Great introduction to some classic authors of of supernatural fiction. Some are well known--Bram Stoker ("The Judge's House"), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ("Playing with Fire"--actually a weak and rather odd story), Robert Louis Stevenson (the classic "The Body Snatcher") , and Edgar Allan Poe (a personal favorite--"The Tell-Tale Heart'); others are beloved by readers more deeply familiar with the genre--Sheridan Le Fanu, M.R. James ("The Haunted Doll's House"--not his best story in my opinion) and William Hope Hodgson.

I really enjoyed the inclusion of Henry James and Guy de Maupassant. While I certainly was familiar with the fact that they wrote supernatural fiction (James' novella The Turn of the Screw for example) I found "The Romance of Old Clothes" (James) and "The Hostelry" (Maupassant)to be stand-outs in this collection. Both stories have a psychological element (like Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart") that take them well beyond the genre and are quite disturbing.

I also enjoyed Fanu's "Narrative of the Ghost of a Hand" which played on a particular fear of mine that I have had since watching the movie "Asylum" as a kid. I am convinced that Fanu didn't write a bad story. "Gateway of the Monster" is my first Carnaki story and moved Hodgson way up on my TBR pile. Absolutely fantastic.

"The Business of Madame Jahn"(Vincent O'Sullivan) and "The Shadow of a Shade" (Tom Hood) both stand out as classic examples of the horror/revenge tale sub-genre. The ending of "Madame Jahn" will definitely give you a chill.

4 stars ( )

Edited by David Pickering, this volume (and it companion, Classic Ghost Stories 2) contain between them some 40 excellent supernatural tales from the golden age of the ghost story and features classic tales from many of the acknowledged masters of the form. All the greats of the Victorian and Edwardian eras are here and although the majority of tales will be familiar to aficionados, these tales are well-worth visiting again and again. My own particular favourites are probably “The Gateway of the Monster” by William Hope Hodgson; “Beyond the Wall” by Ambrose Bierce; “Brickett Bottom” by Amyas Northcote and “Guests from Gibbet Island” by Washington Irving. 40 excellent, spine-tingling tales and not a dud amongst them – a couple of highly recommended collections. ( )