Ghosts From the Library: Lost Tales of Terror and the Supernatural

Ghosts from the Library #1

by Tony Medawar (Editor)

A brand new anthology of previously unpublished and uncollected supernatural mysteries by some of the masters of the Golden Age – thrills, spills and chills perfect for Halloween.

It is said that books are written to bring sunshine into our dull, grey lives – to show us places we want to escape to, lives we want to live, people we want to love. But there are also stories that can only be found in the deepest, darkest corners of the library. Stories about the unexplained, of lost souls, of things that go bump before the silence. Before the screaming.

And some stories just disappear. Stories printed in old newspapers, broadcast live on the wireless, sometimes not even published at all – these are the stories you cannot find on even the dustiest of library shelves.

Ghosts from the Library resurrects forgotten tales of the supernatural by some of the most acclaimed mystery authors of all time. From Arthur Conan Doyle and John Dickson Carr to Agatha Christie and Daphne du Maurier, this spine-chilling anthology brings together thirteen uncollected tales of terror, plus some additional surprises.

Close the windows. Draw the curtains. Just don’t let the lights go out…

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Mystery, Fiction, Gothic, Ghosts, Classics

288 pages, Hardcover

First published September 29, 2022

Reviews

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Criminally spooky…

There has always been a strong crossover between the genres of crime and horror, and many authors have tried their hand at both. This collection brings together ghostly offerings from fifteen authors better known as mystery writers, mostly from the Golden Age or shortly after. There’s an extra story from MR James, helpfully included because Dorothy L Sayers uses it as a jumping off point for her story. All the entries bar one are stories – GK Chesterton’s is a short essay in which he advises writers how to do ghosts in fiction (oddly, since that’s hardly what he’s known for, but it gives him an opportunity to sound supercilious towards writers whose reputations have long surpassed his own). And as with the Bodies from the Library series to which this is a companion, all the stories have never been collected before (except the MR James) and in one or two cases are being published here for the first time

The overall standard is very high, with only two of the stories getting low ratings from me. All the rest were fairly evenly divided between good, very good and excellent, so a very enjoyable collection in total. What I would say, though, is, that with a couple of notable exceptions, the writers have tended to write what felt to me like crime or mystery stories with a ghostly element rather than the more traditional spooky story of, say, MR James himself and his ilk. This worked great for me since I’m a fan of both genres and actually prefer even my ghost stories to have a proper plot. But I suspect it might mean they wouldn’t work quite so well for people looking for traditional ghost stories and spooky scares.

There are loads of well-known names – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Josephine Tey, Daphne du Maurier, Agatha Christie, John Dickson Carr, et al – and, because of the format, no well known stories, so even enthusiastic anthology readers like myself will find all these stories new to them. Here are a few of the ones I enjoyed most:

The Red Balloon by Q. Patrick – This one is really more of a science fiction story, but with some great horror aspects. The narrator is a journalist, sent to report on a terrible incident when two children are killed when they run after a mysterious red balloon. The children’s bodies are kind of dried out, sort of mummified. The journalist’s uncle is a famous but eccentric scientist, and he has a theory that the red balloon comes from an invisible planet which approaches Earth every 28 years. As we will discover, the reason the balloon is red is quite gruesome! Despite the dead children motif, this story is humorous, and references HG Wells quite strongly and openly. Light-hearted, well written and shivery fun.

The Witch by Christianna Brand – A longer story this one, novelette length, it tells of a woman, Laura, alone in the world but with a small inheritance. She has a whirlwind romance with Gereth, and marries him despite barely knowing him. Then she finds a letter in his pocket from his first love, Dorion, talking about murder. Beautiful Dorion seems to have the ability to make men and animals bend to her will and is known locally as a witch. But is Gereth plotting with her to get Laura’s inheritance? A great story, full of suspense and Gothic horror. Is Dorion really a witch? I’ll leave you to find out for yourself!

Death in a Dream by Laurence Meynell – After being hit on the head during a bombing raid, our narrator begins having dreams in which he time-slips, sometimes to the past, sometimes the future – he doesn’t always know himself. One night he dreams of a nurse murdering her patient, a middle-aged woman. But has it already happened or is it still to come? Very short and more ironically humorous than scary, but very well done!

