He told more about it to the priest than to others. He certainly had a secret to tell. He might as well have divulged it frankly, for the neighbours all knew well enough that it was the face of dead Ellen Coleman that he had seen. – J.S. Le FanuI felt a strange creeping sensation as I looked up the vast black staircase, wide enough for a coach to drive down, and at the heavy darkness bending over it like a curse. – Rosa MulhollandOn and on he glided, like an evil shadow, the very darkness seeming to loathe him as he passed. – Oscar WildeTo walk through Irish history is to pass through a haunted landscape. Perhaps that’s why so many of Ireland’s finest writers found themselves drawn to the ghost story. This collection includes the work of canonical figures like Bram Stoker, J.S. Le Fanu, Oscar Wilde, and W.B. Yeats, but also a wealth of lesser-known authors like Charlotte Riddell and Rosa Mulholland who were once bestsellers but are now unjustly neglected, all with a keen sense of Ireland’s haunted character.Each story in this collection is presented with its original publication details, so readers can see exactly where and when it first appeared, and a brief biography of its author. Together, they offer a fascinating cross-section of Ireland’s literary relationship with the supernatural.Contents of the book include:The Headless Horseman by Thomas Crofton CrokerLeixlip Castle; An Irish Family Legend by Charles Robert MaturinA Vision of Purgatory by William MaginnThe Ghost and The Bone Setter by J.S. Le FanuThe Fate of Frank M’Kenna by William CarletonThe Pot of Tulips by Fitz-James O’BrienThe Ghosts and the Game of Football by Patrick KennedyThe Ghost at the Rath by Rosa MulhollandSquire Toby’s Will by J.S. Le FanuThe White Cat of Drumgunniol by J.S. Le FanuFar Darrig in Donegal by Letitia McClintockWalnut Tree House by Charlotte RiddellThe Haunted Organist of Hurly Burly by Rosa MulhollandThe Canterville Ghost by Oscar WildeThe Sexton of Cashel by David Russell McAnallyTeig O’Kane and the Corpse by Douglas HydeThe Last of Squire Ennismore by Charlotte RiddellThe Judge’s House by Bram StokerThe Secret of the Growing Gold by Bram StokerDaniel Crowley and the Ghosts by Jeremiah CurtinThe Dead Smile by Francis Marion CrawfordA Playhouse in the Waste by George MooreThe Banshee’s Halloween by Herminie Templeton KavanaghThe Ghosts by Lord DunsanyThe Highwayman by Lord DunsanyThe Curse of the Fires and of the Shadows by W.B. YeatsThe City on Mallington Moor by Lord DunsanyCourage by Forrest Reid
