The Ghost Stories of E. F. Benson
Written by E.F. Benson
Narrated by Cathy Dobson
4/5
()
About this audiobook
1.The Room in the Tower
2.The Dust Cloud
3. Gavon’s Eve
4. The Other Bed
5. The Bus Conductor
6.The Confession of Charles Linkworth
7.Caterpillars
8. The Cat
9. The House with the Brick Kiln
10. The Bath Chair
11. The Man who went too Far
12. Outside the Door
13. The Gardener
14. Bagnell Terrace
15. The Terror by Night
16. The Thing in the Hall
17. The Step
18. The Horror Horn
19. The Face
20. At the Farmhouse
E.F. Benson
Edward Frederic Benson (1867–1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist, and short story writer. Benson was the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury and member of a distinguished and eccentric family. After attending Marlborough and King’s College, Cambridge, where he studied classics and archaeology, he worked at the British School of Archaeology in Athens. A great humorist, he achieved success at an early age with his first novel, Dodo(1893). Benson was a prolific author, writing over one hundred books including serious novels, ghost stories, plays, and biographies. But he is best remembered for his Lucia and Mapp comedies written between 1920 and 1939 and other comic novels such as Paying Guests and Mrs Ames. Benson served as mayor of Rye, the Sussex town that provided the model for his fictional Tilling, from 1934 to 1937.
More audiobooks from E.F. Benson
The Complete Mapp and Lucia, Vol. 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sanctuary Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Complete Mapp and Lucia, Vol. 2: Mapp and Lucia, Lucia’s Progress, and Trouble for Lucia Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Terror by Night Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghost Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Queen Lucia Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to The Ghost Stories of E. F. Benson
Related audiobooks
The Moonlit Road Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stories for Uneasy Dreams: Tales of Strange Beds and Stranger Nightmares Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dark: Stories of Madness, Murder and the Supernatural Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bloodcurdling Ghost Stories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Body of Horror, A - A Short Story Volume: Horror tales with bodyparts playing a supernatural role Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gateway of the Monster: Carnacki The Ghost-Finder Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Great Ghost Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Carnacki, the Ghost Finder Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Library Window Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Empty House and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Collection of Ghost Stories, A (Unabridged) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Supernatural Horror Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In a Glass Darkly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tales of the Supernatural Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Room in the Tower Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5M.R. James: The Complete Ghost Stories Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ghost Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Haunted Houses: Two Novels from Charlotte Riddell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghost Stories of an Antiquary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Selected Tales of Mystery & Terror Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Haunted Hotel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Terror of Blue John Gap Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Vampyre: And Other Short Gothic Tales Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Outcast and Other Dark Tales by E.F. Benson Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLost Hearts Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Red Hand Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDracula's Guest and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tool Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Thrillers For You
The Silent Patient Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Guest List: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Teacher Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Housemaid Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Listen for the Lie: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Lie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Did I Kill You?: A Thriller Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hidden Pictures: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Perfect Marriage: a completely gripping psychological suspense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Terminal List: A Thriller Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Flicker in the Dark: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last House on Needless Street Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Dangerous Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Inmate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rose Code: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Huntress: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Local Woman Missing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Holly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Perfect: A Thriller That Will Grab You By Your DNA Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hunting Party: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bright Young Women: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wrong Place Wrong Time: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Billy Summers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The It Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fool Me Once Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Ghost Stories of E. F. Benson
60 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I've read volumes of Benson's selected stories before, but never the whole kit and kaboodle, so I figured what better time than the present? I continued to like the stories I'd previously enjoyed, but found some new gems here too, like "Pirates" and "Negotium Perambulans."
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The blurb on the back of my copy of this book states that this edition is "one book that no fan of Benson or of good storytelling can afford to miss." Since this is a book of ghost stories, I'll add that this volume is a definite no-miss if you are a fan of the well-told, classic ghostly tale. At 672 pages, this book became my leisurely go-to, late-night, under-the-covers read to be enjoyed once the house was quiet rather than a one-sitting kind of thing, and thinking back on it, I see a great deal of merit in approaching the book this way.There are 54 stories in this collection that encompass ghostly visitations, physical manifestations of evil, devil worship, revenge, vampires, spiritualism, and my perpetual favorite category in ghost stories, haunted houses. None of these tales are your garden variety ghost story -- many, as Richard Dalby states in his introduction, have an "autobiographical thread" that runs through them, an important notion to consider as you read. For example, some of his stories feature domineering women or women who, for no apparent reason, were the perpetuators of evil; Joan Aiken's foreward explains that Benson had an "underlying fear and dislike of ... "the large, bossy, dynamic, interfering, knowing kind of women." In making one woman a vampire, for example, his contempt and fear become obvious. In others the main character is a bachelor happiest in the company of a good male friend; still others feature men who limp who may also represent Benson, who later in life suffered from arthritis severe enough to require the use of "two sticks" to walk. The thing is, even if you don't really care about the sources of Benson's inspiration, the stories alone are enough to keep you interested in his work.While a few of the stories here failed to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up straight, and while some were just kind of silly (mostly those dealing with mediums and spiritualism), I found a number of disturbing tales that I really liked and which got a second read: "The Dust Cloud," which first appeared in 1906 and reflects anxiety about the new technology of motorcars that seem "to possess an independent life" of their own; "The Shootings of Achnaleish" (1906), where modern hunters clash with the traditional beliefs of highlanders in a remote village; "Negotium Perambulans," (1922) set in an isolated village in Cornwall; "Mrs. Amworth," a vampire story; "Reconciliation," and "Expiation," both haunted house stories; "The Face," a definite chiller, as is "The Step," probably one of the creepiest in the entire collection. I also liked "The Temple" for its menacing atmosphere and "Pirates" which really reminded me somehow of Peter Pan. The problem with putting together a volume such as this one is that Benson's stories are often formulaic, especially in the ones where a man goes to spend time with a friend at a country house that is the site of strange, ethereal events, but I found that my piecemeal approach helped to break up some of the sameness. Overall, it is an excellent collection and like most any other anthology, you have some stories that really work for you along with those that won't. With only a few exceptions, especially in those stories where evil is manifested in giant, disgusting slugs, the horror in this volume is cerebral, geared to those who prefer to experience the disturbing dread in their minds rather than see it spelled out and splashed out onto the pages. If you are an avid reader of the old, classic ghost story, you'll definitely want to add this to your reading list. Benson was a master craftsman of the genre, and deserves to be more widely read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Like most large collections of stories originally published in a variety of venues over quite a period of time, there is some variation in quality. However, that said, there are many frightening stories, many moving stories and few that are not at the very least, solid. A must have for any true fan of Benson and an enjoyable introduction to him for those who are not already fans.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5If M.R. James was the king of the British ghost story, E.F. Benson ranks as a prince or archduke. Not quite as good as the Cambridge don, Benson nevertheless wrote many fine, chilling tales when he wasn't busy with Mapp and Lucia. Highlights here include two classic vampire tales ("Mrs. Amworth" and "The Room in the Tower"); proto-Lovecraftian glimpses of space-time deconstruction ("In the Tubeway" and "Bagnell Terrace"); and stories of horrible entities from the Other World ("Negotium Perambulans" and "And No Bird Sang"). A good, thick anthology for reading by firelight on a winter's night.