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65 Great Tales of the Supernatural
Contents:
11 • Ringing the Changes • (1955) • novelette by Robert Aickman
36 • My Adventure in Norfolk • (1924) • short story by A.J. Alan
42 • The Leaden Ring • (1904) • short story by Sabine Baring-Gould [as by S. Baring-Gould]
53 • The Bus-Conductor • (1906) • short story by E.F. Benson
60 • The Middle Toe of the Right Foot • (1890) • short story by Ambrose Bierce
67 • Little Boy Blue • (1964) • short story by Charles Birkin
79 • Keeping His Promise • (1906) • short story by Algernon Blackwood
91 • Kecksies • (1925) • short story by Marjorie Bowen
103 • Couching at the Door • (1933) • novelette by D.K. Broster
122 • Don't You Dare • (1968) • short story by John Burke
136 • The Hollow Man • (1933) • short story by Thomas Burke
147 • Browdean Farm • (1927) • short story by A.M. Burrage
158 • A Vindictive Woman • (1979) • short story by R. Chetwynd-Hayes
167 • The Ghoul • (1916) • short story by Sir Hugh Clifford
178 • The Horror Under Penmire • (1974) • short story by Adrian Cole
196 • The Upper Berth • (1885) • novelette by F. Marion Crawford
212 • The Engelmayer Puppets • (1979) • short story by Mary Danby
224 • The Signal-Man • (1875) • short story by Charles Dickens (variant of The Signalman 1866)
235 • The House of Balfother • (1963) • short story by William Croft Dickinson
245 • The Brown Hand • (1967) • short story by Arthur Conan Doyle (variant of The Story of the Brown Hand 1899) [as by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]
258 • The Phantom Coach • (1864) • short story by Amelia B. Edwards
269 • Don't Tell Cissie • (1974) • short story by Celia Fremlin
281 • The Horsehair Trunk • (1946) • short story by Davis Grubb
289 • Bobby • (1978) • short story by John Halkin
298 • Ghost of Honour • (1936) • short story by Pamela Hansford Johnson
305 • Monkshood Manor • (1954) • short story by L.P. Hartley
316 • The Ankardyne Pew • (1979) • short story by William Fryer Harvey [as by W.F. Harvey]
326 • Those Lights and Violins • (1979) • short story by Dorothy K. Haynes
337 • The Furnished Room • (1904) • short story by O. Henry
343 • The Whistling Room • [Carnacki (Hodgson)] • (1910) • short story by William Hope Hodgson
357 • Magic Man • (1976) • short story by Robert Holdstock [as by Robert P. Holdstock]
367 • The Shadow of a Shade • (1869) • short story by Tom Hood [as by Thomas Hood (I)]
380 • A Night at a Cottage ... • (1926) • short story by Richard Hughes
383 • South Sea Bubble • (1973) • short story by Hammond Innes
389 • The Spectre Bridegroom • (1819) • short story by Washington Irving
401 • The Monkey's Paw • (1902) • short story by W.W. Jacobs
410 • Lost Hearts • (1895) • short story by M.R. James
419 • Carnival on the Downs • (1955) • short story by Gerald Kersh
431 • The Mark of the Beast • (1890) • short story by Rudyard Kipling
442 • Minuke • (1949) • short story by Nigel Kneale
452 • An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street • (1931) • novelette by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu [as by J. Sheridan Le Fanu]
469 • For the Love of Pamela • (1974) • short story by Kay Leith
475 • The Moon-Bog • (1926) • short story by H.P. Lovecraft
482 • A Fair Lady • (1979) • short story by Catherine Gleason and Rita Morris [as by Roger Malisson]
495 • The Master of Blas Gwynedd • (1977) • short story by Joyce Marsh
502 • Who Knows? • (1910) • short story by Guy de Maupassant*trans. of Qui sait? (1890)
513 • The Apple Tree • (1952) • novelette by Daphne du Maurier
548 • John Charrington's Wedding • (1891) • short story by E. Nesbit
555 • Midnight Express • (1935) • short story by Alfred Noyes
560 • Mary • (1979) • short story by Rog Pile [as by Roger B. Pile]
575 • The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar • (1845) • short story by Edgar Allan Poe
583 • A Story of Don Juan • (1941) • short story by V.S. Pritchett
587 • The Open Window • (1911) • short story by Saki
590 • A Woman Seldom Found • (1956) • short story by William Sansom
593 • The Body Snatcher • (1884) • short story by Robert Louis Stevenson
608 • Travelling Light • (1979) • short story by Bernard Taylor
612 • The Deathly Silence • (1979) • short story by Rosemary Timperley
618 • A Ghost Story • (1875) • short story by Mark Twain
623 • Guest Room • (1976) • short story by Tim Vicary
634 • The Triumph of Death • (1949) • short story by H. Russell Wakefield
647 • Mrs. Lunt • (1926) • short story by Hugh Walpole
659 • The Hollies and the Ivy • (1975) • short story by Elizabeth Walter
667 • The Red Room • (1896) • short story by H.G. Wells
675 • All Souls' • (1937) • novelette by Edith Wharton
694 • The Case of the Long-Dead Lord • [Neils Orsen] • (1943) • short story by Dennis Wheatley
11 • Ringing the Changes • (1955) • novelette by Robert Aickman
36 • My Adventure in Norfolk • (1924) • short story by A.J. Alan
42 • The Leaden Ring • (1904) • short story by Sabine Baring-Gould [as by S. Baring-Gould]
53 • The Bus-Conductor • (1906) • short story by E.F. Benson
60 • The Middle Toe of the Right Foot • (1890) • short story by Ambrose Bierce
67 • Little Boy Blue • (1964) • short story by Charles Birkin
79 • Keeping His Promise • (1906) • short story by Algernon Blackwood
91 • Kecksies • (1925) • short story by Marjorie Bowen
103 • Couching at the Door • (1933) • novelette by D.K. Broster
122 • Don't You Dare • (1968) • short story by John Burke