St Bartholomew’s Day by Edmund Crispin – A dilettante historical researcher is investigating Raoul de Savigny, a man who was killed in the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre. He learns that de Savigny’s papers were buried with him, in his casket in the mausoleum in the grounds of his château. The historian breaks in, rather foolishly on St Bartholomew’s Day, and finds more in the mausoleum than he was expecting! This has a great mix of humour and horror and is very well told. Probably one of the most traditionally “ghost story” style tales in the collection.

So loads of variety – lots of great authors having some fun and inviting the reader along to share in it. And this reader certainly appreciated the invitation! I’d probably recommend it more to vintage mystery fans than horror fans – half the fun comes from seeing the authors try something a bit different to what we normally expect from them, most of them very successfully. Another one that would make a great Christmas stocking gift! 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Collins Crime Club.

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[George Ilsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here is something that happens, maybe it happens to you too. You go to the library and pick up a random book. You take this book home but you don't read it because you are already reading other books, more important books.

Finally you get around to reading the random book, but it needs to be renewed, again. You go to renew it but there is a hold and can't be renewed. What? It has been unwanted on the shelf in the library for weeks, for months!— but now, as soon as you start reading it someone else wants it.

So, in summary, I'm marking this book as read although I did not read all of it. I skipped around, here and there, wherever whimsy dictated and time permitted. But you know what?— just between you and me, even if I could have renewed this book I probably would never have finished it.

[K.J. Charles]

OK collection of ghost stories by Golden Age writers, but nothing very special.

[Magdalena Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good collection to kick October off! My absolute favourites were:
- "Terror" by Daphne du Maurier (spooky and relatable - brought back some of my childhood memories)
- "Personal Call" by Agatha Christie (JUST SO GOOD)
- "Martin's Close" by M.R. James - a re-read for me and an absolute classic; you just can't go wrong with his ghost stories
- "Deborah" by Josephine Tey (creepy and I do love a good, old house)
- "The Green Dress" by Anthony Berkeley (ghostly revenge!)

I also appreciated the couple of non-fiction writings, which were an interesting addition to this book. And I love these kind of collections, where I get to read the stories I wouldn't otherwise have read. And the title is brilliant!

[Daniel Myatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's that age-old problem of short stories some are good and some aren't and sadly there seems to be more of the latter here.

Hauntings, fear of the unknown and the occasional witch are all thrown together here and whilst I enjoyed reading the stories of some of my favourite authors there was nothing really to write home about.

[Pages & Cup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice mix of short stories from some of my favorite authors. The stories aren’t particularly scary, and for that I’m grateful.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very very mixed, but Christianna Brand’s story about a Welsh witch and a traitorous-or-is-he husband… delicious. Listened on audio, which was perfect.

[Veronica Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have so enjoyed reading this collection of chilling, ghostly tales written by authors of mystery and mayhem. Agatha Christie, Daphne du Maurier, Dorothy Sayers, Arthur Conan Doyle, and John Dickson Carr may be writers familiar to you, but I'm certain you will be just as delighted as I was to discover the other talented authors too! The tales include:

Ghost Stories by G.K. Chesterton

Deborah by Josephine Tey

The Red Balloon by Q. Patrick

Terror by Daphne du Maurier

The Green Dress by Anthony Berkeley

The Haunted House by A. Fielding

Personal Call by Agatha Christie

The Woman Who Cried by H.C. Bailey

The Witch by Christianna Brand

Death in a Dream by Laurence Meynell

The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe by Arthur Conan Doyle

Misleading Lady by Margorie Allingham

The Legend of the Cane in the Dark by John Dickson Carr

St. Bartholomew's Day by Edward Crispin

Martin's Close by M.R. James

Coda to the Late Provost's Ghost Story by Dorothy Sayers

Editor, Tony Medawar has done an excellent job in finding and dusting off these macabre, literary gems that are sure to delight fans of paranormal and ghostly tales. I also enjoyed the about the author write-ups at the end of each story--gives you a chance to learn a little something new about their writing careers. I now have several new authors and their works added to my TBR list. A highly recommended read!

[Talia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably around a 3.5, but that could be because of the audiobook, so I am bumping it up a bit. The narration of the stories was great, but the long biographies of the authors were a bit rambling and annoying to have to listen to.
The stories were great, so I think it's worth the higher rating.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually don't read books of short stories because I am picky in who I read. This book surprised me, therefore, when I found myself enjoying most of it. All in all, I have to give it four stars. Not bad.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay I guess. Nothing magical or that lives up to the “tales of terror” tagline (in my opinion) but nice enough for a collection of short stories. Just don’t go in expecting actual terror.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely learned I'm not particularly a fan of Golden Era writers, but there were a few standouts in this book.

