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Be afraid, be very afraid: really scary things can come in small packages, and these 100 frightening little tales offer big chills and thrills. They represent more than 150 year's worth of writing, and include the greats: H.P. Lovecraft ("The Terrible Old Man"), Ambrose Bierce ("The Stranger"), Lafcadio Hearn ("A Dead Secret"), Oscar Wilde ("The Sphinx Without a Secret"), and J. Sheridan Le Fanu ("The Ghost and the Bone-Setter"). Best of all, a variety of human emotions and behavior come to the fore, from avarice (August Derleth's "Pacific 421") to revenge (Thorp McCluskey's "Black Gold"), from jealousy (Steve Rasnic Tem's "Daddy") to honor (Edith Nesbit's "John Charrington's Wedding") to love (Darrell Schwietzer's "Clocks"). Using a minimum of elements, each ghost story in this collection will entertain, captivate, and evoke a powerful response in readers. So be warned: you might not want to read these while you're all alone in the house...… (més)
As the introduction confirms, this book particularly set out to collect the "short-short" or "compact" ghost story. Snagging the list of stories from this review (so glad not to have to type them all out!), I'll make notes on the ones that interested me most, that I'd read before, etc. Also will attempt to avoid spoilers, but since stories are so short this means that I'll have a lot of cryptic sounding commentary. Meanwhile when an author is particularly good you really do notice it, because of the brevity of the stories - to pull you in, quickly set and tell the tale, and then make you like or at least think about it - well, in the short length that's all the more impressive.
100 stories:
Across the Moors by William Fryer Harvey [Let's make the governess do this! Poor governess. Good story. Note to self, check out more by this author. Can read his short story online: The Beast with Five Fingers.]
Attorney of the Damned by Renier Wyers [Gangsters, lawyer, and revenge.]
Away by Barry Malzberg Behind the Screen by Dale Clark
Black Gold by Thorp McClusky [Past trade in slavery and revenge.]
Bone to His Bone by E.G. Swain [A past Vicar's library, loved the book descriptions. Also mentions The Compleat Gard'ner of de la Quintinye, which I believe is an actual book. Reading this, and looking up Swain, reminded me that I have a book of his stories (which I should reread) and that he was a friend of M. R. James.]
p 29 "...The books there are arranged as he arranged and ticketed them. Little slips of paper, sometimes bearing interesting fragments of writing, still mark his places. His marginal comments still give life to pages from which all other interest has faded, and he would have but a dull imagination who could sit in the chamber amidst these books without ever being carried back 180 years into the past, to the time when the newest of them left the printer's hands."
The Burned House by Vincent O'Sullivan [A sort of pre-vision-ish ghost story]
Clocks by Darrell Schweitzer [Sad. Also still trying to figure out image of room in basement at the end.]
The Closed Door by Harold Ward
The Coat by A.E.D. Smith [Very creepy for some reason.]
The Cold Embrace by Mary E. Braddon Coming Home by Nina Kiriki Hoffman Concert to Death by Paul Ernst The Considerate Hosts by Thorp McClusky
Daddy by Steve Rasnic Tem [I think you could put together an entire book on "ghosts that are way too creepy with children." Creepy in an uncomfortable way, also spouse abuse.]
Dark Mummery by Thorp McClusky [Problem for me was that final reveal was sorta what I thought had happened so wasn't sure if I'd read that earlier bit wrong or just jumped to reveal without it being revealed. In my brain I was expecting more deaths, which could mean I've been reading too many ghost stories and should maybe rest a bit.]
Date in the City Room by Talbot Johns [Makes a nice one to read alongside the previous story Behind the Screen, to ponder differences/similarities.]
A Dead Secret by Lafcadio Hearn [I like how we don't get full details on the letter. Have had Hearn recommended for ghost stories, haven't gotten around to reading what I found at Gutenberg and elsewhere.]
The Door by Henry S. Whitehead
Drowned Argosies by J. Wilmer Benjamin [I rather liked the idea of what happens to sailors in the afterlife here.]
Dust by Edna Goit Brintnall Edge of the Cliff by Dorothy Quick
Faces by Arthur J. Burks [Creepy realism in its seeming accuracy of injury-related hallucinations. ...or are they? (Well, it's supposed to be a ghost story, so I have to add that, right?)]
Fancy That by J.N. Williamson Father Macclesfield's Tale by R.H. Benson
The Furnished Room by O. Henry [Much anthologixed]
The Garret of Madame Lemoyne by Kirk W. Mashburn, Jr. [Story uses some of facts/folklore from historical person of Delphine LaLaurie. (I'm a New Orleans history buff, so this kind of hops out at me.) Note appearance of words/sentences like "I've seen buck niggers working on the wharves with arms as big as my thighs, and knotted with muscles until they looked like limbs of an oak." Author, who also went by name of W. K. Mashburn, Jr. (1900-1968) was born in Mississippi and published this story in 1928 (source).]
The Ghost and the Bone-setter by J. Sheridan Le Fanu [Humorous-ish. Sort of.]
A Ghost-Child by Bernard Capes [Lots of symbolism frolicking about in this one.]
The Ghost Farm by Susan Andrews Rice
Ghost Story by Alan Brennert [Post apocalyptic future. I think. Very sci fi and fascinating for trying to figure out exactly what might be going on, past and present.]
The Ghosts at Haddon-le-Green by Alfred I. Tooke
Ghosts of the Air by J.M. Hiatt and Moye W. Stephens [Story of wing walking in a flying circus. I think it's the only ghost story I've read with that setting. Interesting to read the bio of Stephens - now I need to track down their other coauthored story: "The Assault Upon Miracle Castle".]
Gibbler's Ghost by William F. Nolan [Hollywood setting. Vaguely humorous.]
A Grammatical Ghost by Elia W. Peattie [A ghost with very particular priorities.]
The Grey Room by Stephen Grabinski Guarded by Mearle Prout
Harmless Ghosts by Jessica Amanda Salmonson [Harmless is a matter of opinion]
The Haunted Burglar by W.C. Morrow [There's actually a real medical symptom in this story, sort of.]
He Walked by Day by Julius Long [He tells them he's a ghost but at first no one quite believes...]
Her New Parents by Steve Rasnic Tem [Psychological]
Highwaymen by W. Benson Dooling The Honor of Don Pedro by Wallace J. Knapp The House of Shadows by Mary Elizabeth Counselman
How He Left the Hotel by Louisa Baldwin [A ghost and an elevator. Seems reminiscent of the old "Room for One More" legend, around since 1906, that link is the Snopes version with history. Which is also the year E. F. Benson wrote of it in the story "The Bus-Conductor" (full text here, if you're curious).]
Jerry Bundler by W.W. Jacobs [A joke goes wrong]
John Charrington's Wedding by Edith Nesbit Much anthologized. As always, still think this is too harsh on the bride - it's not like she did anything to deserve the ending. Seems unfair.]
Kharu Knows it All by Renier Wyers [Revenge and a fake medium]
The Last of Squire Ennismore by Mrs. J.H. Riddell [I'm left wondering who the dead and living folk from the shipwreck were - or at least where they were from. Author also known as Charlotte Riddell, another one who I have multiple books on my ereader thanks to Gutenberg, etc.]
The Light was Green by John Rawson Speer [Train/railroad setting]
McGill's Appointment by Elsie Ellis [Story told from prison, mainly via phone call. Extremely short.]
The Man on B-17 by Stephen Grendon [Ghost story with train/railroad setting. Told as a sort of deposition/interrogation.]
Mandolin by Will Charles Oursler [Ghost or not? Author gives us an explanation, which is annoying depending on whether you like the idea of the ghost more or the other spin.]
The Metronome by August W. Derleth [Sad tale of revenge, yet no sympathy (from me anyway) for the one revenge is aimed at.]
Miss Prue by Fred Chappell [The living are much more clueless than the ghost.]
Monsieur De Guise by Perley Poore Sheehan [Swamp setting. Good wistful, other worldly feel to this one. Author was novelist and film writer.]
Mordecai's Pipe by A.V. Milyer [Note: do not use stuff that was owned by evil dead person. This sounds like an obvious thing not to do, right?!]
The Murderer's Violin by Erckmann-Chatrian [Sometimes you can't tell whether the old fashioned feel to a story is because it is actually old or because the author has a wonderful way of making you feel that. Or in this case authors - this is a writing team. Multiple copies of their work available online for free, I have several waiting on my ereader for me to get around to reading.]
The Night Caller by G.L. Raisor [Sad story of loss. I always dislike these too modern/too real sorts of stories.]
The Night Wire by H.F. Arnold [Set in office of news wire service on the night shift - and I must love this for the outdated technology, always fun to see that documented in fiction. And second, the story is nicely creepy with a good "not entirely sure what happened" sort of ending. Can't seem to find any biography on Arnold - except for the bit here with the full text of this story. And also this line at the end of the info about the author/story segment:
"Astute fans of horror will also find some similarities between this story "The Mist" by Stephen King and the film, John Carpenter's The Fog, but any comparisons I will leave to the reader..."
- and yes, I couldn't help but think of those other fog-related stories.]
O Come Little Children... by Chet Williamson [Unexpected Christmas ghost, yet somehow we should have expected it, right?]
On the Brighton Road by Richard Middleton [Memorable one I've read before. Tramps on the road, possibly for eternity. For some reason reminded me of themes in Waiting for Godot, though style is nothing like it.]
Our Late Visitor by Marvin Kaye [Sometimes the dead are completely clueless.]
Out of Copyright by Ramsey Campbell [Completely delicious story about author's revenge, plural. Though one author specifically. You very much feel this is a revenge story written on behalf of all authors.]
Pacific 421 by August W. Derleth [Ghost of a train]
The Pedicab by Donald R. Burleson [Ghost of the pedicab? Maybe? Hmm. Ghost could be multiple things.]
The Phantom Express by H. Thompson Rich [Ghost of a train.]
The Piper from Bhutan by David Bernard [About-to-be-expelled student attempts to explain his remarks to a professor. Voices of the dead.]
Rats by M.R. James [It's not just rats under that bedsheet....]
The Readjustment by Mary Austin [Actually it's the title of this that made me stop and ponder the story again. Multiple things readjusted.]
Rebels' Rest by Seabury Quinn [Homesick Irishfolk and love.]
Relationships by Robert Sampson [I was going to say that this is a story of an old man, but I looked back and he's 48, so let's just say that he acts as though he's in his 90s (and worries about having mental problems), which is indeed the issue at hand. A bit I found amusing, probably because I was a long time owner of a pet cat, til recently:
p 384 "...He lived with two cats, Gloria and Bill. He had developed the habit of reading aloud to them: selections from news magazines, the poems of Emily Dickinson. The cats were unconcerned by his choices."
Those aren't the important sentences in that paragraph plot-wise, but they are wonderful in setting the scene.]
Rendezvous by Richard H. Hart [New Orleans area setting]
The Return by R. Murray Gilchrist [Usually a good idea to propose first, then go on the journey to make your fortune. Guys, stop doing this without stating your intentions first. Not that it definitely would have helped in this case, but still.]
The Return by G.G. Pendarves [Revenge when a lost traveler finally tracks down his foe... I'm totally getting flashbacks to Tom Hood's The Shadow of a Shade in 65 Great Tales of the Supernatural. Very different setups, and yet there are parallels.]
Rose Rose by Barry Pain [Artist's model]
Safety Zone by Barry Malzberg [You never know when H. P. Lovecraft will come up in conversation...and elsewhere...]
Shadows Cast Behind by Otto E.A. Schmidt [Customs guard on a ship discovers a "who shot first" ghost story.]
Shadows in the Grass by Steve Rasnic Tem [A man tries to take on other's griefs, because he somehow can't find out what his own causes of depression are.]
The Sixth Tree by Edith Lichty Stewart [Geologist narrator/main character. Trying to "out-science" ghosts is probably always a bad idea.]
The Soul of Laploshka by Saki
The Sphinx Without a Secret by Oscar Wilde [And do we know what that secret is? Er, not exactly, not that I can tell...]
The Splendid Lane by S.B.H. Hurst
A Sprig of Rosemary by H. Warner Munn [The scenario of "child/children in ghost stories," if written in just the right way, has a high probability that I will become maudlin and tearful. Dammit, ghost story, stop that. Sooo yeah, this is one of those.]
The Stone Coffin by "B" [I had two years of high school Latin which is just enough for me to think I might know what something might say yet still not get it exactly right. Thankfully there are now online translation sites - Google's is usually best. But it didn't like "Quare inquietasti me ut suscitarer." - something about the word inquietasti wasn't checking out in the database. Thankfully this entire story can be found online here - with the footnote:
A quote from the Vulgate, 1 Samuel 28, v.15 - given in the King James Bible as: "Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up?". This is what the ghost of Samuel says to King Saul after it has been raised by the Witch of Endor.
And it's moments like this that make me wonder how I can ever read again without the internet handy. Also I should just go look up a latin copy of that whole chapter of Samuel because the Witch of Endor is always popping up here and there, where you'd least expect her. Prior to the story on the webpage containing The Stone Coffin is this note:
"This neat little story, set in Magdalene College, Cambridge, is firmly in the tradition of M.R. James. It was published in the December 1913 edition of the Magdalene College Magazine, where it was simply signed 'B'. The mystery of 'B's' identity remains unsolved, although it must have been known to M.R. James, for a proof copy of the story exists among his papers at King's College. The most likely candidate seems to be A.C. Benson, who had close connections with Magdalene and became Master of the College in 1915. However, "The Stone Coffin" is not written in his usual style, and the author may yet prove to have been someone else entirely. Five other supernatural tales by the mysterious 'B' have been collected together and published under the title When the Door is Shut, and other ghost stories (Haunted Library, 1986). [All of the 'B' stories can be found in the G&S Archive]"
Because of course you have to wonder who an author only known as B really is, right? G&S stands for Ghosts and Scholars, and often the scholar Rosemary Pardoe's name can be found as well. She's sort of like the Kevin Bacon of M. R. James and James-esque ghost story research. I'm always rather pleased when I bump into her name again.
A Strange Goldfield by Guy Boothby [Setting: Australian gold fields of "Gurunya." I really must track down a more comprehensive history book on Australia than what I've read so far... someday. Because I'm fuzzy on Aussie geography I'm not sure which gold rush this one's referring to. Here's this same story at Gutenberg Austrailia.]
The Stranger by Ambrose Bierce [Four ghosts from the Arizona desert. Bierce always does this sort of story well.
p 464 -465 "...We were not so new to the county as not to know the solitary life of many a plainsman had a tendency to develop eccentricities of conduct and character not always easily distinguishable from mental aberration. A man is like a tree: in a forest of his fellows he will grow as straight as his generic and individual nature permits; alone in the open, he yields to the deforming stresses and tortions that environ him."
]
Summerland by Avram Davidson [Spiritualists. Revenge, but not entirely sure what manages enact that vengeance. (Nature? God? Spirits? Justice?) Definitely a just deserts story.]
The Terrible Old Man by H.P. Lovecraft [Multiple creepy details, like the jars that can somehow communicate.]
The Terror by Night by E.F. Benson [Not sure why this particular terror visits whom it does - I mean yes, reasons, but purpose not entirely clear to me, certainly not vengeance.]
The Theater Upstairs by Manly Wade Wellman [Movie theater showing a talking picture of de Maupassant's The Horla starring Valentino (who didn't live to make a talking film), among others. Revenge by film. Author wrote a long list of books and screenplays.]
Thirteen Phantasms by Clark Ashton Smith [Which is the ghost of the true love?]
Three Gentlemen in Black by August W. Derleth [Not those Men in Black, but these are operatives of revenge/justice.]
The Tree-Man Ghost by Percy B. Prior [It's not nice to steal from the dead/the church/]
The True Story of Anthony Ffryar by Arthur Gray [Not entirely sure why Ffryar is the one to have the incident happen to him - doesn't seem any more or less deserving of it.]
Two by Al Sarrantonio [Realistic and sad and I suppose well written but I really hate this sort of thing. Parents, child, death, misery, hopelessness. Psychological trauma, nowhere and no one to turn to for help, and no way to escape - anything - in the end. It's the horror of depression and not a ghost tale, and thus I don't see how it can be anything but deeply depressing to read. Not at all close to anything I find enjoyable. I'm also tired of reading this kind of story.]
Under the Eaves by Helen M. Reid [Unhappy marriage]
A Visitor from Far Away by Loretta Burrough {Evil husband, woman in jeopardy scenario in snowbound house]
Waiter Number 34 by Paul Ernst [Rich, greedy men plan another war, however their waiter has actually been in the last one.]
The Woman in Gray by Walker G. Everett [What if you could command a ghost to kill...]
The Word of Bentley by E. Hoffman Price [Wall street investor makes promise to one of his clients]
Be afraid, be very afraid: really scary things can come in small packages, and these 100 frightening little tales offer big chills and thrills. They represent more than 150 year's worth of writing, and include the greats: H.P. Lovecraft ("The Terrible Old Man"), Ambrose Bierce ("The Stranger"), Lafcadio Hearn ("A Dead Secret"), Oscar Wilde ("The Sphinx Without a Secret"), and J. Sheridan Le Fanu ("The Ghost and the Bone-Setter"). Best of all, a variety of human emotions and behavior come to the fore, from avarice (August Derleth's "Pacific 421") to revenge (Thorp McCluskey's "Black Gold"), from jealousy (Steve Rasnic Tem's "Daddy") to honor (Edith Nesbit's "John Charrington's Wedding") to love (Darrell Schwietzer's "Clocks"). Using a minimum of elements, each ghost story in this collection will entertain, captivate, and evoke a powerful response in readers. So be warned: you might not want to read these while you're all alone in the house...
)
Google Books — S'està carregant…
)
1
100 stories:
Across the Moors by William Fryer Harvey
[Let's make the governess do this! Poor governess. Good story. Note to self, check out more by this author. Can read his short story online: The Beast with Five Fingers.]
Attorney of the Damned by Renier Wyers
[Gangsters, lawyer, and revenge.]
Away by Barry Malzberg
Behind the Screen by Dale Clark
Black Gold by Thorp McClusky
[Past trade in slavery and revenge.]
Bone to His Bone by E.G. Swain
[A past Vicar's library, loved the book descriptions. Also mentions The Compleat Gard'ner of de la Quintinye, which I believe is an actual book. Reading this, and looking up Swain, reminded me that I have a book of his stories (which I should reread) and that he was a friend of M. R. James.]
The Burned House by Vincent O'Sullivan
[A sort of pre-vision-ish ghost story]
Clocks by Darrell Schweitzer
[Sad. Also still trying to figure out image of room in basement at the end.]
The Closed Door by Harold Ward
The Coat by A.E.D. Smith
[Very creepy for some reason.]
The Cold Embrace by Mary E. Braddon
Coming Home by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Concert to Death by Paul Ernst
The Considerate Hosts by Thorp McClusky
Daddy by Steve Rasnic Tem
[I think you could put together an entire book on "ghosts that are way too creepy with children." Creepy in an uncomfortable way, also spouse abuse.]
Dark Mummery by Thorp McClusky
[Problem for me was that final reveal was sorta what I thought had happened so wasn't sure if I'd read that earlier bit wrong or just jumped to reveal without it being revealed. In my brain I was expecting more deaths, which could mean I've been reading too many ghost stories and should maybe rest a bit.]
Date in the City Room by Talbot Johns
[Makes a nice one to read alongside the previous story Behind the Screen, to ponder differences/similarities.]
A Dead Secret by Lafcadio Hearn
[I like how we don't get full details on the letter. Have had Hearn recommended for ghost stories, haven't gotten around to reading what I found at Gutenberg and elsewhere.]
The Door by Henry S. Whitehead
Drowned Argosies by J. Wilmer Benjamin
[I rather liked the idea of what happens to sailors in the afterlife here.]
Dust by Edna Goit Brintnall
Edge of the Cliff by Dorothy Quick
Faces by Arthur J. Burks
[Creepy realism in its seeming accuracy of injury-related hallucinations. ...or are they? (Well, it's supposed to be a ghost story, so I have to add that, right?)]
Fancy That by J.N. Williamson
Father Macclesfield's Tale by R.H. Benson
The Furnished Room by O. Henry
[Much anthologixed]
The Garret of Madame Lemoyne by Kirk W. Mashburn, Jr.
[Story uses some of facts/folklore from historical person of Delphine LaLaurie. (I'm a New Orleans history buff, so this kind of hops out at me.) Note appearance of words/sentences like "I've seen buck niggers working on the wharves with arms as big as my thighs, and knotted with muscles until they looked like limbs of an oak." Author, who also went by name of W. K. Mashburn, Jr. (1900-1968) was born in Mississippi and published this story in 1928 (source).]
The Ghost and the Bone-setter by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
[Humorous-ish. Sort of.]
A Ghost-Child by Bernard Capes
[Lots of symbolism frolicking about in this one.]
The Ghost Farm by Susan Andrews Rice
Ghost Story by Alan Brennert
[Post apocalyptic future. I think. Very sci fi and fascinating for trying to figure out exactly what might be going on, past and present.]
The Ghosts at Haddon-le-Green by Alfred I. Tooke
Ghosts of the Air by J.M. Hiatt and Moye W. Stephens
[Story of wing walking in a flying circus. I think it's the only ghost story I've read with that setting. Interesting to read the bio of Stephens - now I need to track down their other coauthored story: "The Assault Upon Miracle Castle".]
Gibbler's Ghost by William F. Nolan
[Hollywood setting. Vaguely humorous.]
A Grammatical Ghost by Elia W. Peattie
[A ghost with very particular priorities.]
The Grey Room by Stephen Grabinski
Guarded by Mearle Prout
Harmless Ghosts by Jessica Amanda Salmonson
[Harmless is a matter of opinion]
The Haunted Burglar by W.C. Morrow
[There's actually a real medical symptom in this story, sort of.]
He Walked by Day by Julius Long
[He tells them he's a ghost but at first no one quite believes...]
Her New Parents by Steve Rasnic Tem
[Psychological]
Highwaymen by W. Benson Dooling
The Honor of Don Pedro by Wallace J. Knapp
The House of Shadows by Mary Elizabeth Counselman
How He Left the Hotel by Louisa Baldwin
[A ghost and an elevator. Seems reminiscent of the old "Room for One More" legend, around since 1906, that link is the Snopes version with history. Which is also the year E. F. Benson wrote of it in the story "The Bus-Conductor" (full text here, if you're curious).]
Jerry Bundler by W.W. Jacobs
[A joke goes wrong]
John Charrington's Wedding by Edith Nesbit
Much anthologized. As always, still think this is too harsh on the bride - it's not like she did anything to deserve the ending. Seems unfair.]
Kharu Knows it All by Renier Wyers
[Revenge and a fake medium]
The Last of Squire Ennismore by Mrs. J.H. Riddell
[I'm left wondering who the dead and living folk from the shipwreck were - or at least where they were from. Author also known as Charlotte Riddell, another one who I have multiple books on my ereader thanks to Gutenberg, etc.]
The Light was Green by John Rawson Speer
[Train/railroad setting]
McGill's Appointment by Elsie Ellis
[Story told from prison, mainly via phone call. Extremely short.]
The Man on B-17 by Stephen Grendon
[Ghost story with train/railroad setting. Told as a sort of deposition/interrogation.]
Mandolin by Will Charles Oursler
[Ghost or not? Author gives us an explanation, which is annoying depending on whether you like the idea of the ghost more or the other spin.]
The Metronome by August W. Derleth
[Sad tale of revenge, yet no sympathy (from me anyway) for the one revenge is aimed at.]
Miss Prue by Fred Chappell
[The living are much more clueless than the ghost.]
Monsieur De Guise by Perley Poore Sheehan
[Swamp setting. Good wistful, other worldly feel to this one. Author was novelist and film writer.]
Mordecai's Pipe by A.V. Milyer
[Note: do not use stuff that was owned by evil dead person. This sounds like an obvious thing not to do, right?!]
The Murderer's Violin by Erckmann-Chatrian
[Sometimes you can't tell whether the old fashioned feel to a story is because it is actually old or because the author has a wonderful way of making you feel that. Or in this case authors - this is a writing team. Multiple copies of their work available online for free, I have several waiting on my ereader for me to get around to reading.]
The Night Caller by G.L. Raisor
[Sad story of loss. I always dislike these too modern/too real sorts of stories.]
The Night Wire by H.F. Arnold
[Set in office of news wire service on the night shift - and I must love this for the outdated technology, always fun to see that documented in fiction. And second, the story is nicely creepy with a good "not entirely sure what happened" sort of ending. Can't seem to find any biography on Arnold - except for the bit here with the full text of this story. And also this line at the end of the info about the author/story segment: - and yes, I couldn't help but think of those other fog-related stories.]
O Come Little Children... by Chet Williamson
[Unexpected Christmas ghost, yet somehow we should have expected it, right?]
On the Brighton Road by Richard Middleton
[Memorable one I've read before. Tramps on the road, possibly for eternity. For some reason reminded me of themes in Waiting for Godot, though style is nothing like it.]
Our Late Visitor by Marvin Kaye
[Sometimes the dead are completely clueless.]
Out of Copyright by Ramsey Campbell
[Completely delicious story about author's revenge, plural. Though one author specifically. You very much feel this is a revenge story written on behalf of all authors.]
Pacific 421 by August W. Derleth
[Ghost of a train]
The Pedicab by Donald R. Burleson
[Ghost of the pedicab? Maybe? Hmm. Ghost could be multiple things.]
The Phantom Express by H. Thompson Rich
[Ghost of a train.]
The Piper from Bhutan by David Bernard
[About-to-be-expelled student attempts to explain his remarks to a professor. Voices of the dead.]
Rats by M.R. James
[It's not just rats under that bedsheet....]
The Readjustment by Mary Austin
[Actually it's the title of this that made me stop and ponder the story again. Multiple things readjusted.]
Rebels' Rest by Seabury Quinn
[Homesick Irishfolk and love.]
Relationships by Robert Sampson
[I was going to say that this is a story of an old man, but I looked back and he's 48, so let's just say that he acts as though he's in his 90s (and worries about having mental problems), which is indeed the issue at hand. A bit I found amusing, probably because I was a long time owner of a pet cat, til recently:
Those aren't the important sentences in that paragraph plot-wise, but they are wonderful in setting the scene.]
Rendezvous by Richard H. Hart
[New Orleans area setting]
The Return by R. Murray Gilchrist
[Usually a good idea to propose first, then go on the journey to make your fortune. Guys, stop doing this without stating your intentions first. Not that it definitely would have helped in this case, but still.]
The Return by G.G. Pendarves
[Revenge when a lost traveler finally tracks down his foe... I'm totally getting flashbacks to Tom Hood's The Shadow of a Shade in 65 Great Tales of the Supernatural. Very different setups, and yet there are parallels.]
Rose Rose by Barry Pain
[Artist's model]
Safety Zone by Barry Malzberg
[You never know when H. P. Lovecraft will come up in conversation...and elsewhere...]
Shadows Cast Behind by Otto E.A. Schmidt
[Customs guard on a ship discovers a "who shot first" ghost story.]
Shadows in the Grass by Steve Rasnic Tem
[A man tries to take on other's griefs, because he somehow can't find out what his own causes of depression are.]
