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Post by dem bones on Feb 10, 2010 13:23:34 GMT
I know, I know, they're American, but somehow the Dover books seem right for this section as they were forerunners of Wordsworth's Mystery & Supernatural series and, up until the early 'nineties at least, easily available in such outlets as Books, etc (RIP). Perhaps best of all, the majority boasted introductions by E. F. Bleiler. Here are ten to get us going; if you want to fill in the gaps, then please do. E. F. Bleiler - Best Ghost Stories of J. S. Le Fanu (Dover, 1964) Theodore Menten E. F. Bleiler - Introduction
Squire Toby's Will Shalken The Painter Madam Crowl's Ghost The Haunted Baronet Green Tea The Familiar Mr. Justice Harbottle Carmilla The Fortunes Of Sir Robert Ardagh Strange Disturbance In Aungiers Street The Dead Sexton Ghost Stories Of The Tiled House The White Cat Of Drumgunnol Sir Dominick's Bargain Ulter De Lacy An Authentic Narrative Of A Haunted House E. F. Bleiler (ed.) - Three Gothic Novels (Dover, 1966) E. F. Bleiler - Introduction Horace Walpole and The Castle Of Otranto William Beckford and Vathek John Polidori and The Vampyre
Horace Walpole - The Castle Of Otranto Sir Walter Scott's Introduction Preface To The First Edition Preface To The Second Edition
William Beckford - Vathek Notes
John Polidori - The Vampyre Extract Of A Letter To An Editor Introduction
Lord Byron - Fragment Of A NovelE. F. Bleiler (ed.) - Five Victorian Ghost Novels (Dover, 1971) Edward Gorey E. F. Bleiler - Introduction To The Dover Edition
Mrs. J. H. Riddell - The Uninhabited House Wilhelm Meinhold - The Amber Witch Amelia B. Edwards - Monsieur Maurice Vernon Lee - The Phantom Lover Charles Willing Beale - The Ghost Of Guir House
Sources and AcknowledgmentsHerbert Van Thal (ed.) - Wilkie Collins: Tales Of Terror & The Supernatural (1972) Detail from an 1871 poster by Fred Walker Herbert Van Thal - Introduction
The Dream Woman A Terribly Strange Bed The Dead Hand "Blow Up The Brig!" Mr. Lepel And The Housekeeper Miss Bertha And The Yankee Mr. Policeman And The Cook Fauntleroy A Stolen Letter The Lady Of Glenwith Grange Mad Monkton The Bitter BitE. F. Bleiler (ed.) - Three Supernatural Novels Of The Victorian Period (Dover, 1975) Edmund Gillan, jnr. E. F. Bleiler - Introduction To The Dover Edition
Wilkie Collins - The Haunted Hotel Mrs. J. H. Riddell - The Haunted House At Latchford J. Meade Falkner - The Lost StradivariusE. F. Bleiler - J. S. Le Fanu: Ghost Stories & Tales Of Mystery (Dover, 1975) Glen S. Heller E. F. Bleiler - Introduction
The Room In The Dragon Volant Wicked Captain Walshawe Of Wauling Ghost Stories Of Chapelizod The Child That Went With The Fairies The Vision Of Tom Chuff A Chapter In The History Of A Tyrone Family Dickon The Devil The Evil Guest The Murdered Cousin Stories Of Lough Guir Laura Silver Bell The Drunkard's Dream The Ghost And The Bonesetter The Mysterious LodgerE. F. Bleiler (ed.) - The Collected Ghost Stories Of Mrs. J. H. Riddell (Dover, 1977) E. F. Bleiler - Mrs Riddell, Mid-Victorian Ghosts, and Christmas Annuals
Nut Bush Farm The Open Door The Last Of Squire Ennismore A Strange Christmas Game The Old House In Vauxhall Walk Sandy The Tinker Forewarned, Forearmed Hertford O'Donnell;s Warning Walnut-Tree House Old Mrs. Jones Why Dr. Cray Left Southam Conn Kilrea Diarmid Chittock's Story A Terrible Vengeance
A Bibliography Of Mrs. J. H. Riddell SourcesE. F. Bleiler (ed.) - The Best Supernatural Tales Of Arthur Conan Doyle (Dover, 1979) Photograph: Lida Moser E. F. Bleiler - Arthur Conan Doyle And His Supernatural Fiction
The Bully Of Brocas Court The Captain Of The Polestar The Brown Hand The Leather Funnel Lot No. 249 J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement The Great Keinplatz Experiment A Literary Mosaic Playing With Fire The Ring Of Thoth The Los Amigos Fiasco The Silver Hatchet John Barrington Cowles Selecting A Ghost The American's TaleJ. Meade Falkner - The Lost Stradivarius (Dover, 1982) Paul Kennedy E. F. Bleiler (ed.) - Ambrose Bierce: Ghost & Horror Stories (Dover 1964) E. F. Bleiler - Introduction
