Victorian Ghost Short Stories

Thirteen classic stories of horror and the supernatural by some of the greatest writers in the genre. This compilation includes a mix of well-known classics by authors such as Edith Nesbit, J. Sheridan Le Fanu and M. R. James, alongside several tales by less familiar names who were hugely popular and prolific in their day.

Almost always when we think of Ghost Stories, we first think of those written by the Victorians. If you want a really good ghost story to bring that edge of chill, that foreboding of dread, that feeling that in an empty house we are not quite alone and that sometimes the sharp, sheer shock of what just happened is upon us then look no further than ‘The Victorian Ghost Story’ for your reading and listening pleasure.

This omnibus brings together seven of H.E. Bulstrode’s ghost stories originally published between 2016 and 2018. These are: The Ghost of Scarside Beck A newly-wed Cumbrian vicar and his wife experience a night like none they could ever have foreseen. He may have answered his calling, but who, or what, is calling her? Old Crotchet The year is 1920, and it's Twelfth Night by the old reckoning. Festivities are about to commence at Hinton St Cuthbert Manor when something sinister stirs from its protracted dormancy, awakened, it would seem, by the arrival of two young guests. The old ways, ...

This volume contains all 22 of the fictional ghost stories previously published by H.E. Bulstrode between 2016 and 2022, although it omits his occult fiction. Drawing heavily upon British folklore, legend and history, these stories tap into a deep and shadowy past which seeps, sometimes erupts, into the present, whether that ‘present’ should be eleventh-century England, or today. These are ghost stories with a twist written in the ‘classic’ vein, which is to say that they contain not so much gore as a sense of the uncanny, often steeped in antiquarianism. Others possess a distinctly...

Few ghost stories are as chilling as the ones written by Victorian writers. Featuring work by H.G. Wells, Edith Wharton, F.G. Loring and Florence Marryat, this second volume of eight enduring stories, some well-known, others less familiar, transport you to a cosy fireside to hear tales of disembodied voices, haunted objects and unknown entities lurking in the shadows cast by candlelight.

A disgraced scholar. A silent village. And a bell that listens to the dark. Winter, 1888. Exiled by a professional scandal to the frozen coast of Wales, Alastair Finch has accepted a lonely commission: cataloging the library of the late, eccentric Baronet of Portmeirion. Trapped in the drafty Gatehouse Library by a relentless blizzard, Alastair finds his only company is the whistling wind and the rhythmic scratching of his own pen. Until he discovers the Vigil-Bell Log. Hidden among the archives, the leather-bound journal belonged to a missing bell-ringer who vanished on Christmas Eve five ...

Featuring work by M. R. James, Edith Nesbit, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Atherton and many more, this enhanced audio collection of eight enduring stories - some well-known, others less familiar - transport you to a candlelit fireside to hear tales of lonely coastlines, deadly rivers, dark, creaking corridors, horrific, everlasting love and unknown entities lurking in black velvet shadows.

Ladies of Ink and Shadow: A Treasury of British Women’s Short Fiction Edited by Ellis York Step into the shadows of Britain’s literary past with this haunting and exquisite anthology of short fiction by some of the most compelling women writers of the 19th and early 20th centuries. From the mist-veiled moors to candlelit drawing rooms, Ladies of Ink and Shadow gathers ghost stories, gothic tales, and chilling mysteries from masters of the uncanny, including Elizabeth Gaskell, E. Nesbit, Mary Shelley, Margaret Oliphant, Rhoda Broughton, and Ella D’Arcy. These atmospheric stories ...

Not all ghosts linger in graveyards. Some wait in chairs, behind doors… listening. London, 1862. Desperate for work, Nicholas Bale takes a position reading aloud to an elderly recluse in a shadowy house on Greystone Lane. The task is simple: two hours a day, six days a week. The pay is generous. The employer, Mr Humphry Jones, is frail but polite. But something is wrong. The books are not ordinary volumes—they are ancient, filled with occult rites and forgotten names. The house hums with silence too deep for comfort. And as the days pass, Nicholas begins to question the nature of his ...

Ghost stories date back centuries, but those written in the Victorian era have a unique atmosphere and dark beauty. Michael Sims, whose previous Victorian collections Dracula’s Guest (vampires) and The Dead Witness (detectives) have been widely praised, has gathered twelve of the best stories about humanity’s oldest supernatural obsession. The Phantom Coach includes tales by a surprising and often legendary cast, including Charles Dickens, Margaret Oliphant, Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, and Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as lost gems by forgotten masters such as Mary E. Wilkins Freeman and W. F. Harvey. Amelia B. Edwards’s chilling story gives the collection its title, while Ambrose Bierce ("The Moonlit Road"), Elizabeth Gaskell ("The Old Nurse’s Story"), and W. W. Jacobs ("The Monkey’s Paw") will turn you white as a sheet. With a skillful introduction to the genre and notes on each story by Sims, The Phantom Coach is a spectacular collection of ghostly Victorian thrills.

