#the valancourt book of victorian christmas ghost stories
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The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories - various authors
I adore a good ghost story. When I was a kid, I had a book of ghost stories - a mix of old classic tales and modern short stories, and I must have read that book cover to cover dozens of times.
I’ve been let down recently by the ghost stories I’ve come across. I’ve read a few books of short horror stories in the past couple of years, and they just weren’t all I remembered them being.
I assumed this was because I had grown up and stopped believing in the fantastical. But actually, I now think it’s because I’ve been reading modern works. It’s true what they say: they just don’t make ‘em like they used to.
There’s something lacking in modern ghost stories, that these tales had in spades - and I think it’s the heart.
Nowadays, writers are always expected to be new and original and innovative. They focus on atmosphere and mystery. They make their story as spooky and strange as possible, and most of the time, leave you guessing, unsatisfied.
But this book was full of a different breed of story. For the most part, they weren’t ghost stories, they were stories that just happened to have a ghost in them. They were about people. We saw the people in their ordinary lives, with families, falling in love, chasing a dream. And when a ghost came along, we understood exactly what these people had to lose.
I think that’s why modern ghost stories so rarely live up to the Victorian era tales - they’re only about scaring the audience. These stories taught us to care for the characters.
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Christmas reading List
With powder snow falling outside, fireplaces burning bright, sweets toasting over open fires, and Christmas trees all alight, I bring you tidings of well wishesand books of merry delight. Besides Halloween, Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year. I’m celebrating this most wonderful time of the year with a Christmas reading list!
You can also check out my December is Dark Retellings month…
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#anne rice#book#book blog#books#bryan smith#cecilia ekback#christmas eve on haunted hill#christmas horror books#christmas reading list#christms#orhan pamuk#reading list#snow#tbr#the wolves of midwinter#valancourt book of victorian christmas ghost stories#wolf winter#yuletide terror
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first third of 2022 in books
1. The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, Volume 4 [loved this, such an assortment of batshittery]
2. Fibershed: Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy, Rebecca Burgess with Courtney White
3. A Marvellous Light, Freya Marske [I think I have already talked about this one with everyone already but. shockingly dull considering everything about it]
4. feeld, Jos Charles
5. The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen, Sean Sherman
6. The Hellion's Waltz, Olivia Waite [adored the first third of this and then it got boring and improbable]
7. Plucked: A History of Hair Removal, Rebecca M. Herzig [I’m still thinking about this one, huge recommendation]
8. Sudden Death, Álvaro Enrigue (trans. Natasha Wimmer) [amazing? this teetered on the edge of not working but I thought it fell to the right side nearly every time]
9. Tough Guy, Rachel Reid [she’s so good at this! it is not always my thing but she’s like an old-school rpf writer, so solid]
10. Death By Silver, Amy Griswold and Melissa Scott [reread. god these were even better than I remembered]
11. Death at the Dionysus Club, Amy Griswold and Melissa Scott [reread]
12. Betsy Was a Junior, Maud Hart Lovelace [not a reread! I never read the high school ones but they are so much fun]
13. Think of England, KJ Charles [reread. just imagine here a row of sparkle heart emojis]
14. Betsy and Joe, Maud Hart Lovelace
15. The People in the Trees, Hanya Yanagihara [would’ve likely never read this one if it wasn’t for @vermiculated‘s recommendation but. totally enthralling and I think deeply effective at its conceit]
16. Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton [her finding the half-written letter is going to live in my mind forever, it turns out]
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I just finished reading "The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories," edited by Tara Moore. Yay for reading! :) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClwKZF4uhE6/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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She was not a girl, strictly speaking. She was in the perfection of her womanhood and youth—about eight-and-twenty, the age when something of the composure of maturity has lighted upon the sweetness of the earlier years, and being so old enhances all the charm of being so young.
