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A review by exorcismemily
The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, Volume Two by Eliza Lynn Linton, Grant Allen
4.0
"It was only about Christmas-time that the worst and most deadly things happened." - Eliza Lynn Linton
In all honesty, I went into The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories Vol. 2 expecting to not enjoy it & probably end up abandoning it. In an unexpected turn of events, I am happy to say that I was wrong & I actually ended up really enjoying this book.
These 15 stories were published in Victorian periodicals, so there is very little information on some of the authors and stories. Most have not been republished until now, and I really appreciate the work that Valancourt Books does to get these stories out into the world again.
Quite a few of the stories were published anonymously, and if a lot of the anonymous ones were by women. There were more stories by women in this book than I expected, which was pretty cool.
I didn't love everything in this book, but I did enjoy most of the stories. My top 3 favorites were Number Two, Melrose Square by Theo Gift ( pseudonym for Dora Havers), Wolverden Tower by Grant Allan, Christmas Eve in Beach House by Eliza Lynn Linton. I had so much fun reading these ones.
Some of the other stories were a bit too slow and detailed for my taste, but they all appeared to be well-written. There was a lot to love in this anthology. There was also an impressive amount of fainting and weeping, and I really think we should work on bringing that back. There was a little less of a Christmas theme than I anticipated, but everything still wove together nicely.
I'm really glad that the Nightworms put this book in their first subscription box because I may not have picked it up otherwise, and I would have been missing out.
In all honesty, I went into The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories Vol. 2 expecting to not enjoy it & probably end up abandoning it. In an unexpected turn of events, I am happy to say that I was wrong & I actually ended up really enjoying this book.
These 15 stories were published in Victorian periodicals, so there is very little information on some of the authors and stories. Most have not been republished until now, and I really appreciate the work that Valancourt Books does to get these stories out into the world again.
Quite a few of the stories were published anonymously, and if a lot of the anonymous ones were by women. There were more stories by women in this book than I expected, which was pretty cool.
I didn't love everything in this book, but I did enjoy most of the stories. My top 3 favorites were Number Two, Melrose Square by Theo Gift ( pseudonym for Dora Havers), Wolverden Tower by Grant Allan, Christmas Eve in Beach House by Eliza Lynn Linton. I had so much fun reading these ones.
Some of the other stories were a bit too slow and detailed for my taste, but they all appeared to be well-written. There was a lot to love in this anthology. There was also an impressive amount of fainting and weeping, and I really think we should work on bringing that back. There was a little less of a Christmas theme than I anticipated, but everything still wove together nicely.
I'm really glad that the Nightworms put this book in their first subscription box because I may not have picked it up otherwise, and I would have been missing out.