Marie O'Regan - The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women (Mammoth Books)

Marie ORegan is a British Fantasy Award-nominated horror and dark fantasy writer and editor. She has served as the Chair of the British Fantasy Society, and has at times edited both their publications, Dark Horizons and Prism. In September 2009, Simon & Schusters Pocket Books imprint published her anthology (co-edited with Paul Kane) Hellbound Hearts, a collection of short stories based on the original novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker that inspired the movie Hellraiser. Marie lives in Derbyshire, England.

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The Mammoth Book of

Ghost Stories

by Women

Edited by

MARIE OREGAN

Constable & Robinson Ltd

5556 Russell Square

London WC1B 4HP

www.constablerobinson.com

Copyright Marie ORegan, 2012 (unless otherwise stated)

For Jen, who loves the spooky stuff

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction Marie ORegan

Field of the Dead Kim Lakin-Smith

Collect Call Sarah Pinborough

Dead Flowers by a Roadside Kelley Armstrong

The Shadow in the Corner Mary Elizabeth Braddon

The Madam of the Narrow Houses Caitln R. Kiernan

The Lost Ghost Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman

The Ninth Witch Sarah Langan

Sister, Shhh . . . Elizabeth Massie

The Fifth Bedroom Alex Bell

Scairt Alison Littlewood

Seeing Nancy Nina Allan

The Third Person Lisa Tuttle

Freeze Out Nancy Holder

Return Yvonne Navarro

Let Loose Mary Cholmondeley

Another One in from the Cold Marion Arnott

My Moira Lilith Saintcrow

Forget Us Not Nancy Kilpatrick

Front Row Rider Muriel Gray

God Grant That She Lye Still Cynthia Asquith

The Phantom Coach Amelia B. Edwards

The Old Nurses Story Elizabeth Gaskell

Among the Shoals Forever Gail Z. Martin

Afterward Edith Wharton

A Silver Music Gaie Sebold

Biographies

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Roland, Vivien and Portia Asquith; also Mike Ashley, Paul Kane, Stephen Jones and Duncan Proudfoot, for all their help and support.

Introduction copyright Marie ORegan 2012.

Field Of The Dead by Kim Lakin-Smith, copyright 2012

Collect Call by Sarah Pinborough, copyright 2012

Dead Flowers by a Roadside by Kelley Armstrong, copyright 2012

The Shadow in the Corner by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, originally published in All the Year Round, 1879.

The Madam of the Narrow Houses by Caitln R. Kiernan, originally published in The Ammonite Violin & Others (Subterranean Press, 2010). Reprinted by permission of the author.

The Lost Ghost by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman, originally published in The Wind in the Rosebush and Other Stories of the Supernatural (Doubleday, 1903).

The Ninth Witch by Sarah Langan, copyright 2012

Sister, Shhh . . . by Elizabeth Massie, copyright 2012

The Fifth Bedroom by Alex Bell, copyright 2012

Scairt by Alison Littlewood, originally published in Not One Of Us #43 (Not One of Us, 2010). Reprinted by permission of the author.

Seeing Nancy by Nina Allan, copyright 2012

The Third Person by Lisa Tuttle, copyright 2012

Freeze Out by Nancy Holder, copyright 2012

Return by Yvonne Navarro, copyright 2012

Let Loose by Mary Cholmondeley, originally published in Moth and Rust (John Murray, 1902).

Another One in from the Cold by Marion Arnott, copyright 2012

My Moira by Lilith Saintcrow, copyright 2012

Forget Us Not by Nancy Kilpatrick, copyright 2012

Front Row Rider by Muriel Gray, copyright 2012

God Grant That She Lye Still by Cynthia Asquith. Originally published in When Churchyards Yawn (Hutchinson and Co., 1931). Reproduced by permission of Roland Asquith.

The Phantom Coach by Amelia B. Edwards, originally published in All the Year Round, 1864.

The Old Nurses Story by Elizabeth Gaskell, originally published in Famous Ghost Stories by English Authors, (Gowans & Gray, 1910)

Among the Shoals Forever by Gail Z. Martin, copyright 2012

Afterward by Edith Wharton, originally published in The Century Magazine (The Century Co, 1910)

A Silver Music by Gaie Sebold, copyright 2012

Introduction

Ghost stories have always been my favourite kind of tale, especially in the short form. Recently Ive read or re-read several pieces by women whose work I admire, both from the Victorian era and from today (Michelle Pavers excellent novel Dark Matter and Susan Hills short novel The Small Hand spring to mind, as well as short stories such as Edith Whartons Afterward, to be found in this anthology) while at the same time reading grumblings about the lack of women in genre fiction. The truth is that there isnt really a lack, as such women have always written in the horror and supernatural fields, and continue to do so. Proportionately, they form a smaller part of the genre as a whole. They are, however, a significant part, which leads me to this anthology.

I wanted to put together a collection of ghost stories both old and new that would showcase the talents of women in the genre, both past and present; and because theres a wealth of talent out there, regardless of the writers gender.

These stories range from Amelia B. Edwardss The Phantom Coach, which first saw print in 1864, through stories by such luminaries of the past as Edith Wharton, Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman, Mary Elizabeth Braddon and Mary Cholmondeley, right up to modern writers such as Lilith Saintcrow, Muriel Gray, Sarah Pinborough, Marion Arnott and Nina Allan. The subject matter covered is wide, from ghostly children to visitations by departed loved ones both human and animal, intended to warn, scare, or even comfort Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman offers a genuinely heartrending spectral visitor in The Lost Ghost, while stories such as The Fifth Bedroom by Alex Bell (her first ghost story) show us a more malevolent creature by far.

Although the stories vary from tales of ghostly children to those of lost pets, from murder to accidental death, from rage to sorrow and back again, one thing is central to all: a slight chilling of the skin as you read. A feeling of something being not