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Post by dem on Nov 9, 2007 19:19:17 GMT
Anonymous - The Best Ghost Stories (Hamlyn, 1977) 
Edward Bulwer-Lytton - The House And The Brain
Edgar Allan Poe - The Masque Of The Red Death
Edgar Allan Poe - The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
Edgar Allan Poe - Ligeia
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu - Carmilla
Guy de Maupassant - The Horla
Guy de Maupassant - Was It a Dream?
M. R. James - Count Magnus
M.R. James - An Episode Of Cathedral History
M. R. James - Casting the Runes
M.R. James - The Diary Of Mr. Poynter
O. Henry - The Furnished Room
W. W. Jacobs - The Monkey's Paw
Arthur Machen - The Novel Of The White Powder
Arthur Machen - The Great God Pan
Arthur Machen - The Novel Of The Black Seal
Robert Hichens - How Love Came to Professor Guildea
Edward Lucas White - Lukundoo
E. F. Benson - The Man Who Went Too Far
E. F. Benson - Negotium Perambulans ....
Algernon Blackwood - The Willows
Algernon Blackwood - The Glamour Of The Snow
Algernon Blackwood - The Decoy
Algernon Blackwood - Ancient Sorceries
Saki - Gabriel-Ernst
Saki - The Music On The Hall
Walter de la Mare - All Hallows
Walter de la Mare - Mr. Kempe
Oliver Onions - The Beckoning Fair One
E. M. Forster - The Story Of A Panic
E. M. Forster - The Story Of The Siren
Karen Blixen - The Sailor-Boy's Tale
H. P. Lovecraft - Pickman's Model
H. P. Lovecraft - The Music Of Erich Zann
H. P. Lovecraft - The Rats in the Walls
H. P. Lovecraft - The Dunwich Horror
Robert Graves - The Shout
John Collier - Are You Too Late Or Was I Too Early?
William Sansom - A Woman Seldom Found
I rate this as one of the finest introductions to the classic ghost story ever compiled, even if it does borrow heavily from the Herbert A. Wise & Phyllis Fraser selection, Great Tales of Terror & the Supernatural from 1949. This collection gave me my first exposure to Lovecraft (I never enjoyed him as much again), Machen's The Great God Pan and Walter de la Mare's Mr. Kempe, the nearest thing to a pure horror story I've read of his and by far my favourite. And then there's the little matter of The Beckoning Fair One ....
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Post by fullbreakfast on Feb 22, 2008 23:25:30 GMT
My first post here! Though I have lurked a bit.
This wonderful anthology served as my proper introduction to horror stories ('ghost stories' being something of a misnomer for at least half the contents...). I still have my rather foxed copy and would not part with it for the world - bought almost thirty years ago when I was ten or so. It is minus the wrapper as at that age I had the odd idea that hardbacks looked more distinguished without their jackets, so I binned it immediately after I got the book! In fact I'd forgotten what it looked like until seeing your scan.
Thirty years later and I still don't think I've seen a better single-volume anthology if you wanted to introduce someone to the genre. Fowkes (if it was he) gets extra points from me for not being afraid to include several stories by the real masters rather than just maximise diversity. Also for making some unusual but excellent choices, particularly the Graves and Sansom pieces which as far as I know are not often anthologised. A Woman Seldom Found gave me the creeps like nothing else when I first read it, and it still rather has that effect - Sansom's best work in my view.
It's also striking that this is quite a 'grown up' collection, not least in terms of the sexual (sometimes homosexual) subtexts of some of the stories. A number of them I remember not quite getting when I first read them, but coming back to later with greater enjoyment - especially Carmilla, Gabriel-Ernest and the Graves and Forster stories. With the possible exception of the John Collier entry, there's not a wasted page in the book.
Hadn't realised that there was a companion 'Horror Stories' volume, and now feel compelled to track it down even though I've read most of the contents elsewhere.
Thanks demonik for showing me I'm not the only one with affection for this obscurity.
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Post by dem on Feb 22, 2008 23:48:14 GMT
welcome to the board, fullbreakfast, and thanks so much for your enthusiastic post. i agree; this book makes for a wonderful introduction to the genre and turned me on to far more authors than i mentioned in that first flimsy entry. i've never read another bulwer-lytton story i liked, but it just doesn't matter - he only had to write The House And The Brain and his work was done as far as i'm concerned. the de maupassant pair really got to me too.
i'm sure you'd like the companion horror volume. there's a bigger ratio of modern stories and the ghost book is maybe the stronger of the two but i had a great time revisiting corabella the spider and friends last year!
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Post by fullbreakfast on Feb 23, 2008 0:05:48 GMT
welcome to the board, fullbreakfast, and thanks so much for your enthusiastic post. i agree; this book makes for a wonderful introduction to the genre and turned me on to far more authors than i mentioned in that first flimsy entry. i've never read another bulwer-lytton story i liked, but it just doesn't matter - he only had to write The House And The Brain and his work was done as far as i'm concerned. the de maupassant pair really got to me too. i'm sure you'd like the companion horror volume. there's a bigger ratio of modern stories and the ghost book is maybe the stronger of the two but i had a great time revisiting corabella the spider and friends last year! Thanks for the welcome demonik. I know what you mean about Bulwer-Lytton, not the finest writer of his era! But The House and the Brain delivers, no question. Now that I've looked again at the horror stories volume I realise I've read much less than half the stories and will definitely have to get it. |
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Post by franklinmarsh on Jan 11, 2013 16:16:13 GMT
Hey! The reason I'm reading a lot of the old stuff is because I've a condensed version of this published (in hardback ptui!) by Octopus as something like 23 Great Ghost Stories and containing merely -
Edward Bulwer-Lytton - The House And The Brain
Edgar Allan Poe - The Masque Of The Red Death
Edgar Allan Poe - The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
Edgar Allan Poe - Ligeia
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu - Carmilla
Guy de Maupassant - The Horla
Guy de Maupassant - Was It a Dream?
M. R. James - Count Magnus
M.R. James - An Episode Of Cathedral History
M. R. James - Casting the Runes
O. Henry - The Furnished Room
W. W. Jacobs - The Monkey's Paw
Arthur Machen - The Great God Pan
Edward Lucas White - Lukundoo
E. F. Benson - The Man Who Went Too Far
Saki - Gabriel-Ernst
Saki - The Music On The Hall
E. M. Forster - The Story Of A Panic
E. M. Forster - The Story Of The Siren
H. P. Lovecraft - Pickman's Model
H. P. Lovecraft - The Music Of Erich Zann
H. P. Lovecraft - The Rats in the Walls
H. P. Lovecraft - The Dunwich Horror
Must check that listing. Drat! I've got a copy of that Hitch Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do On TV in paperback but it's Vol 2 and only has half the stuff - but at least it's got The Most Dangerous Game.
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