Green Dress - this one was surprisingly haunting! About a painter who is borrowing their friend's studio and pulls out a green dress that he becomes enamored with. He gets a model to wear it for him, but it's just not right. And then a ghost fills the dress out. He paints her. It's quite fun.

The Witch - as a lover of the vvitch, I gotta love this, right? It's one of the more compelling stories in here because most of these stories are fussy british dudes. At least this is a Welsh woman. It starts with a great hook of what do you do when you know your husband is going to murder you?

The Red Balloon - this doesn't stand out for good reasons. This ...is fucking bonkers. I think this is the one I hated the most even though it could *easily* be a Twilight Zone or X-files throw away episode.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an anthology of short fiction collected by British writer Tony Medawar. First published in 2022, it consists of 16 previously unpublished and uncollected tales of the supernatural by authors all well-known in the first half of the twentieth century, some long forgotten and some still popular today. These kinds of books are usually full of the same old stories hauled out again for yet another lazy reprint, so it was exciting to find a volume of “fresh” works not previously in book form. Because most of the writers are recognized for their achievements in other genres, it was also surprising to see them branch out into the metaphysical. Each tale features a short author biography after it, so you can learn a little about their lives and careers and decide if you’d like to look for their other works. It’s a short, charming book I recommend to anyone interested in the genre.

[Gina House · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of ghostly stories written by fantastic Golden Age mystery writers, including my absolute favorite, Agatha Christie. It was wonderful to read a short story written by her that I'd never read before.

This book is a fantastic way to get familiar with new-to-you (or old favorite) mystery writers with stories that have a deeply spooky and supernatural element to them. The stories in this special edition were:

Terror by Daphne duMaurier
The Green Dress by Anthony Berkeley
Personal Call by Agatha Christie
Misleading Lady by Margery Allingham
The Witch by Christianna Brand

Because I enjoyed this book so much, I may have to buy the first book in this series, Bodies From the Library. Consider giving this book a try during the Halloween season!

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s rare that there’s an anthology of mystery or ghost stories in which every story is a new one to me, but this collection (and others that precede it) makes it a point to find unpublished (or long unavailable) stories by famous authors. True, sometimes you can see why these stories weren’t published, but I was pleasantly surprised to find how much of this ephemera was quite good. The only ringer is a solid M.R. James story included to allow for a Dorothy L. Sayers commentary.

Best are the Agatha Christie play (especially good) and the Edmund Crispin, Anthony Berkeley, Josephine Tey, and Margery Allingham stories. Worst are the stories by Q Patrick, A. Fielding, and (most disappointingly) Christianna Brand.

[Andrew Myers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of lost stories from golden-age era detective and mystery authors, but with a supernatural bent. The authors range from Agatha Christie to Arthur Conan Doyle to Margery Allingham amongst others. The stories themselves range from 2 pages long to over 70 pages long. Because of this, the stories do tend to vary in quality, as well as readability.

The best of the bunch are:

The Red Balloon by Q Patrick,
The Green Dress by Anthony Berkeley,
Personal Call by Agatha Christie,
The Witch by Christianna Brand,
Misleading Lady by Margery Allingham

These stories are worth the price of admission by themselves.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 2022, 'Ghosts from the Library' is an anthology of 15 tales of the supernatural and one article, most of which are reprinted for the first time since their initial publication a long time ago. Most of the authors are, or have been, famous at one time though mainly in the mystery genre. A tale by Agatha Christie is actually a short play, but reads well and it is a gem. There are a couple that have not aged well, as is often the case with collections like this. The article 'Ghost Stories' by GK Chesterton no less tries to explain the incompatibility between Ghost Stories and Mystery Stories and he makes a good point. A pleasant read.

[Jason Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mix of good to pretty great ghost stories from famous authors. As most of these authors were famous mystery writers, such as Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle, it was really interesting to see their writing styles applied to a different genre. Yet, for most of these authors, one can understand why they chose not to write more “horror,” as many of these stories are a bit derivative even given how some of them were written close to a century ago. Still, overall, a fairly breezy read, with some really terrific author bios after each story. I really appreciated that Medawar chose to allow the stories to speak for themselves rather than using the fame of the authors to affect one’s reading.

