Note: The stories are in reading order. The numbers indicate their order in the book.

•1 The Queer Chair - The Bagman's Story
Chapter 14 from The Pickwick Papers.
A chair that talks and guides a tired traveller that arrives in an inn.
? ? ?

•2 A Madman's Manuscript
Chapter 11 from The Pickwick Papers.
Ramblings of a crazy man that wants to be proven crazy.
? ? ?

•3 The Goblins who Stole a Sexton
Chapter 29 from The Pickwick Papers.
A precursor story to A Christmas Carol, where instead of ghosts and spirits we have goblins and instead of a miserable rich man a miserable undertaker (sexton) who's only joy is drinking and burying.
? ? ? ?

•4 The Ghosts of the Mail - The Story of The Bagman's uncle
Chapter 49 from The Pickwick Papers.
A Ghost story taking place in Edinburgh when a 19th century man finds himself as a passenger on a 18th century mail-coach with 18th century people.
? ? ? ?

•5 The Baron of Grogzwig
Chapter 6 from Nicholas Nickleby.
A Ghost story taking place in Germany ending with an against suicide moral.
? ? ?

•8 To be Read at Dusk
This story confused me a little bit since it was written in the style of story within a story. Didn't feel one story but it was a good ghost story.
? ? ?

•9 A Ghost in the Bride's Chamber
Chapter 4 from The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices, a novella co-written by Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens A pretty spooky story with a scary ending, also including murder(s), hanging, and apparitions.
? ? ? ?

•10 The Haunted House
Chapters 1 & 6 from The Haunted House, a portmanteau short story collection co-written by Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, and Elizabeth Gaskell and others. A ghost story with a (sad) twist.
? ? ? ?

•11 The Trial For Murder - To be Taken With a Grain of Salt
A banker is invited as a jury member to a trial. He's able to see the ghost of the murdered man present all the (10) days of the trial. Eerie and enigmatic. Doesn't give lot's of answers
? ? ?

•12 The Signalman
A railway signalman is haunted by a ghost that its appearance works each time as a premonition of a tragic railway accident. With a twist at the end.
? ? ? ?

•13 Christmas Ghosts
Actually the middle part of a slightly longer story by Dickens called A Christmas Tree It's more of a ghost stories catalogue than a story itself. Still interesting.
? ? ?

•14 The Lawyer and the Ghost
Title links to a comic strip that actually sums up the story. A light comic relief ghost story with a moral, not for humans but for ghosts.
? ? ?

•15 Four Ghost Stories
The title can't be more obvious. Four stories in one. It sounds a Black Friday special offer.
Anyway, the 1st is about an artist who paints a person he never actually met.
The 2nd and 3rd are similar, both about relatives that appear as ghosts hours before the news of their deaths,
and the 4th which was the most interesting of the four. Felt a Grimm Fairy Tale.
? ? ?

•16 The Portrait-Painter's Story
This is actually the 1st story from the previous one (Four Ghost Stories) with more elaborated detail. An artist that paints a no-living person by memory/recollection.
? ? ?

•17 Captain Murderer and the Devil's Bargain
Keeping up with his usual format, x stories in one, we see in this story 2 gruesome bed-stories that Dickens remembers from his childhood been told by his nurse. One is about a bloodthirsty evil man (Bluebeard echoes) who kills his brides and bakes them into pies, and the other one is about a man infested by rats because of a bargain with the devil.
? ? ?½

•18 Mr Testator's Visitation
Mr Testator lives in an almost empty apartment and during a search into the subterranean cellars for coal he finds a room with furniture in heaps. He decides to steal/borrow the furniture to fill his empty apartment. Then someone/something visits him.
? ? ?

•19 A Child's Dream of a Star
A child dreams of meeting his late sister in the heavens. And this dream recurs for years until his is an old man. A story with a single theme yet poetic.
? ? ?

•20 Well-Authenticated Rappings
Worst story in this collection. A man is haunted from within himself by 3 different kinds of rappings/spiritual experiences ? ? ½
. . . . . . . . . . .
I just read that this is a satire about food adulteration and the craze for spiritualism in the 1850's. So when I'll now the whole context I would be able to understand and appreciate the story more, but not today.

•7 The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain
The last Dickens's five novellas for Christmas. The first was A Christmas Carol.
This is a story that examines a different kind of moral. A man wants to "forget the sorrow, wrong, and trouble [he] ha[s] known..to cancel their remembrance..." and makes a bargain with a ghost, but the result is that he becomes a miser and he's spreading his misery around.
? ? ?½

•6 A Christmas Carol
I read this story the 1st time during Christmas 2012, then the 2nd time Last Christmas (RIP George), and this was the third time.
I will not exaggerate. A Christmas Carol was not just my favourite from this collection, but it is my favourite from all Dickens's books I've read. Especially the last chapter, where the joy and happiness of a saved man are overflowing. I wish the same happiness to everybody, and I don't think I need to say anything more about this story but to urge you to read it as soon as possible!!
? ? ? ? ?

