The Wimbourne Book of Victorian Ghost Stories: Volume 9

Twenty ghost stories from the supernatural masters of the Victorian age.\nWimbourne Books presents the ninth in a series of rare or out-of-print ghost stories from Victorian authors. With an introduction by author Alastair Gunn, Volume 9 in the series contains stories published between 1841 and 1899, by British and American authors, including many not previously anthologized. Readers new to this genre will discover its pleasures; the Victorian quaintness, the sometimes shocking difference in social norms, the almost comical politeness and structured etiquette, the archaic and precise language, but mostly the Victorians’ skill at stoking our fears and trepidations, our insecurities and doubts. Even if you are already an aficionado of the ghostly tale there is much within these pages to interest you. Wait until the dark of the snowy night, lock the doors, shutter the windows, light the fire, sit with your back to the wall and bury yourself in the Victorian macabre. Try not to let the creaking floorboards, the distant howl of a dog, the chill breeze that caresses the candle, the shadows in the far recesses of your room, disturb your concentration.
Includes the stories; Ghost Gossips at Blakesley House (1841) – William Mudford; George Child’s Second Love (1843) – John Yonge Akerman; The Old House in Chancery (1851) – Mary Ann Bird; The Poor Clare (1856) – Elizabeth Gaskell; The Dutch Officer’s Story (1859) – Catherine Crowe; The Haunted House (1859) – Emerson Bennett; The Four-fifteen Express (1866) – Amelia B. Edwards; The Romance of Certain Old Clothes (1868) – Henry James; The Drummer Ghost (1869) – John William De Forest; The Haunted Enghenio (1872) – John Gladwyn Jebb; Her Last Appearance (1876) – Mary Elizabeth Braddon; The Hand on the Latch (1881) – William Wilthew Fenn; The White Woman of Slaith (1881) – Isabella Banks; On Board the “Eagle” (1882) – G. L. Worrall; Mrs. Zant and the Ghost (1885) – Wilkie Collins; The Upper Berth (1885) – F. Marion Crawford; “The Case of Lady Lukestan” (1893) – Lettice Galbraith; Lost Hearts (1895) – M. R. James; The Crimson Portrait (1896) – Wilhelmina FitzClarence; The Spectre of Rislip Abbey (1899) – J. E. P. Muddock.