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Cornish Horrors: Tales From the Land's End
A mariner inherits a skull that screams incessantly along with the roar of the sea; a phantom hare stalks the moors to deliver justice for a crime long dead; a man witnesses a murder in the Cornish woods, only to wonder whether it was he himself who committed the crime.
Offering a bounty of lost or forgotten strange and Gothic tales set in Cornwall, Cornish Horrors explores the rich folklore and traditions of the county in a journey through mines, local mythology, shipwrecks, seascapes, and the coming of the railway and tourism.
With tales by horror luminaries such as Bram Stoker, Poe, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon, this edition also features a host of underappreciated writers such as F. Tennyson Jesse, Robert Hawker and Clara Venn.
Offering a bounty of lost or forgotten strange and Gothic tales set in Cornwall, Cornish Horrors explores the rich folklore and traditions of the county in a journey through mines, local mythology, shipwrecks, seascapes, and the coming of the railway and tourism.
With tales by horror luminaries such as Bram Stoker, Poe, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon, this edition also features a host of underappreciated writers such as F. Tennyson Jesse, Robert Hawker and Clara Venn.
384 pages, Paperback
First published July 29, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
February 4, 2024
A collection from the British Library Tales of the Weird series, all set in Cornwall: part of England which is pretty much a land in itself with its own language. Plenty of gothic horror here, no pasties. In this collection there is a variety of writers, including Bram Stoker, Poe, Mary Braddon, Conan Doyle, F. Tennyson Jesse, Quiller Couch, Clara Venn, E M Bray, Mary Penn and various others including anonymous and someone entitled M.H. They are collected from the nineteenth and early twentieth century.
There is an intelligently written introduction by Dr Joan Passey which reminds us that there is a rich heritage of folklore and history to draw from in Cornwall. As she reminds us Cornwall is:
"real, and close, alternately viewed as the end of the land and its beginning”
As you would imagine the sea and the coast often play a significant role, as do sailors and those who work on the seas. The tales are variable. The Conan Doyle is a Sherlock Holmes short story. There are a couple of variations on the love triangle, the Bram Stoker one being the best. Folklore is best represented by The Phantom Hare and The Screaming Skull is suitably creepy (and completely ridiculous of course) and there is even a potential werewolf tale (My Father’s Secret).
There are a few duds, but this is a decent enough collection and takes advantage of the rugged landscape and stormy weather.
There is an intelligently written introduction by Dr Joan Passey which reminds us that there is a rich heritage of folklore and history to draw from in Cornwall. As she reminds us Cornwall is:
"real, and close, alternately viewed as the end of the land and its beginning”
As you would imagine the sea and the coast often play a significant role, as do sailors and those who work on the seas. The tales are variable. The Conan Doyle is a Sherlock Holmes short story. There are a couple of variations on the love triangle, the Bram Stoker one being the best. Folklore is best represented by The Phantom Hare and The Screaming Skull is suitably creepy (and completely ridiculous of course) and there is even a potential werewolf tale (My Father’s Secret).
There are a few duds, but this is a decent enough collection and takes advantage of the rugged landscape and stormy weather.
August 4, 2021
"Why not tell them of the Cornish horror ..."
After a serious rethink, the fact that I didn't particularly care for just one story didn't seem to merit only four stars, so I've bumped it up to a 4.5 heading for a 5. This is another fine volume from the British Library Tales of the Weird series; this time around there were only four stories I'd already read, but it was a pleasure revisiting them, especially F. Marion Crawford's "The Screaming Skull" based on the real-life legend of the screaming skull of Bettiscombe Manor in Dorset.
full post is here:
http://www.oddlyweirdfiction.com/2021...
Cornwall, editor Joan Passey reminds her readers in her introduction to this volume, is "not a fantasy land," but rather "real, and close, alternately viewed as the end of the land and its beginning," and her hope is that in reading this anthology, "thinking of Cornwall's rich lore, stories, and creative legacy" will "serve to illuminate its realities than obscure them." The history of Cornwall looms large throughout this book, spectral and real, so that one cannot help but to encounter the past even in the present, as so many Victorian tourists evidently discovered. As the back-cover blurb notes, the stories in this volume explore "the rich folklore and traditions of the regions in a journey through local mythology, mines, shipwrecks, the emergence of the railway and the rise of tourism." The editor also takes a moment to introduce each story, explaining how these factors play out in the context of what the reader is about to encounter. It is a unique way to look at what otherwise might be to some simply another collection of entertaining Gothic or ghostly tales, revealing that there is more to the story than what lies on the surface.
For people who think of Cornwall in literature and immediately conjure up Daphne du Maurier, this book reveals that long before she made her way into the literary scene, the Victorians were already capturing readers' attention with their tales of the land's end. The majority of the stories included in Cornish Horrors stem from that era, and it seems that Victorian Cornwall was indeed fruitful ground for the Gothic imagination for several reasons that the editor covers in her overall introduction to this collection. Very nicely done; it is a fantastic book, and I have to say that while I've never considered Cornwall as a "fantasy land," it has for some time now been in my reading mind a place rich in history, folklore and adventure, and my shelves are filled with novels and story collections with Cornwall as their home base.
Very highly recommended, especially to others who have been enjoying the entire series over the last few years.
After a serious rethink, the fact that I didn't particularly care for just one story didn't seem to merit only four stars, so I've bumped it up to a 4.5 heading for a 5. This is another fine volume from the British Library Tales of the Weird series; this time around there were only four stories I'd already read, but it was a pleasure revisiting them, especially F. Marion Crawford's "The Screaming Skull" based on the real-life legend of the screaming skull of Bettiscombe Manor in Dorset.
full post is here:
http://www.oddlyweirdfiction.com/2021...
