Spirits of the Season: Christmas Hauntings (Tales of the Weird)

The British Library "Tales of the Weird" series goes from strength and this is an excellent addition to the range.As Christmas draws near and the dark nights dominate there is nothing better than to settle down to a Victorian - or at least vintage - ghost story.This volume contains fourteen stories written between 1867 - 1940 and easily counts as one of the best ghost story anthologies I have read. What impressed me was that most of the stories only just happen to be set around Christmas or just use the festive season as a starting point - this may sound contradictory but it frees the compiler to select some excellent stories without the theme dominating - no psycho Santas here. (Although "Lucky's Grove" does feature a malevolent Christmas tree - much better than it sounds!)Highlights for me included "The Kit Bag" by Algernon Blackwood - a superbly creepy story dealing with capital punishment - and EF Benson's "Boxing Night" - an unsettling tale of dark dreams coming true.There are no really weak stories here - the MR James offering is perhaps one of his slightest and I did not much care for the skittish tone of the JB Priestley story - but then it is pantomime season so it would be churlish to complain at its inclusion!I can see myself returning to this collection as the nights draw in next year - highly recommended.

A fine collection of Christmas and seasonal hauntings.Some criminally obscure authors as well as some favourites.Stories included are as follows...1. The 4.15 Express (Edwards)2. Curse of the Catalfaques (Anstey)3. Christmas Eve on a Haunted Hulk (Cower)4. The Christmas Shadrach (Stockton)5. Number Ninety (Croker)6. The Shadow (Nesbit)7. The Kit - Bag (Blackwood)8. Story of an Appearance... (James)9. Boxing Night (E. F. Benson)10. The Prescription (Bowen)11. The Snow (Walpole)12. Smee (Burrage)13. The Demon King (Priestley)14. Lucky's Grove (Wakefield)

I love all of the winter books from the tales of the weird British Library collection. This one is probably my second favorite and has some pretty well-known classic stories from people like M. R. James etc. for those curious, this is the collection of stories included:The Four-Fifteen Express - Amelia B. EdwardsThe Curse of the Catafalques - F. AnsteyChristmas Eve on a Haunted Hulk - Frank CowperThe Christmas Shadrach - Frank R. StocktonNumber Ninety - B. M. CrokerThe Shadow - E. NesbittThe Kit Bag - Algernon BlackwoodThe Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance - M. R. JamesBoxing Night - E. E. BensonThe Prescription - Marjorie BrownThe Snow - Hugh WalpoleSmee - A. M. BurrageThe Demon Kind - J. B. PriestleyLucky's Grove - H. Russel WakefieldIt's a great mix of classic, well-known authors and some slightly more obscure. If you're into gothic horror, I recommend all of this series wholeheartedly!

This book is a rather unseasonal choice for spring but that's irrelevant here as the stories could be read any time. I love a good ghost story and these are unfamiliar which makes a change from the usual anthologies which tend to be repetitive. Highly recommended and a volume to keep to dip into at will.

Great old stories. Very atmospheric.