Washington Irving's Tales of the Supernatural

by Washington Irving

In this book of Irving's choicest stories of the supernatural, there are ghosts in large numbers, as well as goblins, apparitions, spectres, reincarnations, necromancers, and more than a few probable figments of the imagination.

Genres: Horror

Hardcover

First published June 1, 1982

About the author

People remember American writer Washington Irving for the stories " Rip Van Winkle " and " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ," contained in The Sketch Book (1820).

This author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century wrote newspaper articles under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle to begin his literary career at the age of nineteen years.

In 1809, he published The History of New York under his most popular public persona, Diedrich Knickerbocker.

Historical works of Irving include a five volume biography of George Washington (after whom he was named) as well as biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad, and several histories, dealing with subjects, such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra, of 15th-century Spain. John Tyler, president, appointed Irving to serve as the first Spanish speaking United States minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846.

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Introduction essay by Edward Wagenknecht - 4 Stars
Rip Van Winkle - 5 Stars
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - 5 Stars
The Adventure of My Uncle - 5 Stars
The Adventure of My Aunt - 3.5 Stars
The Bold Dragoon - 4 Stars
The Spectre Bridegroom - 4 Stars
Adventure of the German Student - 5 Stars
The Devil and Tom Walker - 5 Stars
Legend of the Arabian Astrologer - 4 Stars
Legend of Prince Ahmed Al Kamel; or, The Pilgrim of Love - 4.5 Stars
Legend of the Moor's Legacy - 4 Stars
Legend of the Rose of the Alhambra - 4 Stars
The Legend of the Enchanted Soldier - 3.5 Stars
Legend of Don Munio Sancho De Hinojosa - 5 Stars
The Legend of Two Discreet Statues - 4.5 Stars
Guests from Gibbet Island - 4.5 Stars

[Il lettore sul trespolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non mi ha convinto la prosa di Irving in particolare nell'introduzione dei personaggi in cui sembrava narrare un po' una lista della spesa ma mi ha comunque stupito positivamente nel ritmo e nell'introduzione del soprannaturale.
Il racconto piú bello (forse perché era il più inaspettato) per me è stato "L'avventura dello studente tedesco" ma anche "Il Diavolo e Tom Walker" e Sleepy Hollow sono bellissimi,c'è poco da dire.
Veramente una antologia da gustare,da godersi senza troppa fretta e magari lasciando passare un po' di tempo fra un racconto e l'altro facendo così sono sicuro che i prossimi lettori,arrivati alla fine, ne avranno un bel ricordo.

[Christy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read "Legend of Sleepy Hollow." It's a great story, but the writing is very old-fashioned. I don't think there are more than two lines of dialogue in the whole 40-page story. Hard to get through, and not worth reading more stories.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sixteen stories featuring fairies, ghosts and sorcerers, including iconic classics 'Rip Van Winkle' and 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'.

This book is heavily front-loaded in terms of quality of storytelling. The first two tales, mentioned above, are by far the most famous and the reason for that is that they are of considerably higher quality than the other stories on offer here.
There's a distinct step-down in the enjoyability of the tales after '...Sleepy Hollow' and it drops even further when you get to the string of tales set in Spain, where Irving's obvious infatuation with the country and its Moorish history far outstrips the quality of the tales he has to tell.

Honestly, the latter half of this book was a positive chore to try to get through, as we're given a series of trite and repetitive fables that lack any narrative flare.

That said, the wonderfully atmospheric nature of the earlier stories here can't be underestimated and Irving does a brilliant job of bringing to life the isolated (primarily Dutch) townships of the early years of the United States.

Overall, however, I would recommend seeking out 'Rip Van Winkle' and '...Sleepy Hollow' separately and leaving this particular collection on the shelf.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Jeff Hobbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rip Van Winkle --3
The legend of Sleepy Hollow --4
The adventure of my uncle --2
The adventure of my aunt --2
The bold dragoon --3
The specter bridegroom --3
The adventure of the German student --2
The Devil and Tom Walker --3
Legend of the Arabian astrologer --2
Legend of Prince Ahmed Al Kamel; or, the pilgrim of love --2
Legend of the Moor's legacy --3
Legend of the rose to the Alhambra --3
The legend of the enchanted soldier --3
Legend of Don Munio Sancho de Hinojosa --3
The legend of the two discreet statues --3
Guests from Gibbet Island--2
***
Governor Manco and the soldier--3
The stout gentleman--3
The wife --2