The only annotated edition of M. R. James's writings currently available, Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories contains the entire first two volumes of James's ghost stories, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary and More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. These volumes are both the culmination of the...  more

The only annotated edition of M. R. James's writings currently available, Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories contains the entire first two volumes of James's ghost stories, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary and More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. These volumes are both the culmination of the nineteenth-century ghost story tradition and the inspiration for much of the best twentieth-century work in this genre. Included in this collection are such landmark tales as “Count Magnus,” set in the wilds of Sweden; “Number 13,” a distinctive tale about a haunted hotel room; “Casting the Runes,” a richly complex tale of sorcery that served as the basis for the classic horror film Curse of the Demon; and “Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad,” one of the most frightening tales in literature. The appendix includes several rare texts, including “A Night in King's College Chapel,” James's first known ghost story.

Here are 16 classic ghost stories "Carmilla," (perhaps the classic vampire thriller), "Green Tea," "The Familiar," "The Haunted Baronet," "Madam Crowl’s Ghost," "The Dead Sexton," "An Authentic Narrative of a Haunted House," plus nine others. Half these stories never published before in U.S.

'Nothing is so improbable as what is true' Of all the writers of ghost and horror stories, Ambrose Bierce is perhaps the most colourful. He was a dark, cynical and pessimistic soul who had a grim vision of fate and the unfairness of life, which he channelled into his fiction. And in his...  more

'Nothing is so improbable as what is true' Of all the writers of ghost and horror stories, Ambrose Bierce is perhaps the most colourful. He was a dark, cynical and pessimistic soul who had a grim vision of fate and the unfairness of life, which he channelled into his fiction. And in his death, or rather his disappearance, he created a mystery as strange and unresolved as any that he penned himself. But more of that later. Ambrose Gwinett Bierce was born in a log cabin on 21st June 1842, in Horse Creek, Meigs County, Ohio, USA. He was the tenth of thirteen children, ten of whom survived infancy. His father, an unsuccessful farmer with an unseemly love of literature, had given all the Bierce children names beginning with 'A'. There was Abigail, the eldest; then Amelia, Ann, Addison, Aurelius etc. So oddness was a part of Bierce's life from the beginning. Poverty and religion of the extreme variety were the two chief influences on young Ambrose's childhood. He not only hated this period of his life, he also developed a deep hatred for his family and this is reflected in some of his stories which depict families preying on and murdering one another. For example the unforgettable opening sentence of An Imperfect Conflagration seems to sum up his bitter attitude: 'Early in 1872 I murdered my father - an act that made a deep impression on me at the time'.

Moving, his candle was instantly extinguished, and in the very moment of being left in the darkness he saw, standing in the doorway, a woman, resembling her who had haunted his dream overnight. He rushed with outstretched hands to seize her, but clutched only air. Night Shivers presents a...  more

Moving, his candle was instantly extinguished, and in the very moment of being left in the darkness he saw, standing in the doorway, a woman, resembling her who had haunted his dream overnight. He rushed with outstretched hands to seize her, but clutched only air. Night Shivers presents a treasure trove of the stories of Mrs J. H. Riddell, one of the greatest Victorian writers of ghost stories. These tales, many of which have been out of print for years, take the reader on fearful journeys into the gloomy haunts of old neglected houses, into a world of prophetic dreams, out onto the wild terrain of Ireland to encounter a frightful banshee and even down into Hell itself. In these fourteen short stories and one novella, The Uninhabited House, there is the distillation of the best and most effective of Riddell s spine-tingling supernatural fiction.

Onions' lead story, "The Beckoning Fair One," is one of the greatest ghost stories of all time.  Algernon Blackwood called it the best ghost story in English.  H. P. Lovecraft and other writers and critics of the genre upheld the view.  Onions published his first...  more

Onions' lead story, "The Beckoning Fair One," is one of the greatest ghost stories of all time.  Algernon Blackwood called it the best ghost story in English.  H. P. Lovecraft and other writers and critics of the genre upheld the view.  Onions published his first collection of eight ghost stories under the title Widdershins in 1911.  It contains some of his most famous tales:  "Phantas," "Rooum," "Benlian," "The Accident," "The Lost Thyrsus," "Hic Jacet," and "The Cigarette Case."  All are here, including the complete and much-anthologized "The Beckoning Fair One."

