Edward Gorey's Haunted Looking Glass

I have only myself to blame for buying this collection yesterday after seeing its lovely Edward Gorey cover on display at my favorite bookstore, because I know perfectly well that ghost stories don't do anything for me. And indeed, they didn't, despite the equally lovely Edward Gorey illustrations that act as frontispieces for each story and the illustrious authors who include Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker and, more surprisingly (to me, anyway), L.P. Hartley. Some were ingenious, most were well written, nearly all were utterly predictable -- well, as I said, I have only myself to blame.

This fine collection of "ghost stories" bears the stamp of the inimitable Edward Gorey, who both edited it and illustrated it. The Haunted Looking Glass contains 12 classic stories, with some by masters of the genre. Two of my all - time favorites are the haunting tale The Monkey's Paw (by W.W. Jacobs) and the equally chilling August Heat (by W.F. Harvey); another superb selection is Bram Stoker's The Judge's House. Others include Robert Louis Stevenson's The Body-Snatcher, Wilkie Collins' The Dream Woman, and Charles Dickens' The Signalman. The remaining stories include The Empty House (by Algernon Blackwood), The Visitor From Down Under (L.P. Hartley), The Thirteenth Tree (R.H. Malden), Man-Size in Marble (E. Nesbit), The Shadow of a Shade (Tom Hood), and Casting the Runes (by M.R. James).

A pen- and ink illustration by Edward Gorey introduces each ghostly tale, managing to capture the mood and content of each. Indeed, having read this edition years ago, I found I remembered his powerful illustrations better than some of the stories. Readers interested in classic tales of the genre by some of the masters of short fiction will appreciate this volume immensely. ( )