Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton
The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton | Edith Wharton
One might not expect a woman of Edith Wharton's literary stature to be a believer of ghost stories, much less be frightened by them, but as she admits in her postscript to this spine-tingling collection, "...till I was twenty-seven or -eight, I could not sleep in the room with a book containing a ghost story." Once her fear was overcome, however, she took to writing tales of the supernatural for publication in the magazines of the day. These eleven finely wrought pieces showcase her mastery of the traditional New England ghost story and her fascination with spirits, hauntings, and other supernatural phenomena. Called "flawlessly eerie" by Ms. magazine, this collection includes "Pomegranate Seed," "The Eyes," "All Souls'," "The Looking Glass," and "The Triumph of Night."
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
blurb
Lcsmcat
post image

#Whartonbuddyread Second option for October. Vote by commenting below.

23 likes8 comments
review
Becker
post image
Mehso-so

I always struggle to get comfortable in an Edith Wharton book. I don‘t dislike her but I never find it to be enjoyable reading. Something about her style. 🤷‍♀️

blurb
IMASLOWREADER
post image

ENJOYED READING GHOSTS STORIES BY MY FAVORITE AUTHOR #audiophile #readinggoal #

4 likes2 stack adds
review
Librarybelle
post image
Pickpick

I‘ve learned a bit more about Wharton, thanks to her home The Mount‘s virtual ghost tours the last two years…I had not realized she wrote ghost stories until taking part in the tour!

This collection has some spooky (to me) storylines and some not too spooky but definitely bizarre. I enjoyed this collection as a fascinating look at early 20th century ghost stories, from an author who has greater acclaim with her stories about opulence and greed.

TEArificbooks Did you know there is a #whartonbuddyread group? Come join us if you want. We are reading her novels/novellas in publication order based on the list on The Mounts webpage. We are on The House of Mirth. 3y
Librarybelle @mdm139 I have seen postings about the group - thanks! I will have to keep this in mind…lots of books to catch up on, but I would really like to read more by Wharton. I‘ve only read The Age of Innocence before this ghost story collection. 3y
91 likes3 stack adds2 comments
review
STORYBOOK-CAFE
post image
Pickpick

In these powerful, elegant tales, Edith Wharton evokes moods of disquiet and darkness within her own era. In icy new England a fearsome double foreshadows the fate of a rich young man; a married farmer is bewitched by a dead girl; a ghostly bell saves a woman''s reputation. Brittany conjures ancient cruelties, Dorset witnesses a retrospective haunting and a New York club cushions an elderly aesthete as he tells of ghastly eyes haunting his nights.

review
ImperfectCJ
post image
Mehso-so

Wharton's stories feature fairly well-mannered ghosts, realistic in their inscrutability but not exactly scary. Many stories started promisingly but didn't quite deliver. I most liked "Kerfol", "The Looking Glass", and "All Souls'".

10 theme stories + 1 Halloween story, so 175 + 1 point, and one step closer to a bingo, as I jumble challenges together.
#scarathlon2020 #TeamHarkness @StayCurious #bookspinbingo #screamathon @TheAromaofBooks

blurb
ImperfectCJ
post image

Spotted on my morning walk. Some of our neighbors are way more committed to Halloween decorating than I am. They also have a second giant spider and a stack of mannequin parts, presumably to represent the remnants of spider dining.

Gissy Awesome!👻🖤🖤🖤 4y
52 likes1 comment
blurb
ImperfectCJ
post image

"'Do you believe in ghosts?' is the pointless question often addressed by those who are incapable of feeling ghostly influences to---I will not say the *ghost-seer,* always a rare bird, but---the *ghost-feeler*, the person sensible of invisible currents of being in certain places and at certain hours." (From Wharton's Preface)

"It was the autumn after I had the typhoid." (From the first story)

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

32 likes1 stack add
blurb
Booksnchill
post image

Enjoying the evening watching RJ Jacobs, Joe Hill and Paul Tremblay in conversation on the Southern Festival of Books Youtube (next 2 weeks check out the schedule online) and starting my October classics read Edith Wharton‘s Ghost Stories🎃

KathyWheeler Joe Hill! ❤️ 4y
Booksnchill @KathyWheeler you should check it out on youtube! 4y
dylanisreading Sounds fun! I like that Paul Tremblay included his pronoun with his name. 4y
61 likes1 stack add4 comments
blurb
Texreader
post image
coffees 1pt! Ohhh nice list 5y
31 likes1 comment
blurb
Aloisi_tribe
post image

One of my favorite read this time of year is Edith Wharton‘s #Ghost Stories.

