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Barnes and Noble is a publisher as well as seller of books; their College Outlines nonfiction series was well-known even back in my youth. I'm less sure whether they've always published fiction anthologies or whether they've only more recently branched out into that area; but in any case, their Fall River Press arm is currently marketing a number of these, and this book is one of them. Compiler Stefan Dziemianowicz (whose qualifications aren't stated) has gathered, as the subtitle indicates, 101
Barnes and Noble is a publisher as well as seller of books; their College Outlines nonfiction series was well-known even back in my youth. I'm less sure whether they've always published fiction anthologies or whether they've only more recently branched out into that area; but in any case, their Fall River Press arm is currently marketing a number of these, and this book is one of them. Compiler Stefan Dziemianowicz (whose qualifications aren't stated) has gathered, as the subtitle indicates, 101 tales of the supernatural, by 87 authors. (M. R. James, Algernon Blackwood, Ambrose Bierce, Saki, E. F. Benson, Edith Nesbit, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, William Fryer Harvey, Guy de Maupassant, E. G. Swain, Mrs. Molesworth, Vincent O'Sullivan, R. Murray Gilchrist, and Bernard Capes are each represented twice.) According to the two-page Introduction, the chronological scope of the collection spans the period from the early 19th to the early 20th century. The great majority of the included authors are British or American, with British authors and/or settings predominating. Not surprisingly, this is a thick, hardcover anthology, at 689 pages –but readers who have difficulty handling very heavy physical books will be interested to know that this one is actually light in weight, and handles as easily as a much smaller book.
As the title implies, most of the selections are ghost stories, though a few aren't strictly confined under that rubric. They may involve such things as Satanic pacts, murder victims seeking justice from beyond the grave, a homicidal compulsion that may be supernatural, love that transcends death, weird precognition, astral projection, “ghosts” that really aren't ghosts, or just events that have no rational explanation; temporal slips and psychic imprinting also appear, though the writers don't use that terminology. A majority of the tales here (though not all) are serious in tone; and as S. D. also noted in the Introduction, he tended, following M. R. James' famous dictum, to prefer malevolent or vengeful ghosts rather than the friendly or helpful variety (though there are some of the latter too). Most of the authors of the established classical ghost story canon from this era, familiar to genre readers, are here (though Henry James is omitted), as well as some, such as Jules Verne, whose names are familiar but who are mostly known for other types of fiction; but many of the others are lesser known today, and a number of them I'd never previously heard of. That fact makes it especially regrettable that Dziemianowicz doesn't provide any information about contributors but their names; he also gives no publication date for any of the tales, though occasionally dates of composition, or a rough idea of a time frame, can be picked up or inferred from content in the story. He also simply arranges the stories alphabetically by title (ignoring initial articles). I'd describe his editorial role, in every respect except selection, as lazy. Where selection is concerned, though, he did an excellent job.
Some of the stories are familiar, and often anthologized. I've previously read (and in most cases already commented on, in other reviews) 11 of the selections: Washington Irving's classic "The Adventure of the German Student," Harvey's "The Clock," Braddon's "The Cold Embrace" and "Eveline's Visitant," "Father Macclesfield's Tale" by Robert Hugh Benson (brother of E. F.), O. Henry's "The Furnished Room," "On the Brighton Road" by Richard Middleton, Saki's "The Open Window," "The Story of the Spaniards, Hammersmith" by E. and H. Heron, "The Tomb" by H. P. Lovecraft, and "The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall" by John Kendrick Bangs. (My usual practice is to skip the stories I've already read --though I did reread "The Clock" before I remembered I'd read it previously.) However, the editor apparently did try in many cases to select less well known (but good) stories which readers might not have encountered before, which is a plus. For the most part, I found the quality to range from good to very good, and occasionally outstanding; there were only four stories that didn't work for me. Many are predictable, and they aren't usually ground-breaking; but the appeal of this genre often lies in the skilled manipulation of familiar elements.