The Death Of Halpin Frayser Moxon's Master Beyond The Wall The Damned Thing A Watcher By The Dead An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge The Ways Of Ghosts Some Haunted Houses "Mysterious Disappearances" The Man And The Snake The Suitable Surroundings The Eyes Of The Panther The Famous Gilson Bequest An Adventure At Brownville An Inhabitant Of Carcosa The Secret Of MacArger's Gulch The Moonlit Road The Haunted Valley A Jug Of Syrup The Night-Doings At "Deadman's" The Middle Toe Of The Right Foot John Bartine's Watch The Stranger Visions Of The Nightsome others i'm aware of, but don't have a copy of, are; E. F. Bleiler (ed.) - Best Ghost Stories Of Algernon Blackwood (1973) E. F. Bleiler (ed.) - Robert W. Chambers: The King In Yellow & Other Tales Of Supernatural Horror (1970) James Malcolm Rymer or Thomas Preskett Prest - Varney, The Vampyre, or The Feast Of Blood: Introduced by E. F. Bleiler (2 volumes, 1973) Lafcadio Hearn - Kwaidan: Stories & Studies Of Strange Things (1970, 2010) Lord Dunsany - Gods, Men & Ghosts (1972) E. F. Bleiler (ed.) - Oliver Onions: The First Book Of Ghost Stories: Widdershins (1978) M. R. James - Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary (1971) E. F. Bleiler (ed.) - Charles Dickens & Others: Classic Ghost Stories (1975) J. K. Huysmans - La-Bas (1972) in recent times, they've also reissued four Hugh Lamb collections, scant details Here
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Post by cw67q on Feb 10, 2010 18:27:02 GMT
I love Dover, what a great publisher When I started reading horror fiction again, other than HPL who I had occasionally returned to, the first book I picked up was "Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood". The first tales I read were : (1) "the Wendigo" (2) "Ancient Sorcery" (3) "Secret Worship" (4) "the Willows". At which point I let took a breath, mused on the fact that, this guy was miles better than HPL, and wondered if anyone else would break my assumption that Howard sat at the pinacle of the genre (which seem to me to be the modern conventional wisdom). Today I'd put a bunch of authors above HPL, although I'm still a fan of Lovecraft's work. I'm very glad that I picked up this Dover volume which set me off and running down that supernatural fiction highway again. er, so to speak. Another highlight for me is the brother volume by Le Fanu, although he didn't hit me with the same immediate impact but rather smouldered for a while before busting into a enthusiastic flames. I would struggle to think of more than a handful of single author collections with a more solid hit rate than the Le Fanu "Best Ghost Stories" volume. The Follow up Le Fanu is also worth a read, but not quite up to the first volume, although "Te Child Who Went With the Fairies" should definately have been in the "Best of" volume. I hadn't seen the cover of the Riddel volume before, very nice. The earlier Dovers I have used to come with a little note on how they were quality productions in terms of binding and paper: books for life. They were not joking. And don't forget all of those "thrift" editions that walked a similar ground to the more recent Wordsworth series. Now the sickener: I got my Dover Onions (Ghost Stories not Widdeshins) for 50p off ebay three or four years back. Sorry, but I just had to mention that. I'm delighted though that the forthcoming Wordsworth will somewaht undermine my gloating. - Chris
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Feb 10, 2010 18:42:53 GMT
You win on all counts there. Lovecraft I still read with affection Blackwood is brilliant Fanu grows in stature on every approach
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Post by dem bones on Feb 10, 2010 20:00:28 GMT
Blackwood, Lovecraft, Poe, Machen (sorry Mr. Samuels) - i love their greatest hits, but beyond that, they get a bit, erm, draggy for me. well, i never claimed to have any taste ...
amazingly, the two volumes of Varney the Vampyre (hoping to pick up the Wordsworth tomorrow) were something of a fixture in Whitechapel Library, something i'm grateful for, as i doubt i've the stamina to read it nowadays. i've never nicked a library book, but that was the closest i came; they looked so lonely, like no-one else was interested at all, and i used to dread the day i'd find some heathen bastard had defaced them. eventually they disappeared. and so did the library. to be replaced with (if you're feeling suicidal, don't read on) an 'ideas shop' ....
