Witchcraft Classics Best Witch Short Stories 1800 1849

"Then with the agility of a cat she sprang on his shoulders, struck him in the side with a broom, and he began to run like a race-horse, carrying her on his shoulders." Nikolai Gogol, Viy The cradle of modern witch short stories began in the first half of the 19th century. This anthology unearths the very best of these stories. Andrew Barger (www.AndrewBarger.com), a leading voice in the Gothic literature space, searched forgotten magazines, newspapers, journals and scholarly articles, to uncover the best witch stories written in the English language over one hundred years after the horrific events of the Salem Witch Trials. They had a lasting effect in both the U.S. and Europe, as these publications reflect from the many authors who penned witch stories in this genre. Andrew even includes in his introduction to the collection, actual text from the Salem Witch Trials. The classic witch stories he has uncovered are unmatched. One is a humorous tale that stands, in the grand Irish tradition of great storytelling, shoulder to shoulder with Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (1819) and Charles Dickens’s “The Goblins Who Stole a Sexton” (1836), as that rare combination of humor and horror that is so difficult to find. It is published for the first time in over a century and a half. What Andrew calls America's "first great witch short story" is also published for the first time in nearly two hundred years. As readers have come to expect from Andrew, he includes his scholarly touch to the anthology by providing introductions to each story and a foreword titled "Hags! Hags! Hags!" There are also illustrations for each story. Last, Andrew provides a list of stories considered at the end of the anthology. Read these witchcraft classics tonight! Hags! Hags! Hags! (2023) by Andrew Barger The Hollow of the Three Hills (1830) by Nathaniel Hawthorne The Marvelous Legend of Tom Connor’s Cat (1847) by Samuel Lover The Witch Caprusche (1845) by Elizabeth Ellet The Brownie of the Black Haggs (1827) by James Hogg Lydia Ashbaugh, the Witch (1836) by William Darby Young Goodman Brown (1835) by Nathaniel Hawthorne Viy (1835) by Nikolai Gogol Witch Short Stories Considered

A finalist in the USA Best Book Awards historical fiction category, "Coffee with Poe" brings Edgar Allan Poe to life as never before. Orphaned at the age of two, Poe is raised by John Allan—his abusive foster father—who refuses to adopt him until he becomes straight-laced and businesslike. Poe, however, fancies poetry and young women. He becomes engaged to Elmira Royster as a teenager, but the engagement is broken after her father intercepts Poe’s letters. The contentious relationship with John Allan culminates in a violent altercation, which causes Poe to leave his wealthy foster father’s home to make it as a writer. Poe tries desperately to get established as a writer but is ridiculed by the "Literati of New York." The Raven subsequently gains Poe renown in America yet he slips deeper into poverty without the support of John Allan, only making $15 off the poem’s entire publication history. Desperate for a motherly figure in his life, Poe marries his first cousin who is only thirteen. John Allan has remarried by this time and when Poe visits him on his deathbed, he is refused an interview because his second wife believes Poe is after an inheritance. Thereafter, Poe lives his last years in abject poverty while suffering through the deaths of his foster mother, grandmother, and young wife. Poe’s health begins failing and he has bouts of paranoid delusions. In a cemetery Poe becomes engaged to Helen Whitman, a dark poet who is addicted to ether, wears a small coffin about her neck, and conducts séances in her home. Her mother thinks the impoverished poet is after her money and demands that Poe sign a rare prenuptial agreement. The engagement is soon broken off because of Poe’s drinking. In his final months Poe is again engaged to Elmira Royster after a joyful reunion, yet his health is in a downward spiral. Just before their marriage Poe disappears and is later found delirious and wearing another person’s begrimed clothes. He dies a few days later, whispering his final words: "God help my poor soul."

Ghost stories became very popular in the first half of the 19th century and this collection by Andrew Barger contains the very scariest of them all. Some stories thought too horrific were published anonymously like "A Night in a Haunted House" and "The Deaf and Dumb Girl." The later story is collected for the first time in any anthology since its original publication in 1839. The other ghost stories in this fine collection are by famous authors. "The Mask of the Red Death," by Edgar Allan Poe; "A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family," by Joseph Sheridan le Fanu; "The Spectral Ship," by Wilhelm Hauff; "The Old Maid in the Winding Sheet," by Nathaniel Hawthorne; "The Adventure of the German Student," and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," by Washington Irving; as well as "The Tapestried Chamber," by Sir Walter Scott. As he has done with a number of other books, Andrew Barger has added his scholarly touch to this collection by including story backgrounds, annotations, author photos and a foreword titled "All Ghosts Are Gray." Buy the book today and be ready to be scared reading the best ghost stories of the first half of the 19th century.

