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Charlotte Riddell

A Charlotte Riddell novella from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Haunted Houses. In ‘The Uninhabited House’, the owner of haunted house River Hall is taken to court by one of her tenants for failing to disclose prior spectral possession.

David Thorpe

Isis Publishing Ltd

British Library Tales of the Weird

The Uninhabited House

From the once-popular yet unfairly neglected Victorian writer Charlotte Riddell comes a pair of novels which cleverly upholster the familiar furniture of the haunted house story. In 'An Uninhabited House', the hauntings are seen through the perspective of the solicitors who hold the deed of the property. Here we find a shrewd comedic skewering of this host of scriveners and clerks, as slowly the safer world of commerce and law gives way and an encounter with the supernatural becomes more and more unavoidable. In 'Fairy Water', Riddell again subverts the expectations of the reader, suggesting a complex moral character for her haunting spirit. Her writing style is succinct and witty, rendering the story a spirited and approachable read despite its age.

Haunted Houses

A Charlotte Riddell novella from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Haunted Houses. When his cousin Geoffrey dies, barrister Hercules Stafford Trevor agrees to act as his young widow’s guardian. But Trevor has troubles of his own when he discovers that the legends surrounding his country house might have more than a grain of truth in them, and it seems these hauntings are destined to become intertwined with the fate of the widow…

Fairy Water

Vernon Lee

A short essay from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection A Phantom Lover and Other Dark Tales by Vernon Lee. The majority of Vernon Lee’s work was essays and studies on art and history but this little-known essay’s sense of places lends itself more to poetry than non-fiction. As Lee guides us through an enchanted wood, it gives us an insight into the inspiration behind Lee’s supernatural stories.

Julia Franklin

The Enchanted Woods

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection A Phantom Lover and Other Dark Tales by Vernon Lee. Written in 1881, ‘Winthrop’s Adventure’ is Vernon Lee’s first ghost story. Set in Florence, the story regales the story of young painter Julian Winthrop who becomes transfixed by a piece of music. He traces this haunting back to one of his previous paintings…

Winthrop's Adventure

Abrahim Merritt

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Evil Roots. A retired war pilot is travelling the French countryside. Entranced by the natural beauty of the area when he stops to rest by a lake, he sees visions of beautiful tree women who seek his protection…

Jeff Harding

The Woman of the Wood

H.C. McNeile

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Evil Roots. A dinner party ends with a sudden death and it is up to Major Bob Seymour to get to the bottom of the mystery, using his knowledge of exotic flora.

The Green Death

William Hope Hodgson

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Evil Roots. Known for his nautical themes, William Hope Hodgson begins this story with a small rowing boat in distress and its sailor regaling a tragic tale. This story differs from many in the Botanical Gothic genre in that it features sinister fungi, as opposed to the traditional vines, flowers or trees.

The Voice in the Night

Edith Nesbit

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Evil Roots. Amelia is constantly overshadowed by her beautiful cousin Ernestine. When two men both fall for Ernestine, they dare each other to stay in an ominous vine-covered pavilion and it is up to Amelia to come to the rescue in this eerie feminist tale.

The Pavilion

Howard R. Garis

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Evil Roots. Professor Jonkin is a scientist who has successfully cultivated a tree which produces many fruits. He doesn’t stop there though and starts experimenting on a pitcher plant with disastrous results…

Professor Jonkin's Cannibal Plant

Ambrose Bierce

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Evil Roots. The titular house in this short story sits not far from the state of Missouri. An old, run-down building, missing windows and doors, it has been overgrown with foliage, and its dilapidated appearance has given it an ‘evil reputation’…

A Vine on a House

Edmond Nolcini

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Evil Roots. Intrigued by other sailors’ superstitions of a cursed island, Sam Lenartson rows out to see for himself. Once there, he discovers an abandoned house with a mysterious tenant…

Ben Onwukwe

The Guardian of Mystery Island

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Evil Roots. Charlotte Perkins Gilman is known for her themes of female entrapment and patriarchal control, and she gives this a Gothic twist in ‘The Giant Wistaria’. A wealthy young couple and their friends rent a manor house, excited by the prospect that it’s haunted, and they are not disappointed when they all experience the same vivid dream…

The Giant Wistaria

M.R. James

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Evil Roots. A tragic past comes back to haunt the present in ‘The Ash Tree’. When Sir Richard Fell inherits Castringham Hall, it comes with a curse that has caused the mysterious deaths of the previous owners.

The Ash Tree

H.G. Wells

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Evil Roots. The Victorian era saw orchids become one of the most expensive and collectable plants and this short story follows orchid collector Wedderburn who gets more than he bargained for with his latest floral specimen.

The Flowering of the Strange Orchid

Lucy H. Cooper

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Evil Roots. ‘Carnivorine’ follows the tale of Ellis Graham, who has been asked to find his friend’s lost son Julius. Ellis heads to Europe in his search, only to find Julius on the brink of a remarkable discovery about carnivorous plants.

Carnivorine

Arthur Conan Doyle

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Evil Roots. Best known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, this short story by Conan Doyle preceded the famous detective by almost a decade. After an altercation, a disgruntled American storms off into the night, only to disappear mysteriously. Could a giant flytrap really be capable of engulfing an adult victim?

The American's Tale

Nathaniel Hawthorne

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Evil Roots. First published in 1844, ‘Rappaccini’s Daughter’ is one of the oldest short story examples of Botanical Gothic. The story is set in Padua and follows botanist Giacomo Rappaccini’s garden of poisonous plants. A student from the university of Padua falls for a maiden in the luscious garden, but he soon learns some troubling information about his beloved’s true nature…

Rappaccini's Daughter

Emma Vane

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Evil Roots. Emma Vane blurs the line between human and plant in this short story featuring a lily that has developed a mouth and can moan. Concern is soon raised for the safety of the central protagonist, botanist Carl Brense…

The Moaning Lily

Izola Forrester

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection From the Depths. A smoking cigar is seen in the fog, but not the man behind it. Could it be the final smoke of Charlie Devereux? The crew aboard the Königen Teresa recall this ghostly story as they themselves plough into fog across the Mid-Atlantic.

British Library Tales of the Weird - La serie de libros

British Library Tales of the Weird - La serie de libros

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