The Wimbourne Book of Victorian Ghost Stories: Volume 7

Twenty ghostly tales from the supernatural masters of the Victorian age.Wimbourne Books presents the seventh in a series of rare or out-of-print ghost stories from Victorian authors. With an introduction by author Alastair Gunn, Volume 7 in the series spans the years 1857 to 1898, contains ghost stories set at or around Christmas, and includes stories from a wide range of authors including Sabine Baring-Gould, Charlotte Riddell and Florence Marryat.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 (preferably on Christmas Eve), 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; The Wedding-Ring (1857) – Miles Gerald Keon; All Alone on Christmas Day (1858) – James Hain Friswell; The Ghost in the Clock Room (1859) – Hesba Stretton; The Ghost in the Double Room (1859) – George Augustus Sala; The Spectre’s Visit (1859) – Anne Sarah Bushby; Glámr (1863) – Sabine Baring-Gould; The Ghost Detective (1865) – Mark Lemon; Hertford O’Donnell’s Warning (1867) – Charlotte Riddell; The Brown Lady (1869) – Frances Cashel Hoey; The Phantom Flash (1870) – William Wilthew Fenn; Christmas Eve at a Cornish Manor-House (1878) – Clara Venn; The Ghost of Charlotte Cray (1879) – Florence Marryat; The Curse of the Catafalques (1882) – F. Anstey; "Number Ninety" (1886) – Bithia Mary Croker; The Spectre of Barrochan (1888) – J. E. P. Muddock; A Mysterious Portrait (1889) – Mark Rutherford; The Old Portrait (1896) – Hume Nisbet; Old Applejoy's Ghost (1897) – Frank Richard Stockton; Jerry Bundler (1897) – W. W. Jacobs; Bills, M.D (1898) – John Kendrick Bangs.Contains detailed biographies of all authorsContains stories not previously anthologizedIncludes a scholarly introduction by author Alastair Gunn

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