An anthology of 8 comical Victorian era ‘ghost stories’ by the American humorist & satirist John Kendrick Bangs. Originally published in 1894, by Harper & Brothers, the stories in this compilation provides entertaining reading.
The Water Ghost Of Harrowby Hall, the title story of this collection, is about a ghost that appears on every Christmas Eve and is a fine example of the subtle humor that Bangs can produce. The short story, The Spectre Cook Of Bangletop, is a funny ghost story that pokes fun at peerage or titles of nobility.
The short story titled The Speck On The Lens is a witty, ‘not so spooky’ kind of tale about a marvelous invention, with an unexpected climax. The Ghost Club is a short and fine example of Bangsian Fantasy – stories in which important literary and historical personalities are humorously portrayed as characters, within a clever, lean plot line, – a genre, which was made popular by John Kendrick Bangs.
Apart from this anthology, there are two more collections – Ghosts I Have Met and Some Others (1898) and Over the Plum Pudding (1902), – which compile tales of supernatural and ghostly nature from Bangs.