Overall score 3.37/533 s Javier217 200

“Siempre he observado que se requiere una fuerte dosis de coraje, incluso en las personas de mayor inteligencia y cultura, cuando de lo que se trata es de compartir las propias experiencias psicológicas, especial-mente si éstas adoptan un cariz extraño. La práctica totalidad de los hombres temen que aquello que pudiesen relatar a ese respecto no hallase paralelismo o respuesta alguna en la vida de su interlocutor, y su relato pudiese provocar suspicacia o risas.”
Ahora que lo pienso, esto es muy cierto: aunque nos encante leer acerca de sucesos misteriosos, paranormales o sencillamente inexplicables no resulta nada sencillo hablar de ellos en primera persona (el temor a que nos tomen por fácilmente impresionables, por cobardes o incluso por locos, la vergüenza cuando se pone en duda nuestra racionalidad o nuestro sentido práctico de la vida). Además, ese pudor contribuye en buena medida a que dichos sucesos se mantengan en la esfera de lo fantástico y posean, en la mayoría de las ocasiones, un halo terrorífico.
Pero no parece que este sea el caso de Charles Dickens, al menos no es el de los protagonistas de sus cuentos de terror; individuos de clase acomodada, cultos, mundanos, seguros de sí mismos, que no tienen reparos en contarnos ?como si estuviéramos sentados ambos, narrador y lector, junto al fuego de una magnífica chimenea victoriana, fumando nuestras pipas y sorbiendo lentamente nuestras copas de brandy? alguna experiencia paranormal vivida por ellos mismos o escuchada a terceras personas. Todos asumen con la mayor naturali-dad y sin apenas rastro de espanto la existencia de fantasmas y apariciones, de premoniciones y posesiones. Incluso, en algún caso, reco-nocen que no es su primera experiencia con lo sobrenatural.
Estas experiencias están recogidas en los trece ?cómo no? cuen-tos que componen Para leer al anochecer. Quizá puedan considerarse textos menores dentro la producción de Charles Dickens, pero poseen el innegable encanto de las viejas historias de fantasmas, tan alejadas del género de terror tal y como lo entendemos actualmente. En esta colección encontramos exactamente lo que uno espera de ella: cuentos de apariciones que advierten de desgracias futuras (advertencias que inevitablemente los vivos son incapaces de interpretar correctamente), difuntos que se personan en el juicio por su propio asesinato, posesiones diabólicas, fantasmas navideños y toda clase de espectros que se aparecen a los vivos con la intención de expulsarles de las lúgubres habitaciones que consideran sus dominios o simplemente buscando conversación. Y, por supuesto, una buena cantidad de casas encantadas habitadas por almas en pena que aterrorizan al servicio (pero por su-puesto no a los señores, cuyos nervios siempre estuvieron mejor templados).
“Son innumerables las casas solariegas, con sus pasillos retumbantes, sus sombríos aposentos y sus alas hechizadas que llevan años clausuradas (…). Resulta habitual que también haya ciertas baldosas de las que sea imposible borrar las manchas de sangre que quedaron en tal o cual habitación o descansillo (…). También ocurre que en otras casas encontraremos puertas encantadas, que jamás lograremos mantener abiertas mucho tiempo; o bien, una puerta que no hay manera de cerrar; o bien casas donde a deshoras el crujido hechizado de una rueca, o golpes de martillo, o pisadas, o un llanto, o un lamento, o un ruido de cascos de caballo, o de arrastrar de cadenas. Tal vez haya un reloj en su torre que al llegar la medianoche dé trece campanadas coincidiendo con la muerte del cabeza de familia.”
Desde los relatos más tétricos y crueles, como El fantasma en la habitación de la desposada, a simpáticas bromas sobre aparecidos como El letrado y el fantasma, es inevitable que estos cuentos victorianos de fantasmas suenen a clásico, a tópico, a algo ya leído mil veces: han sido imitados y reproducidos hasta la saciedad. Entre eso y que hoy, a diario, tenemos noticia de individuos de carne y hueso más terribles que el espectro más diabólico imaginado por Dickens, se diría que estas en-trañables almas en pena han perdido su capacidad para asustar.
Pero hay algo más que educados caballeros enfrentándose a melancólicas apariciones en casonas lóbregas rebosantes de ruidos; encontraremos la profundidad psicológica característica del autor, algunas muestras de ese realismo típico de sus novelas, una buena dosis de sentido del humor (tan inglés, tan irónico que a veces es difícil identificarlo como tal) e incluso, en algunos de los cuentos, un enfoque extrañamente metaliterario; una particular reflexión sobre el hecho de contar (o escribir) cuentos de fantasmas.
“?Pero yo no estoy hablando de fantasmas ?apuntó el alemán.
?¿Entonces de qué está hablando? ?preguntó el suizo.
?Si yo mismo supiera de lo que hablo ?dijo el alemán?, entonces con toda probabilidad sabría bastantes más cosas de las que sé.”
¡Ah! Yo mismo tampoco sé muy bien de lo que hablo, ni tengo prueba alguna de que fantasmas y espectros existan, pero estoy con-vencido de que, si algún día encuentro alguno, me sentiré muy decep-cionado si no se parece a los de Dickens.24 s María42 15

Trece historias de fantasmas o relacionadas con lo paranormal. Como todo libro de relatos hay algunas historias que te atrapan más que otras, aunque debo decir que la mayoría me han gustado mucho. Que nadie espere tensas historias de terror ni nada por estilo, en la actualidad este tipo de narraciones no asustan ni a los niños.
Sin embargo, es muy agradable leerlas y transportarte a hace 150 años cuando la gente se reunía a contar este tipo de historias a la luz del fuego y las velas con la expectación del miedo y los pelillos de punta.

