"Fantasmagoriana – Collected Tales of the Dead" were the very ghost stories that inspired and gave rise to classics like Frankenstein and The Vampyre. Originally translated from German, these tales have retained their charm, chilling effect, horror and suspense until today. Contents: The Family Portraits The Fated Hour The Death's Head The Death-Bride The Storm The Spectre-Barber or, Dumb Love Excerpt: "It is generally believed that at this time of day no one puts any faith in ghosts and apparitions. Yet, on reflection, this opinion does not appear to me quite correct: for, without alluding to workmen in mines, and the inhabitants of mountainous countries,—the former of whom believe in spectres and hobgoblins presiding over concealed treasures, and the latter in apparitions and phantoms announcing either agreeable or unfortunate tidings,—may we not ask why amongst ourselves there are certain individuals who have a dread of passing through a church-yard after night-fall? Why others experience an involuntary shuddering at entering a church, or any other large uninhabited edifice, in the dark? And, in fine, why persons who are deservedly considered as possessing courage and good sense, dare not visit at night even places where they are certain of meeting with nothing they need dread from living beings? They are ever repeating, that the living are only to be dreaded; and yet fear night, because they believe, by tradition, that it is the time which phantoms choose for appearing to the inhabitants of the earth..."

It was on a 'dark and stormy night', during the summer of 1816 that an eccentic group of English literati gathered at the Villa Diodati. The atmosphere at the Villa was charged by the violent streaks of lightening that licked at the mountain tops and split a black sky. As the wind outside whipped up the surface of lake Leman into a cauldron of waves the occupants of the Villa; Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, Dr John Polidori, Percy Shelley and Claire Clairmont, whipped themselves into a gothic frenzy with recitals of haunting poetry and ghost stories. The stories that they read came from a book, originally written in German, that had recently been translated into French. The book that they read from was called Fantasmagoriana. Fantasmagoriana has a unique place in literary history. This is the first full translation of the stories that inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Dr John Polidori's The Vampyre.

First published in 1812, FANTASMAGORIANA has become one of the most seminal ghost-story anthologies of all time. Originally collected as a French translation of eight German-language tales, FANTASMAGORIANA famously led to the creation of such works as the horror-classic novel FRANKENSTEIN, the short story "The Vampyre" (a progenitor to the fantasy vampire genre), the novella "Ernestus Berchtold; or, The Modern Oedipus," the poem "Manfred," and more. In 1813, the anthology was partially translated into English as TALES OF THE DEAD, excluding three of the original stories while adding in one new, and inspiring an even wider audience to delight in stories of the ghostly and macabre. Now, for the first time, both FANTASMAGORIANA and TALES OF THE DEAD have been combined into one English-language volume, in this beautifully presented showcase by Dark Moon Books! Also included within are: * Original English translations by Anna Ziegelhof * Introduction by award-winning author Lisa Morton * Annotations by noted literary editor Leslie S. Klinger * Illustrations, biographies, reading list, and more! Open yourself to FANTASMAGORIANA DELUXE, and to all that is weird, ghostly, and wonderous.

Good Press presents to you the meticulously edited collection of "Fantasmagoriana – Selected Tales of the Dead." These were the very ghost stories that inspired and gave rise to classics like Frankenstein and The Vampyre. Originally translated from German, these tales have retained their charm, chilling effect, horror and suspense until today. Contents: The Family Portraits The Fated Hour The Death's Head The Death-Bride The Storm The Spectre-Barber or, Dumb Love Excerpt: "It is generally believed that at this time of day no one puts any faith in ghosts and apparitions. Yet, on reflection, this opinion does not appear to me quite correct: for, without alluding to workmen in mines, and the inhabitants of mountainous countries,—the former of whom believe in spectres and hobgoblins presiding over concealed treasures, and the latter in apparitions and phantoms announcing either agreeable or unfortunate tidings,—may we not ask why amongst ourselves there are certain individuals who have a dread of passing through a church-yard after night-fall? Why others experience an involuntary shuddering at entering a church, or any other large uninhabited edifice, in the dark? And, in fine, why persons who are deservedly considered as possessing courage and good sense, dare not visit at night even places where they are certain of meeting with nothing they need dread from living beings? They are ever repeating, that the living are only to be dreaded; and yet fear night, because they believe, by tradition, that it is the time which phantoms choose for appearing to the inhabitants of the earth..."

In the gloomy summer of 1816, a motley collection of poets, exiles, and adulterers gathered at the Villa Diodati on the shores of Lake Geneva...Fantasmagoriana: a collection of Gothic tales by Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John William Polidori, all originating in a night of ghost storytelling.Contains the complete FRANKENSTEIN and Polidori's influential THE VAMPYRE, plus Gothic works by Byron, Shelley, and Mathew 'Monk' Lewis.

Over a thousand pages of haunted—and haunting—ghost tales: the most complete collection of uncanny, spooky, creepy tales ever published! Edited and with an introduction by Otto Penzler. Including stories by Joyce Carol Oates, Rudyanrd Kipling, Isaac Asimov, James MacCreigh, and many more! Featuring eerie vintage ghost illustrations. The ghost story is perhaps the oldest of all the supernatural literary genres and has captured the imagination of almost every writer to put pen to the page. Here, Edgar Award-winning editor Otto Penzler has followed his keen sense of the supernatural to collect the most chilling and uncanny tales in the canon. These spectral stories span more than a hundred years, from modern-day horrors by Joyce Carol Oates, Chet Williamson and Andrew Klavan, to pulp yarns from August Derleth, Greye La Spina, and M. L. Humphreys, to the atmospheric Victorian tales of Rudyard Kipling, Edith Wharton, and H. P. Lovecraft, not to mention modern works by the likes of Donald E. Westlake and Isaac Asimov that are already classics. Some of these stories have haunted the canon for a century, while others are making their first ghoulish appearance in book form. Whether you prefer possessive poltergeists, awful apparitions, or friendly phantoms, these stories are guaranteed to thrill you, tingle the spine, or tickle the funny bone, and keep you turning the pages with fearful delight. Including such classics as “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Open Window” and eerie vintage illustrations, and also featuring haunted mansions, midnight frights, lovers from beyond the grave, rapping, tapping, wailing shades, and ghosts, ghouls, and specters galore! AlsoFeaturing haunted mansions, midnight frights, lovers from beyond the grave, rapping, tapping, wailing shades, and ghosts, ghouls, and specters galore!