The Mammoth Book of Modern Ghost Stories

by Peter Haining (Editor)

Over 25 short story masterpieces from writers such as Louis de Bernieres and Ian Rankin - modern literary tales to chill the blood.

This spine-chilling new anthology of 20th and 21st century tales by big name writers is in the best traditions of literary ghost stories. It is just a little over a hundred years ago that the most famous literary ghost story, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, was published and in the intervening years a great many other distinguished writers have tried their hand at this popular genre - some basing their fictional tales on real supernatural experiences of their own.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Ghosts, Paranormal, Ghost Stories

608 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2007

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

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know what you're thinking. For some reason, the publishers of this book didn't think literature would sell, so they geared the title and cover art to make you believe this was a collection of shocking-but-true ghost stories that would leave you with a good scare. So, if that was you're assumption, and you're thinking "That's not my thing" then let me tell you, you're wrong.
This is a fabulous collection of literature, that just happens to deal with the supernatural. (Think "A Christmas Carol" -- technically a ghost story, but so much more than that.) Authors such as Daphne du Maurier, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Henry James are featured, as well as other great writers I'd never heard of. The anthology tracks the development of the art of "ghost story" through the 20th century, beginning with classic tales of hauntings and ending with a supernatural story from 1997 that leans decidedly toward science fiction.
The stories themselves range from chilling to psychological, and from humorous to poignant. Overall, a compelling argument for not judging a book by its cover.

[Florin Pitea · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well put-together anthology, but definitely not my cup of tea.

[Richard Gazala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Editor Peter Haining does a good job choosing the selections for this collection of ghost stories. Rather than emphasizing pieces featuring moaning phantoms, clanking chains and other staple but simplistic fare common to the genre, Haining sought stories heavy with eerie mood and tone. As with any anthology like this one, some vignettes are better or more effective than others. That said, the overall quality of the selections is consistently high. Some of the tales surely will curdle a reader's blood late in the dead of a stormy night. The compilation makes clear ghosts are as often specters within us as without, and there can be no haunting absent the haunted.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll be honest - I didn't think much of this anthology in terms of originality or quality when I began reading it and what little respect I had disappeared by the time I reached the section 'Phantom Ranks: the Supernatural at War' and read two pieces of vicious trash - Algernon Blackwood's 1921 'Vengeance is mine', which justifies slaughtering a German POW because he cut off the hands of Belgian children (a totally fictitious though ironic accusation because the only people who carried out on a large scale the cutting off of hands from living men, women and children were the Belgians in the hell hole they made of their colony in the Congo), and Lord Dunsany's 'The Punishment', which says the Kaiser wanted, caused and relished all the death and destruction of WWI. Neither of these stories deserved to see the light of day in a anthology like this in the 21st century but that they are says everything one needs to know about the shoddy meretriciousness of this anthologies offerings. Obviously not all the stories are bad - but there are much better places to read ghost stories - and one final complaint it looks like the anthology is attempting, by the wording in the title, to suggest these are 'true' stories - they aren't - but it just adds another question mark against this volume.

[Shawn]

PLACEHOLDER REVIEW

"The Ghost" by A.E. van Vogt: A man visiting a small town catches occasional glimpses of an older fellow, who everyone refers to as a ghost, seeing as he was murdered a few years ago (they even dug him up to be sure). But that doesn't stop them from seeing and interacting with the confused old man who is seemingly unstuck in time, as the visitor tries to piece together what actually happened that led to the man's murder... Well, I had some trepidations about this, as I hadn't had too good of an experience with some (not all) van Vogt I've read, I remember finding his prose, in a previous story, tortuous to read. But this wasn't half bad - basically an attempt to compose a "ghost story" around fairly new ideas about how time might work (Donne, particularly). Sure, the "thriller" structure of the ending is a bit much, but I wasn't sorry I spend the time.

