The 10th Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories
Apr 10, 2007 4:31:47 GMT -5
Post by Gloomy Sundae on Apr 10, 2007 4:31:47 GMT -5
R. Chetwynd-Hayes (ed.) - The 10th Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories (1974)
Introduction - R. Chetwynd-Hayes
John Hastings Turner - The House In The Wood
P. C. Wren - Fear
O. Henry - The Furnished Room
Rosemary Timperley - To Keep him Company
Elizabeth Walter - In The Mist
Richard Middleton - On The Brighton Road
'Ex-Private X' (A. M. Burrage) - 'Smee'
Barbara Softly - Master Ghost And I
Ambrose Bierce - The Moonlit Road
Oliver Onions - Two Trifles
Sheridan Le Fanu - Wicked Captain Walshawe
L. P. Hartley - Monkshood Manor
A. E. Ellis - The Chapel Men
Hilda Hughes - The Birthright
R. Chetwynd-Hayes - Non-Paying Passengers
Sheridan Le Fanu - Wicked Captain Walshawe: The atrocious old rake is cursed by Molly Doyle, maidservant to his late wife Peg, after he disrupts the dead woman's wake in typical fashion. His soul is trapped within a corpse candle until it burns down - which takes half a century. The spectre, when it finally puts in an appearance, is one of Le Fanu's most hideous, spraying worms all over the place and generally making the wait worthwhile. This is great stuff, worthy of its place in just about any compilation of Great Ghost Stories you care to mention.
Richard Middleton - On The Brighton Road: From the horrific to the gentle and just plain sad. Middleton (1882-1911) committed suicide and much of his work reflects the bitterness and despondency he presumably felt. On The Brighton Road sees a tramp encounter a young waif, rootless like himself, who insists that he's already died several times, only to revive and continue his aimless wandering.
L. P. Hartley - Monkshood Manor: Among the guests at the weekend party, Mr. Victor Chisholm, a man with a morbid fear of fire who frequently roams the house at night, checking that they're all extinguished. Gradually he learns that the Manor is haunted by a cowled figure. The ending is inevitable, but why Chisholm meets his grisly doom is left unexplained. A fine and horrible ghost story.
R. Chetwynd-Hayes - Non-Paying Passengers : Commuter nightmare. Percy Fortesque is stalked by the ghost of his despised late wife, Doris, and later, his in-laws, who are doomed to haunt the London Underground for all eternity. Percy has recently survived a brush with death and they're intent to see that he's not so lucky a second time. Another of R.C.H.'s meditations on the joys of wedlock: "Why did I marry you? Didn't you ever ask yourself that question once in all those years? I'll tell you. I thought that anyone so unattractive - I could use the word ugly - would always be grateful. I overlooked the undeniable fact that women only look into rose-tinted mirrors ... Get back to hell, you ugly old cow."
Also features a cameo from The Elemental's Madam Orloff, Medium Extraordinaire.
Introduction - R. Chetwynd-Hayes
John Hastings Turner - The House In The Wood
P. C. Wren - Fear
O. Henry - The Furnished Room
Rosemary Timperley - To Keep him Company
Elizabeth Walter - In The Mist
Richard Middleton - On The Brighton Road
'Ex-Private X' (A. M. Burrage) - 'Smee'
Barbara Softly - Master Ghost And I
Ambrose Bierce - The Moonlit Road
Oliver Onions - Two Trifles
Sheridan Le Fanu - Wicked Captain Walshawe
L. P. Hartley - Monkshood Manor
A. E. Ellis - The Chapel Men
Hilda Hughes - The Birthright
R. Chetwynd-Hayes - Non-Paying Passengers
Sheridan Le Fanu - Wicked Captain Walshawe: The atrocious old rake is cursed by Molly Doyle, maidservant to his late wife Peg, after he disrupts the dead woman's wake in typical fashion. His soul is trapped within a corpse candle until it burns down - which takes half a century. The spectre, when it finally puts in an appearance, is one of Le Fanu's most hideous, spraying worms all over the place and generally making the wait worthwhile. This is great stuff, worthy of its place in just about any compilation of Great Ghost Stories you care to mention.
Richard Middleton - On The Brighton Road: From the horrific to the gentle and just plain sad. Middleton (1882-1911) committed suicide and much of his work reflects the bitterness and despondency he presumably felt. On The Brighton Road sees a tramp encounter a young waif, rootless like himself, who insists that he's already died several times, only to revive and continue his aimless wandering.
L. P. Hartley - Monkshood Manor: Among the guests at the weekend party, Mr. Victor Chisholm, a man with a morbid fear of fire who frequently roams the house at night, checking that they're all extinguished. Gradually he learns that the Manor is haunted by a cowled figure. The ending is inevitable, but why Chisholm meets his grisly doom is left unexplained. A fine and horrible ghost story.
R. Chetwynd-Hayes - Non-Paying Passengers : Commuter nightmare. Percy Fortesque is stalked by the ghost of his despised late wife, Doris, and later, his in-laws, who are doomed to haunt the London Underground for all eternity. Percy has recently survived a brush with death and they're intent to see that he's not so lucky a second time. Another of R.C.H.'s meditations on the joys of wedlock: "Why did I marry you? Didn't you ever ask yourself that question once in all those years? I'll tell you. I thought that anyone so unattractive - I could use the word ugly - would always be grateful. I overlooked the undeniable fact that women only look into rose-tinted mirrors ... Get back to hell, you ugly old cow."
Also features a cameo from The Elemental's Madam Orloff, Medium Extraordinaire.