136 • The Hollow Man • (1933) • short story by Thomas Burke
147 • Browdean Farm • (1927) • short story by A.M. Burrage
158 • A Vindictive Woman • (1979) • short story by R. Chetwynd-Hayes
167 • The Ghoul • (1916) • short story by Sir Hugh Clifford
178 • The Horror Under Penmire • (1974) • short story by Adrian Cole
196 • The Upper Berth • (1885) • novelette by F. Marion Crawford
212 • The Engelmayer Puppets • (1979) • short story by Mary Danby
224 • The Signal-Man • (1875) • short story by Charles Dickens (variant of The Signalman 1866)
235 • The House of Balfother • (1963) • short story by William Croft Dickinson
245 • The Brown Hand • (1967) • short story by Arthur Conan Doyle (variant of The Story of the Brown Hand 1899) [as by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]
258 • The Phantom Coach • (1864) • short story by Amelia B. Edwards
269 • Don't Tell Cissie • (1974) • short story by Celia Fremlin
281 • The Horsehair Trunk • (1946) • short story by Davis Grubb
289 • Bobby • (1978) • short story by John Halkin
298 • Ghost of Honour • (1936) • short story by Pamela Hansford Johnson
305 • Monkshood Manor • (1954) • short story by L.P. Hartley
316 • The Ankardyne Pew • (1979) • short story by William Fryer Harvey [as by W.F. Harvey]
326 • Those Lights and Violins • (1979) • short story by Dorothy K. Haynes
337 • The Furnished Room • (1904) • short story by O. Henry
343 • The Whistling Room • [Carnacki (Hodgson)] • (1910) • short story by William Hope Hodgson
357 • Magic Man • (1976) • short story by Robert Holdstock [as by Robert P. Holdstock]
367 • The Shadow of a Shade • (1869) • short story by Tom Hood [as by Thomas Hood (I)]
380 • A Night at a Cottage ... • (1926) • short story by Richard Hughes
383 • South Sea Bubble • (1973) • short story by Hammond Innes
389 • The Spectre Bridegroom • (1819) • short story by Washington Irving
401 • The Monkey's Paw • (1902) • short story by W.W. Jacobs
410 • Lost Hearts • (1895) • short story by M.R. James
419 • Carnival on the Downs • (1955) • short story by Gerald Kersh
431 • The Mark of the Beast • (1890) • short story by Rudyard Kipling
442 • Minuke • (1949) • short story by Nigel Kneale
452 • An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street • (1931) • novelette by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu [as by J. Sheridan Le Fanu]
469 • For the Love of Pamela • (1974) • short story by Kay Leith
475 • The Moon-Bog • (1926) • short story by H.P. Lovecraft
482 • A Fair Lady • (1979) • short story by Catherine Gleason and Rita Morris [as by Roger Malisson]
495 • The Master of Blas Gwynedd • (1977) • short story by Joyce Marsh
502 • Who Knows? • (1910) • short story by Guy de Maupassant*trans. of Qui sait? (1890)
513 • The Apple Tree • (1952) • novelette by Daphne du Maurier
548 • John Charrington's Wedding • (1891) • short story by E. Nesbit
555 • Midnight Express • (1935) • short story by Alfred Noyes
560 • Mary • (1979) • short story by Rog Pile [as by Roger B. Pile]
575 • The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar • (1845) • short story by Edgar Allan Poe
583 • A Story of Don Juan • (1941) • short story by V.S. Pritchett
587 • The Open Window • (1911) • short story by Saki
590 • A Woman Seldom Found • (1956) • short story by William Sansom
593 • The Body Snatcher • (1884) • short story by Robert Louis Stevenson
608 • Travelling Light • (1979) • short story by Bernard Taylor
612 • The Deathly Silence • (1979) • short story by Rosemary Timperley
618 • A Ghost Story • (1875) • short story by Mark Twain
623 • Guest Room • (1976) • short story by Tim Vicary
634 • The Triumph of Death • (1949) • short story by H. Russell Wakefield
647 • Mrs. Lunt • (1926) • short story by Hugh Walpole
659 • The Hollies and the Ivy • (1975) • short story by Elizabeth Walter
667 • The Red Room • (1896) • short story by H.G. Wells
675 • All Souls' • (1937) • novelette by Edith Wharton
694 • The Case of the Long-Dead Lord • [Neils Orsen] • (1943) • short story by Dennis Wheatley
704 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1979
4 people are currently reading
178 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 6, 2019
From the eerie and mysterious to the downright frightening, and some which require a lot of concentration, there are both classics and undiscovered gems here.
Ranging from the dark and Gothic to the spine chilling and eerie, some downright horrific and others sad and haunting.Some begin in a ghostly and eerie fashion, and in others you only realize there is a ghost or are ghosts at the end. Often the skeptical are rewarded with horrific experiences of proof of paranormal phenomena
A married couple spend the night in an strange village where church bells loudly contend with each other, and the sea coast is seemingly invisible, before being attacked at midnight by a large host of the undead and they are changed forever. A young woman's mind is destroyed by gunshots in her head after a jilted lover commits suicide. A little boy's seemingly imaginary friend leads him to his death in sand dunes by the sea, and a wealthy man's dead wife possesses the body of his second wife.
An obnoxious and spoiled young heir is killed and shrunken by a puppet theater he has defiled. Murderers are destroyed by their victim's spirits and people are driven out of houses and other abodes by all manner of ghosts and ghouls. In some cases the situation is resolved when the ghosts and spirits are given what they have sought.