[Galo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one took me a very long time to complete since nearly half of the collection of stories were either painfully dull and tame (surprisingly by well known authors whose stories may have frightened or terrified readers at the first-half of the 20th century, but are "ho-hum" by today's horror standards), or had little or nothing to do with ghosts (just a vague notion of the supernatural), and still others read like bad urban legends with predictable endings. But nonetheless I read them all from beginning to end. However, the book is by no means a complete loss since the other half of stories collected are well worth the read (which is why I gave the book an overall 3-star rating). So, if you happen to pick up this book, the stories I recommend reading are: A.C. Benson's "The House at Trehale", Arthur Gray's "The Everlasting Club", A.N.L. Munby's "Number Seventy-Nine", Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Playing With Fire", Rudyard Kipling's "The House Surgeon", John Buchan's "The Grove of Ashtaroth", Somerset Maugham's "A Man from Glasgow", George Minto's "The Ghost of U65", Algernon Blackwood's "Vengeance is Mine", Sir Alec Guiness' "Money for Jam", Edith Wharton's "The Lady's Maid's Bell", Eudora Welty's "Clytie", Daphne du Maurier's "The Pool", James Thurber's "The Night the Ghost Got In", Eric Keown's "Sir Tristram Goes West", Ray Bradbury's "Another Fine Mess", E.F. Benson's "A Light in the Garden", Hammond Innes' "South Sea Bubble", Fritz Leiber's "Smoke Ghost", A.E. Van Vogt's "The Ghost", and Philip Pullman's "Video Nasty".

[Sue Bridehead (A Pseudonym) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the first two sections of this book (The Modern Tradition and The Golden Era), but have to stop for now to return this to the library and fulfill someone else's hold.

There are no real standouts so far; every tale is more or less the same as the one before it. Nabakov's and D.H. Lawrence's contributions the genre are frankly bizarre; not so much ghost stories as supernatural tales about the time-space continuum playing tricks on unwitting protagonists. If I had to pick a favorite, I'd go with Rudyard Kipling's "The House Surgeon," the closest to the modern day "haunted house" formula.

Something I find interesting: many of these earlier supernatural writers from the 19th and early 20th century are super-concerned with race and religion. There's an obvious strain of mistrust and fear running through several of the tales; the Christian/Protestant narrators are wary or disapproving of anyone deriving from a "mystical," "ancient," or "Mediterranean" culture, no matter how far removed these people might be from their roots. Blood, it seems, is inescapable. Greeks, people with Jewish heritage... all much more susceptible to hauntings and curses. This is consistent with other, more modern ghost stories that I've read, where Catholics are lumped into the same category.

Good fodder for somebody's Ph.D. dissertation, I'm sure.

I look forward to returning to this book later, to read interpretations by Edith Wharton, Eudora Welty, Daphne Du Maurier, and Joyce Carol Oates.

[Whitney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this anthology was uneven at best. "The Party" by William Nolan and "Video Nasty" by Phillip Pullman were well done. The rest of the stories fell into one of two categories: classics I'd already read (e.g. "Clytie" by Eudora Welty) or stories so dry that I found myself skimming to the end.

At worst, it's mislabeled. Some of these stories are over 100 years old--not exactly modern. Many of them aren't ghost stories, either.

Overall, I was unimpressed.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of ghost\supernatural tales from the past century. I'm only awarding this 4 stars because, although as a whole I really liked it, some of the stories weren't as good as others. Typical of this kind of book; some stories were fantastic, others were kind of meh and some just made me scratch my head.

[Janey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice and creepy. Most of these I hadn't read which is surprising given my horror anthology collection.

[Stephanie Boggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not really sure how to make a review on this book because it is a book with lots of little stories in it. Every story was different and eery. Not really scary but interesting to read.

[Jarmstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contains a mix of semi modern ghost stories, though I am not so sure Conan Doyle is classed as modern these days. Each has an introduction attached to it with some background.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I sort of feel like when most people use the word "modern," they aren't referring to works that were written in 1900. I suffered through about three of the pieces in this book before I started flipping through and picking out the ones I thought I might like. 300 pages in, I gave up trying to find anything worth reading. There are some great paranormal anthologies out there, but this is most decidedly not one of them.

[Alba Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with most short story collections, some stories are better than others, but I really enjoyed most of this collection. The war ghost and comical phantom sections were my least favourite sections but thoroughly enjoyed the other sections (esp. Gothic tales, and Haunting Tales).

Please note that these are not 'ghost stories' in the way that casual 21st century readers expect. No cheap-thrills-blood-guts-and-gore horror film on paper. These are intellectual tales that delve into the supernatural, and interpret 'horror tale' and 'ghost story' liberally. I think this is why I enjoyed it so much, as I prefer to read tales that force us to look at the world (or ourselves) differently, instead of a book of cheap tricks and tales (which is what some of the other readers apparently expected...hmm.).

I also like how each story started off with a little blurb about the author, his/her life, inspirations, interests, other works, etc. Most of the authors were famous in their heyday but have now been lost somewhat in the past. It was great to get a chance to read works by these now-little-known (though often prolific) writers. In fact, I think I prefer works by the more obscure writers rather than the famous ones. Looking back, the book as made me discover some new others (notably a new favourite, MR James).

All in all, a great - though lengthy!! - compilation of 20th century ghost/supernatural stories!!!

