I first saw this book advertised in the Puffin Post magazine and was reminded of 'Alf' of the Luminous Spooks. I had to have it! There was one terrific story - 'The Upper Berth' by F. Marion Crawford, written in 1885. This was no story of an intangible spectre, but rather of something un-dead and murderous, having the strength of 'ten men living'. It was a gripping and chilling tale. Unfortunately, I found the other stories quite tame, not in the least bit scary; some just had a supernatural theme and were ghost-free.
The American hardback edition has some entertaining illustrations, which can be seen here.
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ReplyDeleteLove this cover. I just lucked into a batch of 4 Alfred Hitchcock books off of ebay, including Ghostly Gallery and Haunted Houseful, (which I loved as a kid for the illustration).
ReplyDeleteI'll have to to read the story you mentioned. We've been having late afternoon thunderstorms for more than a week now... and it's been great for reading chilling tales.
Hope you enjoy the books - nothing like a thunderstorm for the right atmosphere! I read several other anthologies after Ghostly Gallery and Haunted Houseful. I remember being frozen rigid with fear in broad daylight while reading one of them. One of the stories was about a 'will o' the wisp' that appeared as a fore-warning of death, taking on the appearance of the person about to die. The hero of the tale investigates and sees the phenomenon in a churchyard, but fails to recognize his own likeness. He dies soon afterwards. Perhaps it was the idea, perhaps it was the story-telling, but I was terrified by this tale. If I can track it down, I'll post it here!
ReplyDeletewill o wisp?
ReplyDeleteI have the book you are referring to because I remember reading it years ago. I will try and locate it and post here again.
Well, it's a "will o' the wisp" round here, but whatever you call it, I'd be very grateul if you could tell me the name of the story and the author! Many thanks, Matt.
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