Memorable and spine-chilling stories include Ringing the Changes by Robert Aickmann, The Middle Toe of the Right Foot by Ambrose Bierce, Browdean Farm by AM Burrage, The Brown Hand by Arthur Conan-Doyle, The Engelmeyer Puppets by Mary Danby, The Whistling room by William Hope Hodgson, A Fair Lady by Roger Malisson, The Apple Tree by Daphne de Maurier, Mary by Roger B Pile, A Ghost Story by Mark Twain, The Red Room by HG Wells.
Will definitely on the whole be a treat for lovers of ghost stories and tales of the paranormal, and should keep your mind busy while reading this digest of eerie and dark tales.
Ranging from the dark and Gothic to the spine chilling and eerie, some downright horrific and others sad and haunting.Some begin in a ghostly and eerie fashion, and in others you only realize there is a ghost or are ghosts at the end. Often the skeptical are rewarded with horrific experiences of proof of paranormal phenomena
A married couple spend the night in an strange village where church bells loudly contend with each other, and the sea coast is seemingly invisible, before being attacked at midnight by a large host of the undead and they are changed forever. A young woman's mind is destroyed by gunshots in her head after a jilted lover commits suicide. A little boy's seemingly imaginary friend leads him to his death in sand dunes by the sea, and a wealthy man's dead wife possesses the body of his second wife.
An obnoxious and spoiled young heir is killed and shrunken by a puppet theater he has defiled. Murderers are destroyed by their victim's spirits and people are driven out of houses and other abodes by all manner of ghosts and ghouls. In some cases the situation is resolved when the ghosts and spirits are given what they have sought.
Memorable and spine-chilling stories include Ringing the Changes by Robert Aickmann, The Middle Toe of the Right Foot by Ambrose Bierce, Browdean Farm by AM Burrage, The Brown Hand by Arthur Conan-Doyle, The Engelmeyer Puppets by Mary Danby, The Whistling room by William Hope Hodgson, A Fair Lady by Roger Malisson, The Apple Tree by Daphne de Maurier, Mary by Roger B Pile, A Ghost Story by Mark Twain, The Red Room by HG Wells.
Will definitely on the whole be a treat for lovers of ghost stories and tales of the paranormal, and should keep your mind busy while reading this digest of eerie and dark tales.
Want to read
November 27, 2022PLACEHOLDER REVIEWS
"Browdean Farm" by A.M. Burrage - An author and his friend lease a rural farmhouse for a suspiciously low price, that later proves to have been the site of a notorious, supposed murder. And, sure enough, they begin to experience odd noises and lurking figures. But, as the anniversary of the death approaches, they find themselves committed to seeing a climax to the events... There's something very satisfying about this very straightforward ghost story - the ghostly haunting "effects" are all just minor events (sounds, looming guy at the window) until the final, hideous reveal (the moment has a great build-up), which also ends up answering any questions we had beforehand ("hey, but why would...?") and even, in a nicely pragmatic ending, explains why we are reading the tale. Solid & nicely done.
"Mrs. Lunt" by Hugh Walpole - an author tells of his Christmas trip to meet Mr. Lunt (another author and a bit of a recluse) on the coast of Cornwall, at the latter's invitation. On arriving at the desolate, remote mansion he finds a nervous, pleading, pathetic man who seems to fear his wife, who died a year ago. The place itself seems haunted by the specter of a severe older woman who is only barely glimpsed - and eventually, Lunt confesses to his fear that his dead wife is attempting to exact revenge. This is not a bad - if somewhat familiar story - loaded with atmosphere (the cold carriage ride through the snowstorm from the train station, the pounding ocean, disagreeable smells in the house) before it follows its usual "revenge of the dead" plot. Notable most, to me at least, for two things. One is the fixation on companionship between Lunt and the narrator which (following the narrator's distaste at Lunt's physical embraces and Lunt's confession that he married his wife merely because that was what was done) could be read as merely the English upper-class distaste for shows of overt emotion, or something more. Secondly, the opening (in which our frame narrator introduces our author narrator) contains some rather pointed observations of the lives and personalities of "minor authors" - those who toil away in obscurity, ignored by the press and the public, knowing only that they may - long after their deaths - achieve some recognition. Which seems to apply to both our author narrator and Mr. Lunt (who is compared to the authorial type who writes a half-novel/half-poetry book like Walter de la Mare's The Return - which I've read and reviewed!).
"The Ankardyne Pew" by William Fryer Harvey - told as a series of diary entries and letters, we follow the Rev. Thomas Prendergast and friend, and their record of the occurrences in 1890 at Ankardyne House - and the titular "pew" (a separate sub-building of the Church - itself next to Ankardyne house - built long in the past so that the squire could have personal services). But Miss Ankardyne confides that there is something evil and haunting about the house, vague and indeterminate - which bothers her (and the Reverend's) sleep, so that he sends her away and calls a friend, who seems to have knowledge of the supernatural, to visit...
While in many ways this feels like a standard M.R. James British Antiquarian Ghost Story (an old chiseled inscription proves to have been changed after the fact, the eerie night-cry of a strange bird), there are some modern flourishes (the House and Chapel are described early as looking like "a wicked uncle, setting off for a walk in the woods with one of the babes" which seems strikingly modern in its language and implication) and a willingness to "cut to the chase," as it were - revealing a wicked ancestor and his hideous actions (and death) in the past. Solid.
