Wednesday 15 October 2014

Man-Size in Marble (a horror story)

Tonight for my countdown to Halloween post, I want to recommend one of my favourite scary stories, a classic Gothic ghost story by Edith Nesbit. It is called Man-Size in Marble and it is available online here. Why this ghost story more than any other? Because this one is set on Halloween night, which of course makes it very topical. But this is not the only reason. Nesbit is a crafty writer and her scary stories are too little known. Without giving too much away, Man-Size in Marble is as much a tragedy as it is a scary story, just like many of her stories. I first read it in The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories, an anthology I plugged here. I loved the story so much that years later I purchased The Power of Darkness: Tales of Terror, which contains all (I think) her ghost stories. I now have the short story in at least three different books including these two. I recommend that you read all the ghost stories of Edith Nesbit, but start with this one. Take the time to read it at the above link, then tell me what you thought of it in the comments.

2 comments:

suzanne said...

Good story! I've heard of Edith Nesbit but hadn't read any of her work. Makes me want to read more.

PJ said...

Pas pire, mais le protagoniste qui fait des erreurs de personnage dans un film d'horreur, avant l'invention du cinéma, c'est quand même quelque chose.