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The Tale of an Empty House and Other Ghost Stories
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
3 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
E.F. Benson
886 books337 followersEdward Frederic "E. F." Benson was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer.
E. F. Benson was the younger brother of A.C. Benson, who wrote the words to "Land of Hope and Glory", Robert Hugh Benson, author of several novels and Roman Catholic apologetic works, and Margaret Benson, an author and amateur Egyptologist.
Benson died during 1940 of throat cancer at the University College Hospital, London. He is buried in the cemetery at Rye, East Sussex.
Last paragraph from Wikipedia
E. F. Benson was the younger brother of A.C. Benson, who wrote the words to "Land of Hope and Glory", Robert Hugh Benson, author of several novels and Roman Catholic apologetic works, and Margaret Benson, an author and amateur Egyptologist.
Benson died during 1940 of throat cancer at the University College Hospital, London. He is buried in the cemetery at Rye, East Sussex.
Last paragraph from Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 13, 2023
4.4⭐
Foreword by Cynthia Reavell ✔️
Introduction by Susan Hill ✔️
The Face • (1924) 5⭐
Caterpillars • (1912) 5⭐
Expiation • (1923) 3⭐
The Tale of an Empty House • (1925) 5⭐
The Bus-Conductor • (1906) 4.25⭐
How Fear Departed from the Long Gallery • (1911) 5⭐
The Other Bed • (1908) 3.5⭐
The Room in the Tower • (1912) 4.5⭐
Mrs. Amworth • (1922) 5⭐
"And No Bird Sings" • (1926) 4⭐
Mr. Tilly's Séance • (1922) 4.25⭐
Home, Sweet Home • (1927) 3.5⭐
The Sanctuary • (1934) 4⭐
Pirates • (1928) 5⭐
Foreword by Cynthia Reavell ✔️
Introduction by Susan Hill ✔️
The Face • (1924) 5⭐
Caterpillars • (1912) 5⭐
Expiation • (1923) 3⭐
The Tale of an Empty House • (1925) 5⭐
The Bus-Conductor • (1906) 4.25⭐
How Fear Departed from the Long Gallery • (1911) 5⭐
The Other Bed • (1908) 3.5⭐
The Room in the Tower • (1912) 4.5⭐
Mrs. Amworth • (1922) 5⭐
"And No Bird Sings" • (1926) 4⭐
Mr. Tilly's Séance • (1922) 4.25⭐
Home, Sweet Home • (1927) 3.5⭐
The Sanctuary • (1934) 4⭐
Pirates • (1928) 5⭐
December 11, 2019
Re-reading this thanks to 'The Archers' as Professor Jim Lloyd is contemplating his seasonal ghost readings.
Benson is, of course best known for his wonderful series 'Mapp and Lucia' (most definitely due another reading and a Gatiss/Pemberton adaptation) but this is another side to him. Very much in the vein of the master, MR James, these are stories that should not be read at bedtime.
Great stuff.
Benson is, of course best known for his wonderful series 'Mapp and Lucia' (most definitely due another reading and a Gatiss/Pemberton adaptation) but this is another side to him. Very much in the vein of the master, MR James, these are stories that should not be read at bedtime.
Great stuff.
May 19, 2019
If you like your stories short and ghostly this is for you. Benson is skilled at building tension and there's quite a variety. The collection includes the standout Room in the Tower which first creeped me out around 12 when I read it by torchlight under the duvet. The Bus Conductor was one of the tales in the film Dead of Night.
June 7, 2023
anlatıcı şoförü ile birlikte araba arızalanınca yakındaki bir köyde gecelemeye karar verir. Etrafta yanıltıcı bir sessizlik ve değişik bitki örtüsü hakimdir. Boş bir eve rastladığında evin gerçekten boş olmadığı hissi baskın gelir. Korku tarzı doğaüstü ile tekinsizlik arası gidiyor. Açık korku değil. Yaratılan atmosfer değişik belki "eerie horror" denebilir. Korku dozu: 3/5
January 29, 2014
There’s something about the writers of Edwardian and Victorian ghost stores. They really knew how to write genuinely creepy, unsettling tales which have become classics within the genre. M R James is the undisputed master of them with E F Benson as a very close rival. The latter is known mainly known for his Mapp and Lucia novels but it is as a writer of spooky tales that I know him.
This is a small collection containing some of his most and frequently anthologised tales together with others less well known.
It was a pleasure to read ‘The Face’ again with its heroine experiencing nightmares of an abandoned church and graveyard which lead to a rendezvous she cannot postpone or avoid. Also the ostensibly conventional ‘Mrs Amworth’. An unlikely devotee of the crimson liquid of life, Mrs Amworth of the title is a solid, bustling widow who’s just moved into a sleepy village and stirred up its social life. However, she also likes to call unexpectedly at night even after she’s dead.
‘The Room in the Tower’ has always been one of my favourites with its oppressive, doom laden atmosphere again involving the narrator’s nightmares of his stay at a school acquaintance’s house and the tower room. Interesting ly enough, as the narrator grows older the family in his dreams also age and die and even from beyond the grave, the phrase ‘You are to stay in the tower room’ continues to strike terror into his heart.
Sometime Benson’s characters seem to be in the grip of an obsession or an inescapable fate or destination from which they cannot escape. The collection ends with ‘Pirates’ the poignant tale
of Peter who has the opportunity and the money to buy his former childhood home. Now empty, it had acquired a reputation and tenants don’t stay there long. Peter has already guessed who is
apparently haunting the house and, after purchasing it, immediately sets about restoring it to its original condition and then the ghosts appear. Peter’s family, now all dead, have just been waiting in the wings…
‘The Sanctuary’ is a tale of the worship of strange gods and the return of one of their priests from beyond the grave and is often anthologised. A very effective piece.
