The Best Ghost Stories

In the selection of these tales, the widest possible interpretation has been given to the term "ghost story". It would have been disastrous if a magnificent vampire story like Carmilla , or tales dealing with ghouls ( Pickman's model ), a werewolf ( Gabriel-Ernest ) and Black Magic ( Casting the runes ), had been excluded for the sake of adhering to a category which is at best imprecise. Any supernatural element in a story made it eligible for inclusion - those finally selected are the best. Contents: - Introduction (1977) by Charles Fowkes - The House and the Brain (1859) by Edward Bulwer-Lytton - The Masque of the Red Death (1842) by Edgar Allan Poe - The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar (1845) by Edgar Allan Poe - Ligeia (1838) by Edgar Allan Poe - Carmilla (1872) by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu - Was It a Dream? (1887, La morte ) by Guy de Maupassant - The Horla (1887, Le Horla ) by Guy de Maupassant - Count Magnus (1904) by M.R. James - An Episode of Cathedral History (1914) by M.R. James - The Diary of Mr. Poynter (1919) by M.R. James - Casting the Runes (1911) by M.R. James - The Furnished Room (1904) by O. Henry - The Monkey's Paw (1902) by W. W. Jacobs - The Novel of the White Powder (1895) by Arthur Machen - The Great God Pan (1894) by Arthur Machen - The Novel of the Black Seal (1895) by Arthur Machen - How Love Came to Professor Guildea (1897) by Robert Hichens - Lukundoo (1907) by Edward Lucas White - The Man Who Went Too Far (1904) by E.F. Benson - Negotium Perambulans (1922) by E.F. Benson - The Willows (1907) by Algernon Blackwood - The Glamour of the Snow (1911) by Algernon Blackwood - The Decoy (1921) by Algernon Blackwood - Ancient Sorceries (1908) by Algernon Blackwood - Gabriel-Ernest (1909) by Saki - The Music on the Hill (1911) by Saki - All Hallows (1926) by Walter de la Mare - Mr. Kempe (1925) by Walter de la Mare - The Beckoning Fair One (1911) by Oliver Onions - The Story of a Panic (1904) by E.M. Forster - The Story of the Siren (1920) by E.M. Forster - The Sailor-Boy's Tale (1942) by Karen Blixen - Pickman's Model (1927) by H.P. Lovecraft - The Dunwich Horror (1929) by H.P. Lovecraft - The Music of Erich Zann (1922) by H.P. Lovecraft - The Rats in the Walls (1924) by H.P. Lovecraft - The Shout (1929) by Robert Graves - Are You Too Late or Was I Too Early? (1951) by John Collier - A Woman Seldom Found (1956) by William Sansom