The Sixth Tree by Edith Lichty Stewart
[Geologist narrator/main character. Trying to "out-science" ghosts is probably always a bad idea.]
The Soul of Laploshka by Saki
The Sphinx Without a Secret by Oscar Wilde
[And do we know what that secret is? Er, not exactly, not that I can tell...]
The Splendid Lane by S.B.H. Hurst
A Sprig of Rosemary by H. Warner Munn
[The scenario of "child/children in ghost stories," if written in just the right way, has a high probability that I will become maudlin and tearful. Dammit, ghost story, stop that. Sooo yeah, this is one of those.]
The Stone Coffin by "B"
[I had two years of high school Latin which is just enough for me to think I might know what something might say yet still not get it exactly right. Thankfully there are now online translation sites - Google's is usually best. But it didn't like "Quare inquietasti me ut suscitarer." - something about the word inquietasti wasn't checking out in the database. Thankfully this entire story can be found online here - with the footnote:
And it's moments like this that make me wonder how I can ever read again without the internet handy. Also I should just go look up a latin copy of that whole chapter of Samuel because the Witch of Endor is always popping up here and there, where you'd least expect her. Prior to the story on the webpage containing The Stone Coffin is this note:
Because of course you have to wonder who an author only known as B really is, right? G&S stands for Ghosts and Scholars, and often the scholar Rosemary Pardoe's name can be found as well. She's sort of like the Kevin Bacon of M. R. James and James-esque ghost story research. I'm always rather pleased when I bump into her name again.
Five more stories by B can be found here.]
A Strange Goldfield by Guy Boothby
[Setting: Australian gold fields of "Gurunya." I really must track down a more comprehensive history book on Australia than what I've read so far... someday. Because I'm fuzzy on Aussie geography I'm not sure which gold rush this one's referring to. Here's this same story at Gutenberg Austrailia.]
The Stranger by Ambrose Bierce
[Four ghosts from the Arizona desert. Bierce always does this sort of story well.
]
Summerland by Avram Davidson
[Spiritualists. Revenge, but not entirely sure what manages enact that vengeance. (Nature? God? Spirits? Justice?) Definitely a just deserts story.]
The Terrible Old Man by H.P. Lovecraft
[Multiple creepy details, like the jars that can somehow communicate.]
The Terror by Night by E.F. Benson
[Not sure why this particular terror visits whom it does - I mean yes, reasons, but purpose not entirely clear to me, certainly not vengeance.]
The Theater Upstairs by Manly Wade Wellman
[Movie theater showing a talking picture of de Maupassant's The Horla starring Valentino (who didn't live to make a talking film), among others. Revenge by film. Author wrote a long list of books and screenplays.]
Thirteen Phantasms by Clark Ashton Smith
[Which is the ghost of the true love?]
Three Gentlemen in Black by August W. Derleth
[Not those Men in Black, but these are operatives of revenge/justice.]
The Tree-Man Ghost by Percy B. Prior
[It's not nice to steal from the dead/the church/]
The True Story of Anthony Ffryar by Arthur Gray
[Not entirely sure why Ffryar is the one to have the incident happen to him - doesn't seem any more or less deserving of it.]
Two by Al Sarrantonio
[Realistic and sad and I suppose well written but I really hate this sort of thing. Parents, child, death, misery, hopelessness. Psychological trauma, nowhere and no one to turn to for help, and no way to escape - anything - in the end. It's the horror of depression and not a ghost tale, and thus I don't see how it can be anything but deeply depressing to read. Not at all close to anything I find enjoyable. I'm also tired of reading this kind of story.]
Under the Eaves by Helen M. Reid
[Unhappy marriage]
A Visitor from Far Away by Loretta Burrough
{Evil husband, woman in jeopardy scenario in snowbound house]
Waiter Number 34 by Paul Ernst
[Rich, greedy men plan another war, however their waiter has actually been in the last one.]
The Woman in Gray by Walker G. Everett
[What if you could command a ghost to kill...]
The Word of Bentley by E. Hoffman Price
[Wall street investor makes promise to one of his clients]
(