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The Virago Book Of Ghost Stories (2008)

The Virago Book of Ghost Stories (2008)

Book Info

Author
Genre
Rating
3.64 of 5 Votes: 2
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ISBN
1844081591 (ISBN13: 9781844081592)
Language
English
Publisher
virago uk

About book The Virago Book Of Ghost Stories (2008)

A sprawling cross section of ghost stories written by women across the last two centuries. This is an interesting editorial project, and would be useful for anyone tracing the through-lines of supernatural fiction over time. Because of the breadth, the quality tends to vary pretty widely--some of the early stories fall into genre patterns so predictable my 21st century mind could only imagine a melodramatic organ chord by the end. That said, there were enough highlights to make this a worthwhile collection to pick up. Edith Wharton, Angela Carter, Charlotte Bronte, A.S. Byatt, and Antonia Fraser appear here alongside a number of women writers who have faded to relative obscurity (one of the reasons I picked this up to begin with is that I really admire Virago's mission to rediscover some of these lost gems). Will definitely seek out more from Margery Lawrence and Richmal Crompton.

I suppose that each reader's idea of a good ghost story is a little different. I found this a pretty satisfying mix of charming and creepy tales, with a few that just went "clunk" in the night. I liked "Don't Tell Cissie" for its colorful characters and a surprise ending and "The Open Door" for its endearing narrative voice and its suspense.My advice: this book is best enjoyed when nibbled, one story at a time. Take it in big gulps and you can't help but be fretfully aware of how similar the elements of the classic ghost story are.

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Good collection of ghost stories. My favourites were:The Story of Salome - Amelia B. Edwards - loved the setting of Venice, atmospheric and creepyThe Vacant Lot - Mary E. Wilkins - disturbing story, not about a haunted house but a haunted empty lot next to a family's new homeThe Violet Car - E. Nesbit - unusual ghost story featuring a very scary car The Eyes - Edith Wharton - chilling tale about a strange hauntingThe Haunted Saucepan - Margery Lawrence - the creepiest story in the collectionThe Book - Margaret Irwin - more a 'horror' story than a 'ghost' one, scaryThe Mistress in Black - Rosemary Timperley - great little story about a haunted school.Who's Been Sitting in My Car? - Antonia Fraser - like 'The Book' this one was more a horror story than a 'ghost' one, and again featuring one very scary car.
—Georgie

Mixed bunch of ghost stories written by women. The major themes were revenge and betrayal. The only good one I remember was the husband who went to bed while waiting for his wife to come home from a trip to see her relatives. He fell asleep but then woke to someone very cold getting into bed with him….It was then that he heard his wife getting out of her car in the driveway.
—Christopher Bashforth

I have to read this for women's literature. So far I am not impressed :(Update/Review:Overall not a terrible collection of short stories. Some of them were pretty bad ghost stories, some of them were simply... unagreeably written, and some of them had some neat ideas. I didn't read all of them, thankfully, but I can never be overly upset nor overly impressed by short stories. Their brevity is a medium of neutrality. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they're suckers for that genre, like the kids in that Disney movie, Under Wraps. Ah to be... 10? jesus that movie's old.
—Doug

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