If you notice, the Wordsworth Mrs. Riddell collection is identical to the Dover right down to the running order but they also throw in the short novel, The Uninhabited House as a bonus.
Wilhelm Meinhold's The Amber Witch from Five Victorian Ghost Novels made a big impression on me at the time. it's purports to be a factual account of a witch-trial with all the trimmings (i.e., torture scenes), mild by today's standards (we're not talking Laurence James here), probably quite hard-hitting at the time, although i'm not sure the Victorians were ever as squeamish as we're led to believe. Meinhold, who seems to have built a career from such literary forgeries, was cute enough to have pages go missing from the original manuscript to make it look so much more "authentic", and apparently the middle-class reading public were taken in.
just found the E. T. A. Hoffman collection, so i'll maybe post that tomorrow ...
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Post by jamesdoig on Feb 10, 2010 20:42:41 GMT
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Feb 10, 2010 20:53:48 GMT
I have the paperback of the Dover "Ghost Stories of an Antiquary" (what a surprise). The cover is the famous James McBryde illustration from "Oh, Whistle", tinted in purple and pink.
If memory serves, it was Bleiler who, following Hugh Lamb's rediscovery and publication of MRJ's forgotten ghost story, "The Experiment", came out with the statement that he'd already found it, but didn't think much of it so decided to keep quiet about it. Which always struck me as being particularly arsey.
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Post by Calenture on Feb 10, 2010 22:38:53 GMT
I can't claim to have read The Castle of Otranto, but a story where the villain's son gets crushed to death in the courtyard by a colossal helmet falling out of the sky does sound intriguing. I think the idea has something to do with a cryptic prophecy that usurpers would prevail within the castle only as long as its walls were big enough to contain its rightful ruler. And the ghost of the murdered Alfonso just seems to be getting bigger... I think one of Vernon Lee's gothic novels was made into a silent movie, but unhelpfully can't remember the title right now. Now the sickener: I got my Dover Onions (Ghost Stories not Widdeshins) for 50p off ebay three or four years back. Sorry, but I just had to mention that. I'm delighted though that the forthcoming Wordsworth will somewaht undermine my gloating. - Chris I'm duly sickened. Tell us though, do you think Onions ever wrote anything to compare with The Beckoning Fair One?
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Post by cw67q on Feb 11, 2010 9:56:20 GMT
Wilhelm Meinhold's The Amber Witch from Five Victorian Ghost Novels made a big impression on me at the time. it's purports to be a factual account of a witch-trial with all the trimmings (i.e., torture scenes), mild by today's standards (we're not talking Laurence James here), probably quite hard-hitting at the time, although i'm not sure the Victorians were ever as squeamish as we're led to believe. Meinhold, who seems to have built a career from such literary forgeries, was cute enough to have pages go missing from the original manuscript to make it look so much more "authentic", and apparently the middle-class reading public were taken in. just found the E. T. A. Hoffman collection, so i'll maybe post that tomorrow ... I never got very far into the Amber Witch when I tried it some years back and I remember that I enjoyed the Ghost of Guir House, but the only thing I can recall about it is that it was quite an odd tale. In what manner odd though? Dashed if I can remember I Liked The Uninhabited House, but it struck me as primarily succeeding as a gentle social comedy rather than on its strength as a ghostly tale. M. Maurice I thought was ok, but despite her reputation Amelia Edwards has never really bowled me over. I don't recall disliking anything she wrote either, but she has nevre become a favourite. I think this is the story I would turn to first if I were to reread anything (and I feel inclined to perhaps do so soon). M Maurice is a story, that I feel I should have enjoyed more than I actually did, maybe I was tired at the time? by far and away the best tale in the collection (in my entirely fallible opinion) is Vernon lee's A Phantom Lover, but how I wish Bleiler had opted for the alternative and less leading title of Oke of Okehurst. This tale was my intorduction to Lee, reading it Fontana BGGS#6 before finding this dover. On the whole I found this book rather a let down by the standards of my other Dover aquisitions. Not bad, but not the best. I think I maybe expected too much on the strength of vernon Lee's tale. - chris
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Post by cw67q on Feb 11, 2010 10:07:56 GMT
