Great Ghost Stories: 101 Terrifying Tales by Stefan R. Dziemianowicz

Great Ghost Stories: 101 Terrifying Tales Reviews

• 
  Werner

  Barnes and Noble is a publisher as well as seller of books; their College Outlines nonfiction series was well-known even back in my youth. I'm less sure whether they've always published fiction anthologies or whether they've only more recently branched out into that area; but in any case, their Fall River Press arm is currently marketing a number of these, and this book is one of them. Compiler Stefan Dziemianowicz (whose qualifications aren't stated) has gathered, as the subtitle indicates, 101 tales of the supernatural, by 87 authors. (M. R. James, Algernon Blackwood, Ambrose Bierce, Saki, E. F. Benson, Edith Nesbit, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, William Fryer Harvey, Guy de Maupassant, E. G. Swain, Mrs. Molesworth, Vincent O'Sullivan, R. Murray Gilchrist, and Bernard Capes are each represented twice.) According to the two-page Introduction, the chronological scope of the collection spans the period from the early 19th to the early 20th century. The great majority of the included authors are British or American, with British authors and/or settings predominating. Not surprisingly, this is a thick, hardcover anthology, at 689 pages –but readers who have difficulty handling very heavy physical books will be interested to know that this one is actually light in weight, and handles as easily as a much smaller book.
  
  As the title implies, most of the selections are ghost stories, though a few aren't strictly confined under that rubric. They may involve such things as Satanic pacts, murder victims seeking justice from beyond the grave, a homicidal compulsion that may be supernatural, love that transcends death, weird precognition, astral projection, “ghosts” that really aren't ghosts, or just events that have no rational explanation; temporal slips and psychic imprinting also appear, though the writers don't use that terminology. A majority of the tales here (though not all) are serious in tone; and as S. D. also noted in the Introduction, he tended, following M. R. James' famous dictum, to prefer malevolent or vengeful ghosts rather than the friendly or helpful variety (though there are some of the latter too). Most of the authors of the established classical ghost story canon from this era, familiar to genre readers, are here (though Henry James is omitted), as well as some, such as Jules Verne, whose names are familiar but who are mostly known for other types of fiction; but many of the others are lesser known today, and a number of them I'd never previously heard of. That fact makes it especially regrettable that Dziemianowicz doesn't provide any information about contributors but their names; he also gives no publication date for any of the tales, though occasionally dates of composition, or a rough idea of a time frame, can be picked up or inferred from content in the story. He also simply arranges the stories alphabetically by title (ignoring initial articles). I'd describe his editorial role, in every respect except selection, as lazy. Where selection is concerned, though, he did an excellent job.
  
  Some of the stories are familiar, and often anthologized. I've previously read (and in most cases already commented on, in other reviews) 11 of the selections: Washington Irving's classic "The Adventure of the German Student," Harvey's "The Clock," Braddon's "The Cold Embrace" and "Eveline's Visitant," "Father Macclesfield's Tale" by Robert Hugh Benson (brother of E. F.), O. Henry's "The Furnished Room," "On the Brighton Road" by Richard Middleton, Saki's "The Open Window," "The Story of the Spaniards, Hammersmith" by E. and H. Heron, "The Tomb" by H. P. Lovecraft, and "The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall" by John Kendrick Bangs. (My usual practice is to skip the stories I've already read --though I did reread "The Clock" before I remembered I'd read it previously.) However, the editor apparently did try in many cases to select less well known (but good) stories which readers might not have encountered before, which is a plus. For the most part, I found the quality to range from good to very good, and occasionally outstanding; there were only four stories that didn't work for me. Many are predictable, and they aren't usually ground-breaking; but the appeal of this genre often lies in the skilled manipulation of familiar elements.
  
