Twenty-Five Ghost Stories

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

53419

Title

Twenty-Five Ghost Stories

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

Compiled by W. Bob Holland, this 1904 collection gathers legendary ghost tales from Edgar Allan Poe alongside works by Guy de Maupassant and other notable authors. Featuring stories like "The Black Cat" and "The Spectre Bride," the volume offers a thrilling mix of supernatural mystery and psychological horror designed to thrill readers of all ages.

Summary up to 500 words

Published in 1904 and compiled by W. Bob Holland, *Twenty-Five Ghost Stories* is a curated anthology that explores the enduring human fascination with the supernatural. Holland's preface reveals his lifelong obsession with spooks and haunted houses, noting that the desire to know what lies beyond death is potent in both youth and old age. The collection balances classic literary horror with dramatic, anecdotal accounts of paranormal events, offering a comprehensive look at the genre's appeal at the turn of the century. The anthology prominently features the masterworks of Edgar Allan Poe, including the infamous *The Black Cat*. In this tale, a narrator's descent into alcoholism and perversity leads him to mutilate and eventually hang his beloved pet, Pluto. Following a house fire, the cat's image appears burned into the wall, haunting the narrator with a phantasm that returns him to a state of half-remorse. Other Poe contributions include *The Flayed Hand*, *The Vengeance of a Tree*, and *The Spectre Bride*, where a guardian angel guides a suitor to a wedding that tragically turns into a funeral after the bride dies of exposure while skating. Beyond Poe, the book includes stories by Guy de Maupassant and various lesser-known contributors. Tales such as *The Phantom Woman*, *The Phantom Hag*, and *From the Tomb* range from the eerie to the gruesome. Holland also presents more practical, anecdotal accounts, such as *How He Caught the Ghost*, which explores the difficulties of dealing with hauntings in a practical home setting, and *The Ghost of Washington*, a historical piece involving a bizarre bicycle race against a horse where the entire army mysteriously vanishes after the contest. *The Burglar's Ghost* and *The Old Mansion* further illustrate the collection's blend of domestic unease and historical mystery. Holland emphasizes that whether one believes in ghosts or not, these stories provide a necessary thrill, evoking a "creepy" feeling along the spinal column. The volume contains twenty-five stories, each worthy of close reading, ranging from the supernatural incidents of high-class magazines to the weird experiences of ordinary people. By including works from the famous to the obscure, the anthology captures the full spectrum of ghost story literature, proving that there are indeed more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in philosophy.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

Download URL

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53419.epub.noimages

Local file path

data/epubs/pg53419.epub

Download EPUB

Downloaded at

2026-06-30 08:12 UTC

Categories

• Fiction
• Horror