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Ghastly Women: Literary ghost stories by women
By an Amazon.com customer
Sugar and Other StoriesSugar and Other Stories by A.S. Byatt
Buy new: $11.92 / Used from: $0.01
Somone, I can't remember who, once said that ghost stories are essentially about loss. Read "The July Ghost," in this collection, and see if you agree.
The Ghost Stories of Edith WhartonThe Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $2.18
Wharton wrote, ""Till I was twenty-seven or -eight, I could not sleep in the room with a book containing a ghost story." Her stories are unsettling.
Kecksies and Other Twilight TalesKecksies and Other Twilight Tales by Marjorie Bowen
Buy new: $15.95 / Used from: $12.00
Best known for her historical fiction, Bowen was equally adept at writing supernatural tales.
RebeccaRebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.01
Read it when you're twelve, read it when you're fifty.... no matter when you read it, it'll grab you. Could any character possibly be more sinister than Mrs. Danvers?
The Haunting of Hill HouseThe Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $0.40
An unforgettable portrayal of a fragile, unhinged mind.
In The DarkIn The Dark by Edith Nesbit
Buy used from: $87.15
Long beloved for her children's books, Nesbit wrote chilling ghost stories as well.
The Woman in BlackThe Woman in Black by Susan Hill
Buy used from: $1.61
Successful modern version of a Victorian-style weird tale.
The Phantom Coach: Collected Ghost StoriesThe Phantom Coach: Collected Ghost Stories by Amelia B. Edwards
Buy used from: $63.75
Edwards, a successful Victorian authoress and noted amateur Egyptologist (E. Peter's fictional Amelia Peabody was loosely based upon her) was one of the preeminent ghost story writers of her time.
The Cold Embrace and Other Ghost StoriesThe Cold Embrace and Other Ghost Stories by M. E. Braddon
Buy used from: $50.00
Braddon was best known for her "sensation" novels such as Lady Audley's Secret, but was a prolific ghost story writer as well.
The Yellow Wall-paper and Other Stories (Oxford World's Classics)The Yellow Wall-paper and Other Stories (Oxford World's Classics) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Buy new: $12.30 / Used from: $0.01
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a feminist classic, but it also produces a sense of sheer, almost vertiginous, terror.
The Wind in the Rose-Bush: And Other Stories of the SupernaturalThe Wind in the Rose-Bush: And Other Stories of the Supernatural by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman
Buy new: $12.95 / Used from: $1.87
Wilkins Freeman's ghost stories usually have simple domestic settings, which makes them all the more unsettling.
Gothic Tales (Penguin Classics)Gothic Tales (Penguin Classics) by Elizabeth Gaskell
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $3.91
Best known for her novels grappling the social problems of her time, Gaskell was also an accomplished spinner of supernatural tales.
Seven Gothic TalesSeven Gothic Tales by Isak Dinesen
Buy new: $10.85 / Used from: $3.32
Fantastic, weird tales by one of the world's great storytellers.
Haunted: Tales of the GrotesqueHaunted: Tales of the Grotesque by Joyce Carol Oates
Buy used from: $2.67
The emphasis is more grotesque than ghostly.
The Virago Book of Ghost StoriesThe Virago Book of Ghost Stories
Buy used from: $1.99
Out of print, but both of Dalby's "Virago" collections are worth tracking down.
The Gentlewomen of Evil: An Anthology of Rare Supernatural Stories from the Pens of Victorian Ladies,The Gentlewomen of Evil: An Anthology of Rare Supernatural Stories from the Pens of Victorian Ladies,
Buy used from: $64.00
The title says it all.
This Mortal CoilThis Mortal Coil by Cynthia Asquith
Cynthia Asquith edited numerous "Ghost Book" anthologies, but this book features her own tales.
Touch of Chill, ATouch of Chill, A by Joan Aiken
Buy used from: $0.01
Although her books are marketed in the US for young adults, Aiken's spooky stories are undeservedly overlooked by adults..
Eva Moves the Furniture: A NovelEva Moves the Furniture: A Novel by Margot Livesey
Buy used from: $0.01
My current favorite, a superb novel I've recommended to a number of friends who have been equally impressed. I wept at the end.