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The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories
Michael Cox
€ 19.99
€ 15.58
FREE Delivery in Ireland
Description for The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories
Paperback. Throughout the 19th century fictional ghost stories developed in parallel with the more general Victorian fascination with death and what lay beyond it. This collection includes stories by J.S. Le Fanu, M.R. James, Elizabeth Gaskell, Rhoda Broughton, Charles Dickens, Henry James and Wilkie Collins. Editor(s): Cox, Michael; Gilbert, R. A. Num Pages: 528 pages. BIC Classification: DQ; FC; FK. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 200 x 106 x 33. Weight in Grams: 382.
The Victorians excelled at telling ghost stories. In an age of rapid scientific progress the idea of a vindictive past able to reach out and violate the present held a special potential for terror. Throughout the nineteenth century fictional ghost stories developed in parallel with the more general Victorian fascination with death and what lay beyond it. Though they were as much a part of the cultural and literary fabric of the age as imperial confidence, the best of them still retain their original power to surprise and unsettle. The editors map out the development of the ghost story from 1850 to the early years of the twentieth century and demonstrate the importance of this form of short fiction in Victorian popular culture. As well as reprinting stories by supernatural specialists such as J. S. Le Fanu and M. R. James, this selection also emphasizes the key role played by women writers - Elizabeth Gaskell, Mrs Craik, Rhoda Broughton, and Charlotte Riddell, among many others - and offers one or two genuine rarities for the supernatural fiction enthusiast to savour. Other writers represented include Charles Dickens, Henry James, Wilkie Collins, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and R. L. Stevenson. The editors also provide a fascinating introduction, detailed source notes, and a chronological list of ghost stories collections from 1850 to 1910.
Product Details
Publisher
Oxford University Press United Kingdom
Number of pages
526
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2003
Condition
New
Number of Pages
528
Place of Publication
Oxford, United Kingdom
ISBN
9780192804471
SKU
V9780192804471
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 4 to 8 working days
Ref
99-6
About Michael Cox
Michael Cox is Senior Commissioning Editor, Reference Books, at OUP and is currently compiling The Oxford Chronology of English Literature on a freelance basis. His previous books include A Dictionary of Writers and Their Works, The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories, and The Oxford Book of Twentieth-Century Ghost Stories. R. A. Gilbert is a well-known antiquarian bookseller and a world authority on the historiography of esoteric thought in general, and on the occult currents of the nineteenth century in particular.
Reviews for The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories
Review from previous edition The Oxford editors have tried to be comprehensive, to map out the development of the Victorian ghost story from c.1850. As a result, they have given us some gems.
Daniel Easterman, Books
They have produced a thoroughly eclectic sampling of the era.
Evening Standard
splendid collection...Just the thing for long dark evenings.
Andrew Langley, Bath & West Evening Chronicle
the genuine article, not an anthology that crumbles at a touch ... This is an anthology far larger than its 500 pages, for it will have readers hastening to a decent library to follow up the authors here sampled.
Daily Telegraph
the perfect literary shop of horrors
The Observer
finely produced
Times Literary Supplement
you'll want nothing more than morning to come darned quick
SHE
Cox and Gilbert's canny rummagings into the spooky annals of a century or so ago unearth some relishable lesser-known blood-curdlers ... Victorian Ghost Stories contains a tremendous clutch of tales and, as the era nears its end, they tighten their gruesome grip.
Sunday Times
Gripping tales perfect for reading aloud.
Independent on Sunday
In the midst of life we are in death' had real meaning for the Victorians, so perhaps it's not surprising that they excelled at ghost stories. Here are 35 of the best of them.
Books
a fat collection of some 31 tales, with a knowledgeable and useful introduction ... What is most fascinating about these stories is the indirect picture of Victorian life they give ... this mammoth Oxford volume illustrates the richness of that lamented literary harvest.
Financial Times
Daniel Easterman, Books
They have produced a thoroughly eclectic sampling of the era.
Evening Standard
splendid collection...Just the thing for long dark evenings.
Andrew Langley, Bath & West Evening Chronicle
the genuine article, not an anthology that crumbles at a touch ... This is an anthology far larger than its 500 pages, for it will have readers hastening to a decent library to follow up the authors here sampled.
Daily Telegraph
the perfect literary shop of horrors
The Observer
finely produced
Times Literary Supplement
you'll want nothing more than morning to come darned quick
SHE
Cox and Gilbert's canny rummagings into the spooky annals of a century or so ago unearth some relishable lesser-known blood-curdlers ... Victorian Ghost Stories contains a tremendous clutch of tales and, as the era nears its end, they tighten their gruesome grip.
Sunday Times
Gripping tales perfect for reading aloud.
Independent on Sunday
In the midst of life we are in death' had real meaning for the Victorians, so perhaps it's not surprising that they excelled at ghost stories. Here are 35 of the best of them.
Books
a fat collection of some 31 tales, with a knowledgeable and useful introduction ... What is most fascinating about these stories is the indirect picture of Victorian life they give ... this mammoth Oxford volume illustrates the richness of that lamented literary harvest.
Financial Times