Tales of Mystery & The Supernatural – serie

With an Introduction by David Stuart Davies.'I read it and reread it, and wept and laughed and trembled with horror which at all times assails me yet'.With its strange, imaginative blend of horror, science fiction, romance and lyrical prose, Robert W. Chambers' The King in Yellow is a classic masterpiece of weird fiction. This series of vaguely connected stories is linked by the presence of a monstrous and suppressed book which brings fright, madness and spectral tragedy to all those who read it. An air of futility and doom pervade these pages like a sweet insidious poison. Dare you read it?This collection has been called the most important book in American supernatural fiction between Poe and the moderns. H. P. Lovecraft, creator of the famed Cthulu mythos, whose own fiction was greatly influenced by this book stated that 'The King in Yellow achieves notable heights of cosmic fear'.Contents:The King in YellowThe Repairer of ReputationsThe MaskIn the Court of the DragonThe Yellow SignThe Demoiselle d’YsThe Prophet’s ParadiseThe Street of the Four WindsThe Street of the First ShellThe Street of Our Lady of the FieldsRue Barrée

‘His body was pressed against the wall at the head of the bed, and the face was a mask of agonised horror and fruitless entreaty. But the eyes were already glazed in death, and before Francis could reach the bed the body had toppled over and lay inert and lifeless. Even as he looked, he heard a limping step go down the passage outside.’ E. F. Benson was a master of the ghost story and now all his rich, imaginative, spine-tingling and beautifully written tales are presented together in this bumper collection. The range and variety of these spooky narratives is far broader and more adventurous than those of any other writer of supernatural fiction. Within the covers of this volume you will encounter revengeful spectres, vampires, homicidal spirits, monstrous spectral worms and slugs and other entities of nameless dread. This is a classic collection that cannot fail to charm and chill.Stories include:The Room in the TowerThe Dust-CloudGavon’s EveThe Confession of Charles LinkworthAt Abdul Ali’s GraveThe Shootings Of AchnaleishHow Fear Departed from the Long GalleryCaterpillarsThe CatThe Bus-ConductorThe Man Who Went Too FarBetween the LightsOutside the DoorThe Terror by NightThe Other BedThe Thing in the HallThe House with the Brick-Kiln‘And the Dead Spake – ’The OutcastThe Horror-HornMachaonNegotium PerambulansAt the FarmhouseInscrutable DecreesThe GardenerMr Tilly’s SéanceMrs AmworthIn The TubeRoderick’s StoryReconciliationThe FaceSpinachBagnell TerraceA Tale of an Empty HouseNaboth’s VineyardExpiationHome, Sweet Home‘And No Bird Sings’The Corner HouseCorstophineThe TempleThe StepThe Bed by the WindowJames LampThe DanceThe Hanging of Alfred WadhamPiratesThe Wishing-WellThe Bath-ChairMonkeysChristopher Comes BackThe SanctuaryThursday EveningsThe Psychical Mallards

Selected and introduced by Stephen Carver'Of living creators of cosmic fear raised to its most artistic pitch, few if any can hope to equal the versatile Arthur Machen.’ – H.P. Lovecraft.There upon the floor was a dark and putrid mass, seething with corruption and hideous rottenness, neither liquid nor solid, but melting and changing before our eyes, and bubbling with unctuous oily bubbles like boiling pitch. And out of the midst of it shone two burning points like eyes…A mysterious beauty leaves a trail of suicides in her wake; an innocent child is indoctrinated into witchcraft and depravity; the bowmen of Agincourt come to the aid of the British Expeditionary Force; animals inexplicably start killing people; and a fragment of Paradise randomly manifests in a London suburb… Welcome to the weird world of Arthur Machen, a writer that H.P. Lovecraft hailed as a ‘Master of Horror.’ Machen fervently believed in a mystical and eternal reality hidden beyond the veil of ordinary existence, that could be glimpsed by those who knew how to look. Sometimes the revelation would be beautiful, sometimes terrible. Using the mediums of horror and weird fantasy, Machen set out to unlock these visions of ‘Sorcery and sanctity.’This collection comprises the majority of Machen’s short horror fiction, including his Decadent masterpiece The Great God Pan, his tales of the malevolent ‘Little People’ still living beneath the mountains and valleys of his native Wales, and the chilling novella The Terror.Full contents:Strange Story of a Red Jar The AutophoneA Double ReturnThe Lost ClubThe Great God PanThe Inmost LightThe Shining PyramidNovel of the Black SealNovel of the Iron MaidNovel of the White PowderThe Red Hand The White PeopleThe BowmenThe Soldiers’ Rest The Monstrance The Great Return Out of the Earth The Terror The Happy Children Ornaments in Jade: -The Rose Garden -The Turanians -The Idealist -Witchcraft -The Ceremony -Psychology -Torture -Midsummer -Nature -The Holy Things Opening the Door The Bright Boy The Children of the Pool The Exalted Omega Out of the Picture Change The Cosy Room N The Dover Road Ritual Appendix: Introduction to The Bowmen

With an Introduction by David Stuart Davies.'In the great mirror opposite I saw myself, and right behind, another wicked fearful self, so like me my soul seemed to quiver within me, as though not knowing to which similitude of body it belonged'.Elizabeth Gaskell is better known today for her pioneering social novels such as Mary Barton (1848) but she also wrote some fascinating tales of the supernatural and the macabre, which are collected here in this volume. The real charm of this dark anthology is its variety. Unlike so many writers of this kind of material, Gaskell allows the story to fit the style rather than the other way around and as result there is a charming freshness to each tale.This remarkable author uses different voices, tones and topics to engage her readers and as you turn from one story to the next you cannot be quite sure what to expect.Tales include:The Old Nurse’s StoryThe Squire’s StoryThe Poor ClareLois the WitchThe Doom of the GriffithsThe Ghost in the Garden roomThe Grey WomanCurious, if TrueDisappearances

With an Introduction and Notes by Martin Scofield, University of Kent at Canterbury.Henry James was arguably the greatest practitioner of what has been called the psychological ghost story. His stories explore the region which lies between the supernatural or straightforwardly marvellous and the darker areas of the human psyche. This edition includes all ten of his ghost stories, and as such is the fullest collection currently available.The stories range widely in tone and type. They include 'The Jolly Corner', a compelling story of psychological doubling; 'Owen Wingrave', which is also a subtle parable of military tradition; 'The Friends of the Friends', a strange story of uncanny love; and 'The Private Life', which finds a shrewd, high comedy in its ghostly theme.The volume also includes James's great novella The Turn of the Screw, perhaps the most ambiguous and disturbing ghost story ever written.Stories include:The Romance of Certain Old ClothesThe Ghostly RentalSir Edmund OrmeThe Private LifeOwen WingraveThe Friends of the FriendsThe Turn of the ScrewThe Real Right ThingThe Third PersonThe Jolly Corner

With an Introduction by John S. Whitley, University of Sussex.This collection of Poe's best stories contains all the terrifying and bewildering tales that characterise his work. As well as the Gothic horror of such famous stories as 'The Pit and the Pendulum', 'The Fall of the House of Usher', 'The Premature Burial' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart', all of Poe's Auguste Dupin stories are included.These are the first modern detective stories and include 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue', 'The Mystery of Marie Roget' and 'The Purloined Letter'.Contents:The Gold BugThe Facts in the Case of M. ValdemarMS. Found in a BottleA Descent into the MaelströmThe Murders in the Rue MorgueThe Mystery of Marie RogêtThe Purloined LetterThe Fall of the House of UsherThe Pit and the PendulumThe Premature BurialThe Black CatThe Masque of the Red DeathThe Cask of AmontilladoThe Oval PortraitThe Oblong BoxThe Tell-Tale HeartLigeiaLoss of BreathShadow – A ParableSilence – A FableThe Man of the CrowdSome Words with a Mummy

Based on the translation by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos. With an Introduction by David Stuart Davies.‘… the shadow turned round; and I saw a terrible death’s-head, which darted a look at me from a pair of scorching eyes. I felt as if I were face to face with Satan…’Erik, the Phantom of the Paris Opera House, is one of the great icons of horror literature. This tormented and disfigured creature has made his home in the labyrinthine cellars of this opulent building where he can indulge in his great passion for music, which is a substitute for the love and emotion denied him because of his ghastly appearance.It is in the Opera House that he encounters Christine Daaé whom he trains in secret to become a great singer. Erik’s passionate obsession with a beautiful woman beyond his reach is doomed and leads to the dramatic tragic finale.Gaston Leroux’s novel is a marvellous blend of detective story, romance and spine-tingling terror which has fascinated readers ever since the work was first published.

Horrific, horrendous, unspeakable, The Whitechapel Murderer, Jack the Ripper, stalked the streets of East London in 1888, slaughtering prostitutes and bewildering the police who were hunting him. They never succeeded in apprehending him, and to this day the mystery of his identity remains an enigma. But he did leave clues to his identity, and numerous theories have been entertained throughout the one hundred and twenty years since he held London's East End in his grip of terror.This book looks at the evidence left by the murderer and the reports and investigative papers which recorded the atrocities that the Ripper performed. It takes time to analyse the existing information and evaluate the letters sent to the police. It is the strongest and most powerful book ever written on the murders. It dispels a lot of myths attached to the Ripper, and eliminates a lot of the previously conjectured perpetrators, leaving only those who realistically could have been…Jack the Ripper.

With an Introduction and Notes by Scott Brewster, University of Central Lancashire.Wilkie Collins is a master of mystery, and The Woman in White is his first excursion into the genre. When the hero, Walter Hartright, on a moonlit night in north London, encounters a solitary, terrified and beautiful woman dressed in white, he feels impelled to solve the mystery of her distress.The intricate plot is peopled with a finely characterised cast, from the peevish invalid Mr Fairlie to the corpulent villain Count Fosco and the enigmatic woman herself.

Selected & Introduced by David Stuart Davies.Traumatised by ghost stories in her youth, Pulitzer Prize winning author Edith Wharton (1862 -1937) channelled her fear and obsession into creating a series of spine-tingling tales filled with spirits beyond the grave and other supernatural phenomena. While claiming not to believe in ghosts, paradoxically she did confess that she was frightened of them. Wharton imbues this potent irrational and imaginative fear into her ghostly fiction to great effect.In this unique collection of finely wrought tales Wharton demonstrates her mastery of the ghost story genre. Amongst the many supernatural treats within these pages you will encounter a married farmer bewitched by a dead girl; a ghostly bell which saves a woman's reputation; the weird spectral eyes which terrorise the midnight hours of an elderly aesthete; the haunted man who receives letters from his dead wife; and the frightening power of a doppelganger which foreshadows a terrible tragedy.Compelling, rich and strange, the ghost stories of Edith Wharton, like vintage wine, have matured and grown more potent with the passing years.Stories include:The Lady’s Maid’s BellThe EyesAfterwardKerfolThe Triumph of NightThe Duchess at PrayerMiss Mary PaskBewitchedThe Fulness of LifeMr JonesPomegranate SeedThe Looking GlassA JourneyAll Souls’A Bottle of Perrier

Edited and with an Introduction by David Stuart Davies.‘Have you ever heard of the fascination of terror?’This is a unique collection of strange stories from the cunning pen of Wilkie Collins, author of The Woman in White and The Moonstone. The star attraction is the novella The Haunted Hotel, a clever combination of detective and ghost story set in Venice, a city of grim waterways, dark shadows and death. The action takes place in an ancient palazzo coverted into a modern hotel that houses a grisly secret. The supernatural horror, relentless pace, tight narrative, and a doomed countess characterise and distinguish this powerful tale.The other stories present equally disturbing scenarios, which include ghosts, corpses that move, family curses and perhaps the most unusual of all, the Devil's spectacles, which bring a clarity of vision that can lead to madness.Other Stories include:The Dream WomanMrs Zant and the GhostA Terribly Strange BedMiss Jéromette and the ClergymanThe Dead HandBlow Up with the Brig!Nine o’ClockThe Devil’s Spectacles

M.R. James is probably the finest ghost-story writer England has ever produced. These tales are not only classics of their genre, but are also superb examples of beautifully-paced understatement, convincing background and chilling terror.As well as the preface, there is a fascinating tail-piece by M.R. James, ‘Stories I Have Tried To Write’, which accompanies these thirty tales. Among them are ‘Casting the Runes’, ‘Oh, Whistle and I’ll come to you, My Lad’, ‘The Tractate Middoth’, ‘The Ash Tree’ and ‘Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook’‘There are some authors one wishes one had never read in order to have the joy of reading them for the first time. For me, M.R. James is one of these’. Ruth RendellStories include:Canon Alberic’s ScrapbookLost HeartsThe MezzotintThe Ash TreeNumber 13Count Magnus‘Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’The Treasure of Abbot ThomasA School StoryThe Rose GardenThe Tractate MiddothCasting the RunesThe Stalls of BarchesterCathedralMartin’s CloseMr Humphreys and His InheritanceThe Residence at WhitminsterThe Diary of Mr PoynterAn Episode of Cathedral HistoryThe Story of a Disappearance and an AppearanceTwo DoctorsThe Haunted Dolls’ HouseThe Uncommon Prayer-BookA Neighbour’s LandmarkA View from a HillA Warning to the CuriousAn Evening’s EntertainmentThere was a Man Dwelt by a ChurchyardRatsAfter Dark in the Playing FieldsWailing WellStories I Have Tried to Write

Selected and Introduced by M.J. Elliott.That is not dead that can eternal lie And with strange aeons even death may die Millenia ago, the Old Ones ruled our planet. Since that time, they have but slumbered. But when a massive sea tremor brings the ancient stone city of R'lyeh to the surface once more, the Old Ones awaken at last.The Whisperer in Darkness brings together the original Cthulhu Mythos stories of the legendary horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. Included in this volume are several early tales, along with the classics 'The Call of Cthulhu', 'The Dunwich Horror' and 'At the Mountains of Madness'. Arm yourself with a copy of Abdul Alhazred's fabled Necronomican and prepare to face terrors beyond the wildest imaginings of all, save H.P. Lovecraft.Includes:DagonThe Nameless CityThe HoundThe FestivalThe Call of CthulhuThe Case of Charles Dexter WardThe Dunwich HorrorThe Whisperer in DarknessAt the Mountains of Madness

Dracula: Introduction and Notes by Dr David Rogers, Kingston University.'There he lay looking as if youth had been half-renewed, for the white hair and moustache were changed to dark iron-grey, the cheeks were fuller, and the white skin seemed ruby-red underneath; the mouth was redder than ever, for on the lips were gouts of fresh blood, which trickled from the corners of the mouth and ran over the chin and neck. Even the deep, burning eyes seemed set amongst the swollen flesh, for the lids and pouches underneath were bloated. It seemed as if the whole awful creature were simply gorged with blood; he lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion.'Thus Bram Stoker, one of the greatest exponents of the supernatural narrative, describes the demonic subject of his chilling masterpiece Dracula, a truly iconic and unsettling tale of vampirism.Dracula's Guest & Other Stories: Edited and Introduced by David Stuart Davies.The above is followed with a rich collection of Stoker's macabre tales including Dracula's Guest (which was omitted from the final version of Dracula); a devilishly dangerous haunted room in The Judge's House; a fatalistic tragedy in The Burial of the Rats; a terror of revenge from beyond the grave in The Secret of Growing Gold, and a surprising twist in the tail in The Gypsy's Prophecy. Other strange and frightening episodes provide a feast of terror for those readers who like to be unnerved as well as entertained.

Fully revised Second Edition. With a new Introduction and Bibliography by Dick Collins.The exploits of Sweeney Todd, ‘The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’, have been recounted many times in plays, films and musicals, but the origins of the character largely were forgotten for many years. The String of Pearls - the original tale of Sweeney Todd, a classic of British horror - was first published as a weekly serial in 1846-7 by Edward Lloyd, the King of the Penny Dreadfuls. One of the earliest detective stories, it became an important source for Bram Stoker's Dracula, but it was after over 150 years of obscurity that it appeared first in book form in the Wordsworth edition published in 2005.The one great mystery that has surrounded the book is who the author was - or was it possibly the work of more than one man? In his new introduction to this fully revised second edition, Dick Collins, by means of detailed research of contemporary records, has established finally the identity of the creator of this legendary figure.So here is the original story of the terrifying owner of that famous London barber-shop, and the secret recipe for Mrs Lovett's delicious pies…

With an Introduction by M.J. Elliott.‘My eyes, perversely shaken open, gazed for an instant upon a sight which no human creature could even imagine without panic, fear and physical exhaustion…’A wax museum in London boasts a new exhibit, which no man has seen and remained sane… A businessman is trapped in a train carriage with a madman who claims to have created a new and efficient method of capital punishment… A doctor plans a horrible revenge, using as his murder weapon an insect believed capable of consuming the human soul… Within these pages, some of H P Lovecraft's more obscure works of horror and science fiction can be found, including several fantastic tales from his celebrated Cthulhu Mythos. No true Lovecraft aficionado dare be without this volume.Includes:The Green MeadowPoetry and the GodsThe Crawling ChaosThe Horror at Martin’s BeachImprisoned with the PharaohsTwo Black BottlesThe Thing in the MoonlightThe Last TestThe Curse of YigThe Electric ExecutionerThe MoundMedusa’s CoilThe TrapThe Man of StoneThe Horror in the MuseumWinged DeathOut of the AeonsThe Horror in the Burying-GroundTill A’ the SeasThe DisintermentThe Diary of Alonzo TyperWithin the Walls of EryxThe Night Ocean

Selected and Introduced by M J Elliott.‘They were removing the stones quietly, one by one, from the centuried wall. And then, as the breach became large enough, they came out into the laboratory in single file; led by a stalking thing with a beautiful head made of wax.’From the dark, mind-expanding imagination of H P Lovecraft, Wordsworth presents a third volume of tales penned by the greatest horror writer of the 20th Century. Here are some of Lovecraft’s weirdest flesh-creeping masterpieces, including Pickman's Model, The Shunned House, his famous serial Herbert West – Reanimator, and several classic tales from the Cthulhu Mythos, in which mankind is subjected to the unimaginable terrors known only to those who have read from the forbidden Necronomicon. Also included in this compelling collection are the complete Randolph Carter stories, chronicling his adventures in this world and the realm of his dreams, where he faces perils beyond comprehension.Includes:The Haunter of the DarkPolarisThe Doom That Came to SarnathThe Statement of Randolph CarterThe Cats of UltharCelephaïsThe Other GodsHerbert West – ReanimatorThe UnnamableThe Shunned HouseThe Horror at Red HookPickman’s ModelThe Silver KeyThe Strange High House in the MistThe Dream-Quest of Unknown KadathThe Colour Out of SpaceThe History of the NecronomiconFungi from YuggothThe Shadow Over InnsmouthThe Dreams in the Witch HouseThe Thing on the DoorstepThe Shadow out of TimeSupernatural Horror in Literature

‘The thing came abruptly and unannounced; a demon, rat-like, scurrying from pits remote and unimaginable, a hellish panting and stifled grunting, and then from that opening beneath the chimney a burst of multitudinous and leprous life - a loathsome night-spawned flood of organic corruption more devastatingly hideous than the blackest conjurations of mortal madness and morbidity.’ Only the expansive imagination of H.P. Lovecraft could conceive the delicious and spine-tingling horrors you will find within the pages of this unique collection. In addition to such classics as The Picture in the House, The Music of Erich Zann and The Rats in the Walls, this volume contains some fascinating rarities: examples of Lovecraft's earliest weird fiction and material unpublished during his lifetime.H.P. Lovecraft's creation of the Cthulhu Mythos has influenced many modern authors, and still remains at the forefront of supernatural literature.Includes:The Lurking FearThe Beast in the CaveThe AlchemistThe TombBeyond the Wall of SleepMemoryThe Transition of Juan RomeroThe White ShipThe Terrible Old ManFacts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His FamilyThe StreetThe TempleThe TreeFrom BeyondNyarlathotepThe Picture in the HouseEx OblivioneThe Quest of IranonThe Moon-BogThe OutsiderThe Music of Erich ZannHypnosAzathothWhat the Moon BringsThe Rats in the WallsHeIn the VaultCool AirThe DescendantThe Very Old FolkThe BookThe Evil Clergyman

