Classic Horror

[j. d. worthington]

Dickens wrote several good ghostly tales, from "No. 1 Branch Line: The Signalman" to "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain". They've been collected together a couple of times (iirc -- I've got one of these anyway), but can be easily found on the web at places such as HorrorMasters.com, as can those of other writers of the period.

[Connavar]

I will rather take a chance and buy the collection than read those stories on the comp.

Hopefully i can find them in bookmooch. I havent read Dickens in 9 years so maybe i should read his famous library books before buying his horror.


I liked David Copperfield BBC mini maybe i will begin there if i cant find his horror stories in bookmooch or the library.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Connavar of Rigante

I will rather take a chance and buy the collection than read those stories on the comp.

Hopefully i can find them in bookmooch. I havent read Dickens in 9 years so maybe i should read his famous library books before buying his horror.


I liked David Copperfield BBC mini maybe i will begin there if i cant find his horror stories in bookmooch or the library.

Connavar: There are several collections: The Supernatural Short Stories of Charles Dickens, The Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens, The Christmas Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens, most of which overlap; so you should be able to find one or more fairly easily....

[Connavar]

I saw the library had in a collection from 1982 called Complete Ghost stories of Dickens.

Over 20 stories so im gonna get that.

I saw a ghost story collection with Le Fanu too, which im excited about. I liked his writing when i tried him.

[brsrkrkomdy]

I've already read The Complete Ghost Stories Of Charles Dickens edited by Peter Haining. It's a good collection. There are some excerpts from some of his novels.

It's interesting to discover the Germans had a three volume Das Gespensterbuch. I ought to nab that one someday. And while we're on the subject of weird tales from foreign lands. There's one or more called Tales From the Liaio Chai Studio by Pu Songling. From what I've read, this writer had collected weird and ghost stories from villages and other provinces of China whenever he himself traveled there. He's written at least 500 of the stories. However, when it comes to English translations, there are some that are too transliterative and dry. At least that's what I've read.

So, there's a recent volume of Pu Songling's Tales From the Chinese Studio, printed by Penguin books.

[Connavar]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Connavar: There are several collections: The Supernatural Short Stories of Charles Dickens, The Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens, The Christmas Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens, most of which overlap; so you should be able to find one or more fairly easily....

That collection is the only Dickens that is always loaned in the library.

What are the odds people keeping home the only Dickens i want to read.

I decided to get it from bookmooch instead of waiting for it forever.

[AE35Unit]

Hmmm no mention of MR James. I'm sure I had a collection of his stories(Wordsworth classics) but don't know what happened to it.

[Lobolover]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Who here has read much of the classics of the genre? I'm not referring to the more recent writers (though some of them may indeed be classics), but the works that established the horror (or supernatural, or weird, or whatever label you wish to use) field in the first place. Writers like Le Fanu, Shelley, Radcliffe, Dickens, Blackwood, Machen, O'Brien, Maupassant, Ewers, Shiel, James, Hichens, Morrow, Hodgson, Wakefield, Wilkins-Freeman, Mrs. Oliphant, Vernon Lee, etc.

How many have read HPL's treatise on the subject, Supernatural Horror in Literature (which remains perhaps the best single historical overview of the genre to date)? How many have looked into some of the more obscure writers in the field? And what are your opinions on any of the above?

Have read SHiL about five times.I looked into MANY of the writers,the obscure ones,and am proud to say have one of the bigest colection of tales on the comp,along with a handfull of purchases.

Le Fanu-didnt read anything
Blacwkood-love him,but didnt read more then 2 stories till now,cause of the length
Shelley-only read Frankenstein,not bad,but there are tales much more worth reprints
Maupassant-Horla was briliant.As to the other tales,their briliant things of the "other" sort
Machen-Absolutely adore (but we have the Weird thread for deeper discusion of that)
Ewers-great scot he's good,but I only read the Spider
Shiel-am about to read
James-good
Hodgson-wonderfull,but ive only FINISHED two of his stories and have been stuck on th Night Land,even though I have it all (700 pages!
,well,okay,in printing,its a bit less) printd out.
Wakefield-didnt read anything ,couldnt.In this respect,if you could help me with the Red Lodge,i'd realy apreciate it.

[Connavar]

James ? Which James have you read ? M.R James or Henry James ?


I read Washington Irving and Henry James last night for the first time with The Adventure of The German Student and The Ghostly Rental .

[Jinxs]

Edgar Allen Poe is one of my favorite. The way he writes is unique and plus the life he led was scary itself...Plus what about Stephen King the Shining??? That is a classic...Maybe my taste is off who knows?!?

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Jinxs

Edgar Allen Poe is one of my favorite. The way he writes is unique and plus the life he led was scary itself...Plus what about Stephen King the Shining??? That is a classic...Maybe my taste is off who knows?!?

I don't know as I'd say that (albeit it's been a very long time since I read The Shining), but the thread was more intended to tackle the earlier classics of the field, rather than more contemporary work. (Though it does feel a little strange to realize we're coming up on 32 years since the publication of that particular book....)

[Lobolover]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Sheesh! Make that "Das Gespensterbuch".....

I say, you better polish your german, or I will have you read Werther in the original unreadabely decorative "gothic" font !

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Lobolover

I say, you better polish your german, or I will have you read Werther in the original unreadabely decorative "gothic" font !

Tell you what, Lobo... if I can ever get my German to a respectable level, you send me a copy, and I'll gladly read it. (I assume you're talking about the old "black letter" gothic font, in which case, I happen to have about as much of a fondness for that as I do for the "long s"... which fondness is considerable....)

[Lobolover]

Oh, but you'll go blind and die of boredom before long !

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Tell you what, Lobo... if I can ever get my German to a respectable level, you send me a copy, and I'll gladly read it. (I assume you're talking about the old "black letter" gothic font, in which case, I happen to have about as much of a fondness for that as I do for the "long s"... which fondness is considerable....)

Give me 6 months and I'll get you up to a reasonable standard I'm sure ..... Ah yes the good old long S..what we now call the Sharfes S.