Cornwall, editor Joan Passey reminds her readers in her introduction to this volume, is "not a fantasy land," but rather "real, and close, alternately viewed as the end of the land and its beginning," and her hope is that in reading this anthology, "thinking of Cornwall's rich lore, stories, and creative legacy" will "serve to illuminate its realities than obscure them." The history of Cornwall looms large throughout this book, spectral and real, so that one cannot help but to encounter the past even in the present, as so many Victorian tourists evidently discovered. As the back-cover blurb notes, the stories in this volume explore "the rich folklore and traditions of the regions in a journey through local mythology, mines, shipwrecks, the emergence of the railway and the rise of tourism." The editor also takes a moment to introduce each story, explaining how these factors play out in the context of what the reader is about to encounter. It is a unique way to look at what otherwise might be to some simply another collection of entertaining Gothic or ghostly tales, revealing that there is more to the story than what lies on the surface.
For people who think of Cornwall in literature and immediately conjure up Daphne du Maurier, this book reveals that long before she made her way into the literary scene, the Victorians were already capturing readers' attention with their tales of the land's end. The majority of the stories included in Cornish Horrors stem from that era, and it seems that Victorian Cornwall was indeed fruitful ground for the Gothic imagination for several reasons that the editor covers in her overall introduction to this collection. Very nicely done; it is a fantastic book, and I have to say that while I've never considered Cornwall as a "fantasy land," it has for some time now been in my reading mind a place rich in history, folklore and adventure, and my shelves are filled with novels and story collections with Cornwall as their home base.
Very highly recommended, especially to others who have been enjoying the entire series over the last few years.
October 20, 2021
Not a pasty in sight…
Another recent issue in the British Library’s Tales of the Weird series, this anthology contains fifteen vintage horror stories, all set in spooky old Cornwall. Well, actually two or three of them are “true” accounts from memoirs and so on, rather than stories as such, but all including some ghostly or terrifying natural occurrence. There’s the usual mix of very well known authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe, as well as some names that were completely new to me, like Mary E Penn and someone going simply by the initials M.H.
This may be the most mixed of all the collections to date for me. There are some great stories in here, several well-known and others I hadn’t come across before, but there are also a considerable number of duds which I felt really weren’t worthy of inclusion. I gave seven of them 5 stars and another two rated as 4. The remaining six were evenly distributed – two apiece to 3, 2 and 1 stars. One of the 1-stars was particularly annoying since it was a story by Mary E. Braddon – Colonel Benyon’s Entanglement – which was shaping up to be excellent and then stopped abruptly what seemed like halfway through. Whether this is a publishing error or whether Braddon never completed the story I don’t know and I haven’t been able to track down an online version to check, but since the intro doesn’t mention that it’s unfinished, I have to assume error.
Some of the better known 4 and 5 star stories include Ligeia by Edgar Allan Poe, The Screaming Skull by F. Marion Crawford and The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot, a wonderfully dark Holmes story from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Here’s a flavour of a few others that were new to me that I also particularly enjoyed:
The Phantom Hare by M.H. - Told by Bessy, a farmer’s daughter, this is the story of Hubert, a rather nasty young man who is pursuing a local heiress when he suddenly finds himself being haunted by a white hare. Local superstition has it that if a man deserts a woman and she dies of it (as you do!) then the woman will return in the form of a white hare when her former lover is about to meet his doom. Bet Hubert wishes he hadn’t deserted Bessy’s old school friend now! Very well told, with excellent characterisation of Bessy and a good local feel to the superstition, it culminates in an ending that may not be surprising but is still satisfying.
In the Mist by Mary E. Penn – Narrated by the local vicar, who tells of two young parishioners, Winnie and Noel, who are deeply in love. But Noel is a jealous type, always accusing Winnie of flirting, and one day in the midst of an argument Winnie breaks off their engagement. Later that night, they meet on the cliff edge and Noel tries to win her back. But Winnie falls over the cliff and disappears, presumably sucked out to sea. Did she fall though or was she pushed? This isn’t really horror – it’s more melodramatic romance, but it’s beautifully done and thoroughly enjoyable.
The Coming of Abel Behenna by Bram Stoker – Two Cornish fishermen, Abel and Eric, had grown up together and were best friends. But both have now fallen in love with the same woman – the frivolous and indecisive Sarah. Since she refuses to choose, the men propose they should toss a coin for her and she agrees! The winner will take the small accumulated wealth of both men and go off on a trading voyage for a year to try to make enough money to marry on. Abel wins, and duly sets off on his travels. But will Eric, mad with love and jealousy, stand by his bet? This is an excellent story, Bram Stoker at his very considerable best. It is a story of passion, guilt and revenge – nothing supernatural, purely humanity and nature combining to chill the reader’s blood, and the ending lingers long after the last page is turned.
The Mask by F. Tennyson Jesse – Another about a woman with two suitors and just as dark as the Stoker story, but otherwise entirely different. Vashti Bath chooses James Glasson, a cold and domineering man destined for success. An accident damages him badly, though, destroying his prospects and forcing him to wear a mask, and he becomes even harsher to Vashti. Soon she turns to her other old suitor, Willie Strick, a weaker man but still passionately in love with her, and they start an affair. But then one night James returns home unexpectedly and finds Willie and Sarah together… Again a story of human passions rather than the supernatural but it gets very tense towards the end and has some real touches of horror.