The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories
#the valancourt book of victorian christmas ghost stories#books#quotes#words#lit#english literature#literature#my quotes#bookclub#readerbookclub#bookworm#booklovers#booklr#bookblog
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A new collection of twenty ghostly tales of Yuletide terror, collected from rare Victorian periodicals
Seeking to capitalize on the success of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (1843), Victorian newspapers and magazines frequently featured ghost stories at Christmas time, and reading them by candlelight or the fireside became an annual tradition, a tradition Valancourt Books is pleased to continue with our series of Victorian Christmas ghost stories. This third volume contains twenty tales, most of them never before reprinted. They represent a mix of the diverse styles and themes common to Victorian ghost fiction and include works by once-popular authors like Ellen Wood and Charlotte Riddell as well as contributions from anonymous or wholly forgotten writers. This volume also features a new introduction by Prof. Simon Stern.
“Before me, with the sickly light from the lantern shining right down upon it, was—a cloven hoof! Then the awfulness of the compact I had made came to my mind with terrible force ...” - Frederick Manley, “The Ghost of the Cross-Roads”
“By the fireplace there was a large hideous pool of blood soaking into the carpet, and leaving ghastly stains around. I am not ashamed to confess that my brain reeled; the mysterious horror overcame me ...” - Lillie Harris, “19, Great Hanover Street”
“A fearful white face comes to me; a horrible mask, with features drawn as in agony—ghastly, pale, hideous! Death or approaching death, violent death, written in every line. Every feature distorted. Eyes starting from the head. Thin lips moving and working—lips that are cursing, although I hear no sound.” - Hugh Conway, “A Dead Man’s Face”
https://amzn.to/3E3y6u3
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The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories: Volume Four, edited by Christopher Philippo, Valancourt Books, 2020. Info: valancourtbooks.com.
A Valancourt Yuletide tradition returns, this time with rare 19th-century tales from U.S. newspapers and magazines. The Christmas ghost story tradition is usually associated with Charles Dickens and Victorian England, but-apparently unknown to historians and scholars-Christmas ghost stories were extremely widespread and popular in 19th-century America as well, frequently appearing in newspapers and magazines during the holiday season. From legends of old New Orleans and strange happenings on the plains of Iowa and the Dakota Territory to weird doings in early Puerto Rico and ghostly events in Gold Rush-era San Francisco, the tales collected here reveal a forgotten Christmas ghost story tradition in a bygone America that is both familiar and oddly foreign. This collection features eighteen stories and nine poems, including entries by women and African American writers, plus extra bonus material and an introduction by Christopher Philippo.
“He turned and beheld a low black figure, with a body no higher than his knees, with a prodigious head, in the brow of which was set a single eye of green flame like a shining emerald, and with hands and arms of supernatural length.” — J. H. Ingraham, “The Green Huntsman; or, The Haunted Villa”
“The latch lifted, the door swung open-and then-my God! what a spectacle! Through the open door there stepped a figure, not of Mrs. Hayden, not of her corpse, not of death, but a thousand times more horrible, a thing of corruption, decay, of worms and rottenness.” — Anonymous, “Worse than a Ghost Story”
Contents:
Introduction – Christopher Philippo
The Green Huntsman (1841) – Joseph Holt Ingraham
Burt Pringle and the “Bellesnickle” (1853) – Bill Bramble
Worse Than a Ghost Story (1857) – Anonymous
The Christmas Ghost (1857) – Lucy A. Randall
The Frozen Husband (1869) – Frank Ibberson Jervis
A Sworn Statement (1881) – Emma Frances Dawson
The Snow Flower of the Sierras (1884) – Anonymous
The Devil’s Christmas (1885) – Julian Hawthorne
Harlakenden’s Christmas (1887) – Thomas Wentworth Higginson
The Ghostly Christmas Gift (1887) – F.H. Brunell
The Blizzard (1888) – Luke Sharp
Warned by the Wire (1895) – Louis Glass
Poor Jack (1892) – H.C. Dodge
Christmas Wolves (1897) – Pierre-Barthélemy Gheusi
The Werwolves (1898) – Henry Beaugrand
The Haunted Oak (1900) – Paul Laurence Dunbar
The Anarchist’s Christmas (1901) – Anonymous
Camel Bells (1903) – Hezekiah Butterworth
The Ravings (1903) – Anonymous
Out of the Depths (1904) – Robert W. Chambers
Old Nick and Saint Nick (1906) – Wallace Irwin
The Cremation of Sam McGee (1907) – Robert W. Service
Xmas (1908) – Amorel Sterne
A Cubist Christmas (1913) – Kate Masterson
Desuetude: A Ghost Story (1914) – Anonymous
