The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories (Mammoth Books)
Read The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories (Mammoth Books) Online
Authors: Peter Haining
Peter Haining
has written and edited a number of bestselling books on the supernatural, notably the widely acclaimed
Ghosts: The Illustrated History
(1975) and
A Dictionary of Ghosts
(1982), which has been translated into several languages including French, German, Russian and Japanese. A former journalist and publisher, he lives in a sixteenth-century timber frame house in Suffolk that is haunted by the ghost of a Napoleonic prisoner of war.
Also available
The Mammoth Book of 20th Century Science Fiction
The Mammoth Book of Awesome Comic Fantasy
The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 3
The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 14
The Mammoth Book of Best New Science Fiction 16
The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens
The Mammoth Book of Celtic Myths and Legends
The Mammoth Book of Fighter Pilots
The Mammoth Book of Future Cops
The Mammoth Book of Great Detective Stories
The Mammoth Book of Great Inventions
The Mammoth Book of Hearts of Oak
The Mammoth Book of Heroes
The Mammoth Book of Historical Whodunnits
The Mammoth Book of How It Happened
The Mammoth Book of How It Happened: America
The Mammoth Book of How It Happened: Ancient Egypt
The Mammoth Book of How It Happened: Ancient Rome
The Mammoth Book of How It Happened: Battles
The Mammoth Book of How It Happened: In Britain
The Mammoth Book of How It Happened: Everest
The Mammoth Book of How It Happened: Naval Battles
The Mammoth Book of How It Happened: WWI
The Mammoth Book of How It Happened: World War II
The Mammoth Book of International Erotica
The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper
The Mammoth Book of Maneaters
The Mammoth Book of Mountain Disasters
The Mammoth Book of Native Americans
The Mammoth Book of New Terror
The Mammoth Book of Private Eye Stories
The Mammoth Book of Prophecies
The Mammoth Book of Pulp Action
The Mammoth Book of Roaring Twenties Whodunnits
The Mammoth Book of Roman Whodunnits
The Mammoth Book of SAS & Elite Forces
The Mammoth Book of Science Fiction Century Volume 1
The Mammoth Book of Seriously Comic Fantasy
The Mammoth Book of Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll
The Mammoth Book of Sorcerers’ Tales
The Mammoth Book of Space Exploration and Disasters
The Mammoth Book of Special Forces
The Mammoth Book of Storms & Sea Disasters
The Mammoth Book of Short Erotic Novels
The Mammoth Book of Sword and Honour
The Mammoth Book of The Edge
The Mammoth Book of Travel in Dangerous Places
The Mammoth Book of True War Stories
The Mammoth Book of UFOs
The Mammoth Book of Vampires
The Mammoth Book of War Correspondents
The Mammoth Book of Women Who Kill
The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters
The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Modern Crime Fiction
The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Unsolved Mysteries
Constable & Robinson Ltd
3 The Lanchesters
162 Fulham Palace Road
London W6 9ER
www.constablerobinson.com
First published in the UK by Robinson,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2000
This revised edition published by Robinson,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2005
Collection copyright © Peter Haining, 2000, 2005
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in
Publication Data is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978–1–84529–185–3
ISBN 1–84529–185–9
eISBN 978-1-78033-364-9
Printed and bound in the EU
3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4
For my daughter
GEMMA
– who has lived in a haunted house all her life
“When I was dead, my spirit turned
To seek the much-frequented house.”
Christina Rossetti, 1866
“In general, ghosts are a plus point in marketing a house, either for sale or as a tourist attraction.”
Daily Telegraph,
25 June 1994
Contents
1 HAUNTED PLACES: Stories of Fact and Fiction
AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE OF A HAUNTED HOUSE
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
2 AVENGING SPIRITS: Tales of Dangerous Elementals
3 SHADOWY CORNERS: Accounts of Restless Spirits
4 PHANTOM LOVERS: Sex and the Supernatural
5 LITTLE TERRORS: Ghosts and Children
6 PSYCHIC PHENOMENA: Signs from the Other Side
7 HOUSES OF HORROR: Terror Visions of the Stars
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgment is made to the following authors, agents and publishers for permission to reprint the stories in this collection.
“The Haunted House” © 2000 by Elizabeth Albright and Ray Bradbury. First published in this volume and reprinted by permission of the authors.
“A Case of Eavesdropping” © 1900 by Algernon Blackwood. Originally published in
Pall Mall Magazine
, December 1900. Reprinted by permission of A. P. Watt Ltd.
“A Haunted House” © 1921 by Virginia Woolf. Originally published in
Monday or Tuesday
, Hogarth Press. Reprinted by permission of the Virginia Woolf Estate.
“Ghost Hunt” © 1948 by H. Russell Wakefield. Originally published in
Weird Tales
, 1948. Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown and the Estate of H. Russell Wakefield.
“Dark Winner” © 1976 by Stuart David Schiff. Originally published in
Whispers
edited by Stuart David Schiff. Reprinted by permission of William F. Nolan.
“The Toll-House” © 1907 by W. W. Jacobs. Originally published in
The Strand
, 1907. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of W. W. Jacobs.
“Feet Foremost” © 1948 by L. P. Hartley. Originally published in
The Travelling Grave & Other Stories
, 1948. Reprinted by permission of Hamish Hamilton Ltd.
“Happy Hour” © 1900 by Ian Watson. First published in
Wheels of Fear
edited by Kathryn Cramer. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Ankardyne Pew” © 1928 by W. F. Harvey. First published in
The Beast With Five Fingers
, 1928. Reprinted by permission of Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
“A Night at a Cottage” © 1926 by Richard Hughes. First published in
A Moment in Time
, 1926. Reprinted by permission of David Higham Associates.
“The Grey House” © 1967 by Basil Copper. First published in
Not After Nightfall
, 1967. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Watching Me, Watching You” © 1980 by Fay Weldon. Commissioned television play in the
Leap in the Dark
series, BBC Bristol 1980, produced by Michael Courcher, directed by Colin Godman. First published in
Woman’s Own
in January 1981 and became the title story of
Watching Me, Watching You
, 1981. Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown.
“The Kisstruck Bogie” © 1946 by A. E. Coppard. First published in
Fearful Pleasures
, 1946. Reprinted by permission of David Higham Associates.
“Mr Edward” © 1947 by Norah Lofts. First published in
At Close of Eve
, 1947. Reprinted by permission of Hutchinson Ltd.
“House of the Hatchet” © 1941 by Robert Bloch. First published in
Weird Tales
, 1941. Reprinted by permission of A. M. Heath Ltd.
“Napier Court” © 1971 by Ramsey Campbell. First published in
Dark Things
edited by August Derleth, 1971. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Lost Hearts” © 1895 by M. R. James. First published in
Pall Mall Magazine
, 1895. Reprinted by permission of the M. R. James Estate.
“A Little Ghost” © 1922 by Hugh Walpole. First published in
Red Book Magazine
, 1922. Reprinted by permission of Rupert Hart Davis Ltd.
“The Patter of Tiny Feet” © 1949 by Nigel Kneale. First published in
Tomato Cain
, 1949. Reprinted by permission of The Agency.
“Uninvited Ghosts” © 1984 by Penelope Lively. First published in
Uninvited Ghosts
, 1981. Reprinted by permission of David Higham Associates.
“Bagnell Terrace” © 1928 by E. F. Benson. First published in
Spook Stories
, 1928. Reprinted by permission of A. P. Watt Ltd.
“The Companion” © 1978 by Joan Aiken. First published in
John Creasey’s Crime Collection
edited by Herbert Harris, 1978. Reprinted by permission of A. M. Heath Ltd.
“The Ghost Hunter” © 1988 by James Herbert. First published in
Haunted
, 1988. Reprinted by permission of the author and David Higham Associates.
“Computer Seance” © 1997 by Ruth Rendell. First published in
The Oldie
, 1997. Reprinted by permission of Peters, Fraser & Dunlop.
“The Storm” © 1944 by McKnight Malmar. First published in
Good Housekeeping
, February, 1944. Reprinted by permission of Willis King Agency.
“The Waxwork” © 1931 by A. M. Burrage. First published in
Someone in the Room
, 1931. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of A. M. Burrage.
“The Inexperienced Ghost” © 1902 by H. G. Wells. First published in
The Strand
, March, 1902. Reprinted by permission of A. P. Watt Ltd.
“Sophie Mason Comes Back” © 1930 by E. M. Delafield. First published in
Time and Tide
, July 1930. Reprinted by permission of PFD Ltd.
“The Boogeyman” © 1973 by Stephen King. First published in
Cavalier
, March 1973. Reprinted by permission of Ralph M. Vicinanza Ltd.
Every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright material. The editor would be pleased to hear from anyone if they believe there has been an inadvertent transgression of copyright.