Ralph Adams CramBesprekingen

Shadows Gothic and Grotesque contains two six-story anthologies. The first, “Black Spirits and White” by Ralph Adams Cram, are evocative Victorian ghost stories set in Europe. Richly atmospheric, propulsive storytelling with some masterful flourishes of scintillating prose. The second set, however, “Tales of the Supernatural“ by James Platt, consists of long-winded, plodding, and convoluted stories - an unmitigated slog. Recommended solely for the excellent Cram ghost stories.

This was a nice collection of ghost stories, and I enjoyed reading it very much. Although the stories were written over 100 years ago, they still feel fresh today. My favorite was probably NO. 252 Rue M. Le Prince, but I thought all of them were very good.

This is a collection of six short stories (found here at Gutenberg):

No. 252 Rue M. Le Prince
A night spent in a haunted/cursed Paris home.

In Kropfsberg Keep
A night spent in a haunted German castle.

The White Villa
Missing a train means spending the night in an old Italian villa.

Sister Maddelena
In Sicily a nun's ghost seeks rest.

Notre Dame Des Eaux
A picturesque church and a madman.

The Dead Valley
Exactly what the title says.

The stories are old fashioned and interesting - not the best short stories of the era that I've read, and I waffled between two and three stars on this. Still, very well worth a read. I think the Dead Valley has been anthologized elsewhere because I feel sure I've read it before.

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