#chillingphotochallenge #scarathlon @Clwojick

18 likes1 stack add
blurb
sprainedbrain
post image

I love Edith Wharton, and I love a good ghost story, so this book was right up my alley. This well-worn collection started on a #LMPBC journey almost a year ago, and now I can reread gothic spookiness with some fun comments from friends! 👻

#screamathonphotochallenge

Tamra All the love 💜 5y
LeahBergen I so enjoyed these. Have you seen the new Virago hardcover of this?? 😍😍 5y
sprainedbrain @LeahBergen I had not, but I just searched and wow... I might need that beauty! ❤️ 5y
See All 6 Comments
LeahBergen Right? Me, too! 5y
Cathythoughts These sound great ! Stacked 5y
IndoorDame This is on my TBR for this month too! As soon as my library hold arrives. 5y
80 likes2 stack adds6 comments
review
jmofo
Pickpick

My first Wharton, maybe not characteristic of her other writing.
I‘m not much of a horror fan but I do enjoy suspense & stories that might involve the unexplained. Some stories themselves were unexplained, unresolved, or so open to interpretation there continues to be uncertainty as to what had happened.
I enjoyed the atmospheric writing and misdirection or plot twists (not so much plot twists as twists in characters‘ ideas of what is happening).

jmofo @sprainedbrain Thanks for picking this book! I enjoyed it immensely. 6y
sprainedbrain I‘m so glad you enjoyed it! Definitely not typical of Wharton‘s other books I‘ve read. 6y
jmofo @sprainedbrain If you were to suggest another book of hers for me to read, which would it be? 6y
sprainedbrain @jmofo so far, I‘ve only read three others, but I loved them all: The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, and Xingu (actually a short story). I would recommend any of them! 6y
Butterfinger I really enjoyed Ethan Frome, but it has been at least 25 years since I read it. 6y
29 likes5 comments
blurb
Theaelizabet
post image

Bedtime reading on some nights.
“He swung about when I came in, and looked me over in a trice. I knew what the look meant, from having experienced it once or twice in my former places. Then he turned his back on me and went on talking to his wife; and I knew what that meant, too. I was not the kind of morsel he was after. “The Lady‘s Maid‘s Bell” from 1902.

kspenmoll Welcome to Litsy! A fellow history lover... ! 6y
StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego Welcome to Litsy 📖💖 6y
j.rye Your name is killing me 😂 6y
See All 10 Comments
Theaelizabet @j.rye Oh, no! Yeah, too many vowels, right? 🙄 6y
j.rye @Theaelizabet no! It‘s SO FUNNY! Unless it‘s not a play on the alphabet. Then ignore me. Hahaha. 6y
Theaelizabet @j.rye Ohhhhhh. No, but I wish I was that clever! 6y
j.rye That‘s what it looked like to me. Hahaha “The Aeliza-bet” 😂 6y
Eggs Welcome to Litsy 🤗 6y
Theaelizabet @Eggs Thanks! 6y
15 likes10 comments
blurb
jmofo
post image

Still reading round 4 Group F 🖤 #LMPBC it‘s been an interesting read but it keeps putting me to sleep. Which is a little nice, since last month, I was having trouble sleeping.
In other news, I think I might have found the best way to describe my gender:
“the whatnot in a corner”
I‘ll have this in the mail by the end of the week, sorry about the delay

Trashcanman 🤗 6y
30 likes1 comment
blurb
jmofo
post image

A few regulars at the work ask me what I‘m reading.
I told one of my favorites that I was going to start Eudora Welty‘s Ghost Stories. In my mind I was thinking these were Willa Cather‘s Ghost Stories.
I am terrible with names, and so it goes.
My brain may be a mess, but my roommate is not at home and I am lucky to have the day off so I‘m diving in to someone‘s Ghost Stories for the last of round 4 #LMPBC group F 🖤 to group F.

sprainedbrain Someone‘s ghost stories. 😂 6y
ravenlee 😆 6y
Butterfinger 😂 You were bound to get to the right W. 6y
jmofo @Butterfinger thanks for your faith in me! 🤓 @sprainedbrain & @ravenlee It‘s nice I made you two laugh, it‘s usually just me...which makes life interesting 6y
33 likes1 stack add4 comments
blurb
Butterfinger
post image

I finished for my Litsy markup. I wouldn't have chosen it for my own so I'm glad @sprainedbrain chose it for us to read. I have come to enjoy these ladies and I'm sort of depressed that I only have one more book to read with them. @arubabookwoman @jmofo

#PopSugar2019 5/50 a ghost story
ReadHarder 0/24
#LitsyAtoZ 5/26 @BookishMarginalia
Booked2019 1/24
Chunsters 2/10
Worldreading challenge 0/52

arubabookwoman We could always each pick another book and continue for another round.... 6y
15 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
Butterfinger
post image

I am getting a kick out of @arubabookwoman 's comments. I love getting to know all of my Litsy pals through mail and book swaps and challenges. This book is full of ambiguity so I'm enjoying using my creative chops to make up the back stories. Thank you @sprainedbrain for choosing this one. All four of us chose something radically different and it is so much fun. On to you next @jmofo. Probably early next week

sprainedbrain Glad you liked it! I can‘t wait to see everyone‘s comments. 😃 6y
arubabookwoman Glad you liked my comments! I haven‘t received the January book from @sprainedbrain yet, and I‘m worried it‘s lost. Has it been sent? 6y
sprainedbrain @arubabookwoman i mailed it on 1/10 and sent you an email... I just checked tracking and it shows it was delivered on 1/16 at 12:36. I‘ve just forwarded my email from 1/10 along with the tracking info... can you please check your email? Thanks! 6y
15 likes1 stack add3 comments
review
HannahWilks
Pickpick

'The tall windows are like blind eyes, the great door is a shut mouth.'

Finally finished this selection of Edith Wharton's ghost stories. They're a mixed bunch - more robust and muscular, less ambiguous, than those of Henry James, but oddly powerful. The best are those, like 'Afterwards', 'All Souls' and 'Pomegranate Seeds', where knowing exactly what has taken place doesn't diminish the strangeness and fright she's built up. Shivering.

blurb
arubabookwoman
post image

Oh my! Look what came in the mail: The #LMPBC book from #sprainedbrain along with some book-related goodies. Thanks so much Jenni.
I read the first story last night, and all I can say is I‘m puzzled...
#Butterfinger #Buddenbrooks was sent to you last week and I hope you ‘ve received it by now.

@jmofo @Butterfinger @sprainedbrain

sprainedbrain Yay! Glad it has arrived. 😃 6y
Butterfinger Yes @arubabookwoman. I was so excited. I'm afraid to write in it so I'm going to purchase some post it's tomorrow before the snow comes. Jim Cantore is in my neck of the woods. I have to warn you, I left it on my side table to go to the bathroom and my 7 year old gets it, runs, trips over our new puppy, and drops it just so she can "bring me the book that you were excited about, momma." It is now on my highest shelf. I'm treating it like my Bible 6y
Butterfinger I didn't want an apostrophe in the word post-its. 6y
See All 8 Comments
Butterfinger @jmofo have you received Shirley Jackson? 6y
arubabookwoman Oh please write in the book! Post-it‘s have a way of migrating, and I would like to have people‘s comments permanently in the book. You‘ll see I did lots of writing in the book. Your 7 year old sounds very sweet! @Butterfinger 6y
Butterfinger Ok. I will. She is, but WILD. Maybe there should have been a question on the survey, "Do you have young children?" ? I hope it snows so much my husband will have to stay home and I will be able to read without interruption. 6y
jmofo @Butterfinger I have not it will no doubt be here soon. May I write in your book? I write in my own when inspired. It‘s cool your kiddo gets excited about what you‘re excited about. 😊 6y
Butterfinger Oh yes you may. @jmofo I love that wild little girl so much. 6y
40 likes1 stack add8 comments
review
sprainedbrain
post image
Pickpick

Finished my selection for #LMPBC round 4 already!

