We are lucky that she did so, since among the results were these short stories of rare quality. In their use of dreams, ancient anecdote, and ruined or dilapidated buildings ('Florence Flannery', 'The Fair Hair of Ambrosine') they are at times in the finest tradition of The Castle of Otranto and the Gothic revival which had chilled the blood of the British public a hundred and fifty years earlier. But her stories are more subtle in their construction, and often use simple materials ('The Crown Derby Plate', Elsie's Lonely Afternoon'), interweaving their terror and mystery with the commonplace of everyday life. Their mastery of detail, sureness of expression and acute reading of human nature give them a sinister force, which is realistic and unnerving, yet at the same time tinged with pity and compassion.

    Celia is interested in discovering why Norman, its boy resident, is unfriendly; Laurie wants to know all about the phantom stagecoach, which is said to draw up to that house on rainy nights.* NOTE ABOUT DERIVING FACTS: Fantastic Fiction is a wonderful website but is not foolproof and has made many errors with Ms. Whitney's classic oeuvres. My own copy declares 1949 as the year of publication. *

    A stipulation in the will states that Mrs. Saunders must manage the hotel successfully for a summer in order to gain title to it.Taffy and her mother arrive at Sunset House to find the little hotel enveloped in an atmosphere of mystery and antagonism. Celeste, the exotic and superstitious French-Indian cook, has gone on strike and the housekeeper and her daughter seem strange and unfriendly. But it is not until mysterious happenings scare the guests into leaving that Taffy realizes someone wants her mother to fail. Who? Why? There are questions she must answer.

    

    From history and legend, John Harden records ominous events that have shaped or colored state history.