  Among writers whose work I'd previously read, M. R. James' "The Diary of Mr. Poynter" is a great example of his "antiquarian" style of ghostly fiction. (Other outstanding stories here exemplify this approach as well, particularly "The Botathen Ghost" by R. S. Hawker, with its strong evocation of 17th-century Cornwall.) In
  Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen's heroine eventually concludes that, while such macabre things as undetected murder and supernatural hauntings might happen in Latinate countries, or even in Scotland, they just can't be expected in the prosaic, civilized English countryside. But then, too hasty a blanket acceptance of that theory might be naive, as James' "Lost Hearts," set in 1811-12 in the very Austen-like milieu of Aswarby Hall in Lincolnshire, suggests.... Given that author's prowess in this genre, it's not surprising that this yarn is also a standout. Edith Nesbit and E. M. Benson don't disappoint; and while Algernon Blackwood's "The Occupant of the Room" and "The Woman's Ghost Story" (which I really liked!) exhibits his usual concentration on detailed delineation of the feelings/perceptions and psychological state of his protagonist, these stories don't have the racism that mars some of his work. (Of course, that's because they have only white characters.) Maupassant's "He" is perhaps the most thought-provoking of the stories, and the one with the most appeal to mainstream (that is, not genre fans) readers, for the quality of its psychological study; it has layers of psychological and philosophical meaning that repay serious reflection. I'd previously read other stories by Edward Lucas White and Ralph Adams Cram, and already had their respective collections,
  The Stuff of Dreams: The Weird Stories of Edward Lucas White and
  Black Spirits and White - A Book of Ghost Stories. on my to-read shelf; their contributions here definitely whetted my appetite for more! Ambrose Bierce's "The Stranger" packs an emotional punch, and "The Three Sisters" by W. W. Jacobs (whom I previously knew only through his often-anthologized "The Monkey's Paw") is one of the most atmospheric selections here.
  
  Several more tales were by writers I'd at least heard of. These include Sabine Baring-Gould (author of the hymn "Onward, Christian Soldiers" and of
  The Book of Werewolves) who's represented by "Colonel Halifax's Ghost Story;" one of my Goodreads friends was rather dismissive of the author's work in this genre, but I liked this first exposure to it. Neither Mary Austin (one of the American writers here, who sets her "The Readjustment," like most of her work, in the American Southwest) nor Anatole France were primarily known for supernatural fiction. Indeed, Austin writes her story as a matter-of-fact, serious examination of realistic marital and other social relationships in a small town on the desert frontier, with what critics would no doubt recognize as a very perceptive treatment of character, if one of the characters didn't happen to be newly dead. But that makes it one of the best stories here; and France's "The Mass of Shadows" proved to be poignant and (at least to me) thought-provoking. (Not being a Roman Catholic, I don't believe in Purgatory; but you don't have to in order to appreciate the story on its own terms.) Victorian writer Catherine Crowe, author of
  The Night Side of Nature, was best known for nonfiction about the paranormal, and her "My Friend's Story" has very much the flavor of a nonfiction case study (though it isn't one).
  
  Just because they're lesser known, though, the work of other authors here that I'd never heard of isn't necessarily inferior to that of their more famous colleagues. Myla Jo Closser's "At the Gate," for instance, is an atypical kind of "ghost" story, which will particularly appeal to dog lovers. "The Other Occupant" by Ulrich Daubeny was one of my favorite stories here. Other stories by new-to-me authors that stand out are Richard Le Gallienne's haunting (pun not exactly intended, but it comes naturally! :-) ) "The Haunted Orchard," and "The Journal of Edward Hargood," the author of which is identified only as D. N. J., an antiquarian tale involving a find in --where else?--a library. Late 19th and early 20th century fascination with spiritualism (mediums and seances) is reflected in a couple of the stories --and tales like "Mrs. Morrell's Last Seance" suggest that this isn't a harmless pastime.
  
  While most of the tales are set in the British Isles or the U.S., a few range afield: to the Austrian Alps, India in the days of the Raj, Australia, Southeast Asia, or the high seas. (A couple would have been good candidates for inclusion in William Pattrick's
  Mysterious Sea Stories anthology!) "Old Ayah" by Alice Perrin is an example of the stories set in India; it's a very powerful, evocative tale, and like "If You See Her Face" by B. M. Croker, one that clearly critiques the attitudes of the British colonialists. I felt like slapping a couple of the latter for their self-centered sense of entitlement and total indifference to the native Indians as human beings in their own right; and when the sexist Major seriously addressed his wife as "My dear child," I wouldn't have blamed her for slapping him. (Her "nonsense," of course, happened to be a perfectly accurate analysis of the situation!) To Perrin's credit, it's apparent that her characters' attitudes aren't hers. (Not surprisingly, Rudyard Kipling's "The Recrudescence of Imray" also employs an Indian setting.)
  
  "Buggam Grange: A Good Old Ghost Story" by Canadian-American writer Stephen Leacock, who was best known as a humorist (though he could write in a serious vein as well) is an example of a humorous ghost story, or tongue-in-cheek parody of the genre; and it's a hoot. Another humorous inclusion is Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's "The Ghost and the Bone Setter," which makes skillful use of Irish folklore.
  