"Browdean Farm" by A.M. Burrage - An author and his friend lease a rural farmhouse for a suspiciously low price, that later proves to have been the site of a notorious, supposed murder. And, sure enough, they begin to experience odd noises and lurking figures. But, as the anniversary of the death approaches, they find themselves committed to seeing a climax to the events... There's something very satisfying about this very straightforward ghost story - the ghostly haunting "effects" are all just minor events (sounds, looming guy at the window) until the final, hideous reveal (the moment has a great build-up), which also ends up answering any questions we had beforehand ("hey, but why would...?") and even, in a nicely pragmatic ending, explains why we are reading the tale. Solid & nicely done.
"Mrs. Lunt" by Hugh Walpole - an author tells of his Christmas trip to meet Mr. Lunt (another author and a bit of a recluse) on the coast of Cornwall, at the latter's invitation. On arriving at the desolate, remote mansion he finds a nervous, pleading, pathetic man who seems to fear his wife, who died a year ago. The place itself seems haunted by the specter of a severe older woman who is only barely glimpsed - and eventually, Lunt confesses to his fear that his dead wife is attempting to exact revenge. This is not a bad - if somewhat familiar story - loaded with atmosphere (the cold carriage ride through the snowstorm from the train station, the pounding ocean, disagreeable smells in the house) before it follows its usual "revenge of the dead" plot. Notable most, to me at least, for two things. One is the fixation on companionship between Lunt and the narrator which (following the narrator's distaste at Lunt's physical embraces and Lunt's confession that he married his wife merely because that was what was done) could be read as merely the English upper-class distaste for shows of overt emotion, or something more. Secondly, the opening (in which our frame narrator introduces our author narrator) contains some rather pointed observations of the lives and personalities of "minor authors" - those who toil away in obscurity, ignored by the press and the public, knowing only that they may - long after their deaths - achieve some recognition. Which seems to apply to both our author narrator and Mr. Lunt (who is compared to the authorial type who writes a half-novel/half-poetry book like Walter de la Mare's The Return - which I've read and reviewed!).
"The Ankardyne Pew" by William Fryer Harvey - told as a series of diary entries and letters, we follow the Rev. Thomas Prendergast and friend, and their record of the occurrences in 1890 at Ankardyne House - and the titular "pew" (a separate sub-building of the Church - itself next to Ankardyne house - built long in the past so that the squire could have personal services). But Miss Ankardyne confides that there is something evil and haunting about the house, vague and indeterminate - which bothers her (and the Reverend's) sleep, so that he sends her away and calls a friend, who seems to have knowledge of the supernatural, to visit...
While in many ways this feels like a standard M.R. James British Antiquarian Ghost Story (an old chiseled inscription proves to have been changed after the fact, the eerie night-cry of a strange bird), there are some modern flourishes (the House and Chapel are described early as looking like "a wicked uncle, setting off for a walk in the woods with one of the babes" which seems strikingly modern in its language and implication) and a willingness to "cut to the chase," as it were - revealing a wicked ancestor and his hideous actions (and death) in the past. Solid.
November 18, 2012
Another collection of stories that I've read - but ages ago and October is a good time for a reread. Another great purchase from a used bookstore. Most of these stories are often used in other anthologies, but there are only a few I'll skip or skim. (Like The Monkey's Paw - I really think I've read that enough in my lifetime at this point. But ones like The Upper Berth I can always read again.) No introduction - just the contents and the stories. (I always wonder how they were chosen if there's no information about that. Because I'm one of those people that always has to read introductions in hope of some fun bit of trivia or personal story.) Here and there you can tell that there's been a lack of editing - a wrong letter or wrong word used, nothing horrific, but it does happen at least every other story a time or two.
Still, there are lots of great story choices. For the amount of stories and their quality this is a great buy if you can hunt down a copy. Mine was about $5, and I really can't quibble with that.
You really can't say much about short stories - too risky for spoilers.
[*** is for myself, so I remember a particular one]
Contents:
Robert Aickman - Ringing the Changes
[Extremely creepy, don't know how I forgot about this one.]
A. J. Alan - My Adventure in Norfolk
[Ah ha, I wondered where this one was hiding. Has the car breakdown scenario I once had a conversation/questions about - the "do not add snow to empty radiator" issue.]***
S. Baring-Gould - The Leaden Ring
[Really need to read the Baring-Gould that are free on internet, I do like what I've read so far]
E. F. Benson - The Bus Conductor
[Very familiar to a "real life" story that wasn't really, I think I once blogged about it, urban legend, must research later. ...Here we go, see this review, under How He Left the Hotel by Louisa Baldwin - not the same story exactly, but similarities.]
Ambrose Bierce - The Middle Toe of the Right Foot
[Memorable, had to reread even though I remembered it. And it was better than I remembered.]
Charles Birkin - Little Boy Blue
[Sad, but then child ghosts do that to me]
Algernon Blackwood - Keeping His Promise
[Another one in many anthologies, for a reason]
Marjorie Bowen - Kecksies
[Very creepy, high marks, look up more by author]
D. K. Broster - Couching at the Door
[Another one I'd give high marks, intended to look up more by author]
John Burke - Don't You Dare
[Evil wife, a nasty piece of work. But then not just her...]
Thomas Burke - The Hollow Man
A. M. Burrage - Browdean Farm
[Haunted rental house]
R. Chetwynd-Hayes - A Vindictive Woman
[Grim, very creepy, high marks]
Hugh Crawford - The Ghoul
[Didn't remember this one. Annoying scientist alert.]
Adrian Cole - The Horror Under Penmire
[Had many Lovecraft was here" moments for me]
F. Marion Crawford - The Upper Berth
[Haunting on a ship. Still excellent.]
Mary Danby - The Engelmayer Puppets
[It's always satisfying when you hate the victim - deserving/evil victim!]