[Glenn Hopp · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main benefit of the collections edited by Tony Medawar (and also Martin Edwards) is that they package decades-old stories by authors who are often well worth learning about. Sometimes the stories fail to impress, but often they are very satisfying, and then you have a writer whose reprinted work you begin to watch for. The introductions and the biographical notes assist with this, a pleasing way to learn about the earlier years of a genre. All the works are pre-Stephen King, of course, but their less sensational nature should not close our minds to their possible merits.

[Jacob Blanchet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection, in my opinion, for ghost story completists. I give it that extra third star for the rarity of the stories presented, though most of them are fairly poor. I bought it specifically for du Maurier’s “Terror” and Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe,” both very fun.

A couple of highlights are “St. Bartholomew’s Day” by Edmund Crispin, for fans of M. R. James; and “Personal Call,” a radio play by Agatha Christie. The rest, honestly, ranged from ok to awful. And I’m not picky about ghost stories! The physical quality of the book itself is great though!

[Angshuman Chatterjee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had high hopes, but was essentially a mixed bag, with very few really great stories. The story chosen for Arthur Conan Doyle was a travesty, and expected much more from the master of atmosphere, John Dickson Carr. Christianna Brand's story, not really a ghost story, may be the best of the lot, closely followed by the ones from Christie, Tey, Berkeley. Special mention: Q Patrick's "Red Balloon", which was a SciFi affair that will unfailingly remind one of a horror classic of the 80s.

[John]

Did not finish. Introduces writer of the gene horror, in it's early stages. The authors were not known to this reader. Some went on to very good books but few. The stories are short and varied. Mostly
"ghost" stories but the few I read were just not SCARY enough for me to continue. Early 1900's. This genre has morphed into a lovely, zombie, brain matter thrill ride by some of this generational writers. This collection is just too slow for this reader. Later. Keep Reading.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of mystery and ghost stories, perfect to read in October, or whenever you want a good scare. This collection also includes a short biography of each author which is interesting. Arthur Conan Doyle, Daphne du Maurier, Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie are just some of the authors in this collection. The stories offer suspense, supernatural mystery and spine tingling terror. Keep the lights on!

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating for each individual story
1. Ghosts stories-5/5
2. Deborah-2/5
3. The red bloon-1/5
4. Terror- 5/5
5. The green dress- 4/5
6. The haunted house- 4/5
7. Personal call- 4/5
8. The woman who cried- 2/5
9. The witch- 3/5
10. Death in a dream 3.5/5
11. ..-4/5
12. Misleading lady- 1/5
13. The legend of the cane in the dark- 4/5
14. St Bartholomew Day-2/5
15. Martin's ghost- 1/5
16. Coda to late provost ghost story- 3/5

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wish they'd made more use of BOTH readers. I know X From the Library series picks stories from periods where men were the dominant writers (i.e. public domain...) but the male narrator's voice did get weary after a while. Sherry Baines dropping in to narrate The Witch was *literally* a breath of fresh air.

And always with M.R Bloody James - are there no other writers of ghosts and the supernatural they could find??

Interesting collection let down by production.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining collection of Golden Age ghost stories. One or two are more like crime stories with 'a ghost' fabricated to cover the crime. They are all fairly gentle compared to the ghost/horror stories produced today but I liked them all the better for that. Favourite was definitely Agatha Christie Personal Call

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

An impressive collection, most of which I hadn't read before.

There are a couple of clunkers (Fielding's confusing The Haunted House and Carr's slight The Legend of the Cane in the Dark) and an old familiar (MRJ's Martin's Close) but Berkeley's The Green Dress, Crispin's Jamesian St Bartholomew's Day and Brand's The Witch will all be added to my list of classics.

Perfect reading for this week.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed some of these short stories more than others. I found some authors whom I had never heard of (Laurence Meynell) and other of whom I had heard but had never gotten around to reading (Christiana Brand). So now I have more reading to do. I had thought that these stories would have more to do with libraries by the title, but they don't.

[Lynnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book last October (and only read the first three stories) then didn't pick it up again until this October!

It's an enjoyable collection and my favourites were The Red Balloon by Q Patrick, Terror by Daphne Du Maurier, Personal Call by Agatha Christie, The Witch by Christianna Brand.

3.5 stars

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating for collection 3
Rating for individual stories range from 2 to 3.5

Overall not one for me tbh.
Glad I bought a discounted ebook rather than the physical version.
Majority of the stories were okay, a couple I didn’t really like at all, and a couple were very good.
I guess whatever the genre these fall into isn’t one I get along with.