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bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
3.0
The Haunted House is a strange little tale. John, our narrator, is told that he needs to take a house in the country to help his health improve. A friend spots a house that seems perfect when he's out driving and off John goes to see about it. As soon as he sees it up close, he realizes it must be haunted and the inhabitants of the nearby village confirm his impressions. So--what does he do? Decides it's just the house for him and moves in with his sister, a deaf stable man, two women servants, an Odd Girl (a tweeny, maybe?), and his bloodhound. Why on earth he thinks living in a haunted house is going to improve his health is beyond me. Naturally, the ghost--or rather ghosts because there's Master B, a disturbed young male ghost, and a hooded woman with an owl, starts right in with bell-ringing and appearances and whatnot. So to dispel the ghost, John comes up with the bright idea to send all the servants away except the deaf stable man (who hasn't seen hide nor hair of a ghost) and have a jolly house party--because if they're all happy and not looking for ghosts in every corner then they probably won't have any. Well...I don't know if John drank a little too much or maybe smoked something he shouldn't have but he lays down in Master B's room and has the most bizarre experience. It reads more like an opium dream than a ghostly experience and when he wakes up/sobers up/what-have-you then the story ends and we have no idea if there really was a ghost who took possession of him or he just got hold of some really bad weed. Seriously. Not one of Dickens best.
The Haunted Man is a tale of transformation not unlike A Christmas Carol. Redlaw, the central character, is a chemistry teacher who broods on the evil which has been done to him and grief he has experienced in his past. One night, near Christmas, he listens to his servants talking of their good memories despite their circumstances (particularly of Philip…who has seen “87 years!” and had many things to overcome) and he falls into a particularly deep brooding state. A shadowy phantom of himself appears and offers him the chance to forget all the wrongs from his past. With this “gift” comes the power that will pass the “gift” on to those Redlaw comes in contact with. The result? Peace and happiness as Redlaw expects? Not so. Redlaw and those he comes in contact with fall into a wrathful state of universal anger. All but Milly, one of Dickens’s purely good female characters and a young boy that Milly has taken in who has known nothing but evil treatment until now. Finally, Redlaw—seeing the damage his “gift” has wrought—begs the phantom return and remove the gift. It is done…but only Milly’s goodness can counteract the anger and bring everyone back themselves. And it is Milly who presents Redlaw with the moral of the tale: ""It is important to remember past sorrows and wrongs so that you can then forgive those responsible and, in doing so, unburden your soul and mature as a human being."" Redlaw takes this to heart, and like Scrooge, becomes a more loving and whole person.
★★★ for the two novellas.
The Haunted Man is a tale of transformation not unlike A Christmas Carol. Redlaw, the central character, is a chemistry teacher who broods on the evil which has been done to him and grief he has experienced in his past. One night, near Christmas, he listens to his servants talking of their good memories despite their circumstances (particularly of Philip…who has seen “87 years!” and had many things to overcome) and he falls into a particularly deep brooding state. A shadowy phantom of himself appears and offers him the chance to forget all the wrongs from his past. With this “gift” comes the power that will pass the “gift” on to those Redlaw comes in contact with. The result? Peace and happiness as Redlaw expects? Not so. Redlaw and those he comes in contact with fall into a wrathful state of universal anger. All but Milly, one of Dickens’s purely good female characters and a young boy that Milly has taken in who has known nothing but evil treatment until now. Finally, Redlaw—seeing the damage his “gift” has wrought—begs the phantom return and remove the gift. It is done…but only Milly’s goodness can counteract the anger and bring everyone back themselves. And it is Milly who presents Redlaw with the moral of the tale: ""It is important to remember past sorrows and wrongs so that you can then forgive those responsible and, in doing so, unburden your soul and mature as a human being."" Redlaw takes this to heart, and like Scrooge, becomes a more loving and whole person.
★★★ for the two novellas.
yanina's review against another edition
3.0
Necesitaba algo corto para leer y terminar el reto así que encontré estos dos cuentos de dos grandes autores para ayudarme.
El primero es "La casa encantada" (también se puede hallar como "La casa hechizada"), de Charles Dickens. Increíblemente, es el que menos me gustó. La historia empezaba bien y creí que iba a convertirse indefectiblemente en una de mis favoritas sobre fantasmas pero no ocurrió. Se trata de un hombre que se va a vivir con su hermana a una casa encantada (previo aviso de los vecinos) y empieza a tener problemas con la servidumbre, ya que nadie soporta quedarse allí. Este hombre convive normalmente con lo sobrenatural y luego los hechos dan un giro que no me gustó para nada.
