Twenty-Five Ghost Stories

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 307K words
Chapters: 31

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Twenty-Five Ghost Stories by W. Bob HollandAuthor: ,Language: English, Class: PN: Language and Literatures: Literature: General, Criticism, Collections, Release Date: Oct 31, 2016

Editor's review

This is a ghost story collection edited by W. Bob Holland, containing twenty-five short tales, in the public domain as an ebook. Ghost stories are an important branch of genre literature, prized for atmosphere, suspense, and final twists; the short form especially tests an author's ability to create unease within limited space. The collection's value lies in its compilatory nature: twenty-five pieces offer a concentrated genre tour, letting readers observe how different authors handle similar horror motifs—old houses, night journeys, apparitions—and sense the traditional narrative tone of English ghost stories. As a short-story collection, it naturally suits fragmented reading: one tale at bedtime or on a commute is no burden. Note that the book dates from an early period, and its horror relies on suggestion and atmosphere rather than the visual shocks and fast pacing of contemporary works; readers should enter with an appreciation for classic genre narrative. The original English is friendly to readers of moderate ability and serves as an entry point to English genre literature.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Genre readers who enjoy classic ghost stories and atmospheric horror
English readers who want short pieces for fragmented reading time
Students interested in horror motifs and narrative traditions
Intermediate learners seeking an easy entry into English genre fiction

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting modern, fast-paced horror with strong visual shocks
Readers sensitive to supernatural themes whose sleep may be affected
Researchers seeking systematic literary criticism and in-depth annotation

Reading tips

Read one or two stories at a time, pausing to savor the atmosphere and how each ending is handled.
Keep a notebook recording each story's horror motifs and comparing different authors' techniques of buildup.
If bedtime reading affects you, read during the day or choose shorter, lighter pieces.
Don't look up every old-fashioned expression; grasp the plot first, then return to language difficulties.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

How scary are these ghost stories?

Overall they lean classical, emphasizing atmosphere, suggestion, and psychological suspense, with little direct gore. Readers used to modern horror may find them mild, but those sensitive to supernatural themes may still feel uncomfortable; choose your reading time according to your tolerance.

Are they suitable for English learners practicing reading?

They suit intermediate learners. The short pieces are moderate in length and strongly plot-driven, making them easy to finish; the language bears period traces, offering a chance to build familiarity with old-style expressions. Read for plot first, then close-read passages that interest you.

Are the twenty-five stories connected?

This is a compilation of largely independent short stories with no continuous plot; you can start with any one. This structure suits fragmented reading and lets readers pick pieces by interest rather than reading in order.

What extra content does editor W. Bob Holland provide?

The available information states only that the book was edited by W. Bob Holland and contains twenty-five ghost stories; it does not mention an introduction or annotations by him. Treat it as an anthology and focus on the stories themselves rather than the editor's commentary.

Comments

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About the author

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Project Gutenberg is not a single author but a nonprofit digital library founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and one of the world's earliest free ebook platforms. It relies on volunteers to digitize, proofread, and freely distribute public-domain works and is now operated by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Its collection contains 2,692 works, mainly religious texts, epics, and story collections, including the King James Bible and the Douay-Rheims volumes, the epic Mahabharata, a literal translation of the Arabian Nights, and Danish editions of the Old and New Testaments. Public information is limited, and its nature is closer to a public-interest compiling and dissemination body; these texts are open to the public, easy to consult and circulate, and have had a profound influence on the spread of ebooks and the preservation of public-domain resources.