The Best Ghost Stories Ever Written

BEST GHOST STORIES EVER… AND EVER AND EVER. Includes 57 Stories.

This is no ordinary anthology. The editors have selected the best ghost stories from around the world, ranging from Greek and Roman times to the twentieth century, but have concentrated mainly on the two writers that stand out as the masters of the form.

Both Sheridan Le Fanu and M.R. James are widely considered the greatest ghost story writers of the 19th and the 20th century, respectively. Out of the 57 tales included in this volume, 22 belong to Le Fanu, and 20 to M.R. James. The other 15 form an anthology in itself. They trace the development of the ghost story from antiquity to our times, providing the perfect background for the study of Le Fanu and James, and the tradition they helped to refine.



Martin Monreal and Gabriela Garcia are the editors of the following anthologies: "Masters of Horror, Suspense and the Supernatural: 100 Stories," "The Vampire Genome: The Best Vampire Stories, Poems and Essays," "Trail of the Necronomicon: An Anthology of the Stories and Novels that Influenced H.P. Lovecraft," "TWILIGHT CREATURES: 40 Stories of Vampires, Werewolves, and other Unspeakable Beings," and "Love Hurts: the Best Vampire, Gothic and Supernatural Romances."




TABLE OF CONTENTS



1. Stories by JAY SHERIDAN LE FANU 1814-1873


Carmilla (1872)
Schalken the Painter (1851)
An Account of Some Strange
Disturbances in Aungier Street (1853)
The Ghost and the Bone Setter (1880)
The Fortunes of Sir Robert Ardagh (1880)
The Last Heir of Castle Connor (1880)
The Drunkard’s Dream (1880)
Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess (1880)
The Bridal of Carrigvarah (1880)
An Authentic Narrative of
a Haunted House (1862)
Laura Silver Bell (1872)
Wicked Captain Walshawe, of Wauling (1869)
The Child That Went With The Fairies (1870)
Stories of Lough Guir (1870):
The Magician Earl
Moll Rial's Adventure
The Banshee
The Governess's Dream
The Earl's Hall
The Vision of Tom Chuff (1870)
Dickon the Devil (1872)
Madame Crowl’s Ghost (1871)
The Dead Sexton (1871)


2. Stories by M.R. JAMES 1862-1936

PART I: GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY (1904)
Canon Alberic's Scrap-book

Lost Hearts

The Mezzotint

The Ash-tree

Number 13

Count Magnus

'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad'

The Treasure of Abbot Thomas

PART 2: MORE GHOST STORIES (1911)
A School Story

The Rose Garden

The Tractate Middoth

Casting the Runes

The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral

Martin's Close

Mr Humphreys and his Inheritance

PART 3: A THIN GHOST (1920)
The Residence at Whitminster
The Diary of Mr. Poynter
An Episode of Cathedral History
The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance
Two Doctors



3. APENDIX

The Tradition of the Ghost Story


Lacy Collison-Morley: Ghosts in Antiquity
Pliny The Younger: Letter to Sura
Lucius Apuleius: Panthia and Meroe
The Shroud (Russian Folktale)
The Spirit of the Singing House (Eskimo Folktale)
The Dream of (Japanese Folktale)
E.T.A. Hoffmann: The Sandman
Edgard Allan Poe: Ligeia
Elizabeth Gaskell: The Old Nurse's Story
Jonas Lauritz Lie: The Earth Draws
Ambrose Bierce The Moonlit Road
R.L. Stevenson: Thrawn Janet
W.W. Jacobs: The Monkey’s Paw
Bram Stoker: Dracula’s Guest
Rudyard Kipling: They