LemonSky reviewed Grim Tales by Edith Nesbit
Review of 'Grim Tales' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A somewhat uneven collection of ghost or horror stories by a favorite author of mine.
"The Ebony Frame" - my favorite story. A man inherits a house and its furnishings from his aunt. Among the items in the attic is the painting of a beautiful woman that casts a spell over him.This is a tale of past lives, star-crossed love, possible second chances - and a bargain with the devil.
"John Charrington's Wedding" - basically the retelling of an old folk song/story. Very well done.
"Uncle Abraham's Romance" - an old man recounts the tale of his one true love - whom he met next to a cemetery.
"The Mystery of the Semi-Detached" - a young man has a vision of his girlfriend's murder and tries to prevent it.
"From the Dead" - the weakest story of the lot. A man feels he has been deceived by his wife. The …
A somewhat uneven collection of ghost or horror stories by a favorite author of mine.
"The Ebony Frame" - my favorite story. A man inherits a house and its furnishings from his aunt. Among the items in the attic is the painting of a beautiful woman that casts a spell over him.This is a tale of past lives, star-crossed love, possible second chances - and a bargain with the devil.
"John Charrington's Wedding" - basically the retelling of an old folk song/story. Very well done.
"Uncle Abraham's Romance" - an old man recounts the tale of his one true love - whom he met next to a cemetery.
"The Mystery of the Semi-Detached" - a young man has a vision of his girlfriend's murder and tries to prevent it.
"From the Dead" - the weakest story of the lot. A man feels he has been deceived by his wife. The wife's reason for her behavior is not very believable and the ghostly aspect of the story is pretty weak.
"Man-Size in Marble" - a genuinely creepy tale that starts out with the cheerful depiction of a happy pair of newlyweds living in their first home, but quickly changes into a tale of growing terror. There is a very effective audiobook version on LibriVox.
"The Mass for the Dead" - a man who is about to lose the love of his life to another finds himself haunted by the sounds of a funeral mass - but whose funeral mass? This is not really a scary story, but is intriguing.
This is an interesting collection of stories, but except for "Man-Size in Marble" and "The Ebony Frame," they are not very scary.