Among writers whose work I'd previously read, M. R. James' "The Diary of Mr. Poynter" is a great example of his "antiquarian" style of ghostly fiction. (Other outstanding stories here exemplify this approach as well, particularly "The Botathen Ghost" by R. S. Hawker, with its strong evocation of 17th-century Cornwall.) In Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen's heroine eventually concludes that, while such macabre things as undetected murder and supernatural hauntings might happen in Latinate countries, or even in Scotland, they just can't be expected in the prosaic, civilized English countryside. But then, too hasty a blanket acceptance of that theory might be naive, as James' "Lost Hearts," set in 1811-12 in the very Austen-like milieu of Aswarby Hall in Lincolnshire, suggests.... Given that author's prowess in this genre, it's not surprising that this yarn is also a standout. Edith Nesbit and E. M. Benson don't disappoint; and while Algernon Blackwood's "The Occupant of the Room" and "The Woman's Ghost Story" (which I really liked!) exhibits his usual concentration on detailed delineation of the feelings/perceptions and psychological state of his protagonist, these stories don't have the racism that mars some of his work. (Of course, that's because they have only white characters.) Maupassant's "He" is perhaps the most thought-provoking of the stories, and the one with the most appeal to mainstream (that is, not genre fans) readers, for the quality of its psychological study; it has layers of psychological and philosophical meaning that repay serious reflection. I'd previously read other stories by Edward Lucas White and Ralph Adams Cram, and already had their respective collections, The Stuff of Dreams: The Weird Stories of Edward Lucas White and Black Spirits and White - A Book of Ghost Stories. on my to-read shelf; their contributions here definitely whetted my appetite for more! Ambrose Bierce's "The Stranger" packs an emotional punch, and "The Three Sisters" by W. W. Jacobs (whom I previously knew only through his often-anthologized "The Monkey's Paw") is one of the most atmospheric selections here.
Several more tales were by writers I'd at least heard of. These include Sabine Baring-Gould (author of the hymn "Onward, Christian Soldiers" and of The Book of Werewolves) who's represented by "Colonel Halifax's Ghost Story;" one of my Goodreads friends was rather dismissive of the author's work in this genre, but I liked this first exposure to it. Neither Mary Austin (one of the American writers here, who sets her "The Readjustment," like most of her work, in the American Southwest) nor Anatole France were primarily known for supernatural fiction. Indeed, Austin writes her story as a matter-of-fact, serious examination of realistic marital and other social relationships in a small town on the desert frontier, with what critics would no doubt recognize as a very perceptive treatment of character, if one of the characters didn't happen to be newly dead. But that makes it one of the best stories here; and France's "The Mass of Shadows" proved to be poignant and (at least to me) thought-provoking. (Not being a Roman Catholic, I don't believe in Purgatory; but you don't have to in order to appreciate the story on its own terms.) Victorian writer Catherine Crowe, author of The Night Side of Nature, was best known for nonfiction about the paranormal, and her "My Friend's Story" has very much the flavor of a nonfiction case study (though it isn't one).
Just because they're lesser known, though, the work of other authors here that I'd never heard of isn't necessarily inferior to that of their more famous colleagues. Myla Jo Closser's "At the Gate," for instance, is an atypical kind of "ghost" story, which will particularly appeal to dog lovers. "The Other Occupant" by Ulrich Daubeny was one of my favorite stories here. Other stories by new-to-me authors that stand out are Richard Le Gallienne's haunting (pun not exactly intended, but it comes naturally! :-) ) "The Haunted Orchard," and "The Journal of Edward Hargood," the author of which is identified only as D. N. J., an antiquarian tale involving a find in --where else?--a library. Late 19th and early 20th century fascination with spiritualism (mediums and seances) is reflected in a couple of the stories --and tales like "Mrs. Morrell's Last Seance" suggest that this isn't a harmless pastime.
While most of the tales are set in the British Isles or the U.S., a few range afield: to the Austrian Alps, India in the days of the Raj, Australia, Southeast Asia, or the high seas. (A couple would have been good candidates for inclusion in William Pattrick's Mysterious Sea Stories anthology!) "Old Ayah" by Alice Perrin is an example of the stories set in India; it's a very powerful, evocative tale, and like "If You See Her Face" by B. M. Croker, one that clearly critiques the attitudes of the British colonialists. I felt like slapping a couple of the latter for their self-centered sense of entitlement and total indifference to the native Indians as human beings in their own right; and when the sexist Major seriously addressed his wife as "My dear child," I wouldn't have blamed her for slapping him. (Her "nonsense," of course, happened to be a perfectly accurate analysis of the situation!) To Perrin's credit, it's apparent that her characters' attitudes aren't hers. (Not surprisingly, Rudyard Kipling's "The Recrudescence of Imray" also employs an Indian setting.)
"Buggam Grange: A Good Old Ghost Story" by Canadian-American writer Stephen Leacock, who was best known as a humorist (though he could write in a serious vein as well) is an example of a humorous ghost story, or tongue-in-cheek parody of the genre; and it's a hoot. Another humorous inclusion is Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's "The Ghost and the Bone Setter," which makes skillful use of Irish folklore.
