A TREASURY OF VICTORIAN GHOST STORIES

by Everett F.--Ed. Bleiler ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1981

Two dozen examples of supernatural Victoriana, with some rare items from well-known writers. From no less than Charles Dickens: two stories written with masterly zest but both disappointingly resolved. And Wilkie Collins' ""Nine O'Clock!""--about a young Girondist who knows his fate is to be beheaded at nine o'clock--is, alas, mere clichÉ. More fully satisfying, however: J. S. Le Fanu's ""Wicked Captain Walshaw, of Wauling,"" with a ghost in search of its lost legal papers; Mrs. Henry (East Lynne) Wood's underplayed tale of a domestic ghost who may or may not have been poisoned by her late husband, and Rhoda Broughton's delicious ""The Man with the Nose"" (1873)--about a honeymooning English bride abducted (by Death?) in Switzerland. Plus: curiosities from Ambrose Bierce, E. Nesbit, Arthur Quiller-Couch, and Nathaniel Hawthorne's son Julian. All in all, with Bleiler's well-informed introduction and headnotes--a welcome gathering, though perhaps more for its literary/historical interest than its limited entertainment value.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1981

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1981

Categories: FICTION