De las 13 escogería estas como mis favoritas:
-"El fantasma en la habitación de la desposada": es una historia redonda donde el miedo se centra en el poder que una persona puede ejercer sobre otra hasta ser capaz de llevarla a la muerte, y matar sin remordimiento hasta que el miedo a ser descubierto se apodera de ti. (escrito a cuatro manos entre Dickens y Wilkie Collins)
-"Fantasmas de Navidad": una breve narración con muchas historias sobre fantasmas hogareños, que puedes encontrar en cualquier mansión a la que, normalmente, podrías ir a pasar unos días de visita por navidad.
-"La historia del retratista": narra las circunstancias por las que un pintor termina haciendo un cuadro de una joven recientemente fallecida.
-"El capitán asesino y el pacto con el diablo": de cómo las historias que nos cuentan y leemos nos acompañan durante toda la vida, convirtiéndose a veces en refugio y a veces en pesadilla.21 s Archit825 3,208

Who doesn't love to read Ghost stories! They are all fun and exciting unless of course, you're reading them alone in a room at night and getting pretty terrified every time you hear a meow.books-we-own25 s Julie DavisAuthor 4 books296

You know when you want to read some Dickens but not a whole long novel? This is for those times. Some funny ghost stories, one that chilled me to the bone (as it did Mr. Pickwick), and many which were classic examples of the genre. All enjoyable.15 s Kavita805 420

This volume comprises a collection of fifteen ghost stories by Dickens. As with any collection, it is a bit of a mixed bag. Some are superlative, some are less than mediocre.

The Queer Chair: A man takes shelter in an inn and falls in love with the widowed (and moneyed) innkeeper, who is courted by another man. A chair in his room helps him succeed in his quest. - 5 stars

A Madman's Manuscript: Story about an abusive man. Really boring. - 1 star

The Goblins who Stole a Sexton: A miserly sexton is taught a lesson by goblins on Christmas Eve. - 3 stars

The Ghosts of the Mail: I loved this one. A man kept travelling in a coach from a different period and ends up in cahoots with a woman who ... well, read it! - 5 stars

Baron Koëldwethout's Apparition: Another one about an abusive husband who marries out of greed. At least this one had some character development. - 2 stars

The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain: This was the longest of the book and the worst. I am not sure what this was about except for some sick college kid, a "pure" woman who couldn't be touched by evil, and a haunted man. Boring beyond belief. - 0 stars

To Be Read at Dusk: A woman sees a man's apparition on the eve of her wedding and then the man shows up in person. What gives? - 4 stars

The Ghost in the Bride's Chamber: Two men spend a night in an haunted house and encounter a man who narrates the story of a woman abused by her husband. - 2 stars

The Haunted House: A brother and sister move into a haunted house as an experiment. It all goes well until the brother changes his room. - 2 stars

The Trial for Murder: The ghost of a man on trial keeps confusing everyone in the courtroom. I couldn't keep track and found this boring. - 1 star

The Signalman: A signalman hears a warning and keeps seeing an apparition signalling him to clear the way. He hopes he is able to save a life but finds out that the signals are wrongly interpreted. - 3 stars

Christmas Ghosts: Random snippets of ideas for ghost stories which have neither basis nor character building. A very lazy effort. - 1 star

The Lawyer and the Ghost: The best of the collection! A lawyer persuades a ghost inhabiting a haunted house to leave and find better housing. - 5 stars

Four Ghost Stories: Four decent stories set during Christmas time. The first three involve apparitions of dead people. The fourth one is rather unique - a woman from a noble house sees a dream in which she stands godmother to some "little people" and is rewarded with some metal, which brings the family prosperity and happiness. - 4 stars

The Portrait-Painter's Story: This is an elaboration of the first story from Four Ghost Stories mentioned above. A portrait painter meets a young woman who insists he do her ness. Only she refuses to sit for him. - 4 stars

Much of Dickens' ghost stories involves apparitions and aren't really scary. They are more stories about paranormal occurrences than about anything evil or scary. This is probably the reason why I didn't enjoy them as much as I might have. Of course, some of the stories are really good and imaginative, but I found many of them a dead bore. Even though I rated some of the stories pretty high, the overall collection was pretty mediocre. I couldn't even finish The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain, which took up a large chunk of the pages, it was that bad. So yeah, not the best of books!ghosts-and-horror historical-fiction short-stories ...more12 s1 comment Gary949 219

A fascinating and lesser known side of Charles' Dickens work is his flair for ghost stories.
Dickens showed a fascination with ghosts and the macabre and was a masterpiece of this wonderful genre.
Most well known is his ghostly parable-'A Christmas Carol', of the visit to the bitter and tight fist ed miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, by three ghosts which started the tradition of 'the ghost story at Christmas'.
Other Christmas ghost stories by Dickens in this volume include ' the weird and wonderful 'Christmas Ghosts' and 'The Goblins Who Stole a Sexton'.
And another story of redemption by ghosts is 'The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain'.