So plenty of excellent stuff here, but because the quality ranges so wildly and because several of the best stories are ones that have been collected many times before and may be familiar to horror readers already, I’m a little wary of giving this one a blanket recommendation. If you’re newish to the genre and haven’t read many of the stories I’ve mentioned, then there’s plenty in here to interest and entertain despite the duds. However if you’ve already read several of the stories I’ve named, you might end up disappointed with the rest of the collection. For me, there were enough good stories that I hadn’t read before to make it enjoyable overall.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Another recent issue in the British Library’s Tales of the Weird series, this anthology contains fifteen vintage horror stories, all set in spooky old Cornwall. Well, actually two or three of them are “true” accounts from memoirs and so on, rather than stories as such, but all including some ghostly or terrifying natural occurrence. There’s the usual mix of very well known authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe, as well as some names that were completely new to me, like Mary E Penn and someone going simply by the initials M.H.
This may be the most mixed of all the collections to date for me. There are some great stories in here, several well-known and others I hadn’t come across before, but there are also a considerable number of duds which I felt really weren’t worthy of inclusion. I gave seven of them 5 stars and another two rated as 4. The remaining six were evenly distributed – two apiece to 3, 2 and 1 stars. One of the 1-stars was particularly annoying since it was a story by Mary E. Braddon – Colonel Benyon’s Entanglement – which was shaping up to be excellent and then stopped abruptly what seemed like halfway through. Whether this is a publishing error or whether Braddon never completed the story I don’t know and I haven’t been able to track down an online version to check, but since the intro doesn’t mention that it’s unfinished, I have to assume error.
Some of the better known 4 and 5 star stories include Ligeia by Edgar Allan Poe, The Screaming Skull by F. Marion Crawford and The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot, a wonderfully dark Holmes story from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Here’s a flavour of a few others that were new to me that I also particularly enjoyed:
The Phantom Hare by M.H. - Told by Bessy, a farmer’s daughter, this is the story of Hubert, a rather nasty young man who is pursuing a local heiress when he suddenly finds himself being haunted by a white hare. Local superstition has it that if a man deserts a woman and she dies of it (as you do!) then the woman will return in the form of a white hare when her former lover is about to meet his doom. Bet Hubert wishes he hadn’t deserted Bessy’s old school friend now! Very well told, with excellent characterisation of Bessy and a good local feel to the superstition, it culminates in an ending that may not be surprising but is still satisfying.
In the Mist by Mary E. Penn – Narrated by the local vicar, who tells of two young parishioners, Winnie and Noel, who are deeply in love. But Noel is a jealous type, always accusing Winnie of flirting, and one day in the midst of an argument Winnie breaks off their engagement. Later that night, they meet on the cliff edge and Noel tries to win her back. But Winnie falls over the cliff and disappears, presumably sucked out to sea. Did she fall though or was she pushed? This isn’t really horror – it’s more melodramatic romance, but it’s beautifully done and thoroughly enjoyable.
The Coming of Abel Behenna by Bram Stoker – Two Cornish fishermen, Abel and Eric, had grown up together and were best friends. But both have now fallen in love with the same woman – the frivolous and indecisive Sarah. Since she refuses to choose, the men propose they should toss a coin for her and she agrees! The winner will take the small accumulated wealth of both men and go off on a trading voyage for a year to try to make enough money to marry on. Abel wins, and duly sets off on his travels. But will Eric, mad with love and jealousy, stand by his bet? This is an excellent story, Bram Stoker at his very considerable best. It is a story of passion, guilt and revenge – nothing supernatural, purely humanity and nature combining to chill the reader’s blood, and the ending lingers long after the last page is turned.
The Mask by F. Tennyson Jesse – Another about a woman with two suitors and just as dark as the Stoker story, but otherwise entirely different. Vashti Bath chooses James Glasson, a cold and domineering man destined for success. An accident damages him badly, though, destroying his prospects and forcing him to wear a mask, and he becomes even harsher to Vashti. Soon she turns to her other old suitor, Willie Strick, a weaker man but still passionately in love with her, and they start an affair. But then one night James returns home unexpectedly and finds Willie and Sarah together… Again a story of human passions rather than the supernatural but it gets very tense towards the end and has some real touches of horror.
So plenty of excellent stuff here, but because the quality ranges so wildly and because several of the best stories are ones that have been collected many times before and may be familiar to horror readers already, I’m a little wary of giving this one a blanket recommendation. If you’re newish to the genre and haven’t read many of the stories I’ve mentioned, then there’s plenty in here to interest and entertain despite the duds. However if you’ve already read several of the stories I’ve named, you might end up disappointed with the rest of the collection. For me, there were enough good stories that I hadn’t read before to make it enjoyable overall.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
February 26, 2025
Ligeia – Edgar Allan Poe
I wasn’t overly impressed with Poe’s story. It did feel very gothic and had a certain atmosphere, but I felt that the plot was missing a certain something
My Father’s Secret – Anon
I thought that this was a very chilling story and was very Victorian in style and content.
Cruel Coppinger – R. S. Hawker
I liked this short story a lot. It was everything that I expected from a Cornish smuggling tale.
Colonel Benyon’s Entanglement – Mary Elizabeth Braddon
I really didn’t get along with this story at all. Not a lot happens and the plot is a bit vague, until one key scene towards the end of the story.
The Phantom Hare – M. H.
I liked this story. There is a good mix of jeopardy in the plot along with a good dollop of folklore. The plot is not particularly complex, so much so that I even guessed the outcome!
Christmas Eve at a Cornish Manor House – Clara Venn
Who doesn’t love a Christmas ghost story? It is full of swirling mist and noisy ghosts, and I liked this one.
In the Mist – Mary E. Penn
This was another favourite of mine from the collection. There is tragedy and peril and a conclusion that I really wasn’t expecting.
The Baronet’s Craze – Mrs. H. L. Cox
This is a well-thought through story of the grief a father is going through as he mourns the loss of a daughter.
The Coming of Abel Behenna – Bram Stoker
A strange tale of competitive love lost and gained and the duplicity of some men.
The Roll-Call of the Reef – Arthur Quiller-Couch
A story of shipwrecks in a storm and how teo survivors make an unlikely friendship
The Haunted Spinney – Elliott O’Donnell
This has wind howling through the trees. The night is dark and oppressive and then a scream is heard. It isn’t long before a body is found. No one knows who has committed the murder, but perhaps the ghost hunter can find the culprit.
A Ghostly Visitation: A True Incident – E. M. Bray
I though that this was a reasonable ghost story set in a house with a mostly benevolent spirit.
The Screaming Skull – F. Marion Crawford
I though that this story was super creepy. It is full of unnerving moments as the main character tries to understand the screams he hears at night.
The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot – Arthur Conan Doyle
I hadn’t read any Doyle before this short story (I know…) and I actually quite liked it. I can see where the character traits of Holmes in the TV series come from. It did feel that he worked the plotline back from the conclusion though.
The Mask – F. Tennyson Jesse
A story of illicit love and affairs, coupled with murder and further double-crossing. It felt the most Cornish of the stories in the collection, but the accents took a bit of getting used to.
It is not a bad book overall, like with any collection of stories, there were some I liked and others I felt indifferent about. I didn’t feel that there was much horror in the stories within. The Cornish links felt tenuous at times in some of the stories, but other had very strong links. If you are collecting the series then you probably need to get this.
I wasn’t overly impressed with Poe’s story. It did feel very gothic and had a certain atmosphere, but I felt that the plot was missing a certain something
My Father’s Secret – Anon
I thought that this was a very chilling story and was very Victorian in style and content.
Cruel Coppinger – R. S. Hawker
I liked this short story a lot. It was everything that I expected from a Cornish smuggling tale.
Colonel Benyon’s Entanglement – Mary Elizabeth Braddon
I really didn’t get along with this story at all. Not a lot happens and the plot is a bit vague, until one key scene towards the end of the story.
The Phantom Hare – M. H.
I liked this story. There is a good mix of jeopardy in the plot along with a good dollop of folklore. The plot is not particularly complex, so much so that I even guessed the outcome!
Christmas Eve at a Cornish Manor House – Clara Venn
Who doesn’t love a Christmas ghost story? It is full of swirling mist and noisy ghosts, and I liked this one.
In the Mist – Mary E. Penn
This was another favourite of mine from the collection. There is tragedy and peril and a conclusion that I really wasn’t expecting.
The Baronet’s Craze – Mrs. H. L. Cox
This is a well-thought through story of the grief a father is going through as he mourns the loss of a daughter.
The Coming of Abel Behenna – Bram Stoker
A strange tale of competitive love lost and gained and the duplicity of some men.
The Roll-Call of the Reef – Arthur Quiller-Couch
A story of shipwrecks in a storm and how teo survivors make an unlikely friendship
The Haunted Spinney – Elliott O’Donnell
This has wind howling through the trees. The night is dark and oppressive and then a scream is heard. It isn’t long before a body is found. No one knows who has committed the murder, but perhaps the ghost hunter can find the culprit.
A Ghostly Visitation: A True Incident – E. M. Bray
I though that this was a reasonable ghost story set in a house with a mostly benevolent spirit.
The Screaming Skull – F. Marion Crawford
I though that this story was super creepy. It is full of unnerving moments as the main character tries to understand the screams he hears at night.
The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot – Arthur Conan Doyle
I hadn’t read any Doyle before this short story (I know…) and I actually quite liked it. I can see where the character traits of Holmes in the TV series come from. It did feel that he worked the plotline back from the conclusion though.
The Mask – F. Tennyson Jesse
A story of illicit love and affairs, coupled with murder and further double-crossing. It felt the most Cornish of the stories in the collection, but the accents took a bit of getting used to.
It is not a bad book overall, like with any collection of stories, there were some I liked and others I felt indifferent about. I didn’t feel that there was much horror in the stories within. The Cornish links felt tenuous at times in some of the stories, but other had very strong links. If you are collecting the series then you probably need to get this.
August 28, 2024
Honestly this one’s a bit of a disappointment. The last thing I want to be is some sort of genre gatekeeper, but a solid 2/3 of these stories are just gothic melodramas rather than the horror/ghost/weird stories that are the usual staple of these British Library books. A good chunk of them lack any supernatural element entirely. No real standouts in this one for good or ill, but scattered thoughts below.
Apparently, there’s some scholarly debate as to whether Poe’s Ligeia is a parody/satire of Gothic fiction or not. I fall in the former camp; Edgar spends way too much time pondering his orbs for this to not be a piss-take.
The narrator of The Screaming Skull getting progressively more unhinged as the evening progresses was a nice touch, and A Ghostly Visitation was nice and vaguely weird if a little slight.
