Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Product Description
Product Description
Moving, his candle was instantly extinguished, and in the very moment of being left in the darkness he saw, standing in the doorway, a woman, resembling her who had haunted his dream overnight. He rushed with outstretched hands to seize her, but clutched only air. Night Shivers presents a treasure trove of the stories of Mrs J. H. Riddell, one of the greatest Victorian writers of ghost stories. These tales, many of which have been out of print for years, take the reader on fearful journeys into the gloomy haunts of old neglected houses, into a world of prophetic dreams, out onto the wild terrain of Ireland to encounter a frightful banshee and even down into Hell itself. In these fourteen short stories and one novella, The Uninhabited House, there is the distillation of the best and most effective of Riddell s spine-tingling supernatural fiction.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not Scary, but very readable,
By Good Book Fan (England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Night Shivers (Wordsworth Mystery & Supernatural) (Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural) (Paperback)
Tastes change and what one generation considers terrifying another considers tame. The stories her are never tame, but probably had greater value for creating shudders in the Victorian era. However, this book is still worth reading as the writer can still create a subtle sense of unease. Read together the stories fall into a familiar pattern of haunted houses, prophetic dreams and undead spirits after justice. What sets them apart is the quality of the writing and the characters Mrs Riddell produces. The novella "The Uninhabited House" takes an unusual slant on the haunted house tale and offers us memorable characters such as Mr Craven, the worthy solicitor and Miss Blake a spinster worthy of Dickens. The classic "The Open Door" is typical of Riddell's work and I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Victorian fiction, but not to anyone expecting classic horror.
1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
OK ish,
By BevRen "always black" (suffolk, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Night Shivers (Wordsworth Mystery & Supernatural) (Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural) (Paperback)
Riddell writes a reasonable yarn (it's true what they say about the Irish) - but I doubt any of these stories would make you shiver with fright. The wordy build up throughout all of these tales instills impatience and at times utter boredom.
Recommended for those who like traditional Victorian melodrama (convoluted, drenched in propriety and a little tedious).
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Pleasant reading, but..,
By RIJU GANGULY "perceptive reader" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Night Shivers (Wordsworth Mystery & Supernatural) (Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural) (Paperback)
End-of 19th Century supernatural fiction in English literature in itself is rather enigmatic. As the imperial decay (although in a regal style) set in, society (and hence literature) tried as best as possible to acccomodate the radically different lifestyle into the coziness of the already-distant past. Hence we found glorification of scholastic initiatives in juxtaposition with darkness & macabre thoughts of past & present, best typified by the doyen of English Ghost Story: M.R. James, who was followed by L.P. Hartley in the Edwardian era. But there were numerous "also-ran" authors who tried (and succeeded to some extent)to satiate the appetite of the readers for macabre evnets in the backdrop of "homely" surroundings. Among them there were few who knew how to keep their plots neat & tight until the end; unfortunately Charlotte Riddell can not be included in that select list. Her plots are interesting to begin with, characterization is effective as a few strokes are enough to make the protagonists & others alive, but the endings always bring the stories down. The pace slackens, the woman characters are totally stereotypical (even in their villainy), there is always a conscious effort to keep the "scandalous" elements away and hence the wrong-doers are dispatched to other countries conveniently, and the "novel" goes on & on & on. But, THE BOOK IS VERY REASONABLY PRICED AND FOR A LITTLE AMOUNT YOU CAN READ A LOT OF OUT-OF-PRINT STORIES. for which Wordsworth Mystery & Supernatural deserves praise.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Charlotte Riddell Was One of The Best,
By Mary Ingram - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Night Shivers (Wordsworth Mystery & Supernatural) (Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural) (Paperback)
This is a collection of stories by Charlotte Riddell. She was one of the
very best ghost writers of the 19th century. She was born in Belfast in 1832 as Charlotte Cowan and married a Mr. J. H. Riddell. She died in 1906 never to have reaped good financial benefits from the sale of her books. Some will remember the tale of, The Open Door, an old house with a door that will not close no matter what you do. Tenants wouldnt stay long as they thought it was haunted but one man decided he was going to find out what was behind the open door. It is a chiller. Other tales are:Nut Bush Farm, The Last of Squire Ennismore, A Strange Christmas Game, the old House in Vauxhall Walk,Sandy, the Tinker, Forewarned, Forearmed, Hertford O'donnell's Warning, Walnut Tree House, Old Mrs. Jones, Why Dr. Cray Left Southam, Conn Kilrea, Diarmid Chittock's Story(the ending is a real lulu), A Terrible Vengeance and The Uninhabited House. 449 pgs. |
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