I think one of Vernon Lee's gothic novels was made into a silent movie, but unhelpfully can't remember the title right now. Now the sickener: I got my Dover Onions (Ghost Stories not Widdeshins) for 50p off ebay three or four years back. Sorry, but I just had to mention that. I'm delighted though that the forthcoming Wordsworth will somewaht undermine my gloating. - Chris I'm duly sickened. [/i]?[/quote] Vernon lee has been adapted for film? I'm not much of a film buff, but I'd like to see this. "Tell us though, do you think Onions ever wrote anything to compare with The Beckoning Fair One?" Well one answer to that would be: has anyone? :-) But I actually do think that "Painted Face" is of a similar quality to tBFO and The Honey in the Wall is almost as good a read but is only very debatably a ghost story and certainly not horror, but a very sad poignant story. The other stories may not quite hit as hard as tBFO and PF, but there are some very good tales nonetheless. And to return to my opening semi-jokey remark, there are very few ghost stories with the (well deserved) reputation of tBFO, maybe it is expecting too much of Onions to expect the other stories to be equally good? Cheers - Chris
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Post by Calenture on Feb 11, 2010 12:31:15 GMT
Vernon lee has been adapted for film? I'm not much of a film buff, but I'd like to see this. "Tell us though, do you think Onions ever wrote anything to compare with The Beckoning Fair One?" Well one answer to that would be: has anyone? :-) But I actually do think that "Painted Face" is of a similar quality to tBFO and The Honey in the Wall is almost as good a read... The film I'm thinking of was advertised in a Super 8 Cine catalogue years back, so it was a tenuous memory and I'd actually decided I was wrong... But then I found this site, which confirms that Lee wrote Oak of Oakhurst, which was the title of the full-length silent film I remember being advertised. Probably, I still have the catalogue. There were a lot of forgotten oddities transfered to 8mm. I could never afford to collect them seriously. One that I did get was a 20 minute silent (and hopelessly arty) version of The Fall of the House of Usher. By the way, I've just found Scope (Film and TV Studies), which mentions another Vernon Lee film adaptation: The Wicked Voice. I think your reply to my Oliver Onions question is better than the question deserved. But the question was prompted by genuine curiosity. Ta. I'll be on the look out for the titles you've mentioned. Rog
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Post by cw67q on Feb 11, 2010 12:36:25 GMT
Thanks Rog. It sounds like all of Onions Ghost Stories are going to be included in the forthcoming wordsworth pb. They are also included in the Tartarus collection.
Best wishes - Chris
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Post by dem bones on Feb 11, 2010 19:05:04 GMT
The Amber Witch and The Phantom Lover/ Oke Of Okehurst apart, Five Victorian Ghost Novels is a blur to me now. Remember reading The Uninhabited House after her collected ghost stories and thinking "that's enough Mrs. Riddell for one lifetime ..." Never did get around to Three Supernatural Novels Of The Victorian Period, but read the stand-alone version of The Lost Stradivarius which i seem to have rated at the time (one red asterisk!) If i'd tried The Castle Of Otranto before The Monk, would probably have skipped Gothic fiction entirely. Funny enough, on re-read not so long ago - there's only eighty pages though, be warned, if you're not in the mood, it seems MUCH longer - I found Manfred's lechery quite entertaining and the 'terrifying' moments are often laugh-out-loud funny. Have still got my notes somewhere and, God help you, I'm prepared to post them the next time anyone gets on my nerves. Here's the Hoffman collection, very much geared toward his fantasy work. Was disappointed it includes so few of his horror/ supernatural stories as I'd bought it on the strength of The Sand-Man (must treat myself to a re-read), The Entail and Ignaz Denner; there's a Penguin Tales Of Hoffman which is probably more the part, if I can root it out. E. F. Bleiler (ed.) - The Best Tales Of E. T. A. Hoffman (Dover, 1967) Menten inc E. F. Bleiler - Introduction
The Golden Flower Pot Automata A New Years Eve Adventure Nutcracker And The King Of Mice The Sand-Man Rath Krespel Tobias Martin, Master Cooper, And His Men The Mines Of Falun Signor Formica The King's BetrothedIf memory serves, it was Bleiler who, following Hugh Lamb's rediscovery and publication of MRJ's forgotten ghost story, "The Experiment", came out with the statement that he'd already found it, but didn't think much of it so decided to keep quiet about it. Which always struck me as being particularly arsey. Yeah, that does sound arsey, not to mention bad business sense. If he'd already found it, he might just as well have used it and given the Dover edition an edge.