Stoker’s The Coming of Abel Behenna was uncomfortably misogynistic, even for the sort of stories you get in these books. The author bio says he also wrote a Mummy story set in Cornwall – would have preferred an excerpt of that!
The use of phonetics to represent Cornish dialect throughout was pretty tasteful until we get to the last story (The Mask) Which goes full on “Yu’m my woman, do ��ee hear” which gets grating real fast.
Apparently, there’s some scholarly debate as to whether Poe’s Ligeia is a parody/satire of Gothic fiction or not. I fall in the former camp; Edgar spends way too much time pondering his orbs for this to not be a piss-take.
The narrator of The Screaming Skull getting progressively more unhinged as the evening progresses was a nice touch, and A Ghostly Visitation was nice and vaguely weird if a little slight.
Stoker’s The Coming of Abel Behenna was uncomfortably misogynistic, even for the sort of stories you get in these books. The author bio says he also wrote a Mummy story set in Cornwall – would have preferred an excerpt of that!
The use of phonetics to represent Cornish dialect throughout was pretty tasteful until we get to the last story (The Mask) Which goes full on “Yu’m my woman, do ��ee hear” which gets grating real fast.
April 24, 2024
Hmm, I would have liked a sprinkling of some folk-horror elements here. And a little less of the shipwrecks, with a bit more of the moors and mines!
Overall, majority of stories were good tho! If perhaps not feeling as Cornish as I'd hoped.
Overall, majority of stories were good tho! If perhaps not feeling as Cornish as I'd hoped.
October 28, 2021
I am a bit of a mad person for “Cornish literary reading” and what better month to engross oneself in “horror tales” than in October! This was a really mixed bag: from Edgar Allen Poe (couldn’t get into his waxing over a dead woman sorry) to an anonymous Victorian writer who couldn’t get their geography right (a joyful afternoon jaunt to Kynance Cove around the corner from Pendennis left me laughing in tears) and household names like Bram Stoker and Arthur Conan Doyle.
My favourites were:
1) The Role Call of the Reef by Arthur Quiller-Couch. It was pretty much the cutest gay ghost shipwreck of a short I’ve ever come across.
2) The Mask by F. Tennyson Jesse. Could be adapted into a film noir short; maybe it has. Made me want to research more of her work.
Overall, they weren’t really scare-inducing Gothic tales, though entertaining enough.
My favourites were:
1) The Role Call of the Reef by Arthur Quiller-Couch. It was pretty much the cutest gay ghost shipwreck of a short I’ve ever come across.
2) The Mask by F. Tennyson Jesse. Could be adapted into a film noir short; maybe it has. Made me want to research more of her work.
Overall, they weren’t really scare-inducing Gothic tales, though entertaining enough.
March 9, 2025
Not sure editor Joan Passey is not being pixie-led with statements such as:
[….]Arthurian legend was a topic of interest throughout Poe’s career and 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. The Gothic excesses of the short story have led to critics conceiving of it as a satire, and a fittingly excessive film adaptation was released in 1964 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 and filmed on the Cornish coast.
[….]Arthurian legend was a topic of interest throughout Poe’s career and 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. The Gothic excesses of the short story have led to critics conceiving of it as a satire, and a fittingly excessive film adaptation was released in 1964 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 and filmed on the Cornish coast.
August 6, 2025
A mixed bag with a few stories I already knew, but it's nicely presented, and the little introductions to each story were welcome.
November 9, 2024
LIGEA 5*
Edgar Allan Poe vai sempre ganhar nota 5! Eu já tinha lido essa história, mas faz tantos anos que foi bom reler e relembrar.
Completamente irrelevante nessa review: Nesse conto, Poe cita uma passagem de "[Francis] Bacon, Lord Verulam". Francis Bacon morava na mesma cidade em que eu moro hoje, e eu já fui mais de uma vez visitar as ruínas da casa dele.
MY FATHER'S SECRET 4*
CRUEL COPPINGER 4*
Foi interessante, com todo o ambiente muito bem escrito. Dá pra sentir como se você estivesse lá.
Mas a história em si não é uma que me agrada tanto, porque é só uma história de um homem cruel e suas crueldades; praticamente sem nenhuma explicação.
COLONEL BENYON'S ENTANGLEMENT 3*
Essa história foi muito boa desde o princípio, exatamente do jeito que eu gosto. Fiquei super curiosa querendo saber qual era o mistério, e de repente ela acabou. Assim, do nada. Me fez até pesquisar na internet se havia uma parte II que não estava nessa coleção, ou se meu livro veio com defeito, mas parece que aquele foi o fim mesmo.
THE PHANTOM HARE 5*
Tem tudo o que eu espero de uma história dessa coleção. Creepy, e mistura elementos do folclore da região.
CHRISTMAS EVE AT A CORNISH MANOR HOUSE 2*
A introdução do conto explicou que “this is not a ghost story that features ghosts, but a ghost story about looking for ghosts”, e também disse que ela enfatizava quão difícil era chegar em Cornwall na época. Então o mínimo que eu esperava era uma viagem muito difícil e desconfortável e uma busca incessante por um fantasma. Na verdade o que aconteceu foi que as personagens tiveram apenas um problema na viagem para Cornwall e conversaram uma vez sobre a existência de fantasmas na casa. Até o momento é a história que eu menos gostei do livro.
IN THE MIST 4*
Nota alta pela atmosfera da historia, que faz você sentir que está presente no local, e o tempo todo você sente como se algo ruim fosse acontecer. . Mas enfim, eu sempre faço um esforço para tentar enxergar as coisas com a visão da época em que o conto foi escrito, então não posso reclamar muito.