  Though it's a good enough work, I would say that American writer Harriet Prescott Spofford's "The Conquering Will," is not as strong a story as her more realistic "The Amber Gods," and IMO the latter would have been a better choice for inclusion here (even though the ghostly element there is really only a literary device at the end). One of the tales written with humorous intent, Frank R. Stockton's "The Transferred Ghost" is capably written enough, but for me the premise was just too far "out there" to allow me to suspend disbelief (though I did skim it to the ending). And while Victorian author William Harrison Ainsworth's "The Spectre Bride" (set in a somber castle in the 17th-century Black Forest) certainly manipulates scary atmosphere very effectively, and uses Christian plot elements, they're used in a way that negates the idea of grace which is really at the heart of Christianity. (I still want to someday read Ainsworth's novel
  The Lancashire Witches, though, despite this less than stellar introduction to his work.) "The Pageant of Ghosts" by R. Murray Gilchrist for me, doesn't succeed well as a story; it's more a short series of disconnected vignettes in an indeterminate setting, with a vaguely sketched narrator; it has atmosphere and beautiful imagery, but that's about all. Finally, Katherine Rickford's "Joseph: A Story," which depends on reincarnation has, IMO, a muddled plot and chronology. But my reaction to the other 97 stories was positive, and that's a pretty good ratio!
• 
  Lexy

  thought this book was a very good book it reminded me of one of the books I read by RL Stine last year because towards the end of this book it had my hands shaking.
• 
  Amy

  When I first saw this book in the bargain section at Barnes and Noble, I thought it would be the same old stories that keep getting picked for best ghost story collections. I was sure that I would have read most of them. I picked it up and looked at the table of contents, they weren't kidding about there being 101 stories, and found a title that I thought sounded familiar. I was so sure it was that one story where... Wait! This is new!
  
  This collection is amazing. There were so many stories I had never read, both from familiar and obscure authors. I would love to congratulated the editor in finding stories from all over. There were Australian stories that had their own flavor. There were stories from diverse places in the old British Empire from many viewpoints. There were some familiar favorites, as well. All were stories in the old fashioned style that I prefer, and nearly all of them were well written. Some were ghost stories for comedic effect, but most were seriously creepy.
  
  It was really exciting to find a story by H.P. Lovecraft which I had never seen before. "The Tomb" is not one of his that gets picked for most of the collections of his work. When I read up on it elsewhere, I found out that it's the first story he published. What a treasure! I don't know where the editor found it.
  
  I thoroughly enjoyed reading these stories in small chunks, a couple of stories here, a couple there, over many months. One reason why I took it in such small doses is that I was sincerely sad when this huge book came to an end.
  
  The good news is that I have discovered some new authors and I can seek out their collections as well.
• 
  Brenda

  This was a great compilation! Many of them weren’t particularly scary—a good example was the ghost who showed up to his own wedding—but were still plenty entertaining. Others felt like the front runners for many of the scary stories we tell each other as kids. I explicitly remember reading very similar stories in the book Scary Stories to Read in the Dark. A good example of that is when a man comes across a woman wearing a suspicious choker necklace while sitting near a guillotine....
  
  Weirdly, a lot of them are kind of wholesome. They’re simple stories of people having mild interactions with ghosts; they’re not malicious or causing harm, just going about their business. I feel like that encompassed most of the encounters actually.
• 
  Sharon Barrow Wilfong

  Pretty good anthology and mix of known and unknown authors and ghost stories. They largely date from the 19th and early 20th centuries, which is fine, because that's my favorite time period.
  
  I got this pretty cheap at Barnes and Noble, probably because these stories are all public domain and B and N probably just paid to have them printed. I will say that there are a number of typos and might have benefited from a more fastidious editor.
  
  Still, a large collection of cozy night reads.
• 
  Kathryn

  This is the second volume of stories compiled by Stefan Dziemianowicz that I have read (the first being Great Supernatural Stories: 101 Horrifying Tales Compiled by Stefan Dziemianowicz. This has been my bedtime reading since the middle of February, and I very much enjoyed reading this book.
  
  As with the other volume I read, the stories are arranged in alphabetical order by title; and there were a few stories that were also in the other volume. (How would one decide if a story is a ghost story or a supernatural story?) But I enjoyed reading "Across the Moors" by William Fryer Harvey, "The Adventure of the German Student" by Washington Irving, "The Damned Spot" by Violet M. Methley, "The Diary of Mr. Poynter" by M. R. James, "The Halfway House" by Mary Heaton Vorse, "He?" by Guy de Maupassant, "The House of the Nightmare" by Edward Lucas White, "In Kropfsberg Keep", by Ralph Adams Cram, "Old Ayah" by Alice Perrin, "Over an Absinthe Bottle" by W. C. Morrow, "The Recrudescense of Imray" by Rudyard Kipling, "The Story of the Spaniards, Hammersmith" by E. and H. Heron, "The Tomb" by H. P. Lovecraft, and "The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall" by John Kendrick Bangs.
  