El segundo cuento es "Esa cosa al final de la escalera", de Ray Bradbury, y es un poco más interesante. Un hombre regresa a su casa de la infancia para enfrentarse con "la cosa al final de la escalera" que lo acechaba cuando era niño. Muy bueno y muy original, ya que pocas veces se ve a un protagonista que quiere cerrar la historia y no huir de ella.
En síntesis, son dos cuentos que me hicieron pasar el rato. Lástima que el de Dickens me haya decepcionado un poco.
El primero es "La casa encantada" (también se puede hallar como "La casa hechizada"), de Charles Dickens. Increíblemente, es el que menos me gustó. La historia empezaba bien y creí que iba a convertirse indefectiblemente en una de mis favoritas sobre fantasmas pero no ocurrió. Se trata de un hombre que se va a vivir con su hermana a una casa encantada (previo aviso de los vecinos) y empieza a tener problemas con la servidumbre, ya que nadie soporta quedarse allí. Este hombre convive normalmente con lo sobrenatural y luego los hechos dan un giro que no me gustó para nada.
El segundo cuento es "Esa cosa al final de la escalera", de Ray Bradbury, y es un poco más interesante. Un hombre regresa a su casa de la infancia para enfrentarse con "la cosa al final de la escalera" que lo acechaba cuando era niño. Muy bueno y muy original, ya que pocas veces se ve a un protagonista que quiere cerrar la historia y no huir de ella.
En síntesis, son dos cuentos que me hicieron pasar el rato. Lástima que el de Dickens me haya decepcionado un poco.
s_mack_'s review
4.0
I was pleased to read this during the week of Christmas. It's a pleasurable read; a collection of short stories. I enjoyed seeing the different writing styles of the greats of Dicken's time.
joecam79's review
3.0
Charles Dickens is often credited with having “invented” Christmas as we know it. This claim might be exaggerated (as is argued here), but one can hardly contest the fact that his “Christmas novels” are a major contribution not only to the literature of this feast, but also to what might be termed its “social iconography”. Works such as “A Christmas Carol” or “The Chimes” both fed and met the expectations of the periodical-reading public whilst tapping into the tradition of telling ghost stories during long December nights.
“The Haunted House” dates from 1859 and was published in Dickens’s weekly periodical 'All the Year Round'. It is a collective effort featuring contributions from several of Dickens’s friends and regular collaborators. Dickens himself acts as master of ceremonies and provides the frame-story, about a group of acquaintances who spend Christmas at an allegedly haunted house, with an agreement that they recount their experiences on Twelfth Night. Given the title and premise, one would be forgiven for expecting a supernatural work or even a prototype “Haunting of Hill House”. Alas, this is nothing of the sort. Many of the contributors either interpret “haunting” in a metaphorical sense or else merely use the ghost as a “prop” for a totally different sort of tale. Just to give an example, [a:Hesba Stretton|66559|Hesba Stretton|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1386205566p2/66559.jpg] writes a moralistic love story whilst [a:George Augustus Sala|964877|George Augustus Sala|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1389721210p2/964877.jpg]’s narrator claims to have been visited by “the Ghost of the Ague”, prompting a rather tiresome slapstick piece about a wretch with an uncontrollable tremor.
This Hesperus Press edition includes a foreword by novelist and Dickens biographer [a:Peter Ackroyd|16881|Peter Ackroyd|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1232835556p2/16881.jpg]. He is decidedly lukewarm in his praise for this work, singling out only Dickens’s contributions for their quality. Even about these, he has some serious reservations which are, frankly, justified. Indeed, apart from the background narrative, Dickens contributes a strange and rather uncomfortable story about a group of infants at a school who decide to set up a harem. It is likely that Dickens meant to satirise a contemporary fad for “Orientalism”, but to a modern reader, his tale raises disturbing spectres of both paedophilia and (although Ackroyd does not specifically mention this) racism.