From the gruesome 'Captain Murderer and the Devil's Bargain' to the brilliantly humorous 'The Lawyer and the Ghost' and 'The Queer Chair'.

There is the strange twist in the adventure 'The Ghosts of the Mail' and an examination of insanity and villainy in 'A Madman's Manuscript'.
Eerie stories of revenge, bizarre coincidences and the macabre from a pioneer in modern ghost stories, written in beautiful and penetrating English, while after one a half centuries still guarantees to thrill and chill.11 s Tom2,442 41

3.5?

Introduction (The Complete Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens) • (1981) • essay by Peter Haining ?
Captain Murderer and the Devil's Bargain • (1860) • short story (variant of Captain Murderer) 4?
The Lawyer and the Ghost • (1837) • short story 3?
The Queer Chair • (1837) • short story 3.5?
The Ghosts of the Mail • (1837) • short story 4?
A Madman's Manuscript • (1837) • short story 4?
The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton • (1836) • short story 3.25?
Baron Koëldwethout's Apparition • (1839) • short story 3.25?
A Christmas Carol • [Christmas Books] • (1843) • novella 5?
The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain • [Christmas Books] • (1848) • novella 2?
A Child's Dream of a Star • (1850) • short story 4?
Christmas Ghosts • (1850) • short story 3?
To Be Read at Dusk • (1852) • short story 4?
The Ghost Chamber • (1857) • short fiction 3.25?
The Haunted House • (1859) • novelette 3.5?
Mr Testator's Visitation • short story (variant of Mr. Testator's Visitation 1860) 3.25?
The Trial for Murder • (1929) • short story variant of To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt 1865) 3.25 ?
The Signal-Man • (1875) • short story (variant of The Signalman 1866) 4?
Four Ghost Stories • (1861) • short fiction 3.5?
The Portrait Painter's Story • (1861) • short fiction (variant of The Portrait-Painter's Story) 4?
Well Authenticated Rappings • (1858) • short fiction 2?

(Stories included in another edition but not in this one)
The Mother's Eyes • short fiction by Charles Dickens (variant of A Confession Found in a Prison in the Time of Charles the Second 1840) 4?

The Goodwood Ghost Story • (1862) • short story by Charles Dickens 3?
The Last Words of the Old Year • (1851) • short fiction by Charles Dickens 2.75?
Appendix: Ghosts and Ghost-Seers • (1992) • short fiction by Peter Haining 2.5?
The Ghostly Soldier by Peter Haining 3?9 s Víctor 265 8

Dickens nos regala una serie de terroríficos relatos cortos que tienen como punto fuerte una ambientación única que te transporta a la escena, pero por contra, su trama es un tanto floja, lo que hace que no termines de enfrascarte del todo en la narración.

Las notas que les doy:

1. Para leer al anochecer 3
2. El guardavías 5
3. El juicio por asesinato 4
4. La casa encantada 3
5. El fantasma de la habitación de la desposada 3
6. El letrado y el fantasma 3
7. Fantasmas de Navidad 3
8. Cuatro historias de fantasmas 3
9. Pálpitos confirmados 2
10. La visita del señor Testador 3
11. La historia del retratista 4
12. El Capitán Asesino y el pacto con el diablo 4
13. El niño que soñó con una estrella 2classics horror8 s Andrew??291 22

I have always admired Charles Dickens' ability to tell stories. Thanks to this book, I discovered that his talent for ghost stories goes beyond 'A Christmas Carol'. Here he shows us a fascination for ghosts and the macabre that thanks to his talent leads to this masterpiece, a collection of stories dealing with this electrifying genre.

The stories are short, often only a few pages, the account of a fact, an event that occurred to the main character or a legend transmitted by word of mouth. Only some of them are divided into several parts, such as ‘The haunted house’, others are disturbing or bizarre ‘Captain Murderer and the Devil's Bargain’ and ‘The Signal-Man’ or exciting ‘A Confession Found in a Prison in the Time of Charles The Second’, to name a few of my favorites. There are also five stories from ‘The Pickwick Papers’, mostly focused on ghost appearances.

There is a bit of everything: disturbing stories, tales of pending business to be completed, bizarre and macabre coincidences. All told by a great narrator of modern ghost stories, written in a beautiful and flowing style, still thrilling for today's readers.

At the end of the book, there are some ghost stories written by those authors who influenced Dickens in his formative years (ex. Lord Byron, Ann Radcliffe, Gregory Lewis Mary Shelley, to name a few).ebooks10 s Bruce BeckhamAuthor 38 books423

What I really d about this book was the ability to ‘dip into Dickens’. I recall taking 6 months to read Bleak House – and night after night having to retrace my steps, one back, two forward, if I was lucky. Some of the stories in this anthology are as short as a single page. No danger of nodding off or losing the thread there.

As a bonus, Dickens’ ghosts seem to be possessed (hah-ha) of the author’s sense of humour – which makes for light reading amidst the often-dense text; indeed he strikes a fine balance between credibility and mischief.

A couple of the stories seemed to veer slightly off the rails (perhaps I was missing something?), and I felt the inclusion of A Christmas Carol (66 pages) was a bit of a cheat – but this was a padding-out decision taken by the publisher, and no blame can be attached to the author. Sure – it’s a ghost story – but it was the new and varied material that I enjoyed the most.