Best Ghost Short Stories 1850-1899: A Phantasmal Ghost Anthology contains the best ghost stories from the last half of the 19th century. It includes shocking tales from popular American and Victorian authors including: Bram Stoker, M. R. James, Joseph Le Fanu, Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Nesbit, and Francis Marion Crawford. Andrew Barger, award-winning author and editor of Phantasmal: Best Ghost Short Stories 1800-1849, Best Horror Short Stories 1850-1899, and The Divine Dantes trilogy, has now researched the finest ghost stories for the last half of the nineteenth century and combined them in one haunting collection. He has added his familiar scholarly touch by annotating the stories, providing story background information, author photos and a list of ghost stories considered to settle on the most frightening and well-written tales. Victorians: Victors of the Ghost Story (2016) by Andrew Barger - Andrew sets the stage for this haunting ghost anthology. The Upper Berth (1886) by Francis Marion Crawford - You will never think of cruising on a ship the same way after reading "The Upper Berth". In Kropfsberg Keep (1895) by Ralph Adams Cram - A gothic setting yields a nightmare for a couple of "ghost hunters". Lost Hearts (1895) by M. R. James - This early M. R. James classic ghost story is one of his best. The Familiar (1872) by Joseph Le Fanu - Ever feel like you are being watched? The Haunted Organist of Hurly Burly (1886) by Rosa Mulholland - You will never view an organ the same way again. No. 1 Branch Line: The Signal Man (1865) by Charles Dickens - Are the nervous habits of a train tracks operator all in his mind? Hurst of Hurstcote (1893) by Edith Nesbit - A moldering house and--of course--ghosts. The Judge’s House (1891) by Bram Stoker - The author of Dracula never disappoints. The Yellow Sign (1895) by Robert Chambers - A painter sees someone watching him from a busy New York street. The Haunted and the Haunters (1859) by Edward Bulwer-Lytton - The oldest and most haunting ghost short story in the anthology. I am deeply and horribly convinced, that there does exist beyond this a spiritual world—a system whose workings are generally in mercy hidden from us—a system which may be, and which is sometimes, partially and terribly revealed. “The Familiar” 1872 by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

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"Her books are among the finest historical novels ever written." - Alison Weir "[O]rgies, spells, and rites . . . a tasty brew!" - Library Journal "This novel by Hilda Lewis is one of the best I have ever read about witchcraft." - Dennis Wheatley "All-out weirdness ... The ghost of a witch and the parson who sent her up for trial and is now tormenting himself ... crimes, orgies, and the Devil in person." - Illustrated London News Samuel Fleming, an aging priest, is tormented by doubts on the case of Joan Flower and her daughters Margaret and Philippa, whom he helped condemn to death as witches in 1618. Were they guilty? Was justice done? Did he do all he could to save their souls? The spirit of Joan Flower appears to him and tells him that she has been rejected by both Heaven and Hell and is condemned to wander the earth. She unfolds a story of horror, telling how she and her daughters became witches, participated in orgies at the witches' sabbath with the Devil himself, cast spells to kill and torment their enemies, and eventually faced trial and execution. As Samuel listens, he tries desperately to find some way to save the witch's soul. And the stakes are high: for as the witch tells her horrifying tale, Samuel realizes that hers is not the only soul in jeopardy, and if he fails, he may be joining her in Hell! Hilda Lewis (1896-1974), a prolific author of historical fiction, ranked The Witch and the Priest (1956), based on the real-life case of the Witches of Belvoir, as her own favourite among her many novels. In creating this masterpiece of historical fiction, Lewis conducted extensive research on the case and on early works of witchcraft and demonology, resulting in a novel that is both compulsively readable and historically accurate. This new edition is the first in more than 40 years and includes an introduction by bestselling historian and novelist Alison Weir, and the original jacket art by Evelyn Gibbs.

• Penny Dreadfuls and the Gothic uncovers neglected Gothic texts of the nineteenth century which are crucial in understanding working-class popular culture. • The approach of this study of penny dreadfuls is vast and eclectic, ranging from data-driven publication data to close textual analysis of these texts to adaptations of penny fiction. • This title covers a broad range of penny texts, some of which have never before been written on.

Excerpt from Witch Stories IN offering the following collection of witch stories to the public, I do not profess to have exhausted the sub ject, or to have made so complete a summary as I might have done, had I been admitted into certain private libraries, which contain, I believe, many concealed riches. But I had no means of introduction to them. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.