Ackroyd still considers the remaining chapters as inferior, and here I beg to differ. I must confess that, except when I’m in the mood for him, I tend to find Dickens’s prose heavy and his humour smug. In The Haunted House, for instance, I much preferred his friend [a:Wilkie Collins|4012|Wilkie Collins|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1192222099p2/4012.jpg]’s rollicking seafaring tale or, despite its streak of melodrama, [a:Elizabeth Gaskell|1413437|Elizabeth Gaskell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1223499865p2/1413437.jpg]’s domestic tragedy about a son who disappoints his simple parents’ expectations. And yes, [a:Adelaide Ann Procter|14667489|Adelaide Ann Procter|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]’s “sacred legend in verse” (featuring a nun visited by the Virgin Mary) is over-written at times, but its Medieval setting and deliberate archaisms give it pleasant Pre-Raphaelite and Gothic overtones, not unlike Flaubert’s [b:The Legend of Saint-Julian the Hospitaller|6450340|The Legend of Saint-Julian the Hospitaller|Gustave Flaubert|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348094971l/6450340._SY75_.jpg|3214483].
Still, a few ghostly scares would not have been amiss...
Visit: https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2019/12/The-haunted-house-Charles-Dickens.html
“The Haunted House” dates from 1859 and was published in Dickens’s weekly periodical 'All the Year Round'. It is a collective effort featuring contributions from several of Dickens’s friends and regular collaborators. Dickens himself acts as master of ceremonies and provides the frame-story, about a group of acquaintances who spend Christmas at an allegedly haunted house, with an agreement that they recount their experiences on Twelfth Night. Given the title and premise, one would be forgiven for expecting a supernatural work or even a prototype “Haunting of Hill House”. Alas, this is nothing of the sort. Many of the contributors either interpret “haunting” in a metaphorical sense or else merely use the ghost as a “prop” for a totally different sort of tale. Just to give an example, [a:Hesba Stretton|66559|Hesba Stretton|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1386205566p2/66559.jpg] writes a moralistic love story whilst [a:George Augustus Sala|964877|George Augustus Sala|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1389721210p2/964877.jpg]’s narrator claims to have been visited by “the Ghost of the Ague”, prompting a rather tiresome slapstick piece about a wretch with an uncontrollable tremor.
This Hesperus Press edition includes a foreword by novelist and Dickens biographer [a:Peter Ackroyd|16881|Peter Ackroyd|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1232835556p2/16881.jpg]. He is decidedly lukewarm in his praise for this work, singling out only Dickens’s contributions for their quality. Even about these, he has some serious reservations which are, frankly, justified. Indeed, apart from the background narrative, Dickens contributes a strange and rather uncomfortable story about a group of infants at a school who decide to set up a harem. It is likely that Dickens meant to satirise a contemporary fad for “Orientalism”, but to a modern reader, his tale raises disturbing spectres of both paedophilia and (although Ackroyd does not specifically mention this) racism.
Ackroyd still considers the remaining chapters as inferior, and here I beg to differ. I must confess that, except when I’m in the mood for him, I tend to find Dickens’s prose heavy and his humour smug. In The Haunted House, for instance, I much preferred his friend [a:Wilkie Collins|4012|Wilkie Collins|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1192222099p2/4012.jpg]’s rollicking seafaring tale or, despite its streak of melodrama, [a:Elizabeth Gaskell|1413437|Elizabeth Gaskell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1223499865p2/1413437.jpg]’s domestic tragedy about a son who disappoints his simple parents’ expectations. And yes, [a:Adelaide Ann Procter|14667489|Adelaide Ann Procter|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]’s “sacred legend in verse” (featuring a nun visited by the Virgin Mary) is over-written at times, but its Medieval setting and deliberate archaisms give it pleasant Pre-Raphaelite and Gothic overtones, not unlike Flaubert’s [b:The Legend of Saint-Julian the Hospitaller|6450340|The Legend of Saint-Julian the Hospitaller|Gustave Flaubert|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348094971l/6450340._SY75_.jpg|3214483].
Still, a few ghostly scares would not have been amiss...
Visit: https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2019/12/The-haunted-house-Charles-Dickens.html
jersy's review against another edition
4.0
Surprisingly, this isn't actually a collection of ghost stories. It's an anthology with a framing device set in a haunted house, however the stories told are at the most losely connected to the "haunted" theme and rather all kinds of different tales. There is a mix of a humorous lovestory, an adventure story, comedy, a poem etc.
I immensely enjoyed the writing style of all of the authors, though there was a single story of which content I didn't much care for. My highlights were definitely Dickens' frame story, wherein he used every opportunity to parody well known haunted house tropes, as well as the contributions by Gaskell and Stretton.
I immensely enjoyed the writing style of all of the authors, though there was a single story of which content I didn't much care for. My highlights were definitely Dickens' frame story, wherein he used every opportunity to parody well known haunted house tropes, as well as the contributions by Gaskell and Stretton.
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