In "The New Daughter," a father comes to suspect that a burial mound on his land hides something very ancient, and very much alive; in "The Underbury Witches," two London detectives find themselves battling a particularly female evil in a town culled of its menfolk. And finally, private detective Charlie Parker returns in the long novella "The Reflecting Eye," in which the photograph of an unknown girl turns up in the mailbox of an abandoned house once occupied by an infamous killer. This discovery forces Parker to confront the possibility that the house is not as empty as it appears, and that something has been waiting in the darkness for its chance to kill again.

    "Robert Aickman was a master of what he called 'strange stories,' and though his fiction has been categorized as horror, it's actually its own beast.As we move further away from the horror boom of the last century and its focus on the mainstream appeal of small town horrors, we are encountering successive generations of writers open to exploring new avenues of the subtly bizarre, an area Aickman frequently mastered.This book is a sampler of how Robert Aickman's work has beoome a significant source of inspiration for contemporary writers."

    The human obsession with the mysteries of the afterlife is explored in these supernatural tales of haunted houses, lost souls, unexplained phenomena, and “good” neighbors. Neil Gaiman’s “Closing Time” is a troubling tale recounted by an elderly man on a cold drizzly night in London while Joyce Carol Oates’ “Haunted” is a chilling story of two young girls drawn to abandoned houses and what they find in one. Francis Wardwell is eager to inform readers that everything they think they know about ghosts is wrong in Peter Straub’s “Hunger: An Introduction,” and George R. R. Martin’s "Remembering Melody” stresses the importance of keeping promises—no matter the consequences. Fans of a good ghost story will find this collection the ideal go-to for chills.Content"Anna" by F. Paul Wilson"Cargo" by E. Michael Lewis"Eenie, Meenie, Ipsateenie" by Pat Cadigan"Hunger: A Confession" by Dale Bailey"Delta Sly Honey" by Lucius Shepard"Nothing Will Hurt You" by David Morell"The Ammonite Violin (Murder Ballad #4)" by Caitlín R. Kiernan"Haunted" by Joyce Carol Oates"The Have-Nots" by Elizabeth Hand"Closing Time" by Neil Gaiman"Mr. Fiddlehead" by Jonathan Carroll"The Fooly" by Terry Dowling"The Wall" by Paul Walther"The Pennine Tower Restaurant" by Simon Kurt Unsworth"Distress Call" by Connie Willis"The Horn" by Stephen Gallagher"Everybody Goes" by Michael Marshall Smith"Transfigured Night" by Richard Bowes"Hula Ville" by James P. Blaylock"The Bedroom Light" by Jeffrey Ford"Spectral Evidence" by Gemma Files"Where Angels Come In" by Adam L. G. Nevill"Two Houses" by Kelly Link

    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.

    Human skeletons lay deep in the grounds, and evil plagued the air in every room.Then a wealthy antiques dealer moved his family in, to bloodcurdling shrieks in the night, and visions of terror and madness.For nothing could make the tortured victims rest. And no one was safe in the devil's house, where is foul mark -- a single blood-soaked snowdrop -- ruled supreme.

    It includes stories by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, M. R. James, W. W. Jacobs, and L. P. Hartley, among other masters of the fine art of making the flesh creep, all accompanied by Gorey's inimitable illustrations.ALGERNON BLACKWOOD, "The Empty House"W.F. HARVEY, "August Heat"CHARLES DICKENS, "The Signalman"L.P. HARTLEY, "A Visitor from Down Under"R.H. MALDEN, "The Thirteenth Tree"ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON, "The Body-Snatcher"E. NESBIT, "Man-Size in Marble"BRAM STOKER, "The Judge's House"TOM HOOD, "The Shadow of a Shade"W.W. JACOBS, "The Monkey's Paw,"WILKIE COLLINS, "The Dream Woman"M.R. JAMES, "Casting the Runes"

    Wimbourne Books presents the first in a series of rare or out-of-print ghost stories from Victorian authors. With an introduction by author Alastair Gunn, Volume 1 in the series spans the years 1852 to 1899 and includes stories from a wide range of female authors; English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh and American. Includes tales by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Charlotte Riddell, Isabella Banks and Gertrude Atherton. Readers new to this genre will discover its pleasures; the Victorian quaintness, the sometimes shocking difference in social norms, the almost comical politeness and structured etiquette, the archaic and precise language, but mostly the Victorians’ skill at stoking our fears and trepidations, our insecurities and doubts. Even if you are already an aficionado of the ghostly tale there is much within these pages to interest you. Wait until the dark of the stormy night arrives, lock the doors, shutter the windows, light the fire, sit with your back to the wall and bury yourself in the Victorian macabre. Try not to let the creaking floorboards, the distant howl of a dog, the chill breeze that caresses the candle, the shadows in the far recesses of your room, disturb your concentration.