[France-Andrée · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't get exactly what I wanted when I started this book. I wanted something to scare me and this was more intellectual. I liked it though. The only thing is that it's pretty uneven, some stories are really good and some left me thinking : 'uh'. The book stories are divided in section. One section is called 'Christmas Spirits: Festive Seasons Chillers'... I was expecting stories set at Christmas, but they were PUBLISHED at Christmas which I think was a let down, I don't get that. My favorite section was the last one 'Haunting Times: Tales of Unease' about every story in this section was interesting and very good. I especially liked 'The Ghost' by A.E. Van Vogt, 'Video Nasty' by Philip Pullman and 'Haunted' by Joyce Carol Oates. I think the editor did an overall good job picking the stories; he did make me discover a lot of authors that I had never heard of (and a lot I did know) and I think discovering new authors is one of the main purpose of a short story anthology (with entertaining... obviously).

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really well-chosen anthology filled with well-known authors, some known for supernatural fiction and some I wasn't aware wrote any ghost stories. (D.H. Lawrence was a pleasant - and fairly creepy - surprise, as were Nabokov and Alec Guinness, yes, the actor Alec Guinness.) It's worth picking up for that alone.

It's categorized by type of ghost story, which makes it an excellent choice if you are trying to figure out what kind of ghost stories you like or are in the mood for something specific.

These are pretty mild. They're not horror stories and won't make you lose any sleep or turn on any lights, but they are still fun to read.

[Neena · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's taken quite a while for me to plough through this as it's one of those books that you can easily read a bit of and then put down and read something else for a while and then easily fall back into.
It's a well-presented compilation of some very interesting and absorbing little stories and before each story, you're given a brief background on the story and its author and the year it was published originally.
Also loved the Appendix at the back which gave me more ideas on books to read and actually led to me getting straight online and buying two more books to add to my vast collection.

[Alleycatfan · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like this you'll love The Mammoth Book of 20th Century Ghost Stories and earlier edition with completely different ghost stories by many famous and great others including: P.G. Wodehouse, Henry James, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and H.G. Wells. Some are silly some are goofy and some had me saying, "Now why would anyone think this is scary." They are all a good romp and a key to marking the evolution of the gothic tale.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really struggled with this book. Mammoth indeed. I came to it expecting to be entertained with modern ghost stories, but found that many of them dated from the early 1900's. Not so modern. Some of them were very long-winded. All was not lost however. There were some very good tales in the collection, making it worth my while to stick with it. I don't think I will be reading any more "Mammoth Books of....." in the near future though.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to credit my good friend Tom for hooking me onto this one. Incredibly compiled collection of great writing, ghost stories or not. Somerset Maugham, Daphne DuMaurier, Joyce Carol Oates, even John Gielgud before he was a "Sir." Most of them deliver genuine creeps, but the whole collection was SO well selected. I will read more in this series.

[Amber Arnold · Rating 2 out of 5]

I brought this book to read while camping this summer. It was okay - some of the stories I really liked while others I did not fine entertaining or even remotely believable. I know this is fiction but I prefer books that let your mind ponder how it could happen in the 'real' world. I would recommend it to any die hard fans but I probably wouldn't re-read it in the future.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

All in all, not a very inspired anthology. Many stories are tedious and many have little to do with the supernatural. Of course, I loved the M.R.James and the Edith Wharton ones, but I was expecting some new, more compelling titles.

[Dale Parnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, wide ranging selection of ghost stories, nicely grouped together in different styles, with a handy intro for each author. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely dip into it again and again.

[Amy L. Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many great ghost stories collected here! There are ghost stories from various places in the world and throughout years bouncing between the early 1900’s and 2004. Some stories are short and a few are longer, but they are all memorable! Great read from Halloween through the Christmas season!

[Claudia Harrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Couldn't finish it. A lot of the stories were good but some of them were so hard to follow that I ended up questioning why they where scary? Overall it an ok read.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was rather hard work to finish this book - some of the stories are really not very good - but I'm glad I did. The last part,entitled "Haunting Times: Tales of Unease", is easily the best.

[Sasha Saunders · Rating 1 out of 5]

crap....couldn't get in to it

[Casie Blevins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book mixing stories from the 1800's to 2004. Interesting to see the differences and similiarities between writing styles in the different centuries. My favorite was a story by AE Van Vogt.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an anthology, it's obviously a curate's egg but the good stories are REALLY good.

My favourite story? No idea.

[James Tidd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great stories, beginning with the best; M R James O whistle and I'll come to you my lad and finishes with two of the future's bright prospects; Pullman and De Bernieres.