the Atlantic Ocean. At intervals along this granite rampart are breaks in the formidable coastline where beaches of smooth, firm sand, spangled with delicate shells and backed by marram-bound dunes, form a grateful contrast to the stern cliffs on either hand.’
R.Chetwynd-Hayes, who made the selections in this volume, contributes a typically humorous tale with ‘Non-Paying Passengers.’ A man travelling by train each day is haunted by his dead wife, but he decides to give her a touch of her own medicine. Chetwynd-Hayes was one of the most enjoyable and original of writers in the genre, and it’s just like him to come up with the idea of having the ghost being put upon.
One of the two classics here is provided by the 19th Century Irish master, J.Sheridan LeFanu (whose books In A Glass Darkly and Uncle Silas are well worth a read). His story here is ‘Wicked Captain Walshawe.’ It’s an extremely atmospheric tale of a man who treats his wife abominably.
And lastly we have my favourite, L.P.Hartley’s ‘Monkshood Manor.’ A man stays at the house of someone who has the premonition that one day the house will catch fire. It’s understandably much anthologised as it’s a compulsive read. Very atmospheric.
There are fifteen stories in the collection, with just four, for me, being out and out duds! [For the record, these would be: Fear by P.C.Wren, The Furnished Room by O.Henry, The Moonlit Road by Ambrose Bierce, and the awful Two Trifles by Oliver Onions].
October 17, 2009
A collection of older ghost stories, the kind of stories that are told around a fire. Some are better than others and many of them are quite old-fashioned and not quite as scary as they may have bene in other times.
Not a bad collection but nothing all that special.
Not a bad collection but nothing all that special.
June 4, 2015
Like all short story anthologies (except the one I'm putting together at the moment of my own short stories) this is hit and miss. Some of these stories are good and some are less so. One of them I had to abandon less than a page in because the writing style annoyed me so much - all those multi-syllable words on top of each other made it read like a legal document.
The main problem however is that it's a book of ghost stories. We know this; it says it on the cover. So although these stories may have been first printed in a newspaper or magazine where the story could be about anything, in this case it's no big surprise that the mysterious stranger you just met on a dark and lonely road turns out to be a ghost. Too many of these stories are reliant on that being a twist that you don't see coming, but when put in a book of ghost stories... we see it coming from the first line.
The main problem however is that it's a book of ghost stories. We know this; it says it on the cover. So although these stories may have been first printed in a newspaper or magazine where the story could be about anything, in this case it's no big surprise that the mysterious stranger you just met on a dark and lonely road turns out to be a ghost. Too many of these stories are reliant on that being a twist that you don't see coming, but when put in a book of ghost stories... we see it coming from the first line.
May 6, 2023
Great fun and always enjoyable - I do love these older anthologies - particularly because you turn up real little gems like the story 'On the Brighton Road' by Richard Middleton from 1912 which is a ghost story but is also a very direct and powerful bit of social commentary/criticism (?) I am not sure but has remained with me for years and actually is more likely to bring tears to your eyes the shivers to your spin because the real horror was the uncaring society that existed then (and which we seem determined to recreate - particularly with regards to the homeless young).
There are some less then great stories and far fewer classic gems - the series had exhausted most of the best out of copyright material in the earlier volumes so many more of the stories are current (for the time of publication! by now many of those 'current' stories are now out of copyright). The cover illustration is marvelously inappropriate and relates to none of the content but I like it as I do all the Fontana covers.
I am never disappointed by these anthologies but I am sure some will be. You will know if they are for you without any prompting from me or anyone else.
There are some less then great stories and far fewer classic gems - the series had exhausted most of the best out of copyright material in the earlier volumes so many more of the stories are current (for the time of publication! by now many of those 'current' stories are now out of copyright). The cover illustration is marvelously inappropriate and relates to none of the content but I like it as I do all the Fontana covers.
I am never disappointed by these anthologies but I am sure some will be. You will know if they are for you without any prompting from me or anyone else.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews