Wordsworth

Terror by Night: Classic Ghost and Horror Stories

Ambrose Bierce, 2006

'Nothing is so improbable as what is true' Of all the writers of ghost and horror stories, Ambrose Bierce is perhaps the most colourful. He was a dark, cynical and pessimistic soul who had a grim vision of fate and the unfairness of life, which he channelled into his fiction. And in his death, or rather his disappearance, he created a mystery as strange and unresolved as any that he penned himself. But more of that later. Ambrose Gwinett Bierce was born in a log cabin on 21st June 1842, in Horse Creek, Meigs County, Ohio, USA. He was the tenth of thirteen children, ten of whom survived infancy. His father, an unsuccessful farmer with an unseemly love of literature, had given all the Bierce children names beginning with 'A'. There was Abigail, the eldest; then Amelia, Ann, Addison, Aurelius etc. So oddness was a part of Bierce's life from the beginning. Poverty and religion of the extreme variety were the two chief influences on young Ambrose's childhood. He not only hated this period of his life, he also developed a deep hatred for his family and this is reflected in some of his stories which depict families preying on and murdering one another. For example the unforgettable opening sentence of «An Imperfect Conflagration» seems to sum up his bitter attitude: 'Early in 1872 I murdered my father — an act that made a deep impression on me at the time'. Подробнее

Aylmer Vance: Ghost-Seer The Aylmer Vance stories date from the Edwardian period, and there are echoes in them of the Sherlock Holmes adventures which had proved so popular in the preceding decade. The friendship between Aylmer Vance and Dexter is not unlike that between Sherlock Holmes and Watson, and the two investigators approach the world of the supernatural in the same fearless and enquiring spirit in which Conan Doyle's heroes approach the world of crime. The parallel is not exact: Dexter, with his clairvoyant powers, is a more useful (and intelligent) ally than Watson, and Vance for the most part does not 'solve' mysteries the way Holmes does. What we get instead is a loosely-connected series of stories in which surprise is the major element, a world where not all ghosts are bad, where it is not always clear whether they are ghosts, and where being dead may for some be better than being alive. Подробнее

The Bell in the Fog and Other Stories

Gertrude Atherton, 2006

Gertrude Atherton was born in San Francisco in 1857, and died in 1948. She eloped at the age of nineteen, took up writing against her husband's wishes, and after his death became a protegee of Ambrose Bierce, whose influence can be seen here in those stories, «The Dead and the Countess», «Death and the Woman» and «The Striding Place», which have an overtly supernatural element.»The Striding Place» was rejected by one editor as 'far too gruesome', but was in Atherton's view 'the best short story I ever wrote'. Elsewhere, «The Greatest Good of the Greatest Number», «The Tragedy of a Snob», and «A Monarch of a Small Survey» the psychological takes precedence over the supernatural. And in «The Bell in the Fog» (reminiscent of «The Turn of the Screw», and dedicated to Henry James) the supernatural and psychological combine to brilliant effect: an angelic child bears a striking resemblance to an old portrait. Is she a reincarnation of her ancestor? And will she turn out as unangelic in adulthood as that distant ancestor turned out before her? Подробнее

A Night on the Moor and Other Tales of Dread

Robert Murray Gilchrist, 2008

Robert Murray Gilchrist (1868-1917) is perhaps best known for his interest in topography, and for his stories set in Derbyshire's Peak District. But he was also a master of mystery and horror, as this richly varied collection shows. If you are looking for a conventional horror story, in which the supernatural element is paramount, try «The Crimson Weaver», «Dame Inowslad», «Witch In-Grain», or «A Night on the Moor». If you are more taken with the psychology of the participants, often allied to a fascination with the killing of friends or lovers, then «Francis Shackerley», «The Noble Courtesan», «Althea Swathmore», and «My Friend» will be right up your street. For humour we are offered the Peakland comedy of «The Panicle» or «A Witch in the Peak». And when it comes to love, there are the tragic and poignant tales we might expect («The Return», «The Lost Mistress. The Madness of Betty Hooton»), but also the engaging and unusual «Bubble Magic» — a story of romantic betrayal which hints at a happy ending. Подробнее

Dictionary of Homonyms

David Rothwell, 2007

Many of us don’t know what a homonym is, yet we use them every day. The Wordsworth Dictionary of Homonyms, the first of its type published in Britain, will bring enlightenment. Do you get confused between ‘to’, ‘too’ and ‘two’? Do you need to know the five definitions of ‘fluke’? If so, then this is the book for you. A boon for crossword addicts, a treasure trove for punsters and an endless source of fascination for anyone interested in the English language. Подробнее

To The Devil A Daughter

Dennis Wheatley, 2007

Why did the solitary girl leave her rented house on the French Riviera only for short walks at night? Why was she so frightened? Why did animals shrink away from her? The girl herself didn’t know, and was certainly not aware of the terrible appointment which had been made for her long ago and was now drawing close. Molly Fountain, the tough-minded Englishwoman living next door, was determined to find the answer. She sent for a wartime secret service colleague to come and help. What they discovered was horrifying beyond anything they could have imagined. Dennis Wheatley returned in this book to his black magic theme which he had made so much his own with his famous best seller «The Devil Rides Out». In the cumulative shock of its revelations, the use of arcane knowledge, the mounting suspense and acceleration to a fearful climax, he out-does even that earlier achievement. This is, by any standards, a terrific story. Подробнее

The Haunting of Toby Jugg

Dennis Wheatley, 2007

Night after night, out there in the moonlight, Something was trying to get in at the bedroom window. A huge malevolent Something. Something not of this world. Inside, Toby Jugg, a wounded Battle of Britain pilot, thought first that he was hallucinating, then that he must be going mad, finally that this evil Something was real and striving to reach him. So begins what is probably Dennis Wheatley's most terrifying story of the supernatural. The struggle which ensues brought Toby unexpected help but also ungues treachery as it moves inexorably towards an appalling confrontation and seemingly inevitable catastrophe. No wonder Dennis Wheatley was called «The Prince of Thriller Writers». Подробнее

The Temple of Death and Other Stories 'The great oaken gate heaved and splintered, and a monstrous beast as huge as a horse appeared at the mouth of the den; his small head was laid back on his hairy shoulders, his little eyes gleamed wickedly, and his red mouth opened snarling fiercely'. Undeservedly, the weird and chilling ghost stories of Arthur Christopher Benson and Robert Hugh Benson have been neglected for far too long. This volume attempts to rectify that situation. This dark banquet of tales take us to strange, unworldly and often archaic environments, far removed from the manic pace and pressures of the twenty-first century, but as exercises in the art of luring the reader into a state of unease, they are as potent as they were when the ink was barely dry on the page. Подробнее

The Collected Works of Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde, 2007

Wilde's works are suffused with his aestheticism, brilliant craftsmanship, legendary wit and, ultimately, his tragic muse. He wrote tender fairy stories for children employing all his grace, artistry and wit, of which the best-known is «The Happy Prince». Counterpoints to this were his novel «The Picture of Dorian Gray», which shocked and outraged many readers of his day, and his stories for adults which exhibited his fascination with the relations between serene art and decadent life. Wilde took London by storm with his plays, particularly his masterpiece «The Importance of Being Earnest». His essays — in particular «De Profundis» — and his «Ballad of Reading Gaol», both written after his release from prison, strikingly break the bounds of his usual expressive range. His other essays and poems are all included in this comprehensive collection of the works of one of the most exciting writers of the late nineteenth century. Подробнее

In a Glass Darkly

Sheridan Le Fanu, 2007

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814 – 1873) was one of the great masters of Victorian of mystery and horror fiction, and can be regarded as the father of the modern ghost story. «In a Glass Darkly» (1872), one of his most celebrated volumes, purports to be the casebook of Dr Hesselius, a pioneer psychologist. These five tales represent some of Le Fanu’s most accomplished work, which rises above the staid conventions of the age. Although drawing on Gothic conventions – the book features both ghosts and vampires – Le Fanu redefined the parameters of supernatural fiction. He had little interest in the crude depiction of other worldly phenomena in order to provide the reader with a pleasurable frisson of fear. Le Fanu concern rather lay in the examination of the results of supernatural experience on the psyche of his protagonist, in this he paved the way for the work of Henry James and M. R. James. This volume is an indispensable cornerstone of modern horror and remains one of the finest collections of unsettling fiction in the language. Подробнее

A Memoir of Jane Austen

James Edward Austen-Leigh, 2007

This book includes an introduction by J.H. Stape, St Mary's College, Strawberry Hill. Enormously influential on all later biographies of Jane Austen, the «Memoir of Jane Austen» (1869) by her nephew James Edward Austen — Leigh enjoys the privileged perspective of first-hand knowledge. It displays the deft touch of a man trained in the compassionate observation of human fallibility and virtue. Austen-Leigh's highly readable and affectionate account of his aunt offers a vividly compelling portrait of Jane Austen's habits and personality. Accompanied by the novella «Lady Susan» and the unfinished «The Watsons», this edition is simply essential reading for any admirer of a writer whom Virginia Woolf called 'the most perfect artist among women'. Подробнее

D: H. Lawrence (The Savage Pilgrimage)

Catherine Carswell, 2008

Catherine Carswell was one of the most loyal and dependable of D. H. Lawrence's friends. When he died in 1930, with the controversy over «Lady Chatterley's Lover» still raging, the abuse heaped on him prompted her into writing this warm and intimate account of his life. «The Savage Pilgrimage» traces Lawrence's troubled existence back to his working-class origins and gives a particularly moving and intimate description of his life during the First World War after «The Rainbow» had been banned, no-one would publish his work, and he became desperately poor. This is an essential book for anyone interested in the life of one of Britain's greatest and most controversial writers and includes details of Lawrence's everyday behaviour, and insights into his character, which could only have been provided by someone who was as close to him as its author. Подробнее

The Mirror of the Sea and A Personal Record

Joseph Conrad, 2008

'I have tried with an almost filial regard to render the vibration of life in the great world of waters, in the hearts of simple men who have traversed its solitudes, and also that something sentient which seems to dwell in ships — the creatures of their hands and the objects of their care' — Joseph Conrad on «The Mirror of the Sea». 'An imaginative and exact rendering of authentic memories may serve worthily that spirit of piety towards all things human which sanctions the conceptions of a writer of tales, and the emotions of a man reviewing his own experience' — «A Personal Record».These two autobiographical works differ greatly in scope and form. In «The Mirror» (1906) Conrad draws upon his career as a mariner in France and then in the British Merchant Service to consider and dramatise the relationships between men, ships and the sea in an era when his beloved sailing ships gave way to the age of steam. «A Personal Record» (1912) pivots on two crucial turning points in Conrad's amazing life: his decision as a sixteen year old to leave Poland for the 'call' of the sea, and his decision fifteen years later to begin his first novel, «Almayer's Folly», in English, his third language. «The Mirror» has been called 'the epic of the sailing ship' and 'The Bible of the Sea'. «A Personal Record» is a humorous, moving account of a young man's struggle, against all the odds, to create 'a coherent, justifiable personality both in its origin and its action'. Подробнее

Couching at the Door

D.K. Broster, 2007

Dorothy Kathleen Broster (1877-1950) is best known for her historical novels. But there is a darker side to her writing, glimpsed in her early poems — 'The Second of September 1792' is a fine example — and finding full expression in the stories she wrote after she had become a highly successful novelist. Sometimes — as in «The Window» or «The Pestering», or «All Soul's Day» — these are what we might call 'explainable' ghost stories: apparitions or hauntings whose origin is to be found in some violent or unjust action in the past. Other stories, «Couching at the Door» and «From the Abyss», have little or no explanation, even in supernatural terms. Add to these an elegant reworking of the «Persephone» myth, «The Taste of Pomegranates», the downright bloodthirsty «Clairvoyance», and the psychological studies, «The Promised Land» and «The Pavement» which so well merit the heading «Madness and Obsession», and you have a collection to disturb and unsettle the strongest nerves. Подробнее

The Beetle

Richard Marsh, 2007

'I saw him take a different shape before my eyes. His loose draperies fell about him...and there issued out of them a monstrous creature of the beetle tribe...' From out of the dark and mystic Egypt come The Beetle, a creature of horror, 'born of neither God nor man', which can change its form at will. It is bent on revenge for a crime committed against the devotees of an ancient religion. At large in London, it pursues its victims without mercy and no one, it seems, is safe from its gruesome clutches. Richard Marsh's weird, compelling and highly original novel, which once outsold «Dracula», is both a horror masterpiece and a fin de siecle melodrama embracing the fears and concerns of late Victorian society. Long out of print, The Beetle is now available in this Wordsworth edition, ready to chill you to the marrow and give you nightmares. Подробнее

The Shadow on the Blind

Louisa Baldwin, 2007

The late Victorians had an insatiable appetite for the macabre and sensational: stories of murder and suspense, ghosts, the supernatural and the inexplicable were the stuff of life to them. The two writers in this volume well represent the last decade of the nineteenth century, and are of interest in themselves as well as for their contribution to the chilling of the Victorian spine. Mrs. Alfred Baldwin attempted as a child to contact her dead sister through a séance, and took to writing when stricken by a mysterious illness six weeks after marriage. She was also the mother of the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin. Lettice Galbraith is herself no less mysterious than the stories she wrote. She appeared on the literary scene in 1893, published a novel and two collections of stories in that year, a further story (‘The Blue Room’) in 1897, and then nothing more. Readers of 'The Empty Picture Frame', 'The Case of Sir Nigel Otterburne', 'The Trainer's Ghost' and 'The Seance Room' will recognise the Victorian spirit at its finest. Подробнее

The Heart of the Antarctic and South

Ernest Henry Shackleton, 2008

This title comes with an Introduction by Dr Beau Riffenburgh, Scott Polar Research Institute. Ernest Shackleton led two Antarctic expeditions, and died shortly after the beginning of the third. His first expedition was not a total success (they did not reach the South Pole), and the second was, in some senses, a total failure (they never reached the Antarctic mainland at all). Yet it is the second for which he is remembered. His expedition ship Endurance was trapped, then crushed in the ice, before his party could be landed, leaving his men in a hopeless situation. For months Shackleton held his party together before taking to boats and bringing everyone to safety to Elephant Island. His open-boat journey to South Georgia, and the eventual rescue of the party left behind, are now legendary.Visitors to Shackleton's grave in South Georgia, stepping over the lounging elephant seals that keep the dead company, pay homage to the man who had the vision, bravery and strength to open up Antarctica for all who followed. Shackleton showed the flame of leadership as few in the history of exploration have done, and nowhere does this come through more clearly than in the two accounts in this volume. Подробнее

Germinal

Emile Zola, 2007

»Germinal» (1885) is the thirteenth in Émile Zola’s cycle of twenty novels about the Rougon-Macquart dynasty. It tells the story of Étienne Lantier, from the illegitimate Macquart branch of the family, who arrives in the mining settlement of Montsou, and witnesses at first hand the appalling conditions in which miners live and work. Gradually becoming embroiled in a bitter dispute between the miners and their employers, he eventually leads the strike which is the centrepiece of the novel. But this is more than the struggle of labour against capital. It is also the struggle of the hungry against the well-fed, against the passivity and resignation passed down over generations of starving people, and ultimately against hunger itself, represented by the fantastical devouring monster of the mine, which swallows up men, just as the beast of the modern industrial economy relentlessly swallows up capital. This apparent pessimism about society is offset by the possibility of rebirth and regeneration. For all the inherited misery of the downtrodden, the old order may some day be overturned. Подробнее

Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Thomas Hardy, 1992

This title includes introduction and notes by Michael Irwin, Professor of English Literature, University of Kent at Canterbury. Set in Hardy's Wessex, «Tess» is a moving novel of hypocrisy and double standards. Its challenging sub-title, «A Pure Woman», infuriated critics when the book was first published in 1891, and it was condemned as immoral and pessimistic. It tells of Tess Durbeyfield, the daughter of a poor and dissipated villager, who learns that she may be descended from the ancient family of d'Urbeville. In her search for respectability her fortunes fluctuate wildly, and the story assumes the proportions of a Greek tragedy. It explores Tess' relationships with two very different men, her struggle against the social mores of the rural Victorian world which she inhabits and the hypocrisy of the age. Подробнее

Tender is the Night

F.Scott Fitzgerald, 1994

This book is with an introduction and notes by Henry Claridge, Senior Lecturer, School of English, University of Kent at Canterbury. «Tender is the Night» is a story set in the hedonistic high society of Europe during the «Roaring Twenties». A wealthy schizophrenic, Nicole Warren, falls in love with Dick Diver — her psychiatrist. The resulting saga of the Diver's troubled marriage and their circle of friends, includes a cast of aristocratic and beautiful people, unhappy love affairs, a duel, incest, and the problems inherent in the possession of great wealth. Despite cataloging a maelstrom of interpersonal conflict, «Tender is the Night» has a poignancy and warmth which springs from the quality of F Scott Fitzgerald's writing and the tragic personal experiences on which the book is based. Подробнее

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