Elizabeth Gaskell’s Gothic Tales are an interesting mixture of supernatural and social horrors; witchcraft (both real and supposed), hauntings, a murderous husband and a villainous son to name a few; and all are shot through with an atmosphere that makes the gothic genre so very enthralling, and is almost a character unto itself.

I enjoyed (for a comparative definition of 'enjoyment') roughly 70% of the book; there was one story I simply could not get into, another - ‘Curious, if True’ - jarred oddly, not really appearing to belong in this collection, though under other circumstances I might have enjoyed it, and ‘Lois the Witch’, though one of the most readable tales, seemed to ride too heavily on the coattails of The Crucible, being in fact set amongst those very characters.

The darkness of these stories - Elizabeth Gaskell does not seem to feel the slightest need to be fair to her characters - takes some warming to, yet there is something refreshing about a strong dash of irredemption. I wanted to read these stories to see if I would care to pick up one of Mrs. Gaskell’s novels, and the answer is an optimistic, if reserved, affirmative. ( )

A wonderful collection of some of the creepier Gaskell short stories. My personal favorites are The Old Nurse's Story and The Grey Woman. Lois the Witch is also well worth reading. Beware, though...Gaskell likes to inflict the sins of the fathers upon their children. Not lighthearted by a long shot. Best in small doses on windy wintry evenings. ( )

Elizabeth Gaskell's Gothic Tales is a collection of short stories and novellas strung together by a common theme of loss and darkness. I don't think Gaskell does horror/Gothic quite so well as she does the sunnier pastoral worlds of Hollingford and Cranford, but it's certainly an indication of her versatility that she can do both.

In "Disappearances," Gaskell writes about a string of unrelated disappearances, some based on actual stories, and explores the unexplicable. In "The Old Nurse's Story," ghosts of an evil past threaten to kill an innocent child. "The Squire's Story" is a tale of a murderer who lives a double life in a sleepy English town. In "The Poor Clare," Gaskell writes about a witch who calls down vengeance and then must spend the rest of her life atoning for the curse so it does not hurt one that she loves. "The Doom of the Griffiths" is the story of a family curse that foretells the death of the father at the hand of the son. In "Lois the Witch," Gaskell visits Salem, New England, at the height of its infamous witch trials. "The Crooked Branch" is the story of a young man who became a bandit and broke his parents' hearts. In "Curious, If True," Gaskell writes about a fey court full of elven characters of fairy tales. Finally, in "The Grey Woman," a young woman is horrified to learn of her husband's evil secrets and spends the rest of her life in hiding from his revenge.

These stories are definitely dark. Lois the Witch is hanged; the son in "The Crooked Branch" never repents, and the randomness of the tales in "Disappearances" makes the world seem a dangerous and illogical place. Good people suffer. There is no humor in these stories, and no happy endings. "The Grey Woman" was my favorite and probably best fits the adjective "Gothic." Most of the endings of the previous stories had been decidedly unhappy, but this one wasn't as dismal (it was dark, but at least the thing the main character was dreading her whole life didn't come to pass).

I'd recommend the book to Gaskell's fans, but don't expect it to be like her lighter works. I took a few breaks and read other books between chapters, just to relieve the Gothicness. ( )

I thought these tales were great fun, and it came to me as a surprise that Mrs. G.'s range ran to the gothic so effectively. If you love Susanna Clarke's 'Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell', as I do, you will enjoy the writing here very much. Don't be tempted to skip the introduction, which puts the writings in context (notably re Charles Dickens as editor of 'Household Words') very usefully. ( )

These probably wouldn't have been re-published if the Gaskell-brand hadn't been attached. ( )