The Wicked Captain Waxwork and Other Mystical Stories

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu is one of the leading authors of Gothic prose, recognized as a master of ghost stories of the 19th century and an important figure in the development of the English-language horror tradition. The central novella of the collection, “The Scandal—or The Hostage Guest,” is a Victorian horror specimen where tension comes not from a clash with monsters, but from a family conflict and the intrusion of a stranger into a closed world of a family estate.

On these pages, readers will encounter frightening stories that open the door to the realm of the supernatural and the unexplained. Over the ancient manor of “Grey Forest,” darkness thickens: the Marston family stands on the brink of ruin, and the rift among relatives only grows. Their oppressive isolation is disrupted by the arrival of a wealthy cousin, Winstan Berkeley, accustomed to luxury. No one suspects that this unwelcome guest’s appearance will be the beginning of a chain of tragedies.