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Mrs. Gaskell's Tales of Mystery and Horror
First U.S. edition bound in black cloth with gold spine lettering. A Fine copy in a Fine dj. A collection of seven Fantasy and Horror Stories by this popular Victorian author.
231 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
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About the author
Elizabeth Gaskell
1,045 books3,809 followersElizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson (29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to simply as Mrs. Gaskell, was an English novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of society, including the very poor, and as such are of interest to social historians as well as lovers of literature.
AKA:
Елізабет Гаскелл (Ukrainian)
AKA:
Елізабет Гаскелл (Ukrainian)
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 1, 2010
Scribner's was pushing it with the title - there is very little mysterious or horrible in these stories by Mrs. Gaskell, rather a little bit of the supernatural and some shock. All the pieces were written for magazines, and they are uneven in quality and as lacking in satisfaction as any of Gaskell's shorter works - the few pages alloted to each work (even the 100 or so for Lois the Witch) just don't offer enough time for her magnificent characterization. The plots are about average.
About as good as an Alfred Hitchcock collection or one of those L. M. Montgomery compilations - enjoyable enough when you feel like a magazine story, but not meaty.
About as good as an Alfred Hitchcock collection or one of those L. M. Montgomery compilations - enjoyable enough when you feel like a magazine story, but not meaty.
April 5, 2019
Includes a truly terrifying story of the Salem Witch Trials in the included novella: Lois the Witch.
November 13, 2020
Only one of these stories did I find it hard to get through. My favorite was The Old Nurse's Story.
February 12, 2026
Dec 30, 2025 - Just finished tale #1, "The Old Nurse's Story," which is a masterpiece of mood and tension, once you get through the lengthy set-up and sort out who all the characters are.
Jan 2, 2026 - Tale #2, "The Squire's Story" - This is an amiable bit of Victorian melodrama with no suspense but all the casual curious interest of local historic anecdote.
Jan 6 - Tale #3, "The Scholar's Story - A Breton ballad translated from the French by Mrs. Gaskell's husband. The schemes of a clerk who lusts after his lord's wife ends with everyone dead or in sorrow. Grim, in rhyming couplets, and not one of her works. I'm not sure it was necessary for the editor to include this with Mrs. Gaskell's own writings.
Jan 12 - The Doom of the Griffiths - There is no supernatural element in this, except for a prophetic curse. The suspense in the story, much like a Greek drama, comes from in how the doom will come about, not what the doom will be.
Jan 22 - The Ghost in the Garden Room - This is not really a ghost story, but a story told by the ghost of a judge, and the judge is barely part of his own story. Rather, the story is about a hard working farming couple who have one son later in life. They love him and spoil him, but eventually the son breaks them with his selfish ways, and the final blow happens at a trial overseen by the judge.
Jan 27 - Curious If True - A fun tale of a British traveler named Dick Whittington who gets lost in the French countryside at nighttime and stumble across a curious reunion of fairy tale characters. Charming whimsy at its best.
Feb 12 - Lois the Witch; a fraught and ultimately heartbreaking retelling of the Salem witch trials through the eyes of an orphan girl. It's hard to believe this was written in 1859 as the psychological insight into Lois's adoptive family members feels modern.
After having read this, I would have to say the title of this collection is misleading. There is very little mystery or horror, though there is a touch of the supernatural and the creepy. This does not detract from the power of her writing, and I am intrigued enough to potentially add her most well-known work "Cranford" to my reading list.
Jan 2, 2026 - Tale #2, "The Squire's Story" - This is an amiable bit of Victorian melodrama with no suspense but all the casual curious interest of local historic anecdote.
Jan 6 - Tale #3, "The Scholar's Story - A Breton ballad translated from the French by Mrs. Gaskell's husband. The schemes of a clerk who lusts after his lord's wife ends with everyone dead or in sorrow. Grim, in rhyming couplets, and not one of her works. I'm not sure it was necessary for the editor to include this with Mrs. Gaskell's own writings.
Jan 12 - The Doom of the Griffiths - There is no supernatural element in this, except for a prophetic curse. The suspense in the story, much like a Greek drama, comes from in how the doom will come about, not what the doom will be.
Jan 22 - The Ghost in the Garden Room - This is not really a ghost story, but a story told by the ghost of a judge, and the judge is barely part of his own story. Rather, the story is about a hard working farming couple who have one son later in life. They love him and spoil him, but eventually the son breaks them with his selfish ways, and the final blow happens at a trial overseen by the judge.
Jan 27 - Curious If True - A fun tale of a British traveler named Dick Whittington who gets lost in the French countryside at nighttime and stumble across a curious reunion of fairy tale characters. Charming whimsy at its best.
Feb 12 - Lois the Witch; a fraught and ultimately heartbreaking retelling of the Salem witch trials through the eyes of an orphan girl. It's hard to believe this was written in 1859 as the psychological insight into Lois's adoptive family members feels modern.
After having read this, I would have to say the title of this collection is misleading. There is very little mystery or horror, though there is a touch of the supernatural and the creepy. This does not detract from the power of her writing, and I am intrigued enough to potentially add her most well-known work "Cranford" to my reading list.
March 21, 2015
I usually love this genre, but some of these were a snooze. With mystery and horror in the title I expected at least a couple to be mysterious and horrific, but not so much.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews