From legends retold around the peat fire to modern stories of psychological terror, the Irish have always had a fascination with fear. Drawn from 200 years of short story writing, this book includes 24 powerful Irish tales with more than enough material to set pulses racing: satanic figures, ghosts, and hapless victims fleeing from their inescapable dooms. Writers includes such giants of classic horror fiction as Bram Stoker, Sax Rohmer, and Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu; masters like George Bernard Shaw, John Millington Synge, and Dorothy Macardle; and such modern exponents of the genre as Brian Cleeve, Jack Higgins, and Neil Jordan.
Contents
9 Introduction (Great Irish Tales of Horror) essay by Peter Haining
17 The Morgan Score short story by Jack Higgins
31 The Doomed Sisters short story by Charles Maturin (variant of Leixlip Castle 1825) [as by Charles Robert Maturin]
45 The Child Who Loved a Grave short story by Fitz-James O'Brien (variant of The Child That Loved a Grave 1861)
51 The Diplomatist's Story (1955) short fiction by Shane Leslie
60 The Portrait of Roisin Dhu (1924) short story by Dorothy Macardle
69 Danse Macabre (1949) short story by L. A. G. Strong
76 The Happy Autumn Fields (1944) short story by Elizabeth Bowen
93 Mr Murphy and the Angel short story by Brian Cleeve
109 The Raising of Elvira Tremlett (1977) short story by William Trevor
127 The Unburied Legs (1827) short story by Gerald Griffin
133 The Man from Shorrox' (1894) short story by Bram Stoker
147 A House Possessed (1912) novelette by Sax Rohmer
167 The Miraculous Revenge (1885) short story by George Bernard Shaw
188 Five Pounds of Flesh short story by J. M. Synge
194 The Watcher o' the Dead (1929) short story by John Guinan
206 The Samhain Feis (1984) short story by Peter Tremayne
227 Fly Away Finger, Fly Away Thumb (1953) short story by Brian Moore
236 Footsteps in the Lobby (1838) short story by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
245 The Cedar Closet (1874) short story by Lafcadio Hearn [as by Patrick Lafcadio Hearn]
255 Will (1899) short story by Vincent O'Sullivan
262 The Bride (1902) short story by M. P. Shiel
275 Encounter at Night (1935) short story by Mary Frances McHugh
280 Arachnophobia short story by Catherine Brophy
292 Last Rites (1976) short story by Neil Jordan

New York: Barnes & Noble

Barnes & Noble Books

Silver Lining Books

Marboro Books

United States, United States of America

New York, ©1995

New York, 1997

April 2005

[curator]sean@archive.org[/curator][date]20091105223208[/date][state]approved[/state][comment]199[/comment]

Introduction
Lurking Shadows: Stories of Fear
The Morgan Score
The Doomed Sisters
The Child Who Loved a Grave
The Diplomatist's Story
The Portrait of Roisin Dhu
Danse Macabre
The Happy Autumn Fields
Mr Murphy and the Angel
Wake Not the Dead: Traditional Terror
The Raising of Elvira Tremlett
The Unburied Legs
The Man From Shorrox'
A House Possessed
The Miraculous Revenge
Five Pounds of Flesh
The Watcher o' the Dead
The Samhain Feis
To Make the Flesh Creep: Chilling Tales
Fly Away Finger, Fly Away Thumb
Footsteps in the Lobby
The Cedar Closet
Will
The Bride
Encounter at Night
Arachnophobia
Last Rites
Acknowledgements

"Horror is in the mind and the darkness. Those who seek to indulge in nightmare will find more than enough here to set their pulses racing-satanic figures grope in the shadows, people long dead return to haunt the scenes of their lifetime, victims fly shrieking from a doom they cannot escape. Drawn from 200 years of short story writing. Great Irish Tales of Horror includes twenty-four of the most powerful examples of horror ever conceived. Many of them are all the more terrifying because the looming dread is understated or unseen: food for the imagination" -- Front jacket flap

A collection of Irish horror stories, drawn from the past 200 years and including work from Bram Stoker, Sheridan Le Fanu, George Bernard Shaw, Dorothy Macardle, Brian Cleeve, Jack Higgins and others.

2023-06-28