Though it's a good enough work, I would say that American writer Harriet Prescott Spofford's "The Conquering Will," is not as strong a story as her more realistic "The Amber Gods," and IMO the latter would have been a better choice for inclusion here (even though the ghostly element there is really only a literary device at the end). One of the tales written with humorous intent, Frank R. Stockton's "The Transferred Ghost" is capably written enough, but for me the premise was just too far "out there" to allow me to suspend disbelief (though I did skim it to the ending). And while Victorian author William Harrison Ainsworth's "The Spectre Bride" (set in a somber castle in the 17th-century Black Forest) certainly manipulates scary atmosphere very effectively, and uses Christian plot elements, they're used in a way that negates the idea of grace which is really at the heart of Christianity. (I still want to someday read Ainsworth's novel The Lancashire Witches, though, despite this less than stellar introduction to his work.) "The Pageant of Ghosts" by R. Murray Gilchrist for me, doesn't succeed well as a story; it's more a short series of disconnected vignettes in an indeterminate setting, with a vaguely sketched narrator; it has atmosphere and beautiful imagery, but that's about all. Finally, Katherine Rickford's "Joseph: A Story," which depends on reincarnation has, IMO, a muddled plot and chronology. But my reaction to the other 97 stories was positive, and that's a pretty good ratio! ...more
As the title implies, most of the selections are ghost stories, though a few aren't strictly confined under that rubric. They may involve such things as Satanic pacts, murder victims seeking justice from beyond the grave, a homicidal compulsion that may be supernatural, love that transcends death, weird precognition, astral projection, “ghosts” that really aren't ghosts, or just events that have no rational explanation; temporal slips and psychic imprinting also appear, though the writers don't use that terminology. A majority of the tales here (though not all) are serious in tone; and as S. D. also noted in the Introduction, he tended, following M. R. James' famous dictum, to prefer malevolent or vengeful ghosts rather than the friendly or helpful variety (though there are some of the latter too). Most of the authors of the established classical ghost story canon from this era, familiar to genre readers, are here (though Henry James is omitted), as well as some, such as Jules Verne, whose names are familiar but who are mostly known for other types of fiction; but many of the others are lesser known today, and a number of them I'd never previously heard of. That fact makes it especially regrettable that Dziemianowicz doesn't provide any information about contributors but their names; he also gives no publication date for any of the tales, though occasionally dates of composition, or a rough idea of a time frame, can be picked up or inferred from content in the story. He also simply arranges the stories alphabetically by title (ignoring initial articles). I'd describe his editorial role, in every respect except selection, as lazy. Where selection is concerned, though, he did an excellent job.
Some of the stories are familiar, and often anthologized. I've previously read (and in most cases already commented on, in other reviews) 11 of the selections: Washington Irving's classic "The Adventure of the German Student," Harvey's "The Clock," Braddon's "The Cold Embrace" and "Eveline's Visitant," "Father Macclesfield's Tale" by Robert Hugh Benson (brother of E. F.), O. Henry's "The Furnished Room," "On the Brighton Road" by Richard Middleton, Saki's "The Open Window," "The Story of the Spaniards, Hammersmith" by E. and H. Heron, "The Tomb" by H. P. Lovecraft, and "The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall" by John Kendrick Bangs. (My usual practice is to skip the stories I've already read --though I did reread "The Clock" before I remembered I'd read it previously.) However, the editor apparently did try in many cases to select less well known (but good) stories which readers might not have encountered before, which is a plus. For the most part, I found the quality to range from good to very good, and occasionally outstanding; there were only four stories that didn't work for me. Many are predictable, and they aren't usually ground-breaking; but the appeal of this genre often lies in the skilled manipulation of familiar elements.
Among writers whose work I'd previously read, M. R. James' "The Diary of Mr. Poynter" is a great example of his "antiquarian" style of ghostly fiction. (Other outstanding stories here exemplify this approach as well, particularly "The Botathen Ghost" by R. S. Hawker, with its strong evocation of 17th-century Cornwall.) In Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen's heroine eventually concludes that, while such macabre things as undetected murder and supernatural hauntings might happen in Latinate countries, or even in Scotland, they just can't be expected in the prosaic, civilized English countryside. But then, too hasty a blanket acceptance of that theory might be naive, as James' "Lost Hearts," set in 1811-12 in the very Austen-like milieu of Aswarby Hall in Lincolnshire, suggests.... Given that author's prowess in this genre, it's not surprising that this yarn is also a standout. Edith Nesbit and E. M. Benson don't disappoint; and while Algernon Blackwood's "The Occupant of the Room" and "The Woman's Ghost Story" (which I really liked!) exhibits his usual concentration on detailed delineation of the feelings/perceptions and psychological state of his protagonist, these stories don't have the racism that mars some of his work. (Of course, that's because they have only white characters.) Maupassant's "He" is perhaps the most thought-provoking of the stories, and the one with the most appeal to mainstream (that is, not genre fans) readers, for the quality of its psychological study; it has layers of psychological and philosophical meaning that repay serious reflection. I'd previously read other stories by Edward Lucas White and Ralph Adams Cram, and already had their respective collections, The Stuff of Dreams: The Weird Stories of Edward Lucas White and Black Spirits and White - A Book of Ghost Stories. on my to-read shelf; their contributions here definitely whetted my appetite for more! Ambrose Bierce's "The Stranger" packs an emotional punch, and "The Three Sisters" by W. W. Jacobs (whom I previously knew only through his often-anthologized "The Monkey's Paw") is one of the most atmospheric selections here.
