Review
`a new series of paperbacks from OUP, each containing a dozen choice stories from the best in crime and the supernatural, and offering terrific value at L4.99 each' Oxford Times
Book Description
To savour these stories fully we must imagine ourselves in a slower, quieter world, lit by gas and tallow. Sitting by a crackling fire after a good dinner, we are disposed to be frightened a little. We may read of familiar settings: of railway stations, city streets, or country houses, but these are inhabited by fictional ghosts who often pursue their prey with deadly persistence, displaying both cunning and indiscriminate hostility. Our expectations of what a good ghost story shouldbe, as well as how a ghost should behave, derive largely from the Victorian period. The presence here of tales by Amelia Edwards, Rhoda Broughton, and Margaret Oliphant reflect the important contributions made by women writers to the development of the genre, and with stories by J. S. Le Fanu, Henry James, and Vincent O'Sullivan, this is an anthology to attract both the newcomer and addict of the genre.
About the Author
Michael Cox is a senior commissioning editor with Oxford University Press. He has edited The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories (1986), Victorian Ghost Stories (1991) (both with R. A. Gilbert), Victorian Detective Stories (1992), The Oxford Book of Historical Stories (with Jack Adrian, 1994), The Oxford Book of Spy Stories (1996), and The Oxford Book of Twentieth-Century Ghost Stories (1996).