Charles Dickens - The Signal-Man
[Haunting at the railway.]
William Croft Dickinson - The House of Balfother
[Didn't remember this one. Tapers off unsatisfying way at end]
Arthur Conan Doyle - The Brown Hand
[Facepalm over "wrong hand" part.]
Amelia B. Edwards - The Phantom Coach
[Much anthologized, and worth it. Good old fashioned tale]
Celia Fremlin - Don't Tell Cissie
[Everyone knows a Cissy.]
Davis Grubb - The Horsehair Trunk
[Another ominous trunk in ghost story! Oddly trunk isn't as vital as ones in other stories like Hand in Glove (Elizabeth Bowen) or The Romance of Certain Old Clothes (Henry James)]
John Halkin - Bobby
[Car accident, more modern feel than most, very creepy]
Pamela Hansford-Johnson - Ghost of Honour
L. P. Hartley - Monkshood Manor
[House party weekend with ghost]
W. F. Harvey - The Ankardyne Pew
[Didn't remember this one. Nice vagueness in what was going on.]
Dorothy K. Haynes - Those Lights and Violins
[Very good, creepy description of hotel on the rock. Must check out more by author]
O. Henry - The Furnished Room
[Search for missing loved one ends in disappointment. Sort of.]
William Hope Hodgson - The Whistling Room
[Ghost detective. Slooooow to end itself.]
Robert Holdstock - Magic Man
[Here's a different setting - cave painter and tribe.]
Tom Hood - The Shadow of a Shade
[A woman's fiance travels to the North Pole on expedition, with a shipmate who is a bit too fond of the man's intended.]
Richard Hughes - A Night at a Cottage
[Insanely short, like just over a page]
Hammond Innes - South Sea Bubble
[Why it's a bad idea to buy really, oddly inexpensive boats.]
Washington Irving - The Spectre Bridegroom
[Melodrama, mildly amusing]
W. W. Jacobs - The Monkey's Paw
[In many anthologies]
M. R. James - Lost Hearts
[One of James' more bloody ones, but it's James so the gore is plot important.]
Gerald Kersh - Carnival on the Downs
[I am so slow, I completely didn't see the ghosts - well, where they ended up coming into the story. ...And can't really say more than that.]
Rudyard Kipling - The Mark of the Beast
[Much anthologized]
Nigel Kneale - Minuke
[I should make a list of "reluctant real estate agent" stories. This one is particularly good. ...Ah ha! This is the Kneale who wrote the Quatermass books that I've been meaning to read! Explains why this story reads very cinematic - unless there actually has been a movie made of it and I can't place it.] ***
J. Sheridan LeFanu - An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street
[More people should chat with their housekeeper/cleaning lady before deciding which room to sleep in. This seems to happen often, so just making a note of that.]
Key Leith - For the Love of Pamela
[Another house that has it in for the tenants - especially female tenants.]
H. P. Lovecraft - The Moon-Bog
[I do have a soft spot for Lovecraft and his male narrators who faint.]
Roger Malisson - A Fair Lady
[Not so innocent country town. Was a movie made of this? Feels so familiar.]
Joyce Marsh - The Master of Blas Gwynedd
[Dog story, but well told - I do like a conversational narrator]
Guy de Maupassant - Who Knows?
[Note to self - this is the de Maupassant story you could never remember the name of, and possibly didn't recognize in the collected stories because of a different translator. For everyone else - this story of...mental issues shall we say, is even more disturbing when you read the author's biography. There, now it's even creepier, isn't it?!] ***
Daphne du Maurier - The Apple Tree
[Older, unhappy couple, neither of them very nice]
E. Nesbit - John Charrington's Wedding
[Much anthologized, always find that the story seems particularly unfair for the bride.]
Alfred Noyles - Midnight Express
[Circular story, about an odd book. Book stories usually interest me - this one, somehow not so much.]
Roger B. Pile - Mary
[Parents and child story - sad]
Edgar Allen Poe - The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
[Another highly anthologized, mesmerism and the dead]
V. S. Pritchett - A Story of Don Juan
[Much anthologized. Oddly have never looked up more by author, should check on that]
Saki - The Open Window
[Read back in high school English lit. Insanely short and for the amount of text, a lot is described.]
William Samsom - A Woman Seldom Found
Robert Louis Stevenson - The Body-Snatcher
[Another highly anthologized, but still really damn creepy]
Bernard Taylor - Travelling Light
Rosemary Timperley - The Deathly Silence
Mark Twain - A Ghost Story
[Famous ghost story with the Twain humor. Helps to know this history. Now wondering where I first heard of that history, I know I have some sort of history and hoaxes book somewhere, maybe on P. T. Barnum?]
Tim Vicary - Guest Room
[So damn sad, and outside of setting that claims it for particular time period. Dammit book, you're supposed to creep me out not make me cry.]
H. Russell Wakefield - The Triumph of Death
[Excellent and can't remember reading it before. Also sad, in a way, but high level of creep.]
Hugh Walpole - Mrs. Lunt
[Creepy, and about bookish sorts of folk, for which I give it extra points.]
Elizabeth Walter - The Hollies and the Ivy
[More things to consider if renovating an old house.]
H. G. Wells - The Red Room
[A ghost story, yet not a ghost story.]
Edith Wharton - All Souls
[Very good up until the end, when there's a little bit too much explanation. Which doesn't really explain it, but still. Not the best end Wharton has done.]
Dennis Wheatley - The Case of the Long-Dead Lord
[Psychic Holmes and Watson]
Still, there are lots of great story choices. For the amount of stories and their quality this is a great buy if you can hunt down a copy. Mine was about $5, and I really can't quibble with that.
