M. Grant Kellermeyer

Romance has always had a dark side: something sinister, possessive, even fatal lurks behind the desire to attract and be attracted. For centuries something spiritual - even supernatural - has been suspected in the ways of lovers in the night. Shakespeare called love-making "the beast with two backs"; in many ages the monomaniacal lust of a man for one woman has been blamed on witchcraft; the French refer to the sleep that follows intercourse as "le petite mort" - the little death. There is a night-side to our amours: a dark, animalistic release that takes place when we are alone with our love, drenched with shadows and candlelight. Something vestigial and primitive about romance returns us to our less civilized forms, and for some of us, it is one of the few moments that we can genuinely sense our relationship to infinity and the realm of spirits. Consequently, romance has become one of the most prominent themes in Gothic fiction: from "Dracula" to "The Phantom of the Opera," from "Wuthering Heights" to "The Raven," nothing bridges the gap between reality and imagination, the physical and the spiritual, quite so nimbly as carnal attraction; and no genre is more capable of deconstructing these emotions quite so nimbly as horror.The collection presented here offers samples of some of the greatest romantic ghost stories and supernatural fiction from the Golden Age of Horror. There are tales of ghostly highwaymen, resurrected vampires, Deceased lovers returning from the grave, marriages between ghosts and the living, marriages between skeptics and decapitated corpses, attractions struck up after breaking into haunted houses, attractions frustrated by hereditary curses, abductions by demon lovers, abductions by possessive spirits, abductions by vengeful ghosts, romantic waltzes with the Grim Reaper in female form, revenge had by jilted lovers, revenge had by murdered rivals, revenge had by deceased wives, romances with revived Egyptian slave girls, romances with cursed mummies, romances with enchanted portraits, romances across dimensions of time and space, tragedies involving poor communication between the genders, tragedies involving hypnosis, tragedies involving unintended affairs, and tragedies involving assault by animated statues. Oh, and much, much more. If your Valentine has a taste for the macabre and the romantic, pair this book with your roses and your box of chocolates. And make sure the chocolate is dark - very dark.

Since the beginning of human history, the sea has had a lethal allure to men who stand on the shore and gaze out on the watery horizon. It has an infamous attraction - equally as engrossing as uncharted jungles, unvanquished mountains, and the black void of space - and an infamous danger. It is, then, not surprising that the sea has found very comfortable accommodations in horror literature. Some of the greatest writers of classic horror fiction have tried their hand at nautical writing: Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, W. W. Jacobs, Arthur Conan Doyle, H. P. Lovecraft, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Washington Irving among many, many others. Some are most famous for their seafaring horrors: William Hope Hodgson is the crown prince of nautical horror stories, while the names F. Marion Crawford, W. W. Jacobs, and Robert Louis Stevenson naturally bring to mind the creaking of spars and rigging, the musk of salt air, and the sight of heaving black seas. The focus of this collection of nautical horrors is on pirates, ghost ships, and -- of course -- ghost pirates. Tales were told of ships hailed by passing vessels without reply, usually followed by uncanny deaths or accidents. When the befuddled crew reached shore, they learn that the passing ship had been reported lost months previous to their encounter. Pirates are Rorschach tests to readers and writers alike: romantic to some, humorous to others, frightening to some, aspirational to others. Yet, with only a few exceptions (Gilbert and Sullivan being one), they never entirely shed their aura of danger: even Jack Sparrow is hunted down by evil pirates, and even Captain Hook - ludicrous to adults - is the stuff of nightmares to children. They frighten us even as we envy them. For every time we find ourselves humming "Yo ho, yo ho A pirate's life for me" something far away in the wind brings to our mind a conflicting sea shanty: "Sixteen men on a dead man's chest - yo ho ho, and a bottle of rum - drink and the devil's done for the rest - yo ho ho, and a bottle of rum..."

Since the first Thanksgiving feast in 1621, the November holiday has become a fixture of the American cultural landscape, and yet - sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas - it has often been overlooked. But to those who appreciate its emphasis on gratitude, family, thankfulness, togetherness, and home cooking, it has long been an annual time of bonding and remembering. This small collection of Thanksgiving treasures starts with atmospheric poems (like Lydia Maria Child's "Over the River and Through the Woods," and Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken") and an assortment of Thanksgiving-themed stories from some of America's greatest writers (Nathaniel Hawthorne, Jack London, O. Henry, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and more). Next you will find a series of historical artifacts - Thanksgiving proclamations from Washington and Lincoln, an eye-witness account of the first Thanksgiving, and an editorial by the woman who successfully campaigned to make the holiday official. At the conclusion of these cozy readings, you'll find two sample family ceremonies (a bonding, around-the-table reading that my family reads every year after the feast) and a dozen fail-proof recipes for the perfect Thanksgiving turkey, cranberry salad, and more. If you feel like you are missing something from your annual Thanksgiving - something special, cozy, and nostalgic - this book will be the perfect fireside companion for you and your family.

