Ghosts: A Haunting Treasury of 40 Chilling Tales

by Marvin Kaye (Editor), Saralee Kaye (Editor), Nigel Kneale (Contributor)

Contents:

"Minuke" - Nigel Kneale
The Wind in the Rose-bush - Mary Wilkins-Freeman
Legal Rites - Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl
Smee - A.M. Burrage
Thurlow's Christmas Story - John Kendrick Bangs
The Ghost, the Gallant, the Gael and the Goblin - W.S. Gilbert
Who Rides with Santa Anna? - Edward D. Hoch
The Phantom Hag - Attributed to Guy de Maupassant
The Tale of the German Student - Washington Irving
The Ensouled Violin - Helena Blavatsky
Doorslammer - Donald A. Wollheim
The Red Room - H.G. Wells
The Monk of Horror - Anonymous
Mr. Justice Harbottle - Sheridan Le Fanu
The Flying Dutchman - Traditional
The Parlor-Car Ghost - Anonymous
The Woman's Ghost Story - Algernon Blackwood
Miss Jeromette and the Clergyman - Wilkie Collins
The Phantom Woman - Anonymous
The Spectre Bride - Anonymous
The Midnight Embrace - M.G. Lewis
The Philosophy of Relative Existences - Frank R. Stockton
The Doll's Ghost - F. Marion Crawford
Four Ghosts in Hamlet - Fritz Leiber
The Old Mansion - Anonymous
The Dead Woman's Photograph - Anonymous
Untitled ghost story - E.T. Hoffmann
The Castle of the King - Bram Stoker
The Canterville Ghost - Oscar Wilde
A Suffolk Miracle - Traditional
Father Stein's Tale - Robert Hugh Benson
The Old Nurse's Story - Elizabeth Gaskell
The Body Snatcher - Robert Louis Stevenson
The Ghostly Rental - Henry James
The Phantom Regiment - James Grant
The Tale of the Bagman's Uncle - Charles Dickens
The North Mail - Amelia B. Edwards
"The Penhale Broadcast" - Jack Snow
Staley Fleming's Hallucination - Ambrose Bierce
The Ghost of the Count - Anonymous

Genres: Horror, Short Stories

510 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1993

About the author

Marvin Nathan Kaye was an American mystery, fantasy, science fiction, horror author, anthologist, and editor. He was also a magician and theater actor. Kaye was a World Fantasy Award winner and served as co-publisher and editor of Weird Tales Magazine.

Reviews

[Mitch Duckworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one treasury that is indeed, a treasure. We're talking some of the very best stories within the genre, and a sprinkling of some of the very best in any genre. For me, this anthology is a high water mark that—twenty years later—has only rarely been bested. It will continue to wear well and remain a volume to keep on your shelf for those special nights when only a ghost story fits the bill, and only the best will do . . .

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.9⭐

Warning to the Reader • (1981) • essay by Marvin Kay ✔
Introduction "Why Are Ghosts Coming Back to Life?" • (1981) • Marvin Kaye 4.25⭐
A Prologue of Last Words • (1981) • essay by Marvin Kaye 5⭐
Minuke • (1949) • Nigel Kneale 4.25⭐
The Wind in the Rose-Bush • Mary E. Wilkins Freeman 4⭐
Legal Rites • (1950) • Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl 5⭐
Smee • (1929) • A. M. Burrage [as by Ex-Private X] 3.5⭐
Thurlow's Christmas Story • (1894) • John Kendrick Bangs 5⭐
The Ghost, the Gallant, the Gael, and the Goblin • (1868 poem) • W. S. Gilbert 4⭐

A Quartet of Strange Things • (1981) • Bernhardt J. Hurwood:
I. The Corpse at the Inn from the Liao Chai of Pu Sung Ling 3.5⭐
II. The Vampire of Croglin Grange 3.5⭐
III. The Old Man in Yellow 3.25⭐
IV. The Glowing Maggot of Doom 3.5⭐

