To savour these stories fully we must imagine ourselves in a slower, quieter world, lit by gas and tallow. Sitting by a crackling fire after a good dinner, we are disposed to be frightened a little. We may read of familiar settings: of railway stations, city streets, or country houses, butthese are inhabited by fictional ghosts who often pursue their prey with deadly persistence, displaying both cunning and indiscriminate hostility. Our expectations of what a good ghost story should be, as well as how a ghost should behave, derive largely from the Victorian period. The presence here of tales by Amelia Edwards, Rhoda Broughton, and Margaret Oliphant reflect the important contributions made by women writers to the development ofthe genre, and with stories by J. S. Le Fanu, Henry James, and Vincent O'Sullivan, this is an anthology to attract both the newcomer and addict of the genre.