'fine, imaginative story-telling with a supreme command of the supernatural', 16 Aug. 2012
By
sally tarbox

This review is from: The Virago Book Of Ghost Stories (Paperback)
Thirty-four ghost stories by 20th century women writers, from the Edwardian (E. Nesbit, Edith Wharton) to the recent (Angela Carter, Fay Weldon). A lot of the names will be familiar to those who have read the Virago Classics.
I can't say I was exactly scared - maybe none were long enough to work up a state of terror in the reader (try Sarah Waters' novel 'The Little Stranger' for that!) But they were certainly diverse and interesting featuring a host of settings, from ghostly schoolteachers, poor night nurses seeing awful things, wronged women, a lady with a unicorn and even a haunted saucepan. ( )

A wonderful collection of ghost stories. The fact that they are all written by women (not advertised on the cover) proves that this genre is not as male-dominated as some would have you believe. Scary, thrilling, and deeply enjoyable, I wish I'd found this book further, and I'm desperately trying to find their Nineteenth Century collection. ( )

I began re-reading this for "Three miles up" (I had been kayaking and a bend in the river brought this story to mind). I then continued to reread this breathtaking collection of brilliant writing - like all the best genre fiction the form becomes a vessel for great writing that tells us more about ourselves. Read it (in daylight) and shiver. ( )