His supernatural fiction was unparalleled in the Victorian Era. It inspired Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry James, and E. F. Benson. M. R. James was a worshipful devotee who resurrected his legacy and modeled his ghost stories after his style. Bram Stoker reworked his erotic vampire fiction to write his masterpieces, "Dracula" and "The Judge's House." J. Sheridan Le Fanu was the most influential, original, and inspirational horror writer of his time, and unlike many of his peers, his writing has not become dated or quaint: it still carries his trademark atmosphere of unsettling discomfort and uncanny fear. Le Fanu's psychological ghost stories and weird fiction are remarkable for the way in which they merge elements which should be diametrically opposed: the conscious and unconscious, life and death, heaven and hell, right and wrong, light and darkness, public self and private self. He sets his stories in a world of deep twilight -- a chiaroscuro of deep shadows broken up with faint light and vague definitions. His cosmos is unforgiving, malicious, and misanthropic: unlike Lovecraft who feared a world where mankind didn't matter, Le Fanu depicted a punishing spiritual order where every sin, every misstep, and every crime was closely watched and viciously, mercilessly punished. His murky universe is populated with demon lovers, haunted portraits, seductive ghosts, hanging judges, demonic rats, maddening visions of hell, animated corpses, sensual vampires, evil fairies, shape-shifting goblins, spectral hands, haunted candles, malevolent phantoms, and the ghosts of evil men who cozy up to the living in disturbingly intimate ways.TALES INCLUDED in this ANNOTATED EDITION: The Drunkard's Dream The Sexton's Adventure The Familiar Disturbances in Aungier Street The Ghost of a Hand Narrative of a Haunted House Wicked Captain Walshawe Squire Toby's Will Stories of Lough Guir Madam Crowl's Ghost Dickon the Devil Sir Robert Ardagh Schalken the Painter Ultor de Lacy Green Tea The Child That Went with the Fairies White Cat of Drumgunniol Sir Dominick's Bargain Laura Silver Bell Carmilla Mr Justice Harbottle

This compendium of beautiful Christmas carols -- popular and rare, familiar and uncommon -- is designed for violinists of all ages, with fifty gorgeous carols and hymns written in basic, flexible arrangements. Including historical notes and full lyrics, it is both practical and informative, musical and literary. This collection of classic Yuletide carols for solo violin is a unique and inexpensive anthology perfect for Christmas parties, caroling, or simply familiarizing oneself with Christmas musical literature. Particularly concerned with under-appreciated classics of English carols from the Tudor, Georgian, and Victorian periods, this book of music includes appendixes with historical notes on the carols and the complete lyrics. Perfect for novice and advanced violinists alike, this collection is more concerned with spirit than technique, allowing the violinist to improvise as they wish, but providing a straight-forward transcription that honors the spirit of the original music. Included in this edition are favorites such as O Holy Night, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, We Three Kings, Silent Night, Ding Dong Merrily on High, What Child is This?, O Come O Come Emmanuel, I Wonder as I Wander, Still Still Still, The First Noel, The Coventry Carol, and God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, but also includes lesser-known, under appreciated standards such as The Boar's Head Carol, The Cherry Tree Carol, Gabriel's Message, The Echo Hymn, The Gloucestershire Wassail, Masters in this Hall, The Sussex Carol, The Gower Wassail, This Endris Night, Down in Yon Forest, and The Friendly Beasts.*****BONUS: Includes Charles Dickens' Christmas punch recipe, a genuine Victorian recipe for Christmas pudding, and two short Yuletide tales from Dickens and Washington Irving

Our mission is to provide the world with beautiful, accessible, illuminating editions of classic horror fiction, introducing these chilling gems to new generations, making them gorgeously illustrated and giving you critical, historical, and artistic insights with every single story. This is one of those books.Building on the weird tales of Hoffmann and Poe, Fitz-James O'Brien is one of horror and fantasy literature's best hidden secrets. His astonishingly original forays into speculative fiction include an army of possessed Christmas dolls, the sudden and short-lived manifestation of an invisible monster, a disappearing room possessed by cannibal spirits, a murderous scientist's discovery of a microscopic woman in a drop of water, a child's symbiotic relationship to a grave, and a haunted gallows-tree. This unique and unrivalled edition of O'Brien's best weird tales, fantasies, and mysteries includes critical introductions to each story, contextual information, and chilling illustrations that breathe life into O'Brien's Gothic visions and bizarre fantasias.TALES INCLUDED in this ANNOTATED EDITION: The Pot of Tulips - The Bohemian - The Dragon Fang -The Demon of the Gibbet - The Diamond Lens -The Wondersmith - Jubal the Ringer - The Lost Room -The Golden Ingot - The Ghosts - What Was It? -The Child Who Loved a Grav