And at the usual Wordsworth Classics bargain price – it’s an old Scrooge that complains when a good read costs less than a regular Starbucks.
6 s nats551 10

Algunos de los relatos son muy buenos, y te inspiran simpatía hacia ciertos personajes. Otros me resultaron un poco aburridos. En todo caso, no es un libro que dé miedo. Imagino que en el siglo XIX la gente era mucho más susceptible, pero para el lector de hoy estos relatos no son demasiado fantasmagóricos. 5 s Ruthie Jones1,028 55

While I have read several of these stories before (including A Christmas Carol), many of them were new to me. I prefer Dickens's longer works because he is such a master of detail and description. None of the stories were actually scary, but they probably had lots of scariness for the readers way back when. Dickens mixes quite a dose of satire into pretty much all his works, and these ghost stories are no exception.

I have to comment on one of the stories: The Haunted House
This one started out quite exciting and even a bit funny. Suddenly, the main character goes off on a side story and never returns. I was quite disappointed because I thought I might claim it as my favorite in this collection. Ah well.

I had to keep checking this one out of the library because I kept putting it aside to read other things. The stories don't really take that long to read.library-book5 s Catie1,463 54

Read October 2016 on IG with @bookishsteph1, @pagesandcup, @booksnot, @bagfullofbooks. #EekHouseBuddiesWithATwist

Favorite Short Stories:

• The Queer Chair - The Bagman's Story
• The Ghost's of the Mail - The Story of the Bagman's Uncle
• The Haunted House
• The Signalman
• Four Ghost Stories - The First Storybook-club buddy-reads classics ...more5 s Monica. A365 36

Sarà la mia incompatibilità con i racconti ma ho trovato un Dickens poco convincente come scrittore di ghost stories.
Forse nei racconti più lunghi riesce a coinvolgere maggiormente ( Da leggersi all'imbrunire, La stanza fantasma e L'ossesso e il patto con il fantasma) ma per il resto scrive più come uno scettico che come uno che vuole convincere il lettore della veridicità dei fatti. Alcuni racconti iniziano e finiscono senza lasciare nulla, senza creare pathos, con un finale frettoloso e spiazzante.
Se primo fra tutti è lo scrittore a non crederci, come può il lettore anche solo provarci?
La casa dei fantasmi poi era già presente nel volume scritto a più mani intitolato Le stanze dei fantasmi.

1. Il manoscritto di un pazzo
2. La strana sedia
3. L'avvocato e lo spettro
4. Storia dei folletti che rapirono un becchino
5. I fantasmi della posta
6. Il barone Koeldwethout e lo spirito
7. Confessione trovata in una prigione al tempo di Carlo II
8. Da leggersi all'imbrunire
9. La camera fantasma
10. Occhio agli spiriti!
11. La casa dei fantasmi
12. Mr Testator e l'apparizione
13. Capitan Assassino e il patto con il diavolo
14. Quattro storie di fantasmi
15. Processo per omicidio
16. Il segnalatore
17. L'ossesso e il patto con il fantasma
18. Il bambino che sognava la stella
19. L'albero di Nataleclassici gotico-giallo-horror inghilterra ...more5 s Agustina Uliarte169 26

Me gustaron mucho las historias que contaron pero no me transmitieron mucho más que asombro.4 s Vanessa901 1,219

This was an interesting collection of short stories, some considerably shorter than others. It was interesting to see that some of the stories had been taken from Dickens' full-length novels, as I couldn't imagine them tying into a longer text in any way!
There were some stories however that I found quite hard to get through in comparison to others. When I picked this up, it was on Christmas Day specifically so I could read 'A Christmas Carol', even though this was not the first short story in the collection. I then went back to the beginning to read the rest. I enjoyed 'A Christmas Carol', although it was by no means the best story in the collection. My personal favourites were 'A Madman's Manuscript', 'The Ghost in the Bride's Chamber', 'The Trial for Murder', and 'Captain Murderer and the Devil's Bargain'. 'A Child's Dream of a Star' was also very melancholy and beautiful.
If you Dickens' humorous style of writing, I would definitely recommend picking this up. You won't always every story in a collection this, but it's worth reading for the ones you do !4 s Ephelia72 2

Come scrisse H. P. Lovecraft: «[...] quegli autori i quali credono nell'occulto sono probabilmente meno efficaci dei materialisti nel delineare il mondo degli spiriti e dell'irrealtà: per loro questo mondo costituisce una realtà tanto scontata che sono portati a trattarla con un timore riverente, un senso di estraneità e una solennità molto inferiori rispetto a coloro che vedono in quel mondo una situazione assoluta e portentosa [...] dell'ordine naturale.»