    . .Featuring new and original tales from:Bridget CollinsSunday Times bestselling author of The BindingImogen Hermes GowarSunday Times bestselling author of The Mermaid and Mrs HancockKiran Millwood HargraveSunday Times bestselling author of The MerciesAndrew Michael HurleySunday Times bestselling author of The LoneyJess KiddInternational award-winning author of Things in JarsElizabeth MacnealSunday Times bestselling author of The Doll FactoryNatasha PulleySunday Times bestselling author of The Watchmaker of Filigree StreetLaura PurcellAward-winning author of The Silent Companions

    Byatt, Angela Carter, Charlotte Brontë, Antonia Fraser, Penelope Lively, Ruth Rendell, Edith Wharton, and many more. Here lost loves, past enmities, and unwanted memories mingle with the inexplicable as unquiet souls return to repay kindnesses, settle scores, and haunt the imagination. All of the writers demonstrate a subtle power to delight and chill at the same time as they explore the ghostly margins of the supernatural.

    "Straub at his spellbinding best".--Publishers Weekly.

    Kevin Brockmeier's fiction has always explored the space between the fantastical and the everyday with profundity and poignancy. As in his previous books, The Ghost Variations discovers new ways of looking at who we are and what matters to us, exploring how mysterious, sad, strange, and comical it is to be alive--or, as it happens, not to be.

    The Dark takes a look at the tormented and unquiet dead; the darkness in us, the living; and the sometimes tenuous boundary between the two.

    Left in the care of an elderly teacher, there is little to do but listen to his eerie tales about the nearby Cathedral. The boys concoct a plan to discover if the stories are true. But the Cathedral is filled with hidden dangers, and curiosity can prove fatal.THE LEPER HOUSEOne stormy night in Suffolk, a man’s car breaks down following his sister’s funeral. The only source of light comes from a remote cottage by the sea. The mysterious woman who lives there begs him to leave, yet he can’t shake the sense that she somehow needs him. He attempts to return the next day but she is nowhere to be seen. And neither is the cottage.THE SCRATCHClare and Gerald live a perfect life in the Forest of Dean with their cat, Cannop. Then Gerald’s young nephew comes to stay. Jack is from another world – active service in Afghanistan. The experience has left him outwardly untouched, but for a scratch that won’t heal. Jack and Cannop don't like each other. Clare and Jack like each other too much. The scratch begins to fester.

    A dying patient’s gift to his caretaker takes a sinister turn. And two friends discover a grisly surprise in an abandoned parking lot…Scare Street is proud to present the best in bone-chilling supernatural horror. This volume contains three macabre morsels for your reading pleasure. Each ghastly tale is guaranteed to keep you up late, burning the midnight oil as you turn one terrifying page after another.You feel compelled to keep reading. A voice echoes in every room, telling you to stay awake. Something sinister clutches you in an icy grip of fear and it won’t let go until the first light of dawn. Assuming you make it through the night…

    Miraculously, the boat is still afloat--and its only passenger is alive!"Make Me Laugh": Fat, ugly Jackie Slater is a third-rate comic playing the desperation circuit of sleazy nightclubs. Enter Chatterje, the miracle guru. Suddenly, Jackie is a big-time TV comic--but the laughs are tinged with hysteria."Pamela's Voice": Jonathan has ever-so-neatly "disposed" of his nagging, druid-like wife, Pamela. Strange, then, that she should return from the grave in full bloom--and bitchier than ever.PLUS "Does the Name Grimsby Do Anything to You?"--The worst space risk of all: Lunar Insanity... "Clean Kills and Other Trophies"... Father and son play the most dangerous game... and the Emmy Award Nominee "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar".Don't miss television's most imaginative show -- Rod Serling's Night Gallery