This collection would be a wonderful introduction to anyone new to Benson’s uncanny tales but don’t read them at night!
This is a small collection containing some of his most and frequently anthologised tales together with others less well known.
It was a pleasure to read ‘The Face’ again with its heroine experiencing nightmares of an abandoned church and graveyard which lead to a rendezvous she cannot postpone or avoid. Also the ostensibly conventional ‘Mrs Amworth’. An unlikely devotee of the crimson liquid of life, Mrs Amworth of the title is a solid, bustling widow who’s just moved into a sleepy village and stirred up its social life. However, she also likes to call unexpectedly at night even after she’s dead.
‘The Room in the Tower’ has always been one of my favourites with its oppressive, doom laden atmosphere again involving the narrator’s nightmares of his stay at a school acquaintance’s house and the tower room. Interesting ly enough, as the narrator grows older the family in his dreams also age and die and even from beyond the grave, the phrase ‘You are to stay in the tower room’ continues to strike terror into his heart.
Sometime Benson’s characters seem to be in the grip of an obsession or an inescapable fate or destination from which they cannot escape. The collection ends with ‘Pirates’ the poignant tale
of Peter who has the opportunity and the money to buy his former childhood home. Now empty, it had acquired a reputation and tenants don’t stay there long. Peter has already guessed who is
apparently haunting the house and, after purchasing it, immediately sets about restoring it to its original condition and then the ghosts appear. Peter’s family, now all dead, have just been waiting in the wings…
‘The Sanctuary’ is a tale of the worship of strange gods and the return of one of their priests from beyond the grave and is often anthologised. A very effective piece.
This collection would be a wonderful introduction to anyone new to Benson’s uncanny tales but don’t read them at night!
July 1, 2015
Most specialists in supernatural fiction rate E.F. Benson as one of a handful of the best British ghost/horror story writers of the early 20th century, along with Algernon Blackwood, Oliver Onions, Marjorie Bowen, Arthur Machen, and M.R. James. However, I put off purchasing a Benson collection for quite a while, because he wrote a huge number of horror stories and the paperback collections I was aware of seemed--at 600+ pages--more of a project to be completed than a pleasant read. So I was glad to stumble upon this 1986 collection--now out of print, but not too hard to find or expensive to buy--because it serves as an introduction to Benson via his most well-known and frequently anthologized ghost stories. It's a wonderfully edited (by Cynthia Reavell) and introduced (by Susan Hill) collection without a mediocre story in the bunch. Some have criticized Benson for his occasional dips into pulpy territory ("Caterpillars" and "And No Birds Sing" both included here) and borderline sentimentalism ("Pirates," also included here), but I felt that rather than detracting from the collection these stories demonstrated Benson's ability to depart from the expected "British ghost story" formulas in satisfying ways. Still, there's something especially enjoyable about those "formula" stories (the haunted house, the ghostly retribution, the ominous premonition, etc.) when they are handled with the style and control of a genuinely talented teller of tales. Some readers might in fact find Benson's work superior to or at least on par with that of the generally acknowledged master of the British ghost story, M.R. James, because Benson's is a more conversational, intimate (and sometimes humorous) voice that makes the stories all the more believable and frightening. Highlights in this collection include the slow burn title story set in a creepy abandoned seaside shack, the dream becomes terrifying reality "The Room in the Tower" (deservedly Benson's most famous story), the surprisingly brutal "How Fear Departed from the Long Gallery" with its murderous child ghosts, and "The Bus Conductor," a premonition tale that was memorably adapted for the classic 1945 British horror anthology film Dead of Night. But as I said there isn't a dud in the collection, so those new to the Benson ghost story would do well to begin here, and then explore further (as I now plan to do).
February 1, 2008
Although Benson wrote dozens upon dozens of ghost stories, beyond doubt the best of them have been selected for this collection. A master of the genre, Benson created eerily sinister atmospheres, highlighted by climaxes of terror and the occasional note of whimsy. He never fails to build a delicious and mounting sense of dread. These are "veddy English" ghost stories, though not as ornate as those of Algernon Blackwood, Sheridan Le Fanu, M.R. James and other well known practitioners of the English ghost story.
It has always impressed me that Benson, best known today for his stylish and witty comic novels, particularly the Mapp and Lucia books, was so accomplished in so many other genres of fiction and nonfiction. He wrote historical fiction, biographies, romances, novels of "moral dilemmas/redemption" (a staple in Edwardian times), "weird" or exotic tales, memoirs, and more.
Aside from the Mapp and Lucia saga, which is surely one of the most brilliant comic inventions in the 20th century, I enjoy his ghost stories the most. All my favorites are in this collection, including "How Fear Departed from the Long Gallery" and the incredibly moving and gentle ghost story "Pirates," which never fails to raise a tear.
It has always impressed me that Benson, best known today for his stylish and witty comic novels, particularly the Mapp and Lucia books, was so accomplished in so many other genres of fiction and nonfiction. He wrote historical fiction, biographies, romances, novels of "moral dilemmas/redemption" (a staple in Edwardian times), "weird" or exotic tales, memoirs, and more.
Aside from the Mapp and Lucia saga, which is surely one of the most brilliant comic inventions in the 20th century, I enjoy his ghost stories the most. All my favorites are in this collection, including "How Fear Departed from the Long Gallery" and the incredibly moving and gentle ghost story "Pirates," which never fails to raise a tear.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews