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Post by ripper on Nov 30, 2018 19:56:56 GMT
The Wimbourne Book of Victorian Ghost Stories Volume 3 edited by Alastair Gunn (Wimbourne, 2017)
Contents:
Introduction by Alastair Gunn
The Deaf and Dumb Girl (1839)
The Picture Bedroom (1840)
It is no Fiction (1844)
Mabel (1849)
The Bright Room of Cranmore (1850)
Fisher's Ghost (1853)
The Ghost at Heatherbell Abbey (1862)
The Tale of a Gas-Light Ghost (1867)
Pichon & sons of the Croix Rousse (1868)
Haunted (1868)
The Ghost at Laburnum Villa (1870)
The Sergeant's Ghost Story (1873(
The Bryansfort Spectre (1874)
Twelve O'clock Noon (1877)
The Story of Clifford House (1878)
The Ghost in the Bank of England (1879)
The Carved Mantelpiece of Granton Hall (1882)
The Invisible Hand (1884)
The Old Lady in Black (1894)
Seen by the Coppice (1896)
No authors for the stories as they were published as anonymous.
Alastair Gunn's interesting introduction discusses the history of fiction published as anonymous and why it was so common in the Victorian era and before. He also details where the stories were originally published and gives a brief account of the history of each source.
The stories themselves were in the main unknown to me. As might be expected, there are quite a few set in and around country houses, with main characters coming from the middle and upper class. A few are set abroad such as Fisher's Ghost and The Old Lady in Black, but most are in Britain.
None, I would say, are neglected classics, but having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. For me, the highlights were The Story of Clifford House, The Bryansford Spectre, The Carved Mantelpiece of Granton Hall and The Bright Room at Cranmore. Some of the tales are rather slight, with a figure being seen only to be later realised to have been a ghost, and seem to build up quite a bit of story for the payoff, and I thought Twelve O'clock Noon was particularly guilty of this.
At the moment there are ten volumes in the series, all available as Kindle ebooks plus, I believe, a few as paperbacks. This is the first I have read and I was impressed enough to plan on buying more in the series.
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Post by ripper on Dec 1, 2018 16:13:06 GMT
Just a note about pricing for the Kindle versions. When I purchased Volume 3 it was 99p, with Volumes 1 and 2 being £1.99 each. Now, however, I see that Volume 3 has also been increased to £1.99, so I don't know if the other volumes will see price revisions in the future as well.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 1, 2018 16:56:13 GMT
Just a note about pricing for the Kindle versions. When I purchased Volume 3 it was 99p, with Volumes 1 and 2 being £1.99 each. Now, however, I see that Volume 3 has also been increased to £1.99, so I don't know if the other volumes will see price revisions in the future as well. That is more than double the original price! Outrageous! |
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Post by ripper on Dec 1, 2018 17:23:58 GMT
Just a note about pricing for the Kindle versions. When I purchased Volume 3 it was 99p, with Volumes 1 and 2 being £1.99 each. Now, however, I see that Volume 3 has also been increased to £1.99, so I don't know if the other volumes will see price revisions in the future as well. That is more than double the original price! Outrageous! 99p was quite a bargain, and to be fair, £1.99 isn't a price I would be unwilling to pay for the right volumes, but I can't fathom the rationale behind sudden price jumps like that. I limit myself to a certain amount to spend on books each month, particularly ebooks, as it is too easy to just keep on clicking that 'Buy Now' button, so I often have my eye on a book or books to buy next month and I have found quite a few times that prices have jumped when I actually come to buy. I could understand more if these were physical books with a limited stock, but they are just electronic versions, not subject to going out of stock. Anyway, just thought I would point out that if anyone was interested in buying any in the series that prices appear to be increasing for some volumes. |
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Post by andydecker on Dec 1, 2018 17:35:48 GMT
Just a note about pricing for the Kindle versions. When I purchased Volume 3 it was 99p, with Volumes 1 and 2 being £1.99 each. Now, however, I see that Volume 3 has also been increased to £1.99, so I don't know if the other volumes will see price revisions in the future as well. Price jumps for Kindle are common. Often first issues are low priced. I just bought Sansom's Shardlake 2, Dark Fire, for 98 cent. Vol3 costs 6.99. |
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Post by ripper on Dec 1, 2018 17:57:00 GMT
Just a note about pricing for the Kindle versions. When I purchased Volume 3 it was 99p, with Volumes 1 and 2 being £1.99 each. Now, however, I see that Volume 3 has also been increased to £1.99, so I don't know if the other volumes will see price revisions in the future as well. Price jumps for Kindle are common. Often first issues are low priced. I just bought Sansom's Shardlake 2, Dark Fire, for 98 cent. Vol3 costs 6.99. I have also noticed that the first book ina series will often be a lower price than subsequent volumes, but in the Wimbourne series the opposite is true; the earlier volumes are more expensive than the later ones.  |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 1, 2018 18:07:46 GMT