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Post by cw67q on Feb 11, 2010 21:40:41 GMT
The Lost Stardivarius is a wonderful read, a very well sustained ghost/occult novel. I'm sure it is in print I pb just now. I've seen it on the recommended shelf in the local waterstones not too long ago (the waterstones staff in Galsgow have great taste!).
Even better perhaps, though non-ghostly is the Nebuly Coat by the same author. This is a so currently in print in pb and as a luxury hardback from Ash-Tree Press.
Has anyone read JM Falkner's Moonfleet? I've never gota round to that?
I've seen joking remarks about ghots story fans being the minority of people who see Jamesain and think MR rather than Henry. But I've been caught out a on more than one occasion, and subsequently disapointed, by thinking "John Meade" whenever Falkner comes up as an author. (Which isn't to denigrate his distant American cousin, but I've never read *him*). :-)
- Chris
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Feb 11, 2010 23:18:08 GMT
I've seen joking remarks about ghots story fans being the minority of people who see Jamesain and think MR rather than Henry. Guilty as charged. Before I'd filled shelves with various editions of MRJ, I used to regard books with Henry rather than Montague Rhodes as having "the wrong James". Actually, when the BBC opted for "The Turn of the Screw" for their Christmas ghost story this year, I thought the same thing, so there's no 'used to' about it.
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Post by dem bones on Mar 12, 2010 12:15:45 GMT
More from the 'strictly for obsessives' end of the Dover range. They do a bloody nice looking book though. M. R. James - Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary (Dover, 1971: Originally Edward Arnold, 1904) E. F. Bleiler - Introduction
Canon Alberic's Scrapbook Lost Hearts The Mezzotint The Ash-Tree Number 13 Count Magnus 'Oh, Whistle, And I'll Come To You, My Lad' The Treasure Of Abbot ThomasM. R. James - More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (this edition, Dover, 1988: originally Edward Arnold, 1911) A School Story The Rose Garden The Tractate Middoth Casting the Runes The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral Martin's Close Mr. Humphreys and His InheritanceThanks to severance for the cover scanE. F. Bleiler (ed.) - Charles Dickens & Others: Classic Ghost Stories (1975: Thrift edition, 1998) J. S. Le Fanu - An Account Of Some Strange Disturbances In Aungier Street Charles Dickens - No. 1 Branch Line: The Signalman Wilkie Collins - Mrs Zant And Her Ghost Mrs Henry Wood - Reality Or Delusion? Amelia B. Edwards - The New Pass Robert Louis Stevenson - The Body-Snatcher Fitz-James O'Brien - What Was It? Henry James - The Real Right Thing M. R. James - 'Oh, Whistle, And I'll Come To You, My Lad' Ralph A. Cram - In Kropfsberg Keep Mary E. Wilkins - The Lost GhostJohn Grafton (ed.) - Great Horror Stories: Tales by Stoker, Poe, Lovecraft and Others (Dover Thrift Edition, 2008) Mike Ashley - Introduction
Rudyard Kipling - The Mark Of The Beast Saki - Sredni Vashtar W. W. Jacobs - The Monkey's Paw Algernon Blackwood - The Willows Ambrose Bierce - The Damned Thing' Arthur Machen - The White People Izumi Kyoka - A Tale of Three Who Were Blind Bram Stoker - Dracula's Guest Edgar Allan Poe - he Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar H. P. Lovecraft - The Colour Out of Space W. F. Harvey - The Beast With Five Fingers Shirley Jackson - The Lottery William Hope Hodgson - The Derelict M. R. James - 'Oh, Whistle, And I'll Come To You, My Lad'John Grafton (ed.) - Great Ghost Stories (Dover Thrift Edition, 1992) Amelia B. Edwards - The Phantom Coach Charles Dickens - To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt J. S. LeFanu - Dickon the Devil Bram Stoker - The Judge’s House Jerome K. Jerome - A Ghost Story Ambrose Bierce - The Moonlit Road W. W. Jacobs - The Monkey's Paw M. R. James - The Rose Garden E. G. Swain - Bone to His Bone E. F. Benson - The Confession Of Charles Linkworth
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