Spectral Lights: Six Masters of the Classical English Ghost Story

Spectral Lights is a study of the major works of the ghost story’s most skilled practitioners. We analyze how Sheridan Le Fanu originated the classical ghost story and matured into one of its supreme authors. We reveal the unsung mastery of Vernon Lee and explain why her art-themed ghost stories are the pinnacles of this subgenre. We dive deep into Henry James’s quintessential ghost novella “The Turn of the Screw”, uncovering the essential issues of the form reflected in it. We display M. R. James as an undisputed master of subtly evoked chills, but also a worthy theoretician of these stories’ content and craft. We demonstrate how Algernon Blackwood enriched the ghost story with his intellectual and mystical speculations, opening it up for undreamt potentials. And finally, we delve deep into the mysteries of Robert Aickman’s stories, unveiling how the rich national tradition and profound personal originality were joined to produce his uniquely puzzling tales.