This revised and expanded second edition brings together the uncollected short fiction of the poet, writer and religious philosopher Aleister Crowley (1875-1947). Of the fifty-four stories in the present volume, only thirty-five were published in his lifetime. Most of the rest appear in this collection for the first time.Crowley was a successful critic, editor and author of fiction from 1908 to 1922. Like their author, his stories are fun, smart, witty, thought-provoking and sometimes unsettling. They are set in places in which he had lived, and knew well: Belle Epoque Paris, Edwardian London, pre-revolutionary Russia and America during the First World War.The title story The Drug stands as one of the first accounts — if not the first — of a psychedelic experience. His Black and Silver is a knowing early noir discovery that anticipates an entire genre. Atlantis is a masterpiece of occult fantasy that can stand with Samuel Butler’s Erewhon. Frank Harris considered The Testament of Magdalen Blair the most terrifying tale ever written. This second edition adds several additional stories, including the Qabalistic allegory Ambrosii Magi Hortus Rosarum, featuring the author’s previously unpublished annotations.Extensive editorial end-notes give full details about the stories.

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

This is a book to be read by a blazing fire on a winter's night, with the curtains drawn close and the doors securely locked. The unquiet souls of the dead, both as fictional creations and as 'real' apparitions, roam the pages of this haunting selection of ghost stories by Rex Collings.Some of these stories are classics while others are lesser-known gems unearthed from this vintage era of tales of the supernatural. There are stories from distant lands - 'Fisher's Ghost' by John Lang is set in Australia and 'A Ghostly Manifestation' by 'A Clergyman' is set in Calcutta. In this selection, Sir Walter Scott (a Victorian in spirit if not in fact), keeps company with Edgar Allen Poe, Sheridan Le Fanu and other illustrious masters of the genre.Also included is Edith Nesbit's Man-Size in Marble, which has been adapted for the 2024 instalment of the BBC's A Ghost Story for Christmas series by Mark Gatiss, now titled Woman of Stone.Stories include:The Tapestried ChamberThe Spectre of TappingtonThe Botathen GhostThe Tell-Tale HeartThe Squire’s StoryThe Story of the Bagman’s Uncle To Be Taken with a Grain of SaltAn Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier StreetNarrative of a Ghost of a HandFisher’s GhostThe Traveller’s Story of a Terribly Strange BedThe Phantom CoachEveline’s VisitantMarkheimMan-Size in MarbleThe Canterville GhostThe Haunted Doll’s House A School StoryThurnley AbbeyIn the Cliff Land of the DaneLauraThe Story of Euphemia HewitA Ghostly ManifestationCorrespondence on ‘A Ghostly Manifestation’Ghost in the Tower

With an Introduction by Kathryn White.Prepare to be shocked. This novel, written in 1796, is a Gothic festival of sex, magic and ghastly, ghostly violence rarely seen in literature. The Monk is remarkably modern in style and tells a breathless tale of temptation, imprisonment and betrayal. Matthew Lewis recounts the downfall of Ambrosio, the holier-than-thou monk seduced within the walls of a Madrid abbey until he heads for the utter corruption of the soul. Meanwhile, two sets of young lovers are thwarted and the reader thrills to pursuits through the woods by bandits and is chilled by the spectre of nuns imprisoned in vermin-ridden and skeleton-crowded vaults.Late Eighteenth Century audiences were polarised in opinion as to the novel's merits. Lord Byron and the Marquis de Sade were impressed by Lewis's daring, while Coleridge warned parents against The Monk's suitability for their sons or daughters, describing the novel as 'poison for youth. If you want a novel that still terrifies, over two hundred years after it was written, there is none finer than The Monk.