You really can't say much about short stories - too risky for spoilers.
[*** is for myself, so I remember a particular one]
Contents:
Robert Aickman - Ringing the Changes
[Extremely creepy, don't know how I forgot about this one.]
A. J. Alan - My Adventure in Norfolk
[Ah ha, I wondered where this one was hiding. Has the car breakdown scenario I once had a conversation/questions about - the "do not add snow to empty radiator" issue.]***
S. Baring-Gould - The Leaden Ring
[Really need to read the Baring-Gould that are free on internet, I do like what I've read so far]
E. F. Benson - The Bus Conductor
[Very familiar to a "real life" story that wasn't really, I think I once blogged about it, urban legend, must research later. ...Here we go, see this review, under How He Left the Hotel by Louisa Baldwin - not the same story exactly, but similarities.]
Ambrose Bierce - The Middle Toe of the Right Foot
[Memorable, had to reread even though I remembered it. And it was better than I remembered.]
Charles Birkin - Little Boy Blue
[Sad, but then child ghosts do that to me]
Algernon Blackwood - Keeping His Promise
[Another one in many anthologies, for a reason]
Marjorie Bowen - Kecksies
[Very creepy, high marks, look up more by author]
D. K. Broster - Couching at the Door
[Another one I'd give high marks, intended to look up more by author]
John Burke - Don't You Dare
[Evil wife, a nasty piece of work. But then not just her...]
Thomas Burke - The Hollow Man
A. M. Burrage - Browdean Farm
[Haunted rental house]
R. Chetwynd-Hayes - A Vindictive Woman
[Grim, very creepy, high marks]
Hugh Crawford - The Ghoul
[Didn't remember this one. Annoying scientist alert.]
Adrian Cole - The Horror Under Penmire
[Had many Lovecraft was here" moments for me]
F. Marion Crawford - The Upper Berth
[Haunting on a ship. Still excellent.]
Mary Danby - The Engelmayer Puppets
[It's always satisfying when you hate the victim - deserving/evil victim!]
Charles Dickens - The Signal-Man
[Haunting at the railway.]
William Croft Dickinson - The House of Balfother
[Didn't remember this one. Tapers off unsatisfying way at end]
Arthur Conan Doyle - The Brown Hand
[Facepalm over "wrong hand" part.]
Amelia B. Edwards - The Phantom Coach
[Much anthologized, and worth it. Good old fashioned tale]
Celia Fremlin - Don't Tell Cissie
[Everyone knows a Cissy.]
Davis Grubb - The Horsehair Trunk
[Another ominous trunk in ghost story! Oddly trunk isn't as vital as ones in other stories like Hand in Glove (Elizabeth Bowen) or The Romance of Certain Old Clothes (Henry James)]
John Halkin - Bobby
[Car accident, more modern feel than most, very creepy]
Pamela Hansford-Johnson - Ghost of Honour
L. P. Hartley - Monkshood Manor
[House party weekend with ghost]
W. F. Harvey - The Ankardyne Pew
[Didn't remember this one. Nice vagueness in what was going on.]
Dorothy K. Haynes - Those Lights and Violins
[Very good, creepy description of hotel on the rock. Must check out more by author]
O. Henry - The Furnished Room
[Search for missing loved one ends in disappointment. Sort of.]
William Hope Hodgson - The Whistling Room
[Ghost detective. Slooooow to end itself.]
Robert Holdstock - Magic Man
[Here's a different setting - cave painter and tribe.]
Tom Hood - The Shadow of a Shade
[A woman's fiance travels to the North Pole on expedition, with a shipmate who is a bit too fond of the man's intended.]
Richard Hughes - A Night at a Cottage
[Insanely short, like just over a page]
Hammond Innes - South Sea Bubble
[Why it's a bad idea to buy really, oddly inexpensive boats.]
Washington Irving - The Spectre Bridegroom
[Melodrama, mildly amusing]
W. W. Jacobs - The Monkey's Paw
[In many anthologies]
M. R. James - Lost Hearts
[One of James' more bloody ones, but it's James so the gore is plot important.]
Gerald Kersh - Carnival on the Downs
[I am so slow, I completely didn't see the ghosts - well, where they ended up coming into the story. ...And can't really say more than that.]
Rudyard Kipling - The Mark of the Beast
[Much anthologized]
Nigel Kneale - Minuke
[I should make a list of "reluctant real estate agent" stories. This one is particularly good. ...Ah ha! This is the Kneale who wrote the Quatermass books that I've been meaning to read! Explains why this story reads very cinematic - unless there actually has been a movie made of it and I can't place it.] ***
J. Sheridan LeFanu - An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street
[More people should chat with their housekeeper/cleaning lady before deciding which room to sleep in. This seems to happen often, so just making a note of that.]
Key Leith - For the Love of Pamela
[Another house that has it in for the tenants - especially female tenants.]
H. P. Lovecraft - The Moon-Bog
[I do have a soft spot for Lovecraft and his male narrators who faint.]
Roger Malisson - A Fair Lady
[Not so innocent country town. Was a movie made of this? Feels so familiar.]
Joyce Marsh - The Master of Blas Gwynedd
[Dog story, but well told - I do like a conversational narrator]
Guy de Maupassant - Who Knows?
[Note to self - this is the de Maupassant story you could never remember the name of, and possibly didn't recognize in the collected stories because of a different translator. For everyone else - this story of...mental issues shall we say, is even more disturbing when you read the author's biography. There, now it's even creepier, isn't it?!] ***
Daphne du Maurier - The Apple Tree
[Older, unhappy couple, neither of them very nice]
E. Nesbit - John Charrington's Wedding
[Much anthologized, always find that the story seems particularly unfair for the bride.]