Edited and with an Introduction by David Stuart Davies 'The figure of my wife came in... it came straight towards the bed... its wide eyes were open and looked at me with love unspeakable' Edith Nesbit, best known as the author of The Railway Children and other children's classics, was also...  more

Edited and with an Introduction by David Stuart Davies 'The figure of my wife came in... it came straight towards the bed... its wide eyes were open and looked at me with love unspeakable' Edith Nesbit, best known as the author of The Railway Children and other children's classics, was also the mistress of the ghost story and tales of terror. She was able to create genuinely chilling narratives in which the returning dead feature strongly. Sadly, these stories have been neglected for many years, but now, at last, they are back in print. In this wonderful collection of eerie, flesh-creeping yarns, we encounter love that transcends the grave, reanimated corpses, vampiric vines, vengeful ghosts and other dark delights to make you feel fearful. These vintage spooky stories, tinged with horror, are told in a bold, forthright manner that makes them seem as fresh and unsettling as today's headlines.

Available again, this collection brings together all of E. F. Benson’s masterfully frightening literary ghost stories. Ranking with the best chillers of M. R. James and Henry James are over fifty classics of the macabre. Benson’s graceful style unites these tales to create a...  more

Available again, this collection brings together all of E. F. Benson’s masterfully frightening literary ghost stories. Ranking with the best chillers of M. R. James and Henry James are over fifty classics of the macabre. Benson’s graceful style unites these tales to create a thoroughly eerie atmosphere. E. F. Benson’s most popular works include Secret Lives and Mrs. Ames, in addition to his Mapp and Lucia novels. “The apparitions Benson creates never fail to chill and mesmerize — late-night reading fare, to be sure!” —Booklist

With an Introduction and Notes by Martin Scofield, University of Kent at Canterbury Henry James was arguably the greatest practitioner of what has been called the psychological ghost story. His stories explore the region which lies between the supernatural or straightforwardly marvellous and the...  more

With an Introduction and Notes by Martin Scofield, University of Kent at Canterbury Henry James was arguably the greatest practitioner of what has been called the psychological ghost story. His stories explore the region which lies between the supernatural or straightforwardly marvellous and the darker areas of the human psyche. This edition includes all ten of his ghost stories, and as such is the fullest collection currently available. The stories range widely in tone and type. They include 'The Jolly Corner', a compelling story of psychological doubling; 'Owen Wingrave', which is also a subtle parable of military tradition; 'The Friends of the Friends', a strange story of uncanny love; and 'The Private Life', which finds a shrewd, high comedy in its ghostly theme. The volume also includes James's great novella The Turn of the Screw , perhaps the most ambiguous and disturbing ghost story ever written.

A woman of snow . . . a midnight caller keeping his promise . . . forests where Nature is deliberate and malefic . . . enchanted houses . . . these are the beings and ideas that flood through this collection of ghost stories by Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951). Altogether thirteen stories,...  more

A woman of snow . . . a midnight caller keeping his promise . . . forests where Nature is deliberate and malefic . . . enchanted houses . . . these are the beings and ideas that flood through this collection of ghost stories by Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951). Altogether thirteen stories, gathered from the entire corpus of Blackwood's work, are included: stories of such sheer power and imagination that it is easy to see why he has been considered the foremost British supernaturalist of the twentieth century.  Blackwood's ability to create an atmosphere of unrelieved horror and sustain it to the end of the story is almost unsurpassed. "The Willows" -- which has been called by H. P. Lovecraft the finest supernatural story -- is a typical example of Blackwood's art: slowly and surely Blackwood draws the reader into a world of shadows, nuances, and unearthly terror. Blackwood was also a master at evoking feelings of mysticism and cosmic experience; dealing with such ideas as interpenetrating levels of existence and pantheistic elemental powers, he expanded the content of supernatural literature enormously. But even the more traditional elements of horror stories such as ghosts and haunted houses are handled with such energy and feeling that they rise far above their predecessors.  Drawing on serious Oriental thought, modern psychology, and philosophy, Algernon Blackwood introduced a sophistication to the horror story that -- with few exceptions -- it was devoid of before. The results are stories that are not only guaranteed to chill, but stories that have something to say to the intelligent reader.

