Hauntings: Tales of the Supernatural Horror Book Review

For me, this is still one of the best anthologies of supernatural stories I’ve ever read. Published in the 1960s, it’s a solid mix of remarkably intense Victorian authors & more contemporary authors, with the emphasis on atmosphere rather than gratuitous gore. And it’s a powerful atmosphere, drawing upon the darkest places of the psyche, invoking almost primal fears.


For example, “The Red Lodge” remains one of the creepiest haunted house stories written. It creates such a pervasive tone of outright nastiness & evil that it still makes me uncomfortable. And “The Gray Ones” works both as a story about The Silently Invading Other & as social commentary. In fact, many of these stories have a psychological component that provides food for thought along with effective chills. So “The Lonesome Place” delves into the nature of a child’s terrified imagination, while “Thus I Refute Beelzy” takes a rather different look at the power of a child’s worldview.


While many of these stories can also be found in other anthologies, this one has the added delight of illustrations by Edward Gorey. His combination of dark humor & subtly queasy uneasiness is the perfect complement to these well-chosen tales. If you’re looking for genuinely frightening stories of high literary quality, you won’t do better than this collection. While sadly out of print, it’s well worth the seeking—and very much in need of reprinting!