Madam Crowl's Ghost & Other Stories (Tales of Mystery & The Supernatural)

This is the famous posthumous collection of stories edited and brought to light by M.R. James in 1923, which, after decades of dwindling fame, was crucial in reviving an interest in Le Fanu's writings. Most of the stories were written in Le Fanu's last years and published separately on Dickens' "All The Year Round" and other magazines.The stories are characterised by gothic and supernatural themes, and some bear resemblance with previous works by the author (especially "The Purcell Papers"), showing a re-elaboration of subjects which is rather common in Le Fanu's way of writing. "Madam Crowl's Ghost" is a ghost story with a comic undercurrent and an uneducated narrator, much in the way of "The Ghost and the Bonesetter". "Squire Toby's Will" and "Dickon the Devil" are notable additions in Le Fanu's catalogue of unsettling, supernatural tales, and "An Account of Some Strange Disturbance in Aungier Street" stands out as one of the best and most chilling. In several other stories, Le Fanu's attention shifts away from the simply frightening and focus more on the folkoric aspects of the tales.It is a worthy collection for any Le Fanu's fan and lover of ghost stories.

This book is a true case of stepping back in time, which whilst fictional, gives the impression that Mr La Fanu made use of stories told to him as a boy. It really does speak to us from another age, and for its period (the author died in 1873), is actually a very easy read; ideal for stormy winter’s nights.

An excellent book of Classic Ghost Stories.Written during the Victorian days these storiesreflect that era bringing a time to us that is long gone.I enjoyed most of these & would like to read further Le Fanu.Arrived within days well packaged.

Recipient very happy with this gift ( Title of book purchased: Madam Crowls Ghost - Wordsworth mystery and supernatural series).

Le Fanu was one of the early pioneers of the ghost story in its written form, and the tales in this particular book were collated and compiled by no less a figure in the genre than M.R. James himself, who declared Le Fanu to be ‘absolutely in the first rank as a writer of ghost stories.’ At the time of its first posthumous publication as a single volume in 1923, Le Fanu had been largely put aside by the reading public owing to changes in public taste, and it was James who helped to repopularise him.Le Fanu was a contemporary of Dickens, having been born two years after the latter in 1814, and dying a few years after him in 1873. He contributed stories to Dickens’s periodical publication ‘All the Year Round’, but it was his gothic novels such as ‘Uncle Silas’ and ‘Carmilla’ that truly made his public name.Returning to ‘Madam Crowl’s Ghost and Other Stories’, the reader will find within a range of tales spanning many of decades of Le Fanu’s life as a writer. Stylistically, therefore, they undergo certain changes, with some of the earlier pieces such as ‘Stories of Lough Guir’ representing his own retelling of Irish folktales with a certain spin of his own. The folkloric element is strong, with many of the stories being morality tales (e.g. ‘Sir Dominick’s Bargain’ and ‘The Vision of Tom Chuff’), and a number involving Ireland’s untrustworthy fairy folk (e.g. ‘The Child that went with the Fairies’ and ‘Ultor de Lacy’).Like many nineteenth-century writers, Le Fanu makes extensive use of the phonetic rendition of everyday speech, so much so that in some cases, as with ‘Madam Crowl’s Ghost’, it is on occasion difficult for the reader to grasp the meaning of what is being said, especially when Irish dialect is thrown into the mix. This, nonetheless, adds additional flavour to these pieces, and the speech found in the other contributions to this volume is far less impenetrable than that of the illiterate old woman who narrates the story of Madam Crowl.Le Fanu’s horror is pleasantly understated, and there are a number of rattling good yarns that I particularly enjoyed, such as ‘Squire Toby’s Will’ and ‘Sir Dominick’s Bargain’, in which the author’s characters exhibit those human foibles and frailties that so often, in fiction at least, appear to invoke supernatural retribution. If you should have a taste for classic ghost stories, then you will undoubtedly find much in this volume to your taste.

This is a combination of traditional Victorian ghost stories, folk tales about "the good people" (fairy tales) of Ireland, and legends concerning ne'er-do-wells, who have sold their souls to the devil. As a preference, I enjoyed the traditional Victorian tales best, but there is some really excellent writing in this collection of stories.I particularly enjoyed the first two stories: the title story and "Squire Toby's Will", but my favourite, I think, had to be "An Account of Some Strange Disturbances of Aungier Street" just because it was such a wonderful mysterious tale of a haunted house.There is some real craftsmanship in the writing here although I tend to agree with the introduction by M. R. James (who wrote the introduction in my edition of the book) in that he argues that the later stories (the earlier ones in the book) are the most polished in the collection; just because by that stage Le Fanu had perfected his art. There are some beautiful examples of writing and Le Fanu has a marvellous turn of phrase, particularly as he compares the oral art of story telling to that of the written word. I loved the line: "Pen, ink and paper are cold vehicles for the marvellous, and a 'reader' decidedly a more critical animal than a 'listener.' (p. 68). I found some of the Irish pronunciations a little hard to follow, but this is a lovely collection of stories - well worth a look.

The product was packaged well, arrived on time and as expected, but I found the novel itself difficult because of the time it was set and the style of writing