  This was a great book to have for my bedtime reading, and I am about to read another volume, Great Horror Stories: 101 Chilling Tales Compiled by Stefan Dziemianowicz, which should keep my bedside occupied for another month or so.
• 
  Annie

  This book is worth having for the cover alone, I love seeing it on my bookshelf! The stories themselves are .... well, a mixed bag. None were what I would call terrifying. A few were good. Most were not memorable. But it was fun to read one at a time over a longer period.
• 
  Michael Heggemann

  This book had a good selection of unique ghost stories, and, although a couple of famous names are featured, most of the authors I had never heard of. Which is good, as I had never read most of these stories before, so they were new to me.
  
  The only downsides to this book are the following:
  
  1: Since I have never heard of most of the authors, it would have been nice to have had some info on them, at least a short blurb about where the story came from or something along those lines.
  
  2: The editing was horrible - the book is filled with misspellings, missing words, run together words, etc. I was quite surprised at how poorly the book was edited!
  
  Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good ghost story and is looking for a collection that doesn't feature the same old authors as most collections do.
• 
  Your Common House Bat

  It took a while but I finished this book. I must say, I'm impressed by the selection in this one. They were all so unique and different from one another. I really adored the Lovecraft story; I've always been a fan of his works. I also particularly enjoyed At Ravenholme Junction, At The Gate, Cara, The Closed Window, The Demon Spell, The Former Passengers, A Ghost From The Sea, Haunted Orchard, If You See Her Face, A Spectral Collie, and The Three Sisters. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good ghost story. There are just so many enticing ones in this collection.
• 
  Gina Andrews

  101 short ghost stories in one volume. Some of the ghosts are good and helpful, some vengeful, some like hanging around and telling stories, and some just need help "crossing over". Most are good, a few have an interesting twist at the end, with only a few not so great. Lovely book for an October read.
• 
  Aimee

  A collection of this size and eclecticism is a rare treat. It’s 682 pages long and, despite being a ghost story buff I’d read very few of these tales (maybe a 12 of the 101) before. Highly recommended and worth buying! Also... this edition has tons of typos, which, if you’re like me, you will enjoy circling in pencil.
• 
  Mandy

  Many great stories that leave you wondering, what is really out there? Some were a little far fetched and even hard to follow, but majority excellent, I don't think there was a single story that I had read before so I loved that.
• 
  Anna

  Some stories are great…
  I’m disappointed to realize that the truth behind most ghost stories are just finding out how people died… and that’s not really as fun to think about as it used to be when I was young and goth.
• 
  Yankee Southerner Reads

  This is a great read if you enjoy short stories
• 
  Cortney

  I HATED THIS.......I couldnt get through hardly 5 stories without being soooooo bored. I donated it to our little free library.
• 
  Alison Stratton

  There was nothing unexpected in this book. It was solidly four stars, nothing stood out to me as particularly good or bad. There were some stories or authors I enjoyed more than others but it was really just solidly enjoyable all the way through. The collection wasn't completely outstanding but the selection definitely deserved more than three stars.
• 
  Eric Tanafon

  This collection offers some of the stories that have inevitably turned up in anthologies for decades (maybe centuries at this point): for example, M.R. James 'Lost Hearts' and Saki's 'The Open Window'. But I bought the book because I didn't recognize most of the stories and many of the writers. For this reason, it would be a great addition to most reader's collections. The stories are mostly 6 pages or shorter, so they fit in nicely if you only have time now and then. The bulk are English and from the nineteenth century, though America, France and Germany are also represented. None of the stories are bad, and some are excellent.
  
• 
  Giselle Marquez

  I think this book was very old fashioned in a sense. The way the stories were told was definitely all in a post-modern world with a retro style of wording. Personally, for my taste, it was a bit too old-fashioned. There would be too much detail at times, the way they were talking would sometimes be confusing and I would get lost because of it. There were some good stories in there of course, but the book overall was just a bit dragging to read.
• 
  Lyn

  The combination of stories collected was interesting and unusual. Many of the authors I was not familiar with and enjoyed reading their work. It's a good before bed read because you can one story or two.