Weigall remembers talking with Wyatt about the soul and afterlife. Wyatt states, 'If I had my way, I should stay inside my bones until the coffin had gone into its niche, that I might obviate for my poor old comrade the tragic impersonality of death.' The characters wonder about death and the destination of the human soul when it occurs. Weigall does not believe that the marshy bog, the Strid, has taken his friend, but when he sees a hand raised above the surface of the water, he knows it must be him and he desperately and quickly saves him.

Best Ghost Short Stories 1850-1899: A Phantasmal Ghost Anthology contains the best ghost stories from the last half of the 19th century. It includes shocking tales from popular American and Victorian authors including: Bram Stoker, M. R. James, Joseph Le Fanu, Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Nesbit, and Francis Marion Crawford. Andrew Barger, award-winning author and editor of Phantasmal: Best Ghost Short Stories 1800-1849 and The Divine Dantes trilogy, has now researched the finest ghost stories for the last half of the nineteenth century and combined them in one haunting collection. He has ...

In the shadows of Victorian England, the ghosts are gathering. Prepare to have your blood chilled by six tales of fear and phantasmagoria… The Silent Bell: A doctor’s invention to prevent people being accidentally buried alive backfires on him with horrific results. The Stonegate Manor Collection: Lord Feltham’s paintings are worth a fortune, but also conceal a gruesome tragedy that has yet more lives to claim. The Haunting of Reverend Carson: The charlatan Musgrave makes a living pretending to talk to the dead, until he discovers his new client’s demons are more than merely ...

Four ghost stories from England’s historic shires present a heady brew of the Gothic, folk horror, historical fiction and satire. The Ghost of Scarside Beck A newly-wed Cumbrian vicar and his wife experience a night like none they could ever have foreseen. He may have answered his calling, but who, or what, is calling her? At Fall of Night A ghostly excursion into the Victorian Gothic; a tale of obsession, terror, and vengeance. Welcome to Wiltshire in the autumn of 1843. Monsieur Benoit Lavarnier, toast of the Parisian art world and a man of cultured accomplishments, finds himself ...

Tarn and Beck are Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, but they switch roles every day so that they can both be Sherlock. Shannon the sorceress created the enchantment to help them figure out who the Silvabarrone is. Now they’re solving a mystery with their friends, family, and enemies involved. They might have their work cut out for them when something’s gone wrong. Then Beck’s invited to a dinner party by his new boss. Tarn begrudgingly goes along as he remembers what happened to his family in the revolution of Sarri. They sit down with some sophisticated guests. But late at night, ...

"Hampshire Stories by Joe Giampaolo is a stellar collection of short stories.” (Literary Titan, 2020, Hampshire Stories) "Giampaolo offers a taut mix of suspense, Gothic dread, and supernatural allure, expertly evoking the eerie elegance of Victorian ghost stories in his latest collection of five short stories... A must-read for fans of Gothic literature and ghostly tales, this collection offers an immersive journey into the uncanny and a poignant exploration of timeless human struggles." (BookView, 2024, The Eldritch Chronicles) "The Master of Emmet Manor, A Regency Romance is a ...

Sir Malcombe managed to maintain a veneer of respectability, but he was not an honorable man. Rumors about his shady business dealings abounded. His family was hardly bereft about his untimely demise. But there was one small problem. He had often bragged about squirreled away assets. Where they? He left no clues. They searched and searched but found nothing. What to do? If only they could ask him. But how? Lady Eleanor suggests a séance with her dear friend, a world-renowned medium. Can they reach Sir Malcombe? Will he divulge his secrets from the other side?

William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic fiction read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly abridged and remastered stories are now available to download for the first...

"Giampaolo offers a taut mix of suspense, Gothic dread, and supernatural allure, expertly evoking the eerie elegance of Victorian ghost stories in his latest collection of five short stories... A must-read for fans of Gothic literature and ghostly tales, this collection offers an immersive journey into the uncanny and a poignant exploration of timeless human struggles." ~ BookView (November 2024) "Wrath of the Sentinel" unfolds in foggy London, autumn 1848. Frederick Wright, joined by the London Chief of Police, Mr. Charles Mortimer, Sergeant O'Reilly, and Father Timothy, confronts a ...

A boy with a dream. A demon with no name. A childhood in suburbia like a lucid dream. It all comes together, in no way predictable. But, in every way true. The truth has emerged about life, and its parallel worlds. Many will never get it. Some, unfortunately, will forever fear it...