- "...it is an universal phenomenon of our nature that the mournful, the fearful, even the horrible, allures with irresistible enchantment." - Chaucer Burr, Memoir, 1850."The Wordsworth Book of Horror Stories" is a superb collection of some of the greatest tales of the genre, many are classics while others are lesser-known gems unearthed from this vintage era of the supernatural.From time immemorial, man the world over has drawn upon the worst fears of his conscious and subconscious mind to furnish legends of terror. In this volume, authors such as M. R. James, Le Fanu, Henry James, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, Bierce, Balzac, Gaskell, and many others invite you to close the curtains, lock the doors, draw the armchair closer to the blazing fire and settle down to a spine-chilling read.