The Christmas Ghost (1915) – Anna Alice Chapin
Merry Christmas (1917) – Stephen Leacock
#book#anthology#ghost stories#supernatural fiction#weird fiction#dark christmas#christmas anthology#victorian christmas ghost stories
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Dark Academia Christmas Novels
1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
2. Greenglass House by Kate Milford
3. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
4. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
5. The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories edited by Tara Moore
6. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
7. P.S Your Cat is Dead by James Kirkwood
8. The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson
9. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie
10. The Night before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol
#dark fantasy#DARK SOULS#Dark and Lovely#Dark Aesthetic#dark grunge#dark acadamia aesthetic#dark and moody#dark academia#grey eyes#grey aesthetic#cottage chic#cottagecore#novels#nightmare before christmas#christmas#trees#treescape#a christmas carol#charles dickens#greenglasshouse#the lion the witch and the wardrobe#the chronicles of narnia#lucy#peter#susan#edmund#c.s. lewis#writer#writers#writers on tumblr
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It's nearly Christmas, and I'm feeling festive! Sleigh bells are jingling, Jack Frost is nipping, and dare I say it - Santa Claus is coming! I love this time of year, the decorations all around the town, the carols playing everywhere you go, gloves and cozy jumpers and flavoured hot chocolates! Everyone's in a good mood, and there are parties and dinners and fêtes every week.
I've chosen three properly "Christmassy" books this year, to really get me in the spirit.
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories - various authors
Wintersong - S. Jae-Jones
I can't believe I've made it this far without reading the most iconic Christmas novel of all time, but this is the perfect weather to curl up with it and get stuck in!
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12 Dark Christmas Books
12 Dark Christmas Books
Nothing like dark Yuletide to brighten up the darkest month of the year. The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil by Al Ridenour
The Krampus, a folkloric devil associated with St. Nicholas in Alpine Austria and Germany, has been embraced by the American counterculture and is lately skewing mainstream. The new Christmas he seems to embody is…
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#a christmas carol#christmas books#christmas horror books#christmas retellings#dark christmas#krampus#retellings#valancourt book of victorian christmas ghost stories#yuletide
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What did you think of The Christmas Valancourt book? 👻
My honesty opinion of the Valancourt of Victorian ghost stories, @appleinducedsleep is that I enjoyed it.
I loved how it brought lost stories from the Victorian past, into the present day. I had thought that the combinations of well known authors and unknown authors, was refreshing, since their works remained virtually interesting for their time, mainly for the themes and storytelling.
I would willingly read this over again, but ask this to the people reading the valancourt of Victorian ghost stories, (I can’t post on inbox on my phone); What story did you like from this collection, and do you think you would recommend this collection of fantastic ghost stories to others?
Happy reading!!!!
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Christmas break is coming soon! What better way to spend it other than staying in and reading books? Let’s keep the Christmas spirit alive and kicking by reading these must-read books for the winter. Ready your pajamas, get a cup of coffee or a hot choco, and let the holiday book marathon begin!
Let’s start with the classics. These are the books I love to re-read every holiday season. You can never go wrong with these!
1. A Christmas Carol (1843) by Charles Dickens
A Christmas spent without Dickens is a Christmas wasted. My all time favorite Christmas book, suited for all ages and taste.
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”
2. The Gift of the Magi (1905) by O. Henry
A short story with a life-long lesson about gift-giving. A timeless classic that does not fail in making us feel sentimental and warmth.
“And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. . . . Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.”
3. Little Women (1868) by Louisa May Alcott
A classic that remind us what it means to be family, to love, to learn, to be contented and to be a woman, in this society where we are told what to do and who to be.
“Love, Jo, all your days, if you choose, but don't let it spoil you, for it's wicked to throw away so many good gifts because you can't have the one you want.”