Charles Dickens fa parte proprio di quei materialisti che, anche se interessati all'occulto (praticava persino una sorta di mesmerismo o "magnetismo animale"), ne scrive spesso in tono ironico e beffardo, come si nota in molto racconti presenti in questa raccolta come per esempio La casa infestata o Se ci sei batti un colpo. Come sappiamo Dickens è stato uno dei maggiori scrittori di ghost story e newgate novels (dal nome del famoso carcere inglese, le newgate novels sono racconti crime con, di solito, crimini violenti e spesso sensazionalistici), e in questo libro ne vengono raccolte molte, non solo ghost story e newgate novels, ma anche gotiche e folkloristiche, in forma di racconti a se stanti, pubblicati magari sui numerosi periodici curati dallo stesso Dickens, ma anche tratti dai suoi celebri romanzi come David Copperfield o Il Circolo Pickwick.
Molto interessante l'ultima parte di questa raccolta che raccoglie brani, lettere e brevi racconti dei "maestri del gotico" predecessori di Dickens (e che lui stesso leggeva) come Ann Radcliffe, Mary Shelley (interessante il racconto dell'incubo che ha poi generato il suo Frankenstein) o Matthew Gregory Lewis, soprannominato «Monk» Lewis per via del suo famoso (e unico) romanzo gotico Il Monaco.

Tutta la produzione "soprannaturale" (e non solo) di Dickens è intrisa della sua esuberante inventiva e ironia, si va dal macabro al sentimentale, dal folkloristico al gotico, dal raccapricciante allo scettico-positivistico e non mancano qua e la riferimenti autobiografici che rendono tutta la sua varia produzione, a distanza di secoli, ancora così apprezzata sia dai lettori che da registi e sceneggiatori di film e serie tv, che continuano a produrre opere tratte dai suoi romanzi e dalla sua vita; proprio per questi motivi Dickens è indubbiamente uno dei miei autori preferiti e leggere questa raccolta non solo mi ha fatto molto piacere ma mi ha anche molto divertita e, cercando di non correre troppo nella lettura, me la sono goduta.
Sono stata felicissima anche di aver ritrovato fra le pagine di questa raccolta uno dei miei racconti preferiti, Il segnalatore, letto per la prima volta probabilmente in qualche raccolta tematica della Abeditore, il quale è senza ombra di dubbio una delle ghost story (se non la prima fra tutte) che più mi inquieta e mi fa accapponare la pelle.

Sicuramente questa è una raccolta che consiglio a tutt?, sia a chi già ha letto romanzi e racconti di Dickens e vuole avere in un unico libro la maggior parte della sua produzione "soprannaturale", così da rileggere qualche racconto appena se ne ha voglia, sia a chi si affaccia al mondo dickensiano per la prima volta, così da farsi un’idea del suo stile e avere l’occasione di leggere alcuni brani tratti dai suoi romanzi più famosi.3 s Ricardo Parra M.89 5

Como toda antología, tiene relatos interesantes y otros aburridos. A groso modo, es una recopilación sobresaliente.

Dickens tiene una forma particular de contar cuentos y eso es admirable, sobre todo aquellos que se desarrollan en navidad; sin embargo, ese elemento victoriano no me alcanza a calzar, trato de huirle a las novelas históricas porque me parecen demasiado densas de procesar, por muy buena trama que tengan.

Independientemente de eso, la gran mayoría tienen una narración sencilla y otras que, aun tendiéndola, no logran entenderse muy bien (y tal vez sea la traducción, no lo sé). Como sea, estos son los cuentos que más me gustaron:

El guardavías
El fantasma en la habitación de la desposada
Fantasmas de navidad
Cuatro historias de fantasmas
Pálpitos confirmados
La visita del señor testador 3 s Jason DonoghueAuthor 4 books34

Charles Dickens seemed to only write one good story. (A Christmas carol) everything else he wrote was done at a level which could easily be matched by a novice writer. If a writer today submitted the stories in this book to a publisher they would be laughed at, with no future ahead of them in this industry.

Each story lacks build up or climax or even an interesting plot. And i find the writing below par novice writing bad story telling and honestly not worth reading. This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review3 s Ulises Garcia44 2

Cuenta con historias muy buenas y otras que son(o se sienten para mí) totalmente de relleno y son refritos de otras historias del compendio, me agrado, cumple con ser historias de fantasmas.1 Christine6,869 525

I have a very, very strange relationship with Mr. Charles Dickens. Before I knew anything about his private life, I would read one of his books and love it. The next book I read, I would dis. You know the dis that makes you bang your head against the desk. The dis of nails on a blackboard. For instance, I love Great Expectations, but I can't stand A Tale of Two Cities.
Despite, my relationship with Dickens's longer novels, most of his short fiction, especially his ghost stories, I have always enjoyed. I still enjoy them, even though at least in terms of his private life, Dickens sounds a bit of putz (I think that is the word I want). He thought Little Red Riding Hood was the perfect girl. (I always thought she was bit slow. It's a talking wolf. They don't talk. You should be running, you twit).

This collection includes 12 of Dickens best known ghost stories. I'm not sure that all of them all the "best". It does include "A Christmas Carol", the most famous of them all. Let's start with that one before it becomes the elephant and the gorilla lurking in the background.

"A Christmas Carol" has to be the most overdone, over reference, over used Dickens story ever. The most recent movie version of the tale called it "the greatest Christmas story ever". This confused me. Shouldn't one Christmas story, the one about Christ, be the greatest Christmas story ever? After all that's where we get the name from. :shakes head:

"A Christmas Carol", however, is a wonderful story. It has wonderful, beautiful detail. And Vicky, you're right. Dickens is hilarious. My favorite line is "Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now". To be fair to Dickens, he does a wonderful job with women in the story as well. It is true that we never know the names of Bob's wife or Scrooge's niece, but they have spirited (and are just in their criticism). Additionally, who doesn't Mrs Fezziwig? Dickens works in much about the human condition, industrial evils, and the , but there is wonderful joy in the novel, and the teller of the story is really a wonderful character as well. A very likable character as well.