Alfred Noyles - Midnight Express
[Circular story, about an odd book. Book stories usually interest me - this one, somehow not so much.]
Roger B. Pile - Mary
[Parents and child story - sad]
Edgar Allen Poe - The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
[Another highly anthologized, mesmerism and the dead]
V. S. Pritchett - A Story of Don Juan
[Much anthologized. Oddly have never looked up more by author, should check on that]
Saki - The Open Window
[Read back in high school English lit. Insanely short and for the amount of text, a lot is described.]
William Samsom - A Woman Seldom Found
Robert Louis Stevenson - The Body-Snatcher
[Another highly anthologized, but still really damn creepy]
Bernard Taylor - Travelling Light
Rosemary Timperley - The Deathly Silence
Mark Twain - A Ghost Story
[Famous ghost story with the Twain humor. Helps to know this history. Now wondering where I first heard of that history, I know I have some sort of history and hoaxes book somewhere, maybe on P. T. Barnum?]
Tim Vicary - Guest Room
[So damn sad, and outside of setting that claims it for particular time period. Dammit book, you're supposed to creep me out not make me cry.]
H. Russell Wakefield - The Triumph of Death
[Excellent and can't remember reading it before. Also sad, in a way, but high level of creep.]
Hugh Walpole - Mrs. Lunt
[Creepy, and about bookish sorts of folk, for which I give it extra points.]
Elizabeth Walter - The Hollies and the Ivy
[More things to consider if renovating an old house.]
H. G. Wells - The Red Room
[A ghost story, yet not a ghost story.]
Edith Wharton - All Souls
[Very good up until the end, when there's a little bit too much explanation. Which doesn't really explain it, but still. Not the best end Wharton has done.]
Dennis Wheatley - The Case of the Long-Dead Lord
[Psychic Holmes and Watson]
June 22, 2019
Mary Danby edited quite a few such books back in the 70s and 80s and her name on the cover was generally a good indicator of the quality of the content. Such is the case here. This thick 704 page tome has an incredibly high hit rate of good to excellent stories - looking at my scoring system (yes, I have a 10 point marking system for all the short stories I've read!), I've counted 30 that I've given 7 or more to; 21 receive the perfectly fine score of 6; thus making only 14 duds!
My 5 top stories are Chetwynd-Hayes's 'A Vindictive Woman' - typical of the author in that it mixes atmospheric horror and humour; F.Marion Crawford's 'The Upper Birth' - much anthologised, but that's for a good reason given that it's an exceptionally well written atmospheric tale; L.P.Hartley's 'Monkshood Manor' - a man stays in the house of someone who has a dread that it will one day be engulfed in flames makes for compulsive reading; Guy de Maupassant's 'Who Knows?' - a bizarre story in which a man sees his furniture march from his house; and finally Roger B.Pile's 'Mary' - an atmospheric tale of a strange little girl living in a summer house.
This can be picked up cheaply online and is well worth the purchase. I've just ordered Mary Danby's '65 Great Tales Of Horror' and '65 Great Spine Chillers.' Give me a year or two to get through those...
My 5 top stories are Chetwynd-Hayes's 'A Vindictive Woman' - typical of the author in that it mixes atmospheric horror and humour; F.Marion Crawford's 'The Upper Birth' - much anthologised, but that's for a good reason given that it's an exceptionally well written atmospheric tale; L.P.Hartley's 'Monkshood Manor' - a man stays in the house of someone who has a dread that it will one day be engulfed in flames makes for compulsive reading; Guy de Maupassant's 'Who Knows?' - a bizarre story in which a man sees his furniture march from his house; and finally Roger B.Pile's 'Mary' - an atmospheric tale of a strange little girl living in a summer house.
This can be picked up cheaply online and is well worth the purchase. I've just ordered Mary Danby's '65 Great Tales Of Horror' and '65 Great Spine Chillers.' Give me a year or two to get through those...
February 24, 2020
First published in 1979, '65 Great Tales of the Supernatural' is very impressive anthology of short stories originally published over a range of dates from the mid-19th century up to the year of publication. The types of tales that you have here means that there are a lot of ghost stories with broadly similar plots - compared to the older turn of the century items, the newer tales use many of the same devices but with a change in fixtures and fittings. Notable exceptions to tales with plot similarities are great stories by Robert Holdstock, Washington Irving and Mark Twain. All of the stories were very short. Irrespective, I enjoyed them all.
July 18, 2022
One of the best compilations of short stories. Generally, in a volume of so many stories a lot of them turn out to be duds, but in this one there were less than 10% of the stories that failed. Overall quite a bit of variety and perspective, from really short stories of a few pages to small novella size.
Highly recommend.
Highly recommend.