That is more than double the original price! Outrageous! 99p was quite a bargain, and to be fair, £1.99 isn't a price I would be unwilling to pay for the right volumes, but I can't fathom the rationale behind sudden price jumps like that. I limit myself to a certain amount to spend on books each month, particularly ebooks, as it is too easy to just keep on clicking that 'Buy Now' button, so I often have my eye on a book or books to buy next month and I have found quite a few times that prices have jumped when I actually come to buy. I could understand more if these were physical books with a limited stock, but they are just electronic versions, not subject to going out of stock. Anyway, just thought I would point out that if anyone was interested in buying any in the series that prices appear to be increasing for some volumes. I think I have the first six volumes, which I bought before the rationing started. How many are there? |
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Post by ripper on Dec 1, 2018 19:17:41 GMT
99p was quite a bargain, and to be fair, £1.99 isn't a price I would be unwilling to pay for the right volumes, but I can't fathom the rationale behind sudden price jumps like that. I limit myself to a certain amount to spend on books each month, particularly ebooks, as it is too easy to just keep on clicking that 'Buy Now' button, so I often have my eye on a book or books to buy next month and I have found quite a few times that prices have jumped when I actually come to buy. I could understand more if these were physical books with a limited stock, but they are just electronic versions, not subject to going out of stock. Anyway, just thought I would point out that if anyone was interested in buying any in the series that prices appear to be increasing for some volumes. I think I have the first six volumes, which I bought before the rationing started. How many are there? There are ten volumes in the Victorian Ghost Stories series available on Kindle at the moment. As well as V3, I recently bought V7 and V8. V7 is a Christmas selection and V8 more tales published anonymously. Have you seen the single author collections by Lettice Galbraith, Mary E Penn and Wilhemina FitzClarence, also published by Wimbourne? |
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Post by andydecker on Dec 1, 2018 19:23:39 GMT
Price jumps for Kindle are common. Often first issues are low priced. I just bought Sansom's Shardlake 2, Dark Fire, for 98 cent. Vol3 costs 6.99. I have also noticed that the first book ina series will often be a lower price than subsequent volumes, but in the Wimbourne series the opposite is true; the earlier volumes are more expensive than the later ones. It doesn't make a lot of sense, doesn't it? The randomness of the Kindle products.
I still kick myself that I didn' buy more of The Spider pulps when they were avaiable, for instance. Print at least you can buy years after the first publication. Ebooks are prone to vanish into the ether at a whim.
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Post by ripper on Dec 1, 2018 20:24:41 GMT
I have also noticed that the first book ina series will often be a lower price than subsequent volumes, but in the Wimbourne series the opposite is true; the earlier volumes are more expensive than the later ones. It doesn't make a lot of sense, doesn't it? The randomness of the Kindle products.
I still kick myself that I didn' buy more of The Spider pulps when they were avaiable, for instance. Print at least you can buy years after the first publication. Ebooks are prone to vanish into the ether at a whim.
Yes, prices seem to make little sense and fluctuate wildly. As I have said before, I have a very modest spending limit and never go over it. Consequently, I often put off Kindle purchases until the next month and hey presto the price has often changed, and not just by a little. Several months ago I had my eye on a book for £1.99. I had reached my limit and put it off buying until the next month, and to my great surprise the price had jumped to £4.30. And, yes, Kindle books can vanish very suddenly. A few years ago there were a lot of westerns by an author I had never heard of at low prices--<£1. I bought one and it was okay. Some time later I thought I would buy another and every single book by him--there must have been several dozen at least--had been taken down, although I still have access to the one I purchased originally. So you are a fan of The Spider, Andy? I have a single ebook pulp called Corpse Cargo, one of his earlier adventures, I believe. Have you seen the two cliffhanger serials that were made in the 30s, The Spider's Web and The Spider Returns? The first is supposed to be one of the best serials, but got criticised for its violence. |
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Post by helrunar on Dec 2, 2018 0:50:04 GMT
That also happened with the kindle editions of several novels by Simon Raven. Just vanished overnight without a trace. I was also concerned that they might have vanished from my "device," so I checked immediately and the ones I had purchased were still there.