The Lady of Finnigan's Hearth • (1977) • Parke Godwin 4⭐
The Phantom Hag • (1904) • uncredited [as by Guy de Maupassant] 3.5⭐
The Ghost of the Capuchins • (1919) • Eugène Montfort 4⭐
Who Rides with Santa Anna? • (1959) • Edward D. Hoch 3.5⭐
Jane • (1981) • Barbara Gallow 3.5⭐
The Tale of the German Student • [Strange Stories by a Nervous Gentleman] • Washington Irving (variant of The Adventure of the German Student 1824) 5⭐
The Hounds of Hell • (1920 poem) • John Masefield 3.75⭐
Doorslammer • (1963) • Donald A. Wollheim 4.25⭐
The Ensouled Violin • (1892) • Helena P. Blavatsky 5⭐
The Monk of Horror or The Conclave of Corpses • Joseph Snowe (variant of The Conclave of Corses 1839) [as by Anonymous] 3⭐
Mr. Justice Harbottle • [Martin Hesselius] • (1872) • Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 4.25⭐
The Flying Dutchman • (1981 poem) • Traditional 4⭐
The Parlor-Car Ghost • (1981) • A Lady (1849-1926) [as by Anonymous] 3⭐
The Red Room • (1896) • H. G. Wells 5⭐
A Gathering of Ghosts • [Ebenezum] • (1981) • Craig Shaw Gardner 3.5⭐
The Woman's Ghost Story • (1907) • Algernon Blackwood 4⭐
Miss Jéromette and the Clergyman • (1875) • Wilkie Collins 4⭐
The Phantom Woman • (1904) • by Anonymous 3.5⭐
The Spectre Bride • (1904) • Elia W. Peattie (variant of On the Northern Ice 1898) 4⭐
The Midnight Embrace • (1796) • Matthew Gregory Lewis 3⭐
The Philosophy of Relative Existences • (1892) • Frank R. Stockton 4⭐
21 Main Street No. • Z. Z. Jeromm 2.5⭐
Four Ghosts in Hamlet • (1965) • Fritz Leiber 5⭐
The Ghost of Sailboat Fred • (1981 poem) • Saralee Kaye [as by Saralee Terry] 3⭐
The Fisherman's Story • (1981) • Anatole Le Braz (trans. of L'aventure du pilote 1889) [as by Faith Lancereau and Anatole Le Braz] 4.25⭐
The Old Mansion • (1904) • A Sportsman 3⭐
The Haunting of Y-12 • (1981) • Al Sarrantonio 3⭐
The Ghostly Rental • (1876) • Henry James 5⭐
Untitled Ghost Story (Prologue to "Automata") • E. T. A. Hoffmann (trans. of Eine Spukgeschichte 1819) 3.25⭐
The Doll's Ghost • (1896) • F. Marion Crawford 4.25⭐
Staley Fleming's Hallucination • (1906) • Ambrose Bierce 4⭐
The Dead Woman's Photograph • (1904) • Elia W. Peattie (variant of Story of an Obstinate Corpse 1898) 3⭐
The Castle of the King • (1881) • Bram Stoker 4⭐
The Canterville Ghost • (1887) • Oscar Wilde 5⭐
Blind Man's Bluff • (1929) • H. Russell Wakefield (variant of Blind Man's Buff) 4,25⭐
A Suffolk Miracle • (1981 poem) • Traditional 4.25⭐
Father Stein's Tale • (1907) • R. H. Benson 3⭐
The Old Nurse's Story • (1935) • Elizabeth Gaskell 4.25⭐
Money Talks • (1981) • Dick Baldwin 3⭐
The Ghost of the Count • (1904) • A Spinster 3.5⭐
The Body Snatcher • (1884) • Robert Louis Stevenson 4.5⭐
"The Penhale Broadcast" • (1947) • Jack Snow 2.5⭐
The Last Traveler • (1965) • Jean Ray (trans. of Le dernier voyageur 1932) 3.25⭐
The Phantom Regiment • (1847) • James Grant 4⭐
The Tale of the Bagman's Uncle • (1837) • Charles Dickens (variant of The Story of the Bagman's Uncle) 4⭐
The North Mail • (1865) • Amelia B. Edwards (variant of The Phantom Coach 1864) 5⭐
How Fear Departed from the Long Gallery • (1911) • E. F. Benson 5⭐

Appendix A - "Ralph" • Marvin Kaye 3.5⭐✔
Appendix B - So You Want to Meet a Ghost? ✔
Appendix C - "A Baedeker of U.S. Favorite Haunts" Lists the sites of allegedly fifty haunted houses and spots throughout nineteen American states, as well as the District of Columbia. Many of the places named are open to the public. ✔

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ghosts: A Haunting Treasurty of 40 Chillings Tales is a fat book I bought and took years to get around to reading. Many of the stories are older and decidedly conservative by today's standards which for me added to their charm. I enjoyed almost all of the stories. I often forget how much I like anthologies that allow me to read in small chunks of time without losing plot threads. I had hopes of getting rid of the book once I was done with it and freeing up some precious space in my crowded library but I think I will hold onto it because I will want to reread at least some of the stories.

My only complaint is I thought Kaye was unnecessarily unkind to some writers in his appendix on contemporary writers.