Collects sixty-one stories including those published in THE HORROR OF ABBOT'S GRANGE (1936) and THE NIGHT WIND HOWLS (1938), two collections of supernatural fiction in the M. R. Jamesian tradition that rank amongst the rarest books in the genre, plus the seventeen stories comprising a third...  more

Collects sixty-one stories including those published in THE HORROR OF ABBOT'S GRANGE (1936) and THE NIGHT WIND HOWLS (1938), two collections of supernatural fiction in the M. R. Jamesian tradition that rank amongst the rarest books in the genre, plus the seventeen stories comprising a third collection, FEAR WALKS THE NIGHT, that remained unpublished at the author's death in 1948. Includes a foreword by Richard Dalby, introduction by Cowles, and afterword by Neil Bell.

Sheridan Le Fanu, wrote fellow author, M.R. James, 'stands absolutely in the first rank as a writer of ghost stories'. A best-selling author from 1860 to 1880, Le Fanu is feted today as a master of his art. In a Glass Darkly is a remarkable collection of tales of the supernatural, in...  more

Sheridan Le Fanu, wrote fellow author, M.R. James, 'stands absolutely in the first rank as a writer of ghost stories'. A best-selling author from 1860 to 1880, Le Fanu is feted today as a master of his art. In a Glass Darkly is a remarkable collection of tales of the supernatural, in which the patients of Dr Heselius are plagued by malignant apparitions and vampires, or are drugged into a state of living death. The good doctor can usually explain such phenomena in terms of psychopathology, but Le Fanu seems deliberately ambivalent about the doctor s theories, and many disturbing implications remain unsolved. Each story exerts the compelling appeal of a thoroughly good yarn, but In a Glass Darkly is a profoundly disorientating book that has become a classic of mystery and occult literature.

The late Victorians had an insatiable appetite for the macabre and sensational: stories of murder and suspense, ghosts, the supernatural and the inexplicable were the stuff of life to them. The two writers in this volume well represent the last decade of the nineteenth century, and are of...  more

The late Victorians had an insatiable appetite for the macabre and sensational: stories of murder and suspense, ghosts, the supernatural and the inexplicable were the stuff of life to them. The two writers in this volume well represent the last decade of the nineteenth century, and are of interest in themselves as well as for their contribution to the chilling of the Victorian spine. Mrs. Alfred Baldwin attempted as a child to contact her dead sister through a séance, and took to writing when stricken by a mysterious illness six weeks after marriage. She was also the mother of the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin. Lettice Galbraith is herself no less mysterious than the stories she wrote. She appeared on the literary scene in 1893, published a novel and two collections of stories in that year, a further story ( The Blue Room ) in 1897, and then nothing more. Readers of 'The Empty Picture Frame', 'The Case of Sir Nigel Otterburne', 'The Trainer's Ghost' and 'The Seance Room' will recognise the Victorian spirit at its finest.

May Sinclair was an innovator of modern fiction, a late Victorian who was also a precursor to Virginia Woolf. In her Uncanny Stories (1923), Sinclair combines the traditional ghost story with the discoveries of Freud and Einstein. The stories shock, enthral, delight and unsettle. Two lovers...  more

May Sinclair was an innovator of modern fiction, a late Victorian who was also a precursor to Virginia Woolf. In her Uncanny Stories (1923), Sinclair combines the traditional ghost story with the discoveries of Freud and Einstein. The stories shock, enthral, delight and unsettle. Two lovers are doomed to repeat their empty affair for the rest of eternity... A female telepath is forced to face the consequences of her actions... The victim of a violent murder has the last laugh on his assailant... An amateur philosopher discovers that there is more to Heaven than meets the eye. Specially included in this volume is The Intercessor (1911), Sinclair's powerful story of childhood and abandoned love, a tale whose intensity compares with that of the Brontës.

