Light Summer Reading, Goth Style!

Well, now that Summer (ewww!!) is here, I hope you have all the important items goths need at this time of year:  sun glasses, gloves, SPF 1000+ sunscreen, a big hat, a huge parasol, etc.  You know, like these savvy people:

The OTHER thing you will need is appropriate reading material, and I've found some perfects books to share with you!  Four collections of horror stories, written mostly by Victorian writers.  I found all of these books in my favorite thrift store (Half Price Books); only one was actually a used book, but every singe one was priced at only $3.00 or $4.00!  Anyway, here they are:

The Power of Darkness: Tales of Terror by Edith Nesbit  (David Stuart Davies, Ed.)

Edith Nesbit is best known for her classic children's books, including The Railway Children, but as it turns out she was also an incredible teller of horror tales!  Of the twenty stories in this collection, there is only one I don't like.  If you like stories involving possessed statues, reanimated corpses, vampiric vines, vengeful ghosts, and love that transcends the grave, you will LOVE this book!  It definitely found a permanent place in my bookshelf.

Bone To His Bone: The Stoneground Ghost Tales of E.G. Swain

Originally published in 1912, this is a reprint of a really interesting collection of nine ghost stories that revolve around the Reverend Mr. Batchel, rector of a small English parish around the turn of the 20th century.  Mr. Swain wrote in the style of M.R. James, a well-known author in the Victorian period whose horror stories are legendary (I'll be hunting for one of HIS collections next.)

As a bonus, six stories by a modern author, David Rowlands, are included, which continue the supernatural adventures of Mr. Batchel, and honestly, they are written in a style so close to Swain's that I doubt I'd know the difference if I hadn't been told.  This book is another keeper!

Dracula's Guest: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Vampire Stories (Michael Sims, Ed.)

This is a collection of 22 vampire stories by various authors.  Some are extremely good, others not so much.  I decided not to keep the book, as less than half of the stories made me want to read them a second time.  However, I definitely recommend it for at least one reading!  And it introduced me to a couple of writers whose other stories I will be searching out in the near future.

Night Shivers: The Ghost Stories of J.H. Riddell  (David Stuart Davies, Ed.)

I haven't finished this one yet, but it's already a keeper.  The author is another Victorian woman who really knew how to keep her readers interested and hanging on her every word.  I've read about half of the 15 stories, and the last one is actually a novella, so I will finish this horror story reading frenzy with a BANG!  

So, are you reading anything interesting this summer?