The Mammoth Book of Modern Ghost Stories

The supernatural manifestations that plague Toby Jugg while he is convalescing in Wales prove to be only the start of a plot involving black magicians determined to bring about the downfall of his huge industrial empire. Visions of a giant spider and the Face of Astoroth also cross Toby’s path as he struggles to outwit and smash the diabolists.

1950BRIMSTONE IN THE GARDEN by Elizabeth Cadell

A trio of ghosts, Frobisher, Telemachus and Captain Verlander haunt Elinor Stirling’s house in a small West Country English village. When she invites a group of relatives and friends to stay with her, they have to compete with the attentions of the phantoms as well as their own mixed emotions about one another in order to resolve the situation.

1954BRIEF CANDLES by Francis Gaite

Jeremy and Sally Latimer are visiting a district of France where two of their forebears were killed in 1870. Their presence activates the ghosts of the long-dead man and woman and a series of phenomena convince the couple that the spirits are trying to pass on a message. It is only when Jeremy and Sally discover the location of a lost family treasurer that peace can be restored.

1954MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTS by Amos Tutuola

A child, who has escaped from slave traders stalking the African bush, finds himself in “The Bush of Ghosts” where he goes through a succession of terrible experiences that prepare him for manhood. Eventually, with the help of a pair of native ghosts, he returns home and there creates “The Secret Society of Ghosts”, dedicated to ending the persecution of his people.

1957THE STRANGE CASE OF MR PELHAM by Anthony Armstrong

Pelham, an innocuous little book-keeper, becomes increasingly unnerved when friends report seeing him at places he has never visited and with people he has never met. When he is accused of seducing his secretary and orchestrating a series of dubious business deals, Pelham sets about tracking down his “double” and finds “him” to be a spirit of incredible power.

1957AMOROUS GHOST by Pierre Bessand-Massenet

A young writer, Michel Panouche, is living in an old office building in Paris when he discovers it was once part of a Royal Palace and is haunted by the ghosts of a group of courtesans. One of these, the pretty Rosette, falls in love with him and it takes all the feminine wiles of Panouche’s real-life lover, Annik, to break the spell and free her man.

1958A STIR OF ECHOES by Richard Matheson

Tom Wallace has lived an ordinary life until the day he is hypnotized by a friend and begins to “hear” the thoughts of everyone around him. His existence becomes a living nightmare when he starts to receive haunting messages from an entity beyond the grave and finds himself compelled to try and solve a crime of almost unthinkable violence.

1959THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson

Arguably the finest ghost novel of the century. Hill House has a reputation for being plagued by spirits and has changed very little since the 1880s. A psychic researcher invites a group of people to stay in the property to test his theories about the manifestations. Messages smeared in blood, bumps in the night and horrifying phenomena crowd one upon another until a finger of suspicion begins to point at one of the guests.

1960A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE by Peter Beagle

Jonathan Rebeck lives in a tomb in the Bronx where he has learned to see and talk to ghosts. Some of his most interesting conversations are with Michael Morgan, who claims his wife murdered him, and a beautiful young woman named Laura. When the beguiling widow, Mrs Klapper, induces Jonathan to leave the cemetery, he has to first find time for a little matchmaking between his ethereal friends.

1969THE GREEN MAN by Kingsley Amis

Maurice Allingham, the owner of a medieval coaching inn, finds his life of debauchery and drinking suddenly affected by the malevolent reappearance of the ghost of Dr Thomas Underbill, a notorious 17th-century practitioner of black magic. Driven by curiosity and a desire to save his own sanity, Allingham has to uncover the secret to the doctor’s evil purpose.

1973BURNT OFFERINGS by Robert Marasco

The Rolfe family from New York are hoping for a happy summer in a beautiful, secluded country mansion with a pool and private beach on Long Island. But it does not take the four people long to realize that the place is haunted by terror and they are plunged into a nightmare from which there seems to be no escape.

1975JULIA by Peter Straub