The Stoneground Ghost Tales

CLASSIC EARLY HORROR IN THE STYLE OF MR JAMES BY A FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE

The Stoneground Ghost Tales are an atmospheric collection of unsettling supernatural stories, first published in 1912 by E.G. Swain who had been chaplain of King's College, Cambridge, and was a colleague and friend of M.R. James. These charmingly ghoulish tales, written by Swain as a tribute to his friend, have been favourites of ghost story fans for many years. The nine tales, each narrated in the Jamesian manner, are, however, rather milder in tone and regularly incorporate a playful humour not often found in James' work. The stories are set in and around Stanground, on the edge of the Fens, where Swain was vicar for many years and recount the adventures of the genial, ghost-hunting rector Rev. Roland Batchel.

Who is the alluring young woman that appears, tearfully pleading, in Mr Batchel's study – only to disappear the very next minute, with no clue as to her purpose? Why is a previously unblemished photograph now displaying a man “with an indescribably horrible, suffering face”? Is it possible that a mirror could have “the power of retaining indefinitely the light which fell upon it”? And if so, what horrors might one see? And what might be the bloody repercussions of ignoring the warning, “MOVE NOT THIS STAKE” even after 200 years?

The answers to these and more eerie mysteries are to be found in Oleander's reprint of this classic horror text, The Stoneground Ghost Tales which, having been out of print for many years, are now available once more.

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