The Virago Book of Ghost Stories: The Twentieth Century: Vol 2

by Richard Dalby | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 1853812595 Global Overview for this book
Registered by Koalabare of Fetcham, Surrey United Kingdom on 2/5/2005
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7 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by Koalabare from Fetcham, Surrey United Kingdom on Saturday, February 5, 2005
Although I'm not usually one for ghost stories, I spotted this one in a second hand book shop and it sort of called to me!

This is a great collection of stories by some of the 20th century's best women writers, including Antonia Fraser, Joan Aiken, A.S. Byatt, Ruth Rendell, Richmal Compton and Penelope Lively, with the stories themselves ranging in era from the turn of the 19th century up to the late 1970s and early 1980s.

While all having ghostly themes, the stories range in tone from humourous to sad to darkly, neck-prickly creepy. ('With or Without Buttons' by Mary Butts is a good example of this). While some are straight-forward ghost stories, others play on pyschological fears, leaving uncertainties as to whether the ghosts are really there, or in the mind of the characters and reader...

All of these stories are good - my favourites were 'The Station Road' by Ann Bridge, 'Afterward' by Edith Wharton and 'The Haunting of Shawley Rectory' by Ruth Rendell, all 'traditional' ghost stories that raised shivers down the spine, while 'Who's Been Sitting In My Car?' by Antonia Fraser was also excellent - but much more unsettling, with its overtones of sexual abuse and pyschological fear.

A great collection - I'll now be looking out for the first volume!

Journal Entry 2 by Koalabare from Fetcham, Surrey United Kingdom on Tuesday, March 1, 2005
This is going on a bookring!

Bold = where the book is at the moment

ScarletBea - Switzerland
Jenatleisure - UK
WillowSnow - UK
Caligula03 - USA
CheriePie - USA
Sistert - USA
Nekki2976 - USA

And back to me if no-one else is interested.

Please add a note when you recieve the book, and again when you've read it.
Please also try not to keep the book longer than about a month - if you think that you won't get to read it in that time, ping me a message and we can work something out :)
Lastly, these stories aren't too terrifying, but don't blame me if you read them late at night alone in a spooky house with a whistling wind outside and then can't sleep! ;)

Enjoy!

Journal Entry 3 by Koalabare from Fetcham, Surrey United Kingdom on Saturday, March 12, 2005
This is now on the way to ScarletBea - sorry about the wait, folks - a mixture of Real Life (coursework deadlines) and mishap (the post-office suddenly closing) meant that sending this out was delayed for a week.

Still, on the way now - hope you all enjoy it!

Journal Entry 4 by ScarletBea from Honley, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, March 16, 2005
I've received this today :)

Journal Entry 5 by ScarletBea from Honley, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, March 23, 2005
A very interesting book, I loved almost all stories!
They weren't the 'sensationalist' type at all, I believe all authors are extremely 'respectable' hehe

Some did give me the shivers....

(will be sent to Jenatleisure on saturday)

Journal Entry 6 by ScarletBea from Honley, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on Saturday, April 9, 2005
Just sent it today.
Sorry, but all post offices that I walked by in London were closed on the saturday of my holidays...

Journal Entry 7 by Jenatleisure from Chobham, Surrey United Kingdom on Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Arrived safely in the post the other day with a thud on the mat with a couple of other books so much so that my partner thought I had won the sweepstake. Looking forward to these short stories after my heavier reading.

May 9th sorry I tried several times to read these but I just couldnt get into them, read a few but cant I just didnt find them gripping. May be too much else going on in real life they just seemed dated. Am sending on to Willowsnow.
Thanks for sharing the book, koalabare

Journal Entry 8 by WillowSnow from Weston-super-Mare , Somerset United Kingdom on Monday, May 16, 2005
I recieved this book today. I'm looking forward to reading it, I'm going to start tonight.

Journal Entry 9 by WillowSnow from Weston-super-Mare , Somerset United Kingdom on Monday, June 27, 2005
I appologise for keeping this book for over a month.

I have tried on a couple of occasions to get into this book, but I could not manage it.

I have PM'd Caligula03 and have recieved her address to send the book onto her the next time I am at the post office, which will be later this week.

Update 03/07/05: I sent this book to Caligula03 yesterday.

Journal Entry 10 by caligula03 from Hayward, California USA on Tuesday, August 2, 2005
Book has arrived. Thank you.

Journal Entry 11 by caligula03 from Hayward, California USA on Tuesday, August 30, 2005
An entertaining mixture of stories. I tended to prefer the shorter stories. My favorites of the set were "The Book" by Margaret Irwin, "Don't Tell Cissie" by Celia Fremlin and "No. 17" by E. Nesbit. "The Book" warns against the temptation to read anything and everything. Some books may have agendas of their own! "Don't Tell Cissie" is a fairly predictable "who is the ghost?" type story but is told in a very humorous way. "No. 17" is a classic shaggy dog story that made me laugh at the ending.

Journal Entry 12 by caligula03 at on Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Released 18 yrs ago (9/16/2005 UTC) at

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Mailing to CheriePie.

Journal Entry 13 by CheriePie from Campbell, California USA on Tuesday, October 4, 2005
Got here today... must've taken the loooong route from CA to MA as it took 3 weeks. (Yeah, I realize that's okay for Media Mail, but it usually takes much shorter than that.)

I've got a few ring and ray books ahead of it in my queue, but should be able to get started on it within the next few weeks. Actually since there's so many short stories contained within, I might read a few of them at a time in between the other ring and ray books I've got ahead of it. :)

Journal Entry 14 by CheriePie from Campbell, California USA on Thursday, November 10, 2005
I enjoyed some of these stories more than others. After reviewing past journal entries for this book, I made sure to read the ones that others mentioned or particularly liked, and they were probably my favorites too. I had read a few that weren't mentioned by others and found some of them harder to get into so I decided to stick to the recommended ones. Overall a fairly decent read in the style of Lovecraft.

I messaged Nekki2976 for her address before I left for vacation so I have it ready to send off to her now. It'll be going out later today via Media Mail.

Journal Entry 15 by CheriePie from Campbell, California USA on Wednesday, January 4, 2006
I messaged nekki2976 to ask if she'd ever received this book that I mailed to her (from MA to NY) nearly 2 months ago. Or perhaps if she had simply forgotten to journal it. Here's her reply:
Hello CheriePie,
I apologize. It did for some reason take awhile to get here (I got in in
early December). However, I was caught up in many things/fires at my new
job and neglected to journal it. I found it by my couch on New Year's Eve
and PMed the next person so it can get going again and I don't hold it up
any longer by reading it.

nekki2976
http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/nekki2976


Since Necole hadn't updated the journal entry to reflect it's current status, I hope she doesn't mind that I pasted her reply here. :)

Journal Entry 16 by nekki2976 from Mumford, New York USA on Monday, September 3, 2007
Long lost book!

I have this... and found it as I was packing to move. I'm going to PM Koalabare so it can come home.

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