Want to read
September 27, 2025Read so far:
Ringing the changes / Robert Aickman --
My adventure in Norfolk / A.J. Alan --3
The leaden ring / Sabine Baring-Gould --3
The bus conductor / E.F. Benson --2
The middle toe of the right foot / Ambrose Bierce --3
Little boy blue / Charles Birkin --
Keeping his promise / Algernon Blackwood --2
Kecksies / Marjorie Bowen --3
Couching at the door / D.K. Broster --3
Don't you dare / John Burke --
The hollow man / Thomas Burke --3
*Browdean Farm / A.M. Burrage --
A vindictive woman / R. Chetwynd-Hayes --
The ghoul / Hugh Clifford --
The horror under Penmire / Adrian Cole --
The upper berth / F. Marion Crawford --2
The Engelmayer puppets / Mary Danby --
The signal-man / Charles Dickens --3
The house of Balfother / William Croft Dickinson --
The brown hand / Arthur Conan Doyle --3
The phantom coach / Amelia B. Edwards --3
Don't tell Cissie / Celia Fremlin --3
The horsehair trunk / Davis Grubb --
Bobby / John Halkin --
Ghost of honour / Pamela Hansford-Johnson --3
*Monkshood Manor / L.P. Hartley --
The Ankardyne pew / W.F. Harvey --3
Those lights and violins / Dorothy K. Haynes --
The furnished room / O. Henry --2
The whistling room / William Hope Hodgson --1
Magic man / Robert Holdstock --
The shadow of a shade / Tom Hood --3
*A night at a cottage / Richard Hughes --
South Sea bubble / Hammond Innes --
The spectre bridegroom / Washington Irving --3
The monkey's paw / W.W. Jacobs --3
Lost hearts / M.R. James --2
Carnival on the downs / Gerald Kersh --
The mark of the beast / Rudyard Kipling --3
Minuke / Nigel Kneale --
*An account of some strange disturbances in Aungier Street / J. Sheridan Le Fanu --
For the love of Pamela / Kay Leith --
*The moon-bog / H.P. Lovecraft --
A fair lady / Roger Malisson --
The master of Blas Gwynedd / Joyce Marsh --
*Who knows! / Guy de Maupassant --
The apple tree / Daphne Du Maurier --2
John Charrington's wedding / E. Nesbit --2
Midnight express / Alfred Noyes --
Mary / Roger B. Pile --
The facts in the case of M. Valdemar / Edgar Allan Poe --3
*A story of Don Juan / V.S. Pritchett --
The open window / Saki --3
A woman seldom found / William Sansom--2
Ringing the changes / Robert Aickman --
My adventure in Norfolk / A.J. Alan --3
The leaden ring / Sabine Baring-Gould --3
The bus conductor / E.F. Benson --2
The middle toe of the right foot / Ambrose Bierce --3
Little boy blue / Charles Birkin --
Keeping his promise / Algernon Blackwood --2
Kecksies / Marjorie Bowen --3
Couching at the door / D.K. Broster --3
Don't you dare / John Burke --
The hollow man / Thomas Burke --3
*Browdean Farm / A.M. Burrage --
A vindictive woman / R. Chetwynd-Hayes --
The ghoul / Hugh Clifford --
The horror under Penmire / Adrian Cole --
The upper berth / F. Marion Crawford --2
The Engelmayer puppets / Mary Danby --
The signal-man / Charles Dickens --3
The house of Balfother / William Croft Dickinson --
The brown hand / Arthur Conan Doyle --3
The phantom coach / Amelia B. Edwards --3
Don't tell Cissie / Celia Fremlin --3
The horsehair trunk / Davis Grubb --
Bobby / John Halkin --
Ghost of honour / Pamela Hansford-Johnson --3
*Monkshood Manor / L.P. Hartley --
The Ankardyne pew / W.F. Harvey --3
Those lights and violins / Dorothy K. Haynes --
The furnished room / O. Henry --2
The whistling room / William Hope Hodgson --1
Magic man / Robert Holdstock --
The shadow of a shade / Tom Hood --3
*A night at a cottage / Richard Hughes --
South Sea bubble / Hammond Innes --
The spectre bridegroom / Washington Irving --3
The monkey's paw / W.W. Jacobs --3
Lost hearts / M.R. James --2
Carnival on the downs / Gerald Kersh --
The mark of the beast / Rudyard Kipling --3
Minuke / Nigel Kneale --
*An account of some strange disturbances in Aungier Street / J. Sheridan Le Fanu --
For the love of Pamela / Kay Leith --
*The moon-bog / H.P. Lovecraft --
A fair lady / Roger Malisson --
The master of Blas Gwynedd / Joyce Marsh --
*Who knows! / Guy de Maupassant --
The apple tree / Daphne Du Maurier --2
John Charrington's wedding / E. Nesbit --2
Midnight express / Alfred Noyes --
Mary / Roger B. Pile --
The facts in the case of M. Valdemar / Edgar Allan Poe --3
*A story of Don Juan / V.S. Pritchett --
The open window / Saki --3
A woman seldom found / William Sansom--2
November 27, 2013
This is a good collection of the older classics and more modern ghost stories available at the end of the 1970's. I picked this up from a free bookshop and I'm glad I did.
I always like reading ghost and horror stories around this time of year due to the nights drawing in early and being able to be warm in bed or by a fire when it's cold outside.
There is a real mixture here and I think I enjoyed the classics more than the more modern tales but none the less all were solidly written, although some of the styles I really didn't enjoy.
For an anthology it is very good for grabbing yourself a drink and sitting in bed while the wind howls outside.
I always like reading ghost and horror stories around this time of year due to the nights drawing in early and being able to be warm in bed or by a fire when it's cold outside.
There is a real mixture here and I think I enjoyed the classics more than the more modern tales but none the less all were solidly written, although some of the styles I really didn't enjoy.
For an anthology it is very good for grabbing yourself a drink and sitting in bed while the wind howls outside.
October 3, 2022
Superb collection of classic and not so classic strange stories. Includes some oft anthologized tales such as The Monkey's Paw (always worth a read) and Saki ' The Open Window' and some that I had not come across before 'The Hollies and the Ivy' by Elizabeth Walter and 'The Triumph of Death' from H Russell Wakefield.
It is always a good thing to have an anthology on the go. Not sure if this is still available (probably not) but worth it if you can find second-hand (pre-loved :))
It is always a good thing to have an anthology on the go. Not sure if this is still available (probably not) but worth it if you can find second-hand (pre-loved :))
April 30, 2013
Given this sometime in the early eighties as a present, kept me awake at night for years, still have it and get shivers down my spine just thinking of some of the stories.
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