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Hadley (567 KP) rated Ghostly Tales: Spine-Chilling Stories of the Victorian Age in Books
Jan 20, 2021
Ghost stories (1 more)
Well-written
This collection of tales will transport you to a time when staircases creaked in old manor houses, and a candle could be blown out by a gust of wind, or by a passing ghost. Penned by some of the greatest Victorian novelists and masters of the ghost story genre, these stories come alive alongside exquisitely eerie art in this special illustrated edition.
Since this is a short story collection, I will list the stories with a short synopsis and what I liked and disliked about them.
"Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" by M.R. James
A professor decides to go on vacation to work on his golf game while doing a little side work in the town's archaeology, but when he digs up an old whistle and blows into it, he instantly regrets what the whistle brings.
Liked: the buildup to the climax was done masterfully, and the superstition that was used as the premise of the story
Disliked: that the ending is never explained
"The Old Nurse's Story" by Elizabeth Gaskell
When a governess and her ward are taken to a haunted house, they found out that everyone has to pay for their misdeeds.
Liked: the perfect example of what Victorian ghost stories were
Disliked: Nothing; I really enjoyed this one
"The Signalman" by Charles Dickens
A railroad signalman tells a co-worker that he is seeing a ghost that warns him of future accidents, but his co-worker can't tell if he's telling the truth or losing his mind.
Liked: an excellent ghost story; I wish it were an entire novel
Disliked: nothing
"The Body-Snatcher" by Robert Louis Stevenson
When a medical student realizes that the 'donated' bodies are murder victims, he's not so sure he can live with the consequences.
Liked: the ending wasn't predictable
Disliked: at the start, there's a little confusion among who is who
" The Captain of the Pole-Star" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
A group of whalers are stuck in the middle of the ocean because of ice burgs, but the ice is the least of their problems when they begin to hear and see supernatural things out on the ice.
Liked: the plot of the story was really good
Disliked: the run-on sentences, some of the accents were hard to decipher, and the ending wasn't explained
"The Phantom Coach" by Amelia B. Edwards
A young man loses his way while on a hunt, but soon finds help with an old man that is convinced the supernatural is real, and when he senses the young man does not, he puts him up against forces from the other side.
Liked: the story never lulled, and the descriptions of the undead were amazing
Disliked: nothing, I thought the story was really good
"The Screaming Skull" by F. Marion Crawford
When the friend of a family finds a skull in the latter's home, he begins to question whether or not the husband murdered his wife.
Liked: I love that this story is actually based off an urban legend
Disliked: the way the author kept breaking away from the story to talk to the audience; it caused the flow of the story to stop
Overall, the Victorian-era authors knew how to write a ghost story. I absolutely loved this collection of short stories. I highly recommend this book to people who love a good 'ol fashioned ghost story (not the gory ones we have today).
Since this is a short story collection, I will list the stories with a short synopsis and what I liked and disliked about them.
"Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" by M.R. James
A professor decides to go on vacation to work on his golf game while doing a little side work in the town's archaeology, but when he digs up an old whistle and blows into it, he instantly regrets what the whistle brings.
Liked: the buildup to the climax was done masterfully, and the superstition that was used as the premise of the story
Disliked: that the ending is never explained
"The Old Nurse's Story" by Elizabeth Gaskell
When a governess and her ward are taken to a haunted house, they found out that everyone has to pay for their misdeeds.
Liked: the perfect example of what Victorian ghost stories were
Disliked: Nothing; I really enjoyed this one
"The Signalman" by Charles Dickens
A railroad signalman tells a co-worker that he is seeing a ghost that warns him of future accidents, but his co-worker can't tell if he's telling the truth or losing his mind.
Liked: an excellent ghost story; I wish it were an entire novel
Disliked: nothing
"The Body-Snatcher" by Robert Louis Stevenson
When a medical student realizes that the 'donated' bodies are murder victims, he's not so sure he can live with the consequences.
Liked: the ending wasn't predictable
Disliked: at the start, there's a little confusion among who is who
" The Captain of the Pole-Star" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
A group of whalers are stuck in the middle of the ocean because of ice burgs, but the ice is the least of their problems when they begin to hear and see supernatural things out on the ice.
Liked: the plot of the story was really good
Disliked: the run-on sentences, some of the accents were hard to decipher, and the ending wasn't explained
"The Phantom Coach" by Amelia B. Edwards
A young man loses his way while on a hunt, but soon finds help with an old man that is convinced the supernatural is real, and when he senses the young man does not, he puts him up against forces from the other side.
Liked: the story never lulled, and the descriptions of the undead were amazing
Disliked: nothing, I thought the story was really good
"The Screaming Skull" by F. Marion Crawford
When the friend of a family finds a skull in the latter's home, he begins to question whether or not the husband murdered his wife.
Liked: I love that this story is actually based off an urban legend
Disliked: the way the author kept breaking away from the story to talk to the audience; it caused the flow of the story to stop
Overall, the Victorian-era authors knew how to write a ghost story. I absolutely loved this collection of short stories. I highly recommend this book to people who love a good 'ol fashioned ghost story (not the gory ones we have today).
Churchill and Empire
Book
A genuinely new biography of Churchill, focusing on his contradictory and lifelong relationship with...
ClareR (5779 KP) rated The Wisdom Of Sally Red Shoes in Books
Apr 24, 2018
A book full of hope.
Masha has never got over the death of her infant son, who drowned at the age of two - even twelve years later she struggles daily. She finds comfort in the local victorian graveyard, and swims every day at her local lido. She has the most fascinating friends: Kitty Muriel, a woman who is so comfortable in her own skin that Masha clearly admires her greatly; Sally Red Shoes, who is portrayed as a crazy old bag lady, who feeds the crows at the cemetery, sings opera amongst the grave stones, and has great taste in shoes; Edwar, her best friend , who has seen her through so much hardship. There are others, but these characters really stood out for me.
This is a beautiful story about grief, death, and learning to live and love again. It sounds as though it will be 'cheesy', and I was apprehensive to begin with, but it is really such a lovely book. I laughed, I cried, and I enjoyed it enormously.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book.
This is a beautiful story about grief, death, and learning to live and love again. It sounds as though it will be 'cheesy', and I was apprehensive to begin with, but it is really such a lovely book. I laughed, I cried, and I enjoyed it enormously.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book.
Erika Kehlet (21 KP) rated The Quick in Books
Feb 21, 2018
**I received an ARC of this book at no cost, but was not compensated for this review.**
This book has some elements of the trendy epistolary style of story-telling via documents woven into a traditional, Victorian-style novel. James Norbury is an aspiring poet who finds himself living in London with the friend of a friend. A quiet, shy man, James finds friendship, love, and then tragedy as his life is torn apart by events completely outside of his control. The first part of the book tells us James' story, then we move on to journal entries and tales from other points of view, and slowly piece together what is truly happening in London, and what James has unwittingly become involved in.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book but was quickly drawn into James' London. The book is both surprising and at times terrible, but I couldn't put it down. This is definitely not a story for the feint-of-heart, but a very good read set in an entirely believable world filled with characters you won't soon forget.
This book has some elements of the trendy epistolary style of story-telling via documents woven into a traditional, Victorian-style novel. James Norbury is an aspiring poet who finds himself living in London with the friend of a friend. A quiet, shy man, James finds friendship, love, and then tragedy as his life is torn apart by events completely outside of his control. The first part of the book tells us James' story, then we move on to journal entries and tales from other points of view, and slowly piece together what is truly happening in London, and what James has unwittingly become involved in.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book but was quickly drawn into James' London. The book is both surprising and at times terrible, but I couldn't put it down. This is definitely not a story for the feint-of-heart, but a very good read set in an entirely believable world filled with characters you won't soon forget.
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