Peter Haining - The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories

The Mammoth Book of

HAUNTEDHOUSE STORIES

Edited by Peter Haining

CARROLL & GRAF PUBLISHERS

New York

GEMMA

- who has lived in a haunted house all her life

"When I was dead, my spirit turned To seek themuch-frequented house."

Christina Rossetti, 1866

"In general, ghosts are a plus point in marketing a house,eitherfor sale or as a tourist attraction."

Daily Telegraph, 25 June 1994

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSxiii

THE HAUNTED HOUSE

by Elizabeth Albright and Ray Bradbury1

FOREWORD3

1HAUNTED PLACES: Stories of Fact and Fiction

THEHAUNTED AND THE HAUNTERS

Edward Bulwer-Lytton9

AUTHENTICNARRATIVE OF AHAUNTED HOUSE

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu39

A CASE OF EAVESDROPPING

Algernon Blackwood53

A HAUNTED HOUSE

Virginia Woolf69

GHOST HUNT

H. Russell Wakefield73

DARK WINNER

William F. Nolan81

2AVENGING SPIRITS: Tales of Dangerous Elementals

THEOLD HOUSE IN VAUXHALL WALK

Charlotte Riddell89

NO. 252 RUE M. LE PRINCE

Ralph Adams Cram109

THE SOUTHWEST CHAMBER

Mary Eleanor Freeman125

THE TOLL-HOUSE

W. W. Jacobs145

FEET FOREMOST

L. P. Hartley157

HAPPY HOUR

Ian Watson191

3SHADOWY CORNERS: Accounts of Restless Spirits

THE ANKARDYNE PEW

W. F. Harvey217

THE REAL AND THE COUNTERFEIT

Louisa Baldwin231

A NIGHT AT A COTTAGE...

Richard Hughes249

THE CONSIDERATE HOSTS

Thorp McClusky253

THE GREY HOUSE

Basil Copper265

WATCHING ME, WATCHING YOU

Fay Weldon309

4PHANTOM LOVERS: Sex and the Supernatural

A SPIRIT ELOPEMENT

Richard Dehan329

THE HOUSE OF DUST

Herbert de Hamel339

THE KISSTRUCK BOGIE

A. E. Coppard357

MR EDWARD

Norah Lofts367

HOUSE OF THE HATCHET

Robert Bloch385

NAPIER COURT

Ramsey Campbell403

5LITTLE TERRORS: Ghosts and Children

LOST HEARTS

M. R. James423

THE SHADOWY THIRD

Ellen Glasgow435

A LITTLE GHOST

Hugh Walpole461

THE PATTER OF TINY FEET

Nigel Kneale477

UNINVITED GHOSTS

Penelope Lively489

6PSYCHIC PHENOMENA:

Signs from the Other Side

PLAYING WITH FIRE

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle497

THE WHISTLING ROOM

William Hope Hodgson513

BAGNELL TERRACE

E. F. Benson533

THE COMPANION

Joan Aiken547

THE GHOST HUNTER

James Herbert557

COMPUTER SEANCE

Ruth Rendell563

7 HOUSES OF HORROR:

Terror Visions of the Stars

IN LETTERS OF FIRE

Gaston Leroux573

THE JUDGE'S HOUSE

Bram Stoker593

THE STORM

McKnight Malmar613

THE WAXWORK

A. M. Burrage627

THE INEXPERIENCED GHOST

H. G. Wells641

SOPHY MASON COMES BACK

E. M. Delafield655

THE BOOGEYMAN

Stephen King669

APPENDIX: Haunted House Novels: A Listing683

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgment is made to the following authors, agentsand publishers for permission to reprint the stories in thiscollection.

"The Haunted House" 2000 by ElizabethAlbright and Ray Bradbury. First published in this volume andreprinted by permission of the authors. "A Case ofEavesdropping" 1900 by Algernon Blackwood. Originallypublished in Pall Mall Magazine, December1900. Reprinted by permission of A. P. Watt Ltd.

"A Haunted House" 1921 by VirginiaWoolf. Originally published in Monday orTuesday, Hogarth Press. Reprinted bypermission of the Virginia Woolf Estate.

"Ghost Hunt" 1948 by H. RussellWakefield. Originally published in WeirdTales, 1948. Reprinted by permission ofCurtis Brown and the Estate of H. Russell Wakefield.

"Dark Winner" 1976 by Stuart DavidSchiff. Originally published in Whispers edited by Stuart David Schiff. Reprinted bypermission of William F. Nolan.

"The Toll-House" 1907 by W. W. Jacobs.Originally published in The Strand, 1907.Reprinted by permission of the Estate of W. W. Jacobs. "FeetForemost" 1948 by L. P. Hartley. Originally published in The Travelling Grave & Other Stories, 1948. Reprinted by permission of HamishHamilton Ltd.

"Happy Hour" 1900 by Ian Watson. Firstpublished in Wheels of Fear editedby Kathryn Cramer. Reprinted by permission of the author. "TheAnkardyne Pew" 1928 by W. F. Harvey. First published in The Beast With Five Fingers, 1928.Reprinted by permission of Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

"A Night at a Cottage" 1926 by RichardHughes. First published in A Moment in Time, 1926. Reprinted by permission of David HighamAssociates.

"The Grey House" 1967 by Basil Copper.First published in Not After Nightfall, 1967.Reprinted by permission of the author. "Watching Me, WatchingYou" 1980 by Fay Weldon. Commissioned television play inthe Leap in the Dark series,BBC Bristol 1980, produced by Michael Courcher, directed by ColinGodman. First published in Woman's Own inJanuary 1981 and became the title story of WatchingMe, Watching You, 1981. Reprinted bypermission of Curtis Brown. "The Kisstruck Bogie" 1946 by A. E. Coppard. First published in FearfulPleasures, 1946. Reprinted by permission ofDavid Higham Associates.

"Mr Edward" 1947 by Norah Lofts. Firstpublished in At Close of Eve, 1947.Reprinted by permission of Hutchinson Ltd. "House of theHatchet" 1941 by Robert Bloch. First published in WeirdTales, 1941. Reprinted by permission of A. M.Heath Ltd. "Napier Court" 1971 by Ramsey Campbell.First published in Dark Things editedby August Derleth, 1971. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Lost Hearts" 1895 by M. R. James.First published in Pall Mall Magazine, 1895.Reprintd by permission of the M. R. James Estate. "A LittleGhost" 1922 by Hugh Walpole. First published in RedBook Magazine, 1922. Reprinted by permissionof Rupert Hart Davis Ltd. "The Patter of Tiny Feet" 1949 by Nigel Kneale. First published in TomatoCain, 1949. Reprinted by permission of TheAgency. "Uninvited Ghosts" 1984 by Penelope Lively.First published in Uninvited Ghosts, 1981. Reprinted by permission of David HighamAssociates. "Bagnell Terrace" 1928 by E. F. Benson.First published in Spook Stories, 1928.Reprinted by permission of A. P. Watt Ltd. "The Companion" 1978 by Joan Aiken. First published in JohnCreasey's Crime Collection edited by HerbertHarris, 1978. Reprinted by permission of A. M. Heath Ltd.

"The Ghost Hunter" 1988 by JamesHerbert. First published in Haunted, 1988.Reprinted by permission of the author and David Higham Associates.