Mrs H.D. Everett was the last in a long line of gifted Victorian novelists who knew how to grip the reader through the invasion of everyday life by the abnormal and dramatic, leaving the facts to produce their special thrills without piling on the agony. 'I always know', says one of her...  more

Mrs H.D. Everett was the last in a long line of gifted Victorian novelists who knew how to grip the reader through the invasion of everyday life by the abnormal and dramatic, leaving the facts to produce their special thrills without piling on the agony. 'I always know', says one of her characters, 'how to distinguish a true ghost story from a faked one. The true ghost story never has any point and the faked one dare not leave it out.' From the chilling horror of The Death Mask to the shocking violence of The Crimson Blind, from the creeping menace of Parson Clench to the mounting suspense of The Pipers of Mallory, these thrilling stories were enthusiastically received by readers and critics when they first appeared, and are sure to delight and terrify the modern reader in equal measure.

Edited with an Introduction by David Stuart Davies 'I saw something terrible rising up through the middle of the 'defence'. It rose with a steady movement. I saw it pale and huge through the whirling funnel of cloud - a monstrous pallid snout rising out of that unknowable abyss. It rose...  more

Edited with an Introduction by David Stuart Davies 'I saw something terrible rising up through the middle of the 'defence'. It rose with a steady movement. I saw it pale and huge through the whirling funnel of cloud - a monstrous pallid snout rising out of that unknowable abyss. It rose higher and higher. Through a thinning of the cloud I saw one small eye... a pig's eye with a sort of vile understanding shining at the back of it. Thomas Carnacki is a ghost finder, an Edwardian psychic detective, investigating a wide range of terrifying hauntings presented in the nine stories in this complete collection of his adventures. Encountering such spine-chilling phenomena as 'The Whistling Room', the life-threatening dangers of the phantom steed in 'The Horse of the Invisible' and the demons from the outside world in 'The Hog', Carnacki is constantly challenged by spiritual forces beyond our knowledge. To complicate matters, he encounters human skullduggery also. Armed with a camera, his Electric Pentacle and various ancient tomes on magic, Carnacki faces the various dangers his supernatural investigations present with great courage. These exciting and frightening stories have long been out of print. Now readers can thrill to them again in this new Wordsworth series.

Over half a century before the rise of the great Queens of Crime , Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, Amelia B. Edwards was an expert practitioner of crime fiction and murder mysteries, of which the best dozen are included in this volume. These gripping tales range from ingenious whodunnits...  more

Over half a century before the rise of the great Queens of Crime , Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, Amelia B. Edwards was an expert practitioner of crime fiction and murder mysteries, of which the best dozen are included in this volume. These gripping tales range from ingenious whodunnits - All Saints Eve and The Tragedy in the Palazzo Bardello - to encounters with homicidal lunatics - Cain and A Railway Panic - clairvoyant visions preventing disaster or imminent murder - The Professor s Story and A Night on the Borders of the Black Forest - and ghost stories The Four-fifteen Express , Number Three , In the Confessional , Sister Johanna s Story , and Was It An Illusion? - in which supernatural visitations explain earlier crimes and murders. These tales, many of which have been long out of print, are an ideal read for those who like their mystery stories tinged with a touch of the supernatural.

Introduction by David Stuart Davies. Oliver Onions is unique in the realms of ghost story writers in that his tales are so far ranging in their background and substance that they are not easily categorised. His stories are powerfully charged explorations of psychical violence, their effects...  more

Introduction by David Stuart Davies. Oliver Onions is unique in the realms of ghost story writers in that his tales are so far ranging in their background and substance that they are not easily categorised. His stories are powerfully charged explorations of psychical violence, their effects heightened by detailed character studies graced with a powerful poetic elegance. In simple terms Oliver Onions goes for the cerebral rather than the jugular. However, make no mistake, his ghost stories achieve the desired effect. They draw you in, enmeshing you in their unnerving and disturbing narratives. This collection contains such masterpieces as The Rosewood Door, The Ascending Dream, The Painted Face and The Beckoning Fair One, a story which both Algernon Blackwood and H. P. Lovecraft regarded as one of the most effective and subtle ghost stories in all literature. Long out of print, these classic tales are a treasure trove of nightmarish gems.