Several more tales were by writers I'd at least heard of. These include Sabine Baring-Gould (author of the hymn "Onward, Christian Soldiers" and of The Book of Werewolves) who's represented by "Colonel Halifax's Ghost Story;" one of my Goodreads friends was rather dismissive of the author's work in this genre, but I liked this first exposure to it. Neither Mary Austin (one of the American writers here, who sets her "The Readjustment," like most of her work, in the American Southwest) nor Anatole France were primarily known for supernatural fiction. Indeed, Austin writes her story as a matter-of-fact, serious examination of realistic marital and other social relationships in a small town on the desert frontier, with what critics would no doubt recognize as a very perceptive treatment of character, if one of the characters didn't happen to be newly dead. But that makes it one of the best stories here; and France's "The Mass of Shadows" proved to be poignant and (at least to me) thought-provoking. (Not being a Roman Catholic, I don't believe in Purgatory; but you don't have to in order to appreciate the story on its own terms.) Victorian writer Catherine Crowe, author of The Night Side of Nature, was best known for nonfiction about the paranormal, and her "My Friend's Story" has very much the flavor of a nonfiction case study (though it isn't one).
Just because they're lesser known, though, the work of other authors here that I'd never heard of isn't necessarily inferior to that of their more famous colleagues. Myla Jo Closser's "At the Gate," for instance, is an atypical kind of "ghost" story, which will particularly appeal to dog lovers. "The Other Occupant" by Ulrich Daubeny was one of my favorite stories here. Other stories by new-to-me authors that stand out are Richard Le Gallienne's haunting (pun not exactly intended, but it comes naturally! :-) ) "The Haunted Orchard," and "The Journal of Edward Hargood," the author of which is identified only as D. N. J., an antiquarian tale involving a find in --where else?--a library. Late 19th and early 20th century fascination with spiritualism (mediums and seances) is reflected in a couple of the stories --and tales like "Mrs. Morrell's Last Seance" suggest that this isn't a harmless pastime.
While most of the tales are set in the British Isles or the U.S., a few range afield: to the Austrian Alps, India in the days of the Raj, Australia, Southeast Asia, or the high seas. (A couple would have been good candidates for inclusion in William Pattrick's Mysterious Sea Stories anthology!) "Old Ayah" by Alice Perrin is an example of the stories set in India; it's a very powerful, evocative tale, and like "If You See Her Face" by B. M. Croker, one that clearly critiques the attitudes of the British colonialists. I felt like slapping a couple of the latter for their self-centered sense of entitlement and total indifference to the native Indians as human beings in their own right; and when the sexist Major seriously addressed his wife as "My dear child," I wouldn't have blamed her for slapping him. (Her "nonsense," of course, happened to be a perfectly accurate analysis of the situation!) To Perrin's credit, it's apparent that her characters' attitudes aren't hers. (Not surprisingly, Rudyard Kipling's "The Recrudescence of Imray" also employs an Indian setting.)
"Buggam Grange: A Good Old Ghost Story" by Canadian-American writer Stephen Leacock, who was best known as a humorist (though he could write in a serious vein as well) is an example of a humorous ghost story, or tongue-in-cheek parody of the genre; and it's a hoot. Another humorous inclusion is Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's "The Ghost and the Bone Setter," which makes skillful use of Irish folklore.
Though it's a good enough work, I would say that American writer Harriet Prescott Spofford's "The Conquering Will," is not as strong a story as her more realistic "The Amber Gods," and IMO the latter would have been a better choice for inclusion here (even though the ghostly element there is really only a literary device at the end). One of the tales written with humorous intent, Frank R. Stockton's "The Transferred Ghost" is capably written enough, but for me the premise was just too far "out there" to allow me to suspend disbelief (though I did skim it to the ending). And while Victorian author William Harrison Ainsworth's "The Spectre Bride" (set in a somber castle in the 17th-century Black Forest) certainly manipulates scary atmosphere very effectively, and uses Christian plot elements, they're used in a way that negates the idea of grace which is really at the heart of Christianity. (I still want to someday read Ainsworth's novel The Lancashire Witches, though, despite this less than stellar introduction to his work.) "The Pageant of Ghosts" by R. Murray Gilchrist for me, doesn't succeed well as a story; it's more a short series of disconnected vignettes in an indeterminate setting, with a vaguely sketched narrator; it has atmosphere and beautiful imagery, but that's about all. Finally, Katherine Rickford's "Joseph: A Story," which depends on reincarnation has, IMO, a muddled plot and chronology. But my reaction to the other 97 stories was positive, and that's a pretty good ratio! ...more
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