It's true that the story is overdone. How many film versions exist after all? You have the Muppets, Disney, Sim, Scott, the Lifetime adaptions (gag), Stewart, and others I am no doubt forgetting. And then there are the short stories and tv shows. What reading (or in my case rereading) the story does is remind of you two things. How good the story is and how good (or bad) some of the film versions are. The best film versions keep all the detail. Sim and Stewart stick closely to the novella, taking large chunks of dialogue. For instance, in the Patrick Stewart version Bob picks up the poker to attack the reformed Scrooge. Bob thinks, at first, Scrooge needs to be put in a padded room. Even though I have read and seen and heard the story countless times, it still reads fresh.

The rest of the stories in the volume, come from Christmas Editions or
The Pickwick Papers for the most part. "The Goblins who Stole a Sexton" is a forerunner of "A Christmas Carol" and makes an interesting comparison.

Outside of "Carol" my favorite tales are "The Queer Chair", "The Baron of Grogzwig", "The Trial for Murder", and "The Signalman".

"The Queer Chair" is one of the funniest ghost stories ever written. It truly is. The narrator sounds extactly the man from "Carol".

"The Baron of Grogzwig" is funny because it comments on marriage and suicide. It is rather interesting that it is a story that deals with suicide in a humor filled vein. The more cynical part of me wonders how much Dickens saw himself in the Baron.

Both "Trial" and "Signalman" are good tradition ghost stories. "Signalman" has at least inspired one television version (an episode of Poltergeist: The Legacy). Their inclusion brings the ghost story rightly back to the spooky and shows that Dickens could master humor and terror.ghost-fiction literature-english3 s Graziano780 4

Il miglior racconto: Il segnalatore (The Signalman); tra l’altro è l’unico ricompreso nella raccolta Ghost Stories, Delphi Classics (ebook scaricabile gratuitamente dal sito della Delphi - https://www.delphiclassics.com/ -.

Per associazione mi sovviene la grande magnanimità di Sua Santità … della Biblioteca Civica di Verona che, in questi giorni giubilari, concede la possibilità di scaricare ben due ebooks (ripeto uno + uno, e non cito Dostoevskij che scriveva due + due) invece di uno al mese (come succede solitamente ed anche a febbraio, per giunta!).

Alla notizia mi levai il cappello (o bareta - in dialetto veneto - che fosse) e mi prostrai. Il colpo della strega che ne conseguì mi impedisce di leggere agevolmente seduto in poltrona (probabilmente l’esimio e benemerito aveva ragione: non si possono leggere più di due ebooks al mese).
Jawohl, meine Fuerher!

Per associazione, ancora una volta, la doppia esse di Sua Santità mi sovviene di un’altra doppia esse, i quali ultimi per scaldarsi le mani nelle notti gelide teutoniche bruciavano i libri per impedirne la lettura.

Ma tutte queste associazioni ci conducono solo ad un unico risultato: vietare la lettura dei libri!

Infine ben sappiamo che l’esimio di cui sopra preferisce (essendo sprovvisto di olfatto) che i suoi sudditi (ossia i frequentatori assidui della biblioteca) siano solo persone che nulla hanno a che fare con la lettura dei libri e la deduzione logica non può essere che la seguente: un ebook o due ebooks non fa differenza, l’importante è la poltrona conquistata geometricamente (come Spinoza: Ethica more geometrico demonstrata): con una esposizione a 90° ai vari politicanti.

Alcuni brani:

Signori, il ponce caldo è una cosa piacevole – estremamente piacevole in ogni circostanza – ma in quella vecchia accogliente saletta, davanti al fuoco scoppiettante col vento fuori che soffiava tanto da far scricchiolare ogni trave della vecchia casa, Tom Smart lo trovò paradisiaco.
(52)

Seduta accanto a lui su una lapide verticale stava una strana figura spettrale, che, Gabriel lo capí subito, non apparteneva a questo mondo.
(65)

la nostra storia ha almeno una morale: che se un uomo è triste e beve da solo la sera di Natale, può star certo che non ci guadagnerà nulla…
(72)

Non ho mai confuso lo scampanellare dello spettro con quello dell’uomo. Il suono del fantasma è come una strana vibrazione nel campanello che non è provocata da niente di esterno; e non ho detto che la campana vibri in modo visibile all’occhio.
(206)

Quella gentile signora nubile aveva come abito mentale una forte vena di superstizione, e tra le altre inclinazioni, le piaceva leggere in solitudine, nella propria stanza, vicino a una candela infilata in un candeliere che aveva ricavato da un teschio umano.
(268)

Gorgoni, e Idre, e Chimere – truci storie di Celeno e delle Arpie – si possono riprodurre nel cervello della superstizione, ma c’erano già da prima. Esse sono trascrizioni, tipi: gli archetipi sono in noi, ed eterni.
(280)e-books2 s BiondyAuthor 9 books226

"Charles Dickens' Ghost Stories" adalah kumpulan cerita bertemakan hantu yang ditulis oleh Charles Dickens. Buku ini terdiri "hanya" atas 3 cerita, tapi dua di antaranya punya panjang yang setara dengan sebuah novela.

