The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

This is the discussion thread for the Winter 2023 Group Read Ghost Stories of an Antiquary in the category Gutenberg Classic. Please post your comments here. This thread is not restricted to those choosing this book for task 20.10, feel free to join in the discussion. Warning- spoilers ahead!

The requirement for task 20.10: You must participate in the book's discussion thread below with at least one post about the contents of the book or your reaction to the book after you have read the book.

I had never heard of this book or author before. I thought it was a good spooky collection of stories. I think I liked Mezzotini and Lost Hearts the best. They were all pretty good though. I saw that there is a volume 2 of this and I think I might read it too.

I started reading this at the weekend and I'm spacing out the stories a bit, but I am enjoying it so far. It has one thing that I've noticed in quite a few Victorian and Edwardian short stories though, which is rather abrupt endings - I always feel like I'm just getting stuck in when it suddenly wraps up.

I hadn't heard of the author either Katrisa, nice to discover someone new.

I agree with you about the abrupt endings Aimee.

Finished the collection today and I agree with Katrisa; Lost Hearts and The Mezzotint were my favourites. I also quite liked Number 13 although I had the eerie feeling I'd read it before, or a story like it at any rate. My least favourite was Count Magnus, it just didn't grab me.

Kathy KS

This one just wasn't for me. The style and stories are definitely from a time gone by, but it's a genre that I no longer choose to read. I listened to the book because it was part of the Seasonal Reading Challenge group read. Compared to newer horror, the slow building of suspense and the ending of each story are more appealing than slasher-type, gory horror.

The best thing I liked about listening to the book was the narrator. David Timson read it with an appropriate voice and you could feel the tension building often. The feel of a group sitting around listening to ghost stories was palpable.

I agree with the posters above about what some of best stories were.

I would not have picked up this book if not for this challenge, but I ended up enjoying it. The language was difficult, but I got used to it after the first few stories. I don't read much horror and agree with Kathy KS that I liked the suspense of these stories a lot more than gore and disgusting things. My favorites were the Mezzotint and Number 13.
I really loved that you can tell the stories are meant to be shared with others around a campfire or by candle light. The audiobook would probably have been a good idea!

I've only read the first story, but so far I'm (not surprisingly) reminded of Edgar Allan Poe. I think it's going to make for interesting reading.

I had the same initial reaction - as much as I read and having studied literature in college, I'm amazed I never heard of this book or this author before. I'm a big fan of Stephen King short horror stories and so was worried I wouldn't like these, would find them dated. But, given they are from 1909 (and earlier), I'd say they held up really well. An easy read, really enjoyable (so thank you to whomever suggested it!)

For me this was a really difficult read. The book felt like a 4 or 500 pager even though it barely passes 100 pages. I think the language ruins the flow of the narrative. It is simply heavy going. There are so many excellent classic books but for me this is not one of them. It sufferes from every one of the down sides of short stories oo much explanation at the beginning a rushed middle and absolutely no sense to the endings which are simply cut off.

Amy wrote: "An easy read, really enjoyable (so thank you to whomever suggested it!)"

That would be me! I'm also responsible for task 10.5 this season, because I am an absolute fiend for spooky stories at Christmas. Many of the BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas in recent years have been adaptations of MR James' work, so I was curious to read the originals and see how different they might be from their TV counterparts.

I agree with several others here about the abrupt endings - on the one hand I quite like that there's a bit of mystery around the resolutions, but on the other it can be a bit frustrating when it just feels like it's getting to the good bit and then suddenly it's over. I did enjoy the creeping horror though, slow burn suspense is always a good thing for me.

In hindsight though, maybe reading O Whistle And I'll Come To You late at night yesterday was not my smartest move. I've never been so uneasy about a pile of bedlinens in the laundry hamper before!

I just finished Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, and I have to say I enjoyed it, but didn't love it.

That said, I listened to two of the stories that were free on Audible - The Ash Tree, and Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad. They were read by David Suchet and they were excellent. Perhaps I should have broken down and bought an audio version of the entire book - I suspect I would have liked it even more.

I find with this type of story (and, indeed, with most books of short stories) I do better if I spread them out. If I read them too close together, they never seem to work as well for me.

Is that true for anyone else?

As the title suggests, all 8 stories in this collection features an antiquarian and so. relates to objects of antiquities. The introduction notes that author intended these for performance (ie. read out loud during the Christmas English tradition of ghost stories) and as the weather is currently so very grey wet and slightly chilly, I could rather imagine just how fascinating these could be. As ghost stories go, however, these aren't particularly scary if left unexplained - they are supernatural incidents.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I especially like the story about the picture that changed scenes. For a book that was written 100 years ago it was very "readable" to me. I often get discouraged reading classics because of the style. Good choice!

(Bookwrm526)

Unlike some of the earlier posters, I had actually heard of this author, so I was excited to see this book as a choice for the Group Read (especially since I had already read most of the other options). I discovered the author through a podcast called Words to That Effect by Conor Reid.

I love a more psychological horror story, so this was right up my alley. The story about the painting was definitely my favorite. I do agree about the endings being abrupt though - I felt like many of the stories were interesting enough to be extended at least into a novella!

I think the audiobook was a good way to go, because the narrator was great and it helped with the older language - I find it easier to parse when read aloud!

For me, this fell more in the realm of 'mild' horror, which I was glad of as I'm not a fan of 'serious' horror. I agree with the comments about many of the stories feeling rushed and with abrupt endings, but it was enjoyable enough.

Jayne wrote: "In hindsight though, maybe reading O Whistle And I'll Come To You late at night yesterday was not my smartest move. I've never been so uneasy about a pile of bedlinens in the laundry hamper before!"

I read it in daylight... I remember seeing the trailer for the John Hurt version and finding it far too creepy to watch - seems like from the wikipedia synopsis the story was changed significantly, particularly the ending.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistle...

I also read this book (though I think I will count it under the ghost stories option!)
I think my thoughts are very similar to everyone else;s, the stories are very much of their time but I quite liked the different approach

Full review here

I picked this up as I'm trying to push myself to read more of the classics I've never gotten to. I hadn't ever heard of the author before, but I found myself oddly charmed by these eerie stories. I listed to this on audio and really enjoyed the narration. Definitely agree with those that enjoyed Number 13. It was one of my favorites in the book as well. There's definitely a strong creepiness to the tales and I felt like the time period and style of the stories only really added to that for me. The only push the envelope of believability a tiny bit which makes them all that more creepy.

It was really fun to read this and think of it as one of the early predecessors of modern horror and truly helped to establish the genre.