Modern Ghost Stories

The twenty-seven women writers included here have certainly done their jobs well. You are sure to shiver while reading these well-told tales. A. S. Byatt, A. L. Barker, Richmal Crompton, Celia Fremlin, Penelope Lively, Daphne du Maurier, Ruth Rendell, and Jean Rhys are among the writers whose stories reveal the extraordinary range and development of a genre that has thrilled readers for over two hundred years. Ghosts usually take us by surprise as in Antonia Fraser's "Who's Been Sitting in My Car?" A single mother finds her car's ashtray full of cigarette butts and the gas tank empty, but there's no explanation. She soon learns of the nocturnal wanderings of her car and of the man who haunts it. In Edith Wharton's classic story, "Afterward," a young couple moves into a primitive country retreat, hoping to see the resident ghost. But they come to find out that it is not until afterward that you realize you've seen this ghost. Here lost loves, past enmities, and unwanted memories mingle with the inexplicable as unquiet souls return to repay kindnesses, settle scores, and haunt the imagination. Featuring some of the finest writers of the twentieth century, this is an absorbing, unsettling, and irresistible read. Dim the lights and open your mind to the possibilities.Contents ix • Preface (The Virago Book of Ghost Stories: The Twentieth Century: Volume 2) • (1991) • essay by Richard Dalbyx • Introduction (The Virago Book of Ghost Stories: The Twentieth Century: Volume 2) • (1991) • essay by Sara Maitland1 • The July Ghost • (1982) • short story by A. S. Byatt15 • With and Without Buttons • (1938) • short story by Mary Butts27 • Don't Tell Cissie • (1974) • short story by Celia Fremlin39 • The Book • (1930) • short story by Margaret Irwin52 • The Grey Men • (1927) • short story by Rebecca West57 • The Pool • (1959) • novelette by Daphne du Maurier81 • The Station Road • (1936) • short story by Ann Bridge88 • Black Dog • (1978) • short story by Penelope Lively95 • No. 17 • (1951) • short story by E. Nesbit [as by Edith Nesbit]102 • Prelude • (1991) • short story by Pamela Sewell108 • The Pestering • (1932) • novelette by D. K. Broster140 • I Used to Live Here Once • (1976) • short fiction by Jean Rhys142 • A Spirit Elopement • (1991) • short story by Richard Dehan [as by Clotilde Graves]150 • Whittington's Cat • (1932) • short story by Lady Eleanor Smith [as by Eleanor Smith (I)]166 • The Haunting of Shawley Rectory • (1979) • short story by Ruth Rendell180 • Mare Amore • (1931) • short story by Margery Lawrence (variant of February: The Sailor's Tale: Mare Amore)194 • Who's Been Sitting in My Car? • (1976) • short story by Antonia Fraser204 • The Ghosts of Calagou • (1991) • short story by Elizabeth Fancett211 • Afterward • (1910) • novelette by Edith Wharton236 • The Thingummyjig • (1978) • short story by Mary Williams243 • The House of Shadows • (1933) • short story by Mary Elizabeth Counselman250 • Rosalind • (1925) • short story by Richmal Crompton261 • Redundant • (1991) • short story by Dorothy K. Haynes267 • The Dream of Fair Women • (1983) • short story by A. L. Barker279 • The Chauffeur • (1986) • short story by Rosemary Pardoe284 • The Traitor • (1991) • short story by Joan Aiken299 • The Landlady • (1923) • short story by Elinor Mordaunt314 • Notes on the Authors (The Virago Book of Ghost Stories: The Twentieth Century: Volume 2) • (1991) • essay by Richard Dalby