Haunters at the Hearth Eerie Tales for Christmas Nights

by Kirk, Tanya

• ISBN13: 9780712354271
• ISBN10: 0712354271
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2023-10-24
• Publisher: British Library Publishing

Summary

“But something odd does happen here at Christmas time. When I first heard the story, I thought it was an old wives’ tale, but—well, these old houses—you hear strange things—” He lifted his shoulders and stared into the fire…

From the troves of the British Library collections comes a new volume for Christmas nights—when the boundary between the mundane and the unearthly is ever so thin—ushering in a new throng of revenants, demons, spectres and shades drawn to the glow of the hearth.

Included within are eighteen classic stories ranging from 1864 to 1974, with vintage Victorian chillers nestled alongside unsettling modern pieces from L. P. Hartley and Mildred Clingerman; lost tales from rare anthologies and periodicals; weird episodes from unexpected authors such as Winston Graham and D. H. Lawrence; stories simmering with a twisted humour from Elizabeth Bowen and Celia Fremlin and many more haunting seasonal treats.

Author Biography

Tanya Kirk is a curator in the Printed Heritage Collections team at the British Library. She has previously edited the Tales of the Weird collection Sunless Solstice: Strange Christmas Tales for the Longest Nights in 2021 with Lucy Evans.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS
Introduction 7
A Note from The Publisher 9
 
The Phantom Coach – Amelia B. Edwards 11
Jerry Bundler – W. W. Jacobs 31
Bone to His Bone – E. G. Swain 43
Oberon Road – A. M. Burrage 57
The Last Laugh – D. H. Lawrence 77
Dr. Browning’s Bus – E. S. Knights 101
Whittington’s Cat – Eleanor Smith 115
The Earlier Service – Margaret Irwin 141
Christmas Honeymoon – Howard Spring 163
The Cheery Soul – Elizabeth Bowen 189
Between Sunset and Moonrise – R. H. Malden 205
The Mirror in Room 22 – James Hadley Chase 221
At the Chalet Lartrec – Winston Graham 229
Account Rendered – W. F. Harvey 245
The Wild Wood – Mildred Clingerman 259
The Waits – L. P. Hartley 273
Deadman’s Corner – George Denby 285
Don’t Tell Cissie – Celia Fremlin 293