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lori85's review
3.0
To clarify, Lost Souls is not a horror/supernatural anthology. The theme is actually social outsiders such as criminals and the poor, as well as experiences of war and personal loss. There are a few pieces dealing with the fantastic (including a couple with the devil) but it's done in a deadpan, satirical manner rather than as conventional speculative fiction. The authors are a mix of the famous and the obscure (little is known about May Wentworth, for example), and the introduction notes that several of the stories have not been reprinted in over a century. Honestly, it's not hard to see why - most of the unknowns did seem rather forgettable, just short works of the usual sort, exhibiting no special mastery of prose or storytelling, nor any subversive or unusual messages. "The Prisoners" by John Reynolds was the worst: just a recitation of the lives of ordinary thieves and murderers related with laughable melodrama. And if "Marooned" is any indication, I'm inclined to agree with Lovecraft's assessment of Robert W. Chambers's realistic fiction.
As a big fan of LibriVox, however, I do very much support the mission of reviving short stories from the Victorian and Edwardian periods. My favorites from this collection were Bret Harte's "The Outcasts of Poker Flat," George Gissing's "Christopherson," and "The Parrot" by Mary Wilkins Freeman. Admittedly, these aren't exactly overlooked authors and I've read other stuff by Gissing and Freeman, but I probably never would have come across these particular works otherwise.
As a big fan of LibriVox, however, I do very much support the mission of reviving short stories from the Victorian and Edwardian periods. My favorites from this collection were Bret Harte's "The Outcasts of Poker Flat," George Gissing's "Christopherson," and "The Parrot" by Mary Wilkins Freeman. Admittedly, these aren't exactly overlooked authors and I've read other stuff by Gissing and Freeman, but I probably never would have come across these particular works otherwise.