Irish Ghost Stories

He told more about it to the priest than to others. He certainly had a secret to tell. He might as well have divulged it frankly, for the neighbours all knew well enough that it was the face of dead Ellen Coleman that he had seen. – J.S. Le FanuI felt a strange creeping sensation as I looked up the vast black staircase, wide enough for a coach to drive down, and at the heavy darkness bending over it like a curse. – Rosa MulhollandOn and on he glided, like an evil shadow, the very darkness seeming to loathe him as he passed. – Oscar WildeTo walk through Irish history is to pass through a haunted landscape. Perhaps that’s why so many of Ireland’s finest writers found themselves drawn to the ghost story. This collection includes the work of canonical figures like Bram Stoker, J.S. Le Fanu, Oscar Wilde, and W.B. Yeats, but also a wealth of lesser-known authors like Charlotte Riddell and Rosa Mulholland who were once bestsellers but are now unjustly neglected, all with a keen sense of Ireland’s haunted character. Each story in this collection is presented with its original publication details, so readers can see exactly where and when it first appeared, and a brief biography of its author. Together, they offer a fascinating cross-section of Ireland’s literary relationship with the supernatural.