These tales are fictionand yet not fiction,' wrote M.P. Dare in his introduction to his only collection of ghost stories, published in 1947. They are all founded upon actual experiences of the author in the realms of the uncanny.' Dare is a uniquely original voice, and his stories are like...  more

These tales are fictionand yet not fiction,' wrote M.P. Dare in his introduction to his only collection of ghost stories, published in 1947. They are all founded upon actual experiences of the author in the realms of the uncanny.' Dare is a uniquely original voice, and his stories are like no others: some set out to chill the blood, while others are fantastic or humorous. This edition contains all thirteen stories from the original volume, as well as Dare's 1961 article Ghosts I Have Met'; the chapter Beyond the Veil' from his rare book Indian Underworld', which discusses supernatural experiences the author went through or heard of during his time in India; a rare photograph of the author; and several of his sketches. The introduction is by Reg Meuross, and the jacket illustration is taken from a painting by Dare himself. An Ash-Tree Press Limited Edition.

First published in 1921, In Ghostly Company' is the only work of fiction by Amyas Northcote, a contemporary of M.R. James at Eton. It is a must for any lover of classic English ghost stories, and is one of the strongest collections of tales to be published during the golden age' of ghost...  more

First published in 1921, In Ghostly Company' is the only work of fiction by Amyas Northcote, a contemporary of M.R. James at Eton. It is a must for any lover of classic English ghost stories, and is one of the strongest collections of tales to be published during the golden age' of ghost stories. Among the thirteen tales are such classics as Brickett Bottom', in which a nameless horror haunts a peaceful English country garden, and The Late Mrs Fowke', in which a timid cleric realises that his wife is dabbling in devil- worship. This volume contains an introduction by Richard Dalby, who provides the fullest account to date of the author's life, and an afterword by Jack Adrian, who writes that this book is a prime collection, and one that ought to have been critically celebrated over the years'. The jacket illustration is by Deborah McMillion-Nering. An Ash-Tree Press Limited Edition.

The White family has gained possession of a magical monkey's paw, empowered to grant them three wishes. But as they experience horrible consequences related to their wishes they learn the meaning of the adage, "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."

Whether viewed as a subtle, self-conscious exploration of the haunted house of Victorian culture, filled with echoes of sexual and social unease, or simply as "the most hopelessly evil story we have ever read," The Turn of the Screw is probably the most famous of ghostly tales and certainly the...  more

Whether viewed as a subtle, self-conscious exploration of the haunted house of Victorian culture, filled with echoes of sexual and social unease, or simply as "the most hopelessly evil story we have ever read," The Turn of the Screw is probably the most famous of ghostly tales and certainly the most eerily equivocal. This new edition includes three rarely reprinted ghost stories from the 1890s, "Sir Edmund Orme," "Owen Wingrave," and "The Friends of the Friends," as well as relevant extracts from James's notebooks and journals.

Dorothy Kathleen Broster (1877-1950) is best known for her historical novels. But there is a darker side to her writing, glimpsed in her early poems - The Second of September 1792 is a fine example - and finding full expression in the stories she wrote after she had become a highly successful...  more

Dorothy Kathleen Broster (1877-1950) is best known for her historical novels. But there is a darker side to her writing, glimpsed in her early poems - The Second of September 1792 is a fine example - and finding full expression in the stories she wrote after she had become a highly successful novelist. Sometimes - as in The Window or The Pestering, or All Soul's Day - these are what we might call 'explainable' ghost stories: apparitions or hauntings whose origin is to be found in some violent or unjust action in the past. Other stories, Couching at the Door and From the Abyss, have little or no explanation, even in supernatural terms. Add to these an elegant reworking of the Persephone myth, The Taste of Pomegranates, the downright bloodthirsty Clairvoyance, and the psychological studies, The Promised Land and The Pavement which so well merit the heading 'Madness and Obsession', and you have a collection to disturb and unsettle the strongest nerves.