As somebody who works in a large academic library, I spend a lot of time shaking my head over the decisions to go "digital only" for certain materials. People who make more money than I see in several years in the course of an academic term make these decisions so all I can do is PRESUME they know what the HELL they are doing.
cheers, Steve
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Post by ripper on Dec 2, 2018 10:12:19 GMT
That also happened with the kindle editions of several novels by Simon Raven. Just vanished overnight without a trace. I was also concerned that they might have vanished from my "device," so I checked immediately and the ones I had purchased were still there. As somebody who works in a large academic library, I spend a lot of time shaking my head over the decisions to go "digital only" for certain materials. People who make more money than I see in several years in the course of an academic term make these decisions so all I can do is PRESUME they know what the HELL they are doing. cheers, Steve That is one reason why I really don't get the same sense of ownership from an ebook as I do a print book. I have never yet had a Kindle book disappear on me from those I have purchased, but who can tell what may happen in the years to come? |
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Post by andydecker on Dec 2, 2018 14:27:17 GMT
So you are a fan of The Spider, Andy? I have a single ebook pulp called Corpse Cargo, one of his earlier adventures, I believe. Have you seen the two cliffhanger serials that were made in the 30s, The Spider's Web and The Spider Returns? The first is supposed to be one of the best serials, but got criticised for its violence. O yes! In the early days of the Net an outfit called the Vintage Library sold Adobe files of the Pulps for small money. They are still avaiable. This was some years before the expensive Girasol Reprints came on the market. I sampled a few and was fascinated by Norvell Page's brand of insanity. I bought mostly early numbers, even later bought the complete Caroll&Graff edition. Still re-read Page now and then. It is quite ridiculous. There are so many technical flaws in his storys, the melodram is so over the top. And still it is a very good read quite ahead of its time, often absolutly mental. Never saw the serials, though. I guess they must be rather tame compared to Page with his constant massacres. |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 2, 2018 14:42:51 GMT
So you are a fan of The Spider, Andy? I have a single ebook pulp called Corpse Cargo, one of his earlier adventures, I believe. Have you seen the two cliffhanger serials that were made in the 30s, The Spider's Web and The Spider Returns? The first is supposed to be one of the best serials, but got criticised for its violence. O yes! In the early days of the Net an outfit called the Vintage Library sold Adobe files of the Pulps for small money. They are still avaiable. This was some years before the expensive Girasol Reprints came on the market. I sampled a few and was fascinated by Norvell Page's brand of insanity. I bought mostly early numbers, even later bought the complete Caroll&Graff edition. Still re-read Page now and then. It is quite ridiculous. There are so many technical flaws in his storys, the melodram is so over the top. And still it is a very good read quite ahead of its time, often absolutly mental. Never saw the serials, though. I guess they must be rather tame compared to Page with his constant massacres. There is quite a lot of The Spider available in ebook format. |
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Post by ripper on Dec 2, 2018 19:13:35 GMT
So you are a fan of The Spider, Andy? I have a single ebook pulp called Corpse Cargo, one of his earlier adventures, I believe. Have you seen the two cliffhanger serials that were made in the 30s, The Spider's Web and The Spider Returns? The first is supposed to be one of the best serials, but got criticised for its violence. O yes! In the early days of the Net an outfit called the Vintage Library sold Adobe files of the Pulps for small money. They are still avaiable. This was some years before the expensive Girasol Reprints came on the market. I sampled a few and was fascinated by Norvell Page's brand of insanity. I bought mostly early numbers, even later bought the complete Caroll&Graff edition. Still re-read Page now and then. It is quite ridiculous. There are so many technical flaws in his storys, the melodram is so over the top. And still it is a very good read quite ahead of its time, often absolutly mental. Never saw the serials, though. I guess they must be rather tame compared to Page with his constant massacres. I think it was Vintage Library where I got my copy of Corpse Cargo. The spider's Web serial has a fair bit of gunplay in it if I remember correctly. It got into trouble for it as serials were largely aimed at children. As a consequence, the sequel, The Spider Returns, was toned down, and is generally regarded as being far inferior to the Spider's Web. |
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