The Mammoth Book of Modern Ghost Stories

While on a visit to Ireland, the critic Norman Hunter finds himself pursued by the ghost of an octogenarian poet, Miss Hargreaves, who he has made the mistake of describing as “imaginary”. When the lady follows him back to England, the hapless young man has to find a way of luring her across the Irish Sea to lay her peacefully to rest.

1940CASTLE COTTAGE by Horace Horsnell

Miss Lavinia Bligh, a retired maid, discovers that the Regency-style Castle Cottage she is asked to look after is haunted by a pair of ghosts from the Napoleonic period. They are obviously lovers denied happiness by the young man’s death during the conflict. The kind-hearted Lavinia tries to unite the two spirits, but finds that she must destroy the cottage to achieve her objective.

1941UNEASY FREEHOLD by Dorothy Macardle

A house on the Bristol Channel appears to be the ideal location for Roderick Fitzgerald to write his new play. But when he and his sister settle in, they are soon being subjected to the depredations of two warring ghosts and after séances and physic researchers have failed to drive the pair away, the couple are forced to create a dramatic confrontation of their own.

1941THE GHOST OF MR BROWN by Ashley Sampson

Mr Brown is a ghost and condemned to haunt a house for no apparent reason he can deduce. He tries to make contact with the occupants and even falls in love with one of the female tenants. However, when the girl gets engaged to another man, Mr Brown is overcome with rage, kills her and finds himself even more damned than before.

1941THE REMARKABLE ANDREW by Dalton Trumbo

A young book-keeper, Andrew Jackson Long, of Shale City, Colorado discovers a plot to defraud the city. When he feels himself being sucked into the conspiracy, he is able to summon up the spirit of his great ancestor along with a number of other ghosts including George Washington and Ben Franklin. Together they lure the conspirators into a confession and clear Andrew’s name.

1944THE NIGHT OF THE WORLD by Frederick Rose

Ken Favery is blown up while fighting a desperate action with the British forces in North Africa. He wakes to find himself surrounded by the ghosts of soldiers killed during the battle and is so moved by their terrible accounts of the foolishness of war that he vows to write down his thoughts and hope that they are found with his body.

1945ALL HALLOWS’ EVE by Charles Williams

Two young women who have died in a plane crash find themselves as spirits in London where they are able to intervene in the lives of both their friends and adversaries. They become embroiled in a great act of magic where their own supernatural powers are tested to the fullest before the self-defeating nature of evil is exposed.

1945THE GHOST AND MRS MUIR by R. A. Dick

The recently widowed Mrs Muir takes a little house near the English Channel that is haunted by its previous owner, Captain Gregg, an old sea dog who does not welcome the new tenant. She is made of sterner stuff, though, and after a series of exchanges, they both agree to share the property – until Mrs Muir dies and joins the Captain on the Other Side.

1946DEATH INTO LIFE by Olaf Stapledon

While flying over Germany, the crew of a British bomber are shot down and killed. Almost immediately, the ghost of the rear-gunner rises above the wreckage and begins a journey of discovery that reveals the futility of war and enables him to grow spiritually before he is finally reunited with his comrades.

1947THE MEMOIRS OF A GHOST by George W. Stonier

During a German bombing raid over London, the narrator is killed and finds himself turned into a ghost able to see and hear everything while remaining unseen by everyone else in the city. Gradually, however, his energy begins to diminish as the war draws to a close and he becomes no more than a memory.

1947A NAME FOR EVIL by Andrew Lytle

When Brent buys a rundown plantation in the American South, his attempts to make the property viable are hampered by the intransigence of his workforce and their fear of the ghost of a former owner. Brent soon finds his young wife is also being subjected to the attentions of the evil phantom and has to wage a desperate battle to keep her from being spirited away.

1947THE MASTER OF THE MACABRE by Russell Thorndike

In the days of Richard I, the ghost of a lewd and wicked monk weaves itself into an ancient cup that once belonged to Mohammed. Centuries later, the cup is obtained by the mysterious “Master of the Macabre” and almost at once finds himself embroiled in a dangerous plot by a group of Orientals to reclaim the relic.

1948THE HAUNTING OF TOBY JUGG by Dennis Wheatley