Charles Dickens wrote a number of supernatural and horror stories, some of which were included in his longer works, while others were published in magazines. This collection gathers them together in one volume, providing an invaluable insight into the author’s storytelling apprenticeship and his steady growth towards excellence. As well as offering a further dimension to the world of his better-known masterpieces, these tales—from "A Madman’s Manuscript" to "The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton" to the celebrated "The Signalman"—illustrate Dickens’s well-known love of a spooky story told around a blazing fire, the pastime of a bygone age to be rediscovered for our own delight.

Charles Dickens is a much-loved author for his vast and important contributions to English literature. This collection brings together his supernatural short stories, some of which were included in his longer works, and others that originally featured in magazines, including ‘The Bagman’s Story’, ‘The Ghost in the Bride’s Chamber’ and ‘To Be Read at Dusk’, among others. They are all fantastically gripping stories from one of the greatest writers of all-time. Essential collaborations with his acolytes Wilkie Collins and Elizabeth Gaskell are also included.

Even now, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, when science has largely replaced superstition as our way of viewing the world, who among us does not hesitate, however briefly, before entering a darkened room? Who does not feel an involuntary shiver at the sound of footfalls somewhere back there? Who does not wonder, even fleetingly, if the spirits of the dead might still wander the earth? Who does not feel a jolt of primal fear at things that go bump in the night? For all these reasons and more, stories of ghosts, unexplained happenings, and the supernatural remain among the most popular and enduring tales in all of world literature. Now The Lyons Press presents CLASSIC GHOST STORIES, a chilling collection of some of the very best tales of mystery and imagination ever penned, by some of the finest writers the world has ever produced. So curl up in a comfortable chair, turn on a few more lights to chase away the shadows, and prepare to be scared silly. These are delightfully creepy tales that have stood the test of time, from such stellar authors as: Ambrose Bierce Edgar Allan Poe Edith Wharton E.F. Benson Guy de Maupassant William Fryer Harvey Charles Dickens Amelia B. Edwards M.R. James Algernon Blackwood Rudyard Kipling Edward Bulwer-Lytton Mary E. Wilkins ...and many more