50 Great Ghost Stories

"Today we are deep into the second half of the twentieth century, and the space age is well under way. We feel that we are scientifically minded and unprejudiced by ancient folk-lore. And yet...only mention the word 'ghosts' and straightaway the sophisticated veneer drops and we are as eager and attentive as children. Why is this? Is it because perhaps we feel that science and reason can never really explain what happens beyond the grave? That life, even spectral life, after death is in some way an assurance that death is not after all the end? Or is it merely that we are looking for thrills? Whatever the reason, there is no doubt about the perennial fascination of ghosts, and in this volume are gathered together fifty of the great classics of ghostliness for the reader's enjoyment, wonder--and at times, horror. Here we will find a prehistoric horseman galloping thunderously over the downs; Anne Boleyn headless in a spectral coach; an eternally lamenting young mother; phantom lovers; pretty young Chinese ghosts; the unearthly revels of a dead man's club; radiant boys; the voice that haunted La Clairon; the famous Bird of Lincoln's Inn; the lurking horror of No. 50 Berkeley Square; the great hauntings of Itchells Manor, Hinton Ampner and Borley Rectory; ghosts from India, America and Australia; and many others. And perhaps when he has devoured them all, the reader will be able to provide his own answer to the question: why are ghosts so fascinating?"--Dust jacket.