Tales of Mystery & the Macabre

Elizabeth Gaskell is better known today for her pioneering social novels such as Mary Barton (1848) but she also wrote some fascinating tales of the supernatural and the macabre, which are collected here in this volume. The real charm of this dark anthology is its variety. Unlike so many writers of this kind of material, Gaskell allows the story to fit the style rather than the other way around and as result there is a charming freshness to each tale.

This remarkable author uses different voices, tones and topics to engage her readers and as you turn from one story to the next you cannot be quite sure what to expect.

Tales include:

• The Old Nurse’s Story
• The Squire’s Story
• The Poor Clare
• Lois the Witch
• The Doom of the Griffiths
• The Ghost in the Garden room
• The Grey Woman
• Curious, if True
• Disappearances