Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A mixed bag, 5 Aug 2006
Here follows an overview of the contents of this volume, for your convenience:
The Queer Chair (The bagman's story) from The Pickwick Papers - extremely funny.
A Madman's Manuscript from The Pickwick Papers - one of the stories that influenced Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart.
The Goblins who Stole a Sexton from The Pickwick Papers - the predecessor of A Christmas Carol.
The Ghosts of the Mail (The story of the bagman's uncle) from The Pickwick Papers - another funny story.
The Baron of Grogzwig from Nicholas Nickleby - a story that influenced Edgar Allan Poe's The Devil in the Belfry.
A Christmas Carol - no comment needed.
The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain - a haunting story about the value of suffering.
To be Read at Dusk - a pair of stories concerning dreams and visions.
The Ghost in the Bride's Chamber from The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices - a story about a ghost that is doomed to walk the earth for evermore.
The Haunted House - a pair of stories about a house that is haunted by the narrator's own self.
The Trial for Murder (To be taken with a grain of salt) - a story about a murdered man who comes back to see justice done.
The Signalman - No comment needed.
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19 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
the title says it all!, 5 May 2001
By A Customer
yep thats right. This book does really have the best ghost stories that send a shiver down your spine!if your a fan of ghost stories then this is the one for you!
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not massively scary for the most part, but entertaining..., 25 Aug 2008
It's a somewhat uneducated cliché to say 'the old stuff ain't as scary', in an era where horror literature is far more explicit. I'm not an advocate of this school of thought however, proffering to be chilled by the likes of Le Fanu and James rather than grossed out. Dicken's ghost stories are, as the title suggests, stories about ghosts, but do not buy this under the misconception that they are all concocted purely to scare you, for they frequently have designs of a more esoteric nature than that.
'A Christmas Carol' is a morality tale, full of Dickens' often slated sentimentalism, which I nonetheless found infinitely enjoyable. Meanwhile 'The Ghosts Of The Mail' is almost like an adventure story, the likes of which we might expect from Washington Irving. Dickens seems determined to use the ghost story format to explore as many different emotions as possible, so some tales are comical, some sad, and yes some scary. One certainty is that all of the tales contained herein are very entertaining. Dickens' command of prose was, and still is, unmatched and he makes even the slightest details a source of great enjoyment with his profound sense of wit.
As such, I would label this a book of entertaining ghost stories rather than scary ghost stories, though there are exceptions to the rule. 'The Ghost In The Brides Chamber' is very chilling, not to mention rather sinister, and the frequently anthologised 'The Signalman' deserves its frequent 'contender for most chilling tale ever' accolade with absolute worthiness. Both of these tales share much in common with the works of Sheridan Le Fanu in their sense of escalation and presentation of inter-personal relationships, which is a charming comparison if ever there was one.
I'd say this is quite an essential collection, but I think it will appeal to fans of Dickens and/or 19th century literature in general first, ghost story enthusiasts second. It's not as intensely psychological or subtly chilling as many of the canonical authors in this genre, but the tales are so varied in style and effect that I don't consider this to be a negative criticism. What you have here is a collection of well written stories that never fail to being a smile upon ones face, and in light of that I'd thoroughly recommend this book.
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