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jtimelord's review
I enjoyed this for the most part. But then I lost interest. There’s not a lot of variety in the ghost stories. I think I’ll dip back in at some point but right now I’m not too interested
caitpoytress's review against another edition
3.0
Favorites were the stories by M.R. James, A.C Benson, Rudyard Kipling, W. Somerset Maugham, D.H. Lawrence, Edith Wharton, Daphne du Maurier, James Thurber, Kingsley Amis, E.F. Benson, and Marjorie Bowen.
jturner73's review against another edition
2.0
DNF - I don't like DNF-ing but I didn't want to spend any more time on this. This collection truly is mammoth. Which would be fine but most of the stories are a little slow and leave you more with a confused feeling than anything else. There are some good ones, my favourites being A Man from Glasgow and The Lady's Maid's Bell. All in all, not my favourite, some stories were good, but time to move on.
mtmarriott's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Oh Whistle… by MR James 5/5
The House of trehale by AC Benson 3/5
The Richpins by EG Swain 2/5
The everlasting club by Arthur Gray 3/5
Number 79 by ANL Munby 4/5
Playing with Fire by Arthur Conan Doyle 5/5
The Grove of Ashtaroth by Rudyard Kipling 4/5
A Man from Glasgow by Somerset Maugham 4/5
The Last Laugh by DH Lawrence 4/5
The Visit to the Museum by Vladimir Nabokov 3/5
The Bowmen by Arthur Machen 3/5
The Ghost of U65 by George Minto 3/5
Vengeance is Mine by Algernon Blackwood 5/5
The Punishment by Lord Dunsany 4/5
The Haunted Chateau by Dennis Wheatley 3/5
Pink May by Elizabeth Bowen 3/5
Gremlins in the Beer by Derek Barnes 2/5
Money for Jam by Alec Guinness 4/5
The Lady Maid’s Bell by Edith Wharton 4/5
The Duenna by Marie Belloc Lowndes 3/5
Clytie by Eudora Welty 4/5
The Pool by Daphne Du Maurier 4/5
A Spot of Gothic by Jane Gardam 4/5
The Inexperienced Ghost by HG Wells 4/5
Full Fathom Five by Alexander Woollcott - 4/5
The Night the Ghost Got in by James Thurber - 2/5
Sir Tristram Goes West by Eric Keown - 3/5
Who or What Was It? By Kingsley Amis - 3/5
Another Fine Mess by Ray Bradbury - 3/5
Only a Dream by Rider Haggard - 4/5
The Haunted House by Edith Nesbit - 3/5
The Light in the Garden by EF Benson - 4/5
The Prescription by Marjorie Bowen - 4/5
Christmas Honeymoon by Howard Spring - 4/5
Ringing in the Good News by Peter Ackroyd - 2/5
Smoke Ghost by Fritz Leiber - 4/5
The Ghost by A.E. Van Vogt - 4/5
The Party by William F. Nolan - 4/5
Underground by JB Priestley - 4/5
Haunted by Joyce Carol Oates - 5/5
Video Nasty by Phillip Pullman - 5/5
My Beautiful House by Louis de Bernieres - 5/5
Video Nasty and Vengeance is Mine were my favourites.
Video Nasty and Vengeance is Mine were my favourites.
mike_brough's review against another edition
4.0
As an anthology, it's obviously a curate's egg but the good stories are REALLY good.
My favourite story? No idea.
My favourite story? No idea.
pamwinkler's review against another edition
4.0
Very nice! This is a good, solid collection. There's enough stories that there's going to be more than a few that will scare.
Oh, Whistle, And I'll Come to You, My Lad by M.R. James is good. That's a pretty good given, it's M.R. James.
The Richpins by E.G. Swain was nice.
Pink May by Elizabeth Bowen was a good story. This is one of those that I'd just think about every so often afterward.
Money for Jam by Sir Alec Guinness was pretty chilling, but that's just because I think it's non-fiction.
The Duenna by Marie Belloc Lowndes was good, but I didn't quite like the ending. I wanted a more fairy-tale ending, with good and bad punished appropriately.
A Spot of Gothic by Jane Gardam was good.
The Inexperience Ghost by H.G. Wells is still a lot of fun, but I have to admit, I skip to the ending now.
Who or What Was It? by Kingsley Amis was good.
The Light in the Garden by E. F. Benson was also good.
Christmas Honeymoon by Howard Spring was fantastic!
Ringing in the Good News by Peter Ackroyd was nice.
Smoke Ghost by Fritz Leiber is still good.
The Ghost by A.E. Van Vogt is a good story. It doesn't feel very scary at all, but it's a good story.
The Party by William F. Nolan was pretty much the same thing; good but not scary.
Underground by J.B. Priestly was good, I liked it.
Haunted by Joyce Carol Oates was not my sort of story. It felt a bit gross, like something nasty on your skin. I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be that way and thus is very well done.
Video Nasty by Philip Pullman is fantastic, scary and kind of heart-breaking.
Oh, Whistle, And I'll Come to You, My Lad by M.R. James is good. That's a pretty good given, it's M.R. James.
The Richpins by E.G. Swain was nice.
Pink May by Elizabeth Bowen was a good story. This is one of those that I'd just think about every so often afterward.
Money for Jam by Sir Alec Guinness was pretty chilling, but that's just because I think it's non-fiction.
The Duenna by Marie Belloc Lowndes was good, but I didn't quite like the ending. I wanted a more fairy-tale ending, with good and bad punished appropriately.
A Spot of Gothic by Jane Gardam was good.
The Inexperience Ghost by H.G. Wells is still a lot of fun, but I have to admit, I skip to the ending now.
Who or What Was It? by Kingsley Amis was good.
The Light in the Garden by E. F. Benson was also good.
Christmas Honeymoon by Howard Spring was fantastic!
Ringing in the Good News by Peter Ackroyd was nice.
Smoke Ghost by Fritz Leiber is still good.
The Ghost by A.E. Van Vogt is a good story. It doesn't feel very scary at all, but it's a good story.
The Party by William F. Nolan was pretty much the same thing; good but not scary.
Underground by J.B. Priestly was good, I liked it.
Haunted by Joyce Carol Oates was not my sort of story. It felt a bit gross, like something nasty on your skin. I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be that way and thus is very well done.
Video Nasty by Philip Pullman is fantastic, scary and kind of heart-breaking.
alba_marie's review against another edition
5.0
As with most short story collections, some stories are better than others, but I really enjoyed most of this collection. The war ghost and comical phantom sections were my least favourite sections but thoroughly enjoyed the other sections (esp. Gothic tales, and Haunting Tales).
Please note that these are not 'ghost stories' in the way that casual 21st century readers expect. No cheap-thrills-blood-guts-and-gore horror film on paper. These are intellectual tales that delve into the supernatural, and interpret 'horror tale' and 'ghost story' liberally. I think this is why I enjoyed it so much, as I prefer to read tales that force us to look at the world (or ourselves) differently, instead of a book of cheap tricks and tales (which is what some of the other readers apparently expected...hmm.).
I also like how each story started off with a little blurb about the author, his/her life, inspirations, interests, other works, etc. Most of the authors were famous in their heyday but have now been lost somewhat in the past. It was great to get a chance to read works by these now-little-known (though often prolific) writers. In fact, I think I prefer works by the more obscure writers rather than the famous ones. Looking back, the book as made me discover some new others (notably a new favourite, MR James).
All in all, a great - though lengthy!! - compilation of 20th century ghost/supernatural stories!!!
Please note that these are not 'ghost stories' in the way that casual 21st century readers expect. No cheap-thrills-blood-guts-and-gore horror film on paper. These are intellectual tales that delve into the supernatural, and interpret 'horror tale' and 'ghost story' liberally. I think this is why I enjoyed it so much, as I prefer to read tales that force us to look at the world (or ourselves) differently, instead of a book of cheap tricks and tales (which is what some of the other readers apparently expected...hmm.).
I also like how each story started off with a little blurb about the author, his/her life, inspirations, interests, other works, etc. Most of the authors were famous in their heyday but have now been lost somewhat in the past. It was great to get a chance to read works by these now-little-known (though often prolific) writers. In fact, I think I prefer works by the more obscure writers rather than the famous ones. Looking back, the book as made me discover some new others (notably a new favourite, MR James).
All in all, a great - though lengthy!! - compilation of 20th century ghost/supernatural stories!!!
iphigenie72's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't get exactly what I wanted when I started this book. I wanted something to scare me and this was more intellectual. I liked it though. The only thing is that it's pretty uneven, some stories are really good and some left me thinking : 'uh'. The book stories are divided in section. One section is called 'Christmas Spirits: Festive Seasons Chillers'... I was expecting stories set at Christmas, but they were PUBLISHED at Christmas which I think was a let down, I don't get that. My favorite section was the last one 'Haunting Times: Tales of Unease' about every story in this section was interesting and very good. I especially liked 'The Ghost' by A.E. Van Vogt, 'Video Nasty' by Philip Pullman and 'Haunted' by Joyce Carol Oates. I think the editor did an overall good job picking the stories; he did make me discover a lot of authors that I had never heard of (and a lot I did know) and I think discovering new authors is one of the main purpose of a short story anthology (with entertaining... obviously).
bronwen's review
3.0
All in all, not a very inspired anthology. Many stories are tedious and many have little to do with the supernatural. Of course, I loved the M.R.James and the Edith Wharton ones, but I was expecting some new, more compelling titles.
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