After travelling back in time with our favorite classics, how about some feel-good new releases for the holiday season? Cuddle season, let’s go!
1. Giver of Stars (2019) by Jojo Moyes
If you need some comfort through the cold, Jojo Moyes is sure to warm your heart. It’s enthralling and will surely give you all the warmth you need.
“I worked it out sitting here. Maybe that’s the thing we need to understand, Alice. That some things are a gift, even if you don’t get to keep them.”
There was a silence before he spoke again.
“Maybe just to know that something this beautiful exists is all we can really ask for.”
2. The Christmas Invitation (2019) by Trisha Ashley
Reading a Trisha Ashley is like toasting your toes by the fire - comforting, warming and something you never want to move away from. A feel-good, festive read that is surely worth your time.
“There was still beauty in this world, even if some days it took every bit of strength and obstinacy to find it.”
3. Finding Love at the Christmas Market (2020) by Jo Thomas
The ultimate festive read to curl up with, this'll have you tingling with sugar, spice and all things nice. Her words in the book filled me with the goodness of love, and the descriptions transported me right into the middle of the German market. All the nice things we love in a Christmas book!
“Look outwards, Connie. Not much point worrying what the town thinks about you - nothing you can do about that anyway. But when you look outwards, why, there's a whole world of beautiful things.”
Sure, romantic and feel-good books are the best when it comes to feeling the Christmas spirit. But how about spicing things up? Why don’t we venture into a Mysterious Christmas, with a sprinkle of ghosts and murder?
1. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (1938) by Agatha Christie
Of course, how could we miss out on one of the greatest crime novel of the Christmas season? A classic, masterful golden age msytery. What’s there to not love?
“And families now, families who have been separated throughout the year, assemble once more together. Now under these conditions, my friend, you must admit that there will occur a great amount of strain. People who do not feel amiable are putting great pressure on themselves to appear amiable! There is at Christmas time a great deal of hypocrisy, honourable hypocrisy, hypocrisy undertaken pour le bon motif, c'est entendu, but nevertheless hypocrisy.”
2. The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories (2016)
A wonderful chilling collection, best read at night when it’s chilling and dark. This one has three volumes, and all of them are worth the read. It includes works of notable authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Ellen Wood, Wlater Scott, Grant Allen, to name a few.
“Who’s the worse for the loss of a few things like these? Not a dead man, I suppose…. If he wanted to keep ‘em after he was dead, a wicked old screw,” pursued the woman, “why wasn’t he natural in his lifetime. If he had been, he’d have had somebody to look after him when he was struck with Death, instead of lying gasping out his last there, alone by himself.”
3. The Thursday Murder Club (2020) by Richard Osman
The sun is up,the skies are blue and murder is in the air. While the mysteries are multilayered and intriguing, the characters are what make this such a wonderful read. Filled with wit, humor, and charm; it is the perfect book on a sunday night evening.
“Was he a content man, doing the things he liked alone? Or was he a lonely man making the best out of what he had? Alone, or lonely?”
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Questions Tag
Tagged by: @cleo-queen-of-pirates, thank you :D
Rules: Tag 9 people you want to know better or just because you feel like it.
Relationship status: Single
Favorite color: Blue
Lipstick or chapstick: Chapstick
Last song I listened to: Lydia Loveless - Somewhere Else
Last movie I watched: La La Land
Top 3 TV Shows: Gilmore Girls, Lewis, Downton Abbey
Top 3 Characters: Luke Danes, James Hathaway, Lady Sybil
Top 3 Bands: The Gaslight Anthem, Mumford and Sons, The Replacements
Books I’m reading: The Valancourt book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, The House That Groaned by Karrie Fransman, The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman
Tagging: @lizziethereader, @baldursgatekeeper, @bookwyvrn, @coffeewithreviews, @booklande, @bottlebooks, @thebooksareeverywhere, @bookwyrmshoard, @books-are-my-escape
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I had said that I had letters to write—a well-worn phrase, which of course means exactly what one pleases.
The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Stories
#the valancourt book of victorian christmas ghost stories#books#quotes#words#lit#literature#english literature#booklr#bookblog#readerbookclub#bookclub#my quotes
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