Edgar Allan Poe vai sempre ganhar nota 5! Eu já tinha lido essa história, mas faz tantos anos que foi bom reler e relembrar.
Completamente irrelevante nessa review: Nesse conto, Poe cita uma passagem de "[Francis] Bacon, Lord Verulam". Francis Bacon morava na mesma cidade em que eu moro hoje, e eu já fui mais de uma vez visitar as ruínas da casa dele.
MY FATHER'S SECRET 4*
CRUEL COPPINGER 4*
Foi interessante, com todo o ambiente muito bem escrito. Dá pra sentir como se você estivesse lá.
Mas a história em si não é uma que me agrada tanto, porque é só uma história de um homem cruel e suas crueldades; praticamente sem nenhuma explicação.
COLONEL BENYON'S ENTANGLEMENT 3*
Essa história foi muito boa desde o princípio, exatamente do jeito que eu gosto. Fiquei super curiosa querendo saber qual era o mistério, e de repente ela acabou. Assim, do nada. Me fez até pesquisar na internet se havia uma parte II que não estava nessa coleção, ou se meu livro veio com defeito, mas parece que aquele foi o fim mesmo.
THE PHANTOM HARE 5*
Tem tudo o que eu espero de uma história dessa coleção. Creepy, e mistura elementos do folclore da região.
CHRISTMAS EVE AT A CORNISH MANOR HOUSE 2*
A introdução do conto explicou que “this is not a ghost story that features ghosts, but a ghost story about looking for ghosts”, e também disse que ela enfatizava quão difícil era chegar em Cornwall na época. Então o mínimo que eu esperava era uma viagem muito difícil e desconfortável e uma busca incessante por um fantasma. Na verdade o que aconteceu foi que as personagens tiveram apenas um problema na viagem para Cornwall e conversaram uma vez sobre a existência de fantasmas na casa. Até o momento é a história que eu menos gostei do livro.
IN THE MIST 4*
Nota alta pela atmosfera da historia, que faz você sentir que está presente no local, e o tempo todo você sente como se algo ruim fosse acontecer. . Mas enfim, eu sempre faço um esforço para tentar enxergar as coisas com a visão da época em que o conto foi escrito, então não posso reclamar muito.
May 21, 2024
Maybe not the best thing to read before bed! But such a creative and interesting idea to collate these stories under this theme; so rich and enigmatic.
September 19, 2021
My reading in British literature is pretty vast, but my geography is sketchy. So I had no impression of Cornwall whatsoever as a distinct place. Once the introduction started talking about it though, I knew exactly what the editor was talking about: wild cliffsides overlooking the sea, rocky caves with hideouts for pirates and smugglers. Oh, yes! I didn't really that was Cornwall! Anyway, I really enjoyed all these stories. There's a few more stories based on relationships than I think is usual in the British Library weird collections: love triangles in particular, and some almost psychic bonds between lovers. There seems to have been a definite association with the isolation (and probably the dramatic scenery, evocatively described in many of the tales) that was considered romantic to readers at the time, lending itself to these kinds of stories. It also includes the story "The Screaming Skull," the basis for the crazy B-movie (much changed, of course). This was a perfect get-away collection of weird stories: mostly creepy and atmospheric, with a lot of human element and occasional gruesomeness. Just the right mix for me!
June 22, 2024
For many reasons, Cornwall was highly popular in the nineteenth century: it (supposedly) had health benefits of sea and sun, a stronge sense of history and legends, and was considered to be both technologically advanced (because of the mining industry) and deeply primitive. It was, overall, 'a strange, frightening land', 'a wild corner in the west of England'. No wonder authors were rushing to capture something of this old Cornwall, which led to an outpouring of Gothic fiction set in the county.
Cornish horrors collects fifteen of these stories, which are alas unequal in quality. I very much enjoyed the following stories:
* Colonel Benyon's Entanglement by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, in which an ill officer is nursed by the wicked ex-wife of his best friend,
* The phantom hare by M.H., which portrays the legend of the white hare: a woman betrayed by her former lover follows him everywhere in the shape of a white hare and warns him of impending disaster,
* The baronet's craze by Mrs H.L.Cox, in which a father keeps the dead body of his beloved daughter in a turret room,
* The adventure of the devil's foot by A.C. Doyle, a classic Sherlock Holmes story about a tropical poison,
* The mask by F. Tennyson Jesse, in which a maimed and masked husband tricks his wife and her lover.
Despite the uneven quality of the stories, they are all worth the read, if only for their sociological content. They depict typical elements of time and place, such as the cultural influence of French Brittany (the Bisclavaret or werewolf story), the ancient fear of the Danes on the Cornish Channel, the popularity of ghost hunting, the developement of the railway lines (and the rise of popular fiction that was the result of it), the importance of Cornwalls mining history and the rooting antisemitism of the age.
Cornish horrors collects fifteen of these stories, which are alas unequal in quality. I very much enjoyed the following stories:
* Colonel Benyon's Entanglement by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, in which an ill officer is nursed by the wicked ex-wife of his best friend,
* The phantom hare by M.H., which portrays the legend of the white hare: a woman betrayed by her former lover follows him everywhere in the shape of a white hare and warns him of impending disaster,
* The baronet's craze by Mrs H.L.Cox, in which a father keeps the dead body of his beloved daughter in a turret room,
* The adventure of the devil's foot by A.C. Doyle, a classic Sherlock Holmes story about a tropical poison,
* The mask by F. Tennyson Jesse, in which a maimed and masked husband tricks his wife and her lover.
