9 h 14 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 9 h 14 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if an empty room holds a past that refuses to stay quiet?
The Best Ghost Stories gathers supernatural tales by different writers, chosen by Joseph Lewis French to unsettle the reader. With an introduction by Arthur B. Reeve, this collection moves through haunted houses, quiet visitations and phantom encounters. A familiar place becomes strange, and the living must decide what to make of an unexpected presence.
The collection reaches beyond visitors from the grave toward forces larger than human understanding. Its main strands—old houses with secrets, ghostly figures and the fear of the unknown—show how many shapes a haunting can take. Each story fits a single sitting, giving you room to linger with its atmosphere rather than rush toward the next fright.
What you’ll discover
- Houses with hidden pasts Enter houses, inns and empty rooms where the past slowly makes itself felt.
- Visitors beyond explanation Follow encounters that leave travellers, friends and families uncertain about what they see.
- Terror beyond the grave Explore fears that reach past ghosts toward older, larger and less understandable forces.
- Many shades of dread Discover how different writers turn supernatural encounters into distinct ways of unsettling you.
- A story after dark Settle into a short tale whose gentle pace gives unease time to gather.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy a story told by firelight, from quiet unease to open dread. It suits readers of haunted houses, odd mysteries and true-seeming reports.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Ghosts enter through ordinary life
- A bargain carries a hidden threat
- Silence becomes a burden
- The banshee brings news of loss
- Joy leaves suffering outside
- Pity changes an encounter with fear
- Cruelty returns as an unanswered plea
- Ghosts become a shared joke
- Every haunting depends on its teller
Who’s who
- Mrs. BargraveA cheerful, honest woman in Canterbury whose old friend Mrs. Veal calls on her at noon with a strange list of requests.
- DennistounAn English scholar and collector who buys an old scrapbook in the Pyrenees and wants only to take it safely home to Cambridge.
- VeileA beautiful bride who flees her own wedding and seeks help from the young rabbi, hoping to be told what to do.
- Frank HaltonA painter who gave up his career to live among birds and rivers, and who wants to meet the spirit of Nature itself.
- DarcyA successful portrait painter recovering from typhoid, who visits his friend Frank and tries to explain his amazing youth.
- Jack PansayA civil servant in Simla who has tired of his lover and wants only to be left alone with his new fiancée.
- Eliphalet DuncanA shrewd New York lawyer who owns a haunted house and a secret title, and must clear his house of ghosts to win his bride.
- MoseA small, frightened boy who must walk past three burial grounds on Halloween night to bring home a pumpkin.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
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- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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The Best Ghost Stories in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Best Ghost Stories
by Various; J. L. French (editor); Arthur B. Reeve (introduction)
A ghost in a riding dress knocks at noon, talks about books and silk gowns, then walks away.
Medium level5–10 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What does a ghost say when it knocks at your door at noon? In the first tale of this collection, she talks about books, discusses her silk gown, and asks for a cup of tea before she walks away down the street.
The Best Ghost Stories at a glance
- Reading time
- About 5 h 15 min4 h 10 min fast, 6 h 15 min slow
- Length
- 74,600 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A ghost visits an old friend at noon
Daniel De Foe opens the collection with a visit at noon on September 8, 1705, in Canterbury. Mrs. Bargrave sits alone, sewing and brooding over an unhappy life, when someone knocks. Outside stands her old friend Mrs. Veal, dressed for riding. They have not met for two and a half years.
They talk for nearly two hours about the books they read together in poorer days. The visitor comforts her friend with words about heaven and the purpose of suffering. She also asks her to write to her brother about some rings and a purse of gold.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 6 h 0 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
The Best Ghost Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-best-ghost-stories.
The best ghost stories. (2026). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-best-ghost-stories
The Best Ghost Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-best-ghost-stories.
@book{anonymous2026best,
title = {The Best Ghost Stories},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-best-ghost-stories}
}
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What is The Best Ghost Stories about?
It collects ghost tales by writers such as De Foe, M. R. James, Kipling, Benson and Bierce, plus a chapter on Irish banshees and newspaper reports of American hauntings. The ghosts range from sorrowful to menacing to comic.
Who wrote the stories in The Best Ghost Stories?
Many authors contribute. J. L. French is the editor, and the stories come from Daniel De Foe, M. R. James, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Leopold Kompert, E. F. Benson, Algernon Blackwood, Rudyard Kipling, Brander Matthews, Ambrose Bierce, Vincent O'Sullivan and Ellis Parker Butler.
What is a banshee?
A banshee is an Irish spirit whose wailing is said to warn a family that someone is about to die. The chapter describes her as young or old, and tells how she follows families even abroad.
More by Various; J. L. French (editor); Arthur B. Reeve (introduction)
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