Gothic Tales of Terror: Volume 1

by Peter Haining (editor)

Nathaniel Hawthorne, Lord Byron and Johann Goethe are among the contributors to this anthology of macabre tales

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Gothic, Fiction, Anthologies, Vampires

543 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Peter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.

Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.

In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).

He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.

Reviews

[Catfantastic]

I enjoyed reading it a great deal, but I would have preferred that tale fragments be more clearly marked as such, if they had to be included at all. Mind you, "Glenallan" was quite riveting while it lasted, and I have half a mind to finish writing that one myself.

[John Ohno]

While historically interesting, the selection of stories here is disappointing: many are dull, and most have little in common with what a modern reader thinks of as the gothic sensibility. Haining's choices are motivated by Montague Summers', and Summers (while influential) was a deeply strange man whose life and literary career seems driven by a need to be contrarian; his ideas about what makes for a good or interesting piece of gothic short fiction does nothing to contest this.

[Jane Mercer]

The language is often difficult , some of the tales intriguing, a few a bit boring but all in all an entertaining read.
More Gothic than terror with some of the great names Shelley, Byron, Le Fanu and a few drawing on old folk tales for their inspiration