The Wimbourne Book of Victorian Ghost Stories: Volume 10 — Alastair Gunn

Wimbourne Books presents the tenth in a series of rare or out-of-print ghost stories from Victorian authors. With an introduction by author Alastair Gunn, Volume 10 in the series spans the years 1838 to 1898 and includes stories from a wide range of authors; English, Irish, Scottish and American. Includes tales by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Edith Nesbit and Margaret Oliphant. 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 stormy night arrives, 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 Ghost and the Bone-setter (1838) – J. Sheridan Le Fanu; The Banquet-Hall of Death (1842) – William Mudford; A Tale Told by the Fireside (1849) – Mary Ann Bird; A Mysterious Visitor (1857) – Ellen Wood; The Haunted House (1859) – Margaret Verne; Eveline's Visitant (1867) – Mary Elizabeth Braddon; Hu Hirwan's Ghost (1869) – Samuel Williams; The Ghost in the Mill (1870) – Harriet Beecher Stowe; Sister Johanna's Story (1872) – Amelia B. Edwards; The Veiled Portrait (1874) – James Grant; The Beresford Apparition (1875) – Frederick George Lee; The Rival Ghosts (1884) – Brander Matthews; The Ebony Frame (1891) – Edith Nesbit; Her Great-Grandmother's Ghost (1893) – Thomas Nelson Page; The Invisible Playmate (1894) – William Canton; The Phantom Model (1894) – Hume Nisbet; The Ghosts of Austerlitz (1895) – William Waldorf Astor; The Library Window (1896) – Margaret Oliphant; A Sworn Statement (1897) – Emma Frances Dawson; The Lady Tantivy (1898) – Rosa Mulholland