1. Kidung Natal (A Christmas Carol)

Kisah klasik tentang Ebenezer Scrooge, seorang pria tua kikir yang dikunjungi oleh hantu seorang rekan kerjanya. Dalam penyesalan kematiannya, rekan Scrooge mengatakan kalau Scrooge akan dikunjungi oleh tiga hantu yang akan memberikan pelajaran untuk pria itu.

Cerita ini sering sekali didaur ulang dalam berbagai versi. Entah kartun, drama, musikal, hingga opera. Kebetulan saya juga sudah baca versi bahasa Inggrisnya, jadi ini semacam membaca ulang sebuah karya yang sudah akrab bahkan sebelum saya baca karya penulis aslinya.

2. Anak yang Memimpikan Bintang (A Child's Dream of a Star)

Cerita pendek tentang seorang bocah laki-laki yang memiliki seorang saudari. Saat saudarinya itu meninggal, dia melihat roh sang gadis tinggal di sebuah bintang. Sejak itulah dia terobsesi untuk pergi ke bintang itu.

3. Lelaki yang Dihantui & Penawaran Sang Hantu (The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain)

Bercerita tentang Redlaw, seorang dosen kimia dengan masa lalu kelam yang membuatnya hidup sendirian. Suatu ketika sesosok hantu yang mirip dirinya muncul dan menawarkan untuk menghapus ingatan kelam Redlaw. Pria itu setuju, tanpa sadar bahwa dia baru saja kehilangan sesuatu yang membentuknya menjadi sosok dirinya yang utuh.

Ceritanya punya tema yang menarik. Kadang ada orang yang suka berpikir, betapa enaknya kalau bisa melupakan suatu ingatan yang mengganggu. Cerita ini mengeksplorasi hal itu dan sampai pada kesimpulan kalau yang terbaik justru jika kita mengingat hal itu.

"[...] bukankah hal ini suatu berkah yang istimewa bagi Anda, karena Anda dapat mengingat sebuah kesalahan di masa lalu, lalu memaafkannya?" (hal. 247)

Terjemahannya sudah cukup enak diikuti, tapi typo-nya banyak banget. Kovernya juga lebih mengingatkan pada Poe (karena ada gagaknya) daripada Dickens, tapi secara keseluruhan buku ini rekomendasi bagi yang mau berkenalan dengan karya-karya Charles Dickens.klasik kumpulan-cerpen3 s Edgar TrevizoAuthor 18 books62

Debo hacer una corrección: al comenzar el libro y leer el primer relato, me pareció que no estaba nada mal, aunque, comparándolo con Henry James, pues quedaba un tanto lejos. Ahora, habiendo (casi) terminado el tomo, tengo que reconocer que la distancia, al menos en este género, es insalvable. Dickens sí cree en fantasmas, pero como objetos de estudio, no como detonadores del horror; en cambio James no hace aparecer ninguno en sus textos, pero el terror es omnipresente (como pude comprobarlo anoche, al releer las primeras dos páginas de "Otra vuelta de tuerca" y sufrir un mini infarto al escuchar un ruido del otro lado de mi ventana...). Es una suerte de paradoja que la presencia de los fantasmas en uno no asuste y que la ausencia de ellos en otro horrorice. Da qué pensar, especialmente sobre el poder de la imaginación y de la ambientación literaria. Me quedo, sin duda, con James.3 s Emma Sadler143 1 followerRead

This collection of ghost stories by Charles Dickens was a mixed bag. The stories varied in length and, to be honest, quality. A Christmas Carol was included which is one of my favourite stories. It also included The Haunted Man which I will admit I did not finish because I simply could not follow the story. I really enjoyed The Signalman. Some of the “stories” seemed more notes, or musings that Dickens had put to paper.advent-challenge3 s Ndrunella86 2

Un breve tuffo nelle storie di uno scettico. Perché in fondo in fondo emerge, nell'ironia tagliente di Dickens, il pensiero di un uomo che gioca con paure che non ha. Sono spettri a distanza di sicurezza, che più che spaventosi sanno essere quasi educativi.3 s kyma_booklover409 37

Yo no soy para nada de leer libros de relatos, siempre tengo la sensación de que se me quedan demasiado cortos, como si estuvieran cojos. Sin embargo, me llamó la atención esta recopilación y la leí en ebiblio. Me ha gustado mucho.

Ha habido varios relatos que me han gustado mucho. No son para nada de miedo, o por lo menos yo no he sentido miedo en ningún momento, pero sin con varios he sentido la sensación de estar leyendo una buena historia. Quizá en la época en la que se escribieron este tipo de historia podía asustar a la gente, hoy en día creo que nada más lejos de la realidad.

Dickens consigue atraparte y hace que quieras seguir leyendo el próximo relato a ver qué tal es. Me ha gustado mucho la ambientación que consigue en prácticamente todas sus historias. Conseguía que te sumergieras mucho más en las historias.

Es el primer libro de Charles Dickens que leo entero y me ha gustado mucho la experiencia. Lo recomiendo totalmente.
2 s Guillermo Maddalena401 2

Flojo!!! escritores-as-letra-d2 s Chiara144 2

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