A Bottomless Grave: and Other Victorian Tales of Terror [Paperback]

Originally published in 1977, Hugh Lamb's collection, this time published by Dover, has many now obscure late Victorian ghost stories, and contains the following works:

The Devil of the Marsh by H. B. Marriott-Watson
A Tragic Honeymoon by G. R. Sims
The Battle of the Monsters by Morgan Robertson
The Return by R. Murrey Gilchrist
The Corpse Light by Dick Donovan
The Ship That Saw a Ghost by Frank Norris
A Bottomless Grave by Ambrose Bierce
One Summer Night by Ambrose Bierce
Ghosts That Have Haunted Me by J. K. Bangs
Haunted by Spirits by George Mandeville Fenn
A Ghost Slayer by J. Keightley Snowdon
The Tomb by Guy de Maupassant
The Man with the Nose by Rhoda Broughton
My Nightmare by Dorothea Gerard
A Life-watch by Georgina C. Clark
The Haunted Chair by Richard Marsh
Coolies by W. Carlton Dawe
The Three Souls by Erckmann-Chatrian
A Strange Goldfield by Guy Boothby
An Alpine Divorce by Robert Barr
The Story of Baelbrow by E. and H. Heron

Though the book's title reads 'Tales of Terrors,' the contents are rich in variety. Actually, you may say too rich to be credited as 'tales of terror.' For example, read 'The Battle of the Monsters,' and you will find this curious tale rather belongs sci-fi theme (like 'Flatland'). Some are intended as parody or even comedy though I do not assure you will find them really amusing. One unique choice is 'Collies,' a nightmarish experience of a white sailor on the sea off the coast of China, and probably you don't like the tale's tone very much when it unabashedly makes use of so-called fear of 'yellow peril.' (To do the story justice, however, this adventure story itself is well-written.)

Perhaps the best-known writer on the list above is Frank Norris, author of 'The Octopus' and others. Like Jack London, he wrote tales with nautical topics, and his story here is probably the best one in this collection. Claustrophobic and atmospheric, his tale with ghost-ship theme is very effective in blending the dream-like feelings and realistic background.

My other favorites is Ambrose Bierce and Rhoda Broughton. Bierce's second story with only two pages is vintage Bierce, who mixes two popular ghost story themes -- 'buried alive' theme and 'body snatcher' theme -- and leads to a very disturbing (and nasty) ending.

Broughton's tale is, on the other hand, very psychological, in which a typical English gentleman, after marrying a young girl, sees his newly-wed bride gradually drawn to 'the other side.' The tale is intriguing for what it suggests (and that's sexual), and some readers may remember one famous novel called 'Trilby.'

Anyway, not every tale is good, I admit, and if you say there are better ghost stories out there, I am ready to agree with you. But I enjoyed reading them as for what they are -- as something old-fashioned, often dated, but still interesting just because they are dated.

If you're looking for ghosts in your ghost stories, this book might disappoint you. Even the cover story, "A Bottomless Grave" has no ghost. However we do have Victorian witches, psychic detectives, con artists, revenge-suicides, and grave-robbers.

There are three humorous ghost stories, which editor Hugh Lamb realizes are not to everyone's taste so he issues an advance warning: "I've put them all together so that those in quest of thrills alone may bypass them if they wish."

I did indeed wish. One of them, "A Ghost Slayer" by J. Keighley Snowden is written in dialect and almost impossible to read, anyway.

Lamb writes very detailed introductions featuring the authors, so if you have an interest in obscure Victorian writers, this book is well worth its purchase price. And there are a handful of scary stories--some even have ghosts in them. Here are my favorites among the twenty-one tales in this collection:

"The Ship that saw a Ghost" by Frank Norris--A very atmospheric tale of a tramp steamer and an ancient three-masted derelict that first appears in "the red eye of the setting moon."

"The Man with the Nose" by Rhoda Broughton--A bride on an extended honeymoon keeps seeing a sinister figure with a prominent nose. The story reminds me of Le Fanu's "Schalken the Painter." It's tough to be a bride in a ghost story--sort of like being an extra in a 'Star Trek' episode.

"The Haunted Chair" by Richard Marsh--Members of an exclusive London club keep seeing a disreputable gambler who was supposedly exiled to Ceylon. He also seems to be stealing their wallets.

"The Story of Baelbrow" by E. and H. Heron--Flaxman Low, scientist and psychic detective is called into a haunted house when a housemaid is found dead in a corridor with a mysterious pustule behind her ear. Did the family ghost suddenly discover a taste for blood? Why is it biting folks behind their ears?

The 21 tales gathered in this colleciton run the gamut of the Victorian Eras fascination with death, the supernatural and all things that cause fright in some way. From chilling ghost tales, including "The Ship That Saw A Ghost" by Frank Norris, "The Corpse Light" by Dick Donovan and "The Haunted Chair" by Richard Marsh to a potential mutiny in "Coolies" by W. Carlton Dawe, a unique foray in science fiction called "The Battle of the Monsters" by Morgan Robertson and an interesting way to end a marriage in "An Alpine Divorce" by Robert Barr. These stories highlight some of the best and sometimes overlooked writers -- both male and female -- including Guy de Maupassant, Ambrose Bierce, Rhoda Broughton, and Erckmann-Chatrian. Filled with rich descriptions and an almost palpable sense of terror, these tales will delight readers of Victorian literature and terror/horror fans alike.

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