Despite the uneven quality of the stories, they are all worth the read, if only for their sociological content. They depict typical elements of time and place, such as the cultural influence of French Brittany (the Bisclavaret or werewolf story), the ancient fear of the Danes on the Cornish Channel, the popularity of ghost hunting, the developement of the railway lines (and the rise of popular fiction that was the result of it), the importance of Cornwalls mining history and the rooting antisemitism of the age.
January 8, 2025
Part of the British Library Tales of the Weird series, this book contains fifteen Gothic stories all set amid the misty moors and storm-wracked cliffs of Cornwall. Here you will find murders, unquiet spirits, dark supernatural powers and a perplexing case for none other than Sherlock Holmes himself.
I'm from Devon, an English county that shares a land border and a long history of rivalry with Cornwall, but I'm very familiar with the Cornish landscape and the way that the whole county seems set apart from the rest of the UK.
This book takes that dramatic landscape, sense of otherness and the Victorian/Edwardian fascination for the macabre and combines them into a collection of wonderfully atmospheric Gothic tales.
'Atmospheric' is the most apt word I can use for this book, because although many of the stories here are of prosaic rather than supernatural nature, the haunted atmosphere pervades every single story on offer.
The Cornish landscape lends itself perfectly to this atmosphere and the tales here incorporate fog-shrouded bogs, misty moorland, abandoned tin mines and rugged, stormy coastline.
Unlike many anthologies, there isn't a single outright bad story among those contained in this book, with the worst of them being no worse than predictable. However, there are several exceptional stories.
For me the highlights were Poe's 'Ligeia', Braddon's 'Colonel Benyon's Entanglement', Cox's 'The Baronet's Craze' and Crawford's 'The Screaming Skull'. The latter is especially good, with its narrator being a credulous man who doesn't believe in ghosts and tries desperately to convince himself there is nothing supernatural going on as we, the reader, become steadily convinced of the opposite.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
I'm from Devon, an English county that shares a land border and a long history of rivalry with Cornwall, but I'm very familiar with the Cornish landscape and the way that the whole county seems set apart from the rest of the UK.
This book takes that dramatic landscape, sense of otherness and the Victorian/Edwardian fascination for the macabre and combines them into a collection of wonderfully atmospheric Gothic tales.
'Atmospheric' is the most apt word I can use for this book, because although many of the stories here are of prosaic rather than supernatural nature, the haunted atmosphere pervades every single story on offer.
The Cornish landscape lends itself perfectly to this atmosphere and the tales here incorporate fog-shrouded bogs, misty moorland, abandoned tin mines and rugged, stormy coastline.
Unlike many anthologies, there isn't a single outright bad story among those contained in this book, with the worst of them being no worse than predictable. However, there are several exceptional stories.
For me the highlights were Poe's 'Ligeia', Braddon's 'Colonel Benyon's Entanglement', Cox's 'The Baronet's Craze' and Crawford's 'The Screaming Skull'. The latter is especially good, with its narrator being a credulous man who doesn't believe in ghosts and tries desperately to convince himself there is nothing supernatural going on as we, the reader, become steadily convinced of the opposite.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
November 25, 2025
This book was unfortunately very disappointing. I felt it was really lacking the horror elements and I can confidently say there was not a single time throughout the book that I felt scared or even on edge. I understand that this is largely due to the writing style and the era that these stories were written in but I was definitely expecting a lot more horror/folklore themes. To add to this, I was quite confused at points as some stories had no horror at all but were actually romance stories. Romance was really heavy in the themes of many of these short writings and that wasn’t really why I picked up the book so that was definitely unexpected. Furthermore I found the language to be almost impossible to understand at first so more often than not I was completely unaware of what I was reading and often could not follow the plot. I will say however there were a few stores I did enjoy, particularly the last story the mask was enjoyable which earned this book a few stars. I’m sure there are some people who enjoy older styles of literature that would really like this book but it definitely was just not my style.
October 6, 2025
I finished this a few days ago. Great collection of tales of the weird. See below for the complete list of stories found in this collection:
Ligeia by Edgar Allan Poe
My Father's Secret by Anonymous
Cruel Coppinger by Robert Stephen Hawker
Colonel Benyon's Entanglement by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
The Phantom Hare by M. H.
Christmas Eve at a Cornish Manor House by Clara Venn
In the Mist by Mary E. Penn
The Baronet's Craze by Mrs. H. L. Cox
The Coming of Abel Behenna by Bram Stoker
The Roll-Call of the Reef by Arthur Quiller-Couch
The Haunted Spinney by Elliott O'Donnell
A Ghostly Visitation by E. M. Bray
The Screaming Skull by F. Marion Crawford
The Adventure of the Devil's Foot by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Mask by F. Tennyson Jesse
Ligeia by Edgar Allan Poe
My Father's Secret by Anonymous
Cruel Coppinger by Robert Stephen Hawker
Colonel Benyon's Entanglement by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
The Phantom Hare by M. H.