Some of these stories are truly creepy, and some left me feeling sad. Edith Wharton wrote human conflict so well, and many of these stories show that. There are gothic-feeling stories with haunted houses, lots of slowly-building tension, and suspense for days.

I really think with this many stories, there is something for everyone here. Hope you all enjoy it, Group F!

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

jmofo Hooray!!! 👏🤓🎉 6y
RohitSawant Great review! 6y
BookishTrish Sweet pick and great review! 6y
arubabookwoman Wow that was a quick read! 6y
sprainedbrain @arubabookwoman I may have cheated and started a little before Halloween. 😳 6y
124 likes3 stack adds5 comments
blurb
lahousewyfe
post image

Cuddled in by the fire and ignoring the library book I picked up this afternoon to indulge in some ghost stories for these last two spooky evenings of October. @nu-bibliophile I can't be stopped!

Headinherbooks_27 Yay! I added that too in my tbr. 6y
lahousewyfe @nu-bibliophile You won't be disappointed! 6y
20 likes2 comments
blurb
sprainedbrain
post image

Some (hopefully) scary #shortstories from my tbr shelf. I‘m saving these for October, when I try to read as much creepy stuff as possible, while pretending I‘m not a big weenie. 😱

#readingwomenmonth

LeahBergen Edith Wharton‘s are wonderful! 6y
arubabookwoman I love Edith Wharton, but didn‘t know she wrote ghost stories. I don‘t usually like short stories, but I will have to try this. 6y
RaimeyGallant Sleep with the light on! 6y
mabell My TBR includes the Canterville Ghost. That's about as creepy as this weenie can handle 😂 6y
sprainedbrain @mabell at least you‘re not setting yourself up to fail like I do! I always save scary stuff for October and then get too scared freaked out. 😂 6y
110 likes2 stack adds5 comments
blurb
mrp27
post image

Almost forgot to post this! Thanks for the tag @ReadOrDieRachel

1. Forty something
2. Yes, two
3. No
4. In the middle of several books but to name one, The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton
5. Rain of Gold by Victor Villasenor
6.👍🏼
7. Supercilious
8. I'm not really sure, I'm an open book
9. Dog lover
10. I enjoy all but I NEED coffee
11. The Imperfectionists
12. If you'd like to partake consider yourself tagged!

#Hallowhoareyoy @Gyldholm

blurb
Augustdana
post image

Went to my local used book store and snagged this book I‘ve wanted to read for a while. I love book hunting with no particular book in mind. You never know what you‘ll find. Happy Friday!

13 likes1 stack add
blurb
8leagueboot
post image

I feel like Edith Wharton and I would have been friends.

LeahBergen I do, too. 👍🏻 7y
batsy ❤️ 7y
32 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
SallyD1
Pickpick

Very good Victorian ghost stories! Still scary after ALL these years. And so well written. Perfect shorts for this time of year.

blurb
LeanneAslin
post image

Some of the writing in this short story collection is just beautiful...

3 likes1 stack add
blurb
LeanneAslin
post image

Trying to pick a book to read, and want something with a bit of an autumnal feel - I've narrowed it down to 3 contenders now...

blurb
litenthusiast
post image

This book seems like the perfect read for a fall Saturday night. #OctoberReads #Halloween #EdithWharton

10 likes1 stack add
blurb
BucklingBookshelves
post image

Some #shortstories on my fall TBR. #30daysofreadathon

blurb
JustTrish
post image

I love #shortstories - I may in fact be obsessed 😮 This is about a tenth of my collection ❤

19 likes1 stack add
blurb
AmyStewart
post image

Fabulously creepy illustrations. I want to go back to the days when novels were illustrated.

BookishFeminist Yes! Love illustrations & Edith Wharton. 8y
coffeenebula Yikes, that *is* creepy! 👻 8y
8 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
Lauralovesbooks
post image

Rainy days call for ghost stories