Christmas Eve at a Cornish Manor House by Clara Venn
In the Mist by Mary E. Penn
The Baronet's Craze by Mrs. H. L. Cox
The Coming of Abel Behenna by Bram Stoker
The Roll-Call of the Reef by Arthur Quiller-Couch
The Haunted Spinney by Elliott O'Donnell
A Ghostly Visitation by E. M. Bray
The Screaming Skull by F. Marion Crawford
The Adventure of the Devil's Foot by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Mask by F. Tennyson Jesse
August 3, 2024
No bad stories here, but most were forgettable and only a couple of real stand outs (The Screaming Skull, The Mask, a Sherlock Holmes story). It just didn't have enough gothic or weird tales, although I respect the addition of many I'd never have read otherwise. There is also an Edgar Allen Poe tale which is fine, but has no place in this anthology given it's connection to Cornwall is so tenuous to the point fo never actually being mentioned.
The introductions also felt a bit strange too compared to other Tales of the Weird. They didn't give much author detail or story history and the links to Cornwall felt forced and barely in keeping with what actually happens in the story (the intro to the Bram Stoker tale spends time associating it's importance to the rise of railways, yet that has no connection to the story).
There are certainly better Tales of the Weird books, but there is enough in here to make it worth its entry as a whole
The introductions also felt a bit strange too compared to other Tales of the Weird. They didn't give much author detail or story history and the links to Cornwall felt forced and barely in keeping with what actually happens in the story (the intro to the Bram Stoker tale spends time associating it's importance to the rise of railways, yet that has no connection to the story).
There are certainly better Tales of the Weird books, but there is enough in here to make it worth its entry as a whole
May 9, 2023
Brilliant collection of horrors and mysteries set in the always atmospheric locale of Cornwall. Some top authors in here, including Bram Stoker and Edgar Allan Poe, a Sherlock Holmes story from Conan Doyle, and some lesser known gems that were the equals of all the big names. As with any story collection, some stories will be more enjoyable to some readers than others, but all in all a solid collection. If you like ghosts and the supernatural, with shipwrecks, abandoned mines, and creepy woods the likes of which can only be found in Cornwall, this is worth a read.
July 25, 2023
As with all short story collections, I liked some rather more than others. But the ones I did like were great. I enjoyed the little introductory texts for each story, explaining the context the story was published in. And some were indeed very good! I liked the Story by Bram Stoker, and the one about the screaming skull. The Holmes story was a little hand-wavy but also fun. But what I liked most was being in Cornwall while reading, and visiting St. Ives for example after reading a story set there.
December 20, 2024
Ironically I bought this book in Devon! There’s an introduction which reminds us that there is so much folklore and history to draw from in Cornwall. As we’re reminded, Cornwall is: “real and close, alternately views as the end of the land and its beginning”.
The tales vary from Sherlock Holmes, to a Bram Stoker love triangle to a werewolf. It is drawn more to the sea than it is to the moors and the mine. There was a few stories I wasn’t that enamoured with but generally speaking it’s a good read to pick up and have a little mosey at 🙂
🧡🫶🏻📚
The tales vary from Sherlock Holmes, to a Bram Stoker love triangle to a werewolf. It is drawn more to the sea than it is to the moors and the mine. There was a few stories I wasn’t that enamoured with but generally speaking it’s a good read to pick up and have a little mosey at 🙂
🧡🫶🏻📚
June 20, 2023
I sadly found these stories to be lacking in the horror department. While I know that they were writing a long time ago, I found them not to be scary at all and even some of them to be a little confusing with how they went.
A couple of the stories I found okay, still not in the scary department or genre at all, but enough that I enjoyed them and could see the horror appeal of them for when they were first published and with the public at those times.
A couple of the stories I found okay, still not in the scary department or genre at all, but enough that I enjoyed them and could see the horror appeal of them for when they were first published and with the public at those times.
October 20, 2023
2,5
damn these 19th century cornish authors would've loved twilight. two thirds of this anthology are about chicks who have to choose between two guys, it gets old pretty fast. there were however a few stories i really enjoyed - often with a nice queer subtext - so i'll settle for a neutral rating
damn these 19th century cornish authors would've loved twilight. two thirds of this anthology are about chicks who have to choose between two guys, it gets old pretty fast. there were however a few stories i really enjoyed - often with a nice queer subtext - so i'll settle for a neutral rating
October 6, 2021
An atmospheric collection , as ever some stronger ( preferred?) than others but that is the nature of short stories. I particularly enjoyed The Phantom Hare, The Baronet's Craze and The Screaming Skull .
December 28, 2021
Really enjoyed reading these tales and discovering more about people interested in Cornwall. However, have to say some of the attempts to capture the dialogue by certain writers would be more fitting to the North.
January 13, 2022
a little disappointed that most of the stories in the latter half had little to do with the supernatural but it was a good collection of solid short stories, regardless.
my definite favourite was 'the phantom hare'.
my definite favourite was 'the phantom hare'.
June 8, 2023
Definitely a mixed bag! There are stories which are very atmospheric and capture the imagination and then there are one or two that you can just skip to the end! Overall though it's a thourghly enjoyable read!
March 9, 2025
Great collection.
I loved these stories set in Cornwall. It sets a great mood for creepy stories when you picture the cold ocean and gray cliffs and isolated homes. Very cozy and fun to read.
I loved these stories set in Cornwall. It sets a great mood for creepy stories when you picture the cold ocean and gray cliffs and isolated homes. Very cozy and fun to read.
May 28, 2022
A strange set of classic stories picked up due to enjoying anthology stories recently
October 9, 2022
I literally didn’t understand what was going on throughout the whole book…
January 18, 2023
An interesting selection
I particularly liked the introduction about each author included. A Gothic Cornwall to explore. Including my favourite character Sherlock Holmes.
I particularly liked the introduction about each author included. A Gothic Cornwall to explore. Including my favourite character Sherlock Holmes.
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