he Turn of the Screw and Other Ghost Stories – Henry James

“This moon made the night extraordinary penetrable and showed me on the lawn a person, diminished by distance, who stood there motionless and as if fascinated, looking up to where I had appeared looking, that is, not so much straight at me as at something that was apparently above me.” (Citation pos. 1100)

Content

The Turn of the Screw

“This moon made the night extraordinary penetrable and showed me on the lawn a person, diminished by distance, who stood there motionless and as if fascinated, looking up to where I had appeared looking, that is, not so much straight at me as at something that was apparently above me.” (Citation pos. 1100)

A wealthy Gentleman from London, guardian for his nephew and niece, looks for a governess and hires a young woman. The two children live in his country home in Essex. Flora, the little girl, is beautiful, well educated and just loveable and after just one hour, she and her new governess have become friends. Her elder brother, Miles, too is a beautiful child, gentle, with good manners. Everything seems to be absolutely perfect – but things are not always, as they seem to be.

A famous, celebrated and well-known Gothic novella.

The Romance of Certain Old Cloths

“One of these days my daughter shall wear them – my rings and my laces and silks.” (Citation pos. 2364)

Two sisters, Rosalind and Perdita, fall in love with the same man, Mr. Arthur Lloyd, who marries Perdita. Perdita dies in childbed. Arthur has to promise her to keep her chest with all her belongings and beautiful dresses for their daughter. After some time, Arthur marries Rosalind and she is very curious about the chest.

An American Gothic tale. 

The Ghostly Rental

“The last red light of the sunset disengaged itself, as it was about to vanish, and rested faintly for a moment on the time-silvered front of the old house.” (Citation pos. 2540)

One grey December afternoon, the narrator, a young Cambridge student, takes an old road to shorten his way. He comes to a house in an orchard of old apple-trees and he is curious about the house. The house is haunted, he is told, but he feels that there must be more, some secret. So he returns to the place and one day he sees a mysterious old man enter the house. He has several more meetings with the old man, Captain Diamond. One day in September, the old man sends for the narrator, he is dying and has one favor to ask.

Sir Edmund Orme

“From the first time of her seeing me she had been sure there were things I should not escape knowing.” (Citation pos. 3224)

It is season in Brighton and the un-named narrator falls in love with charming Charlotte Marden. Her mother has a secret and one day something happens and the narrator shares the secret of Mrs. Marden.

A ghost story told by an outer narrator and based on a written report of the events by the inner narrator.

Owen Wingrave

“He talked about the ‘immeasurable misery’ of wars, and asked me why nations don’t tear to pieces the governments, the rulers that go in for them.” (Citation pos. 3881)

Young Owen Wingrave is prepared for a brilliant military career like all his ancestors, but he prefers Goethe and books to the military life of a soldier. Therefore, his coach Spencer Coyle, his best friend and family members come together at Paramore House, the home of the Wingraves, the house with a haunted room, where no one ever sleeps. Owen is against war, but not a coward as assumed by his family and is ready to proof it.

The Friends of the Friends

 “Certainly they ought to meet, my friend and he; certainly they would have something in common.” (Citation pos. 4406)

Their friends think that they should meet: she had been abroad with her aunt when she sees her father waiting for her in a museum – it was the moment he had dies back at home in England. He had been a student in Oxford many years ago, when he saw his mother waiting in his room – it was the day when she had died in Wales. However, for years all appointments for some reasons failed.

The Real Right Thing

“The first night our young man was alone in the room it seemed to him that his master and he were really for the first time together.” (Citation pos. 4895)

Mrs. Doyne asks George Withermore, a writer and journalist, to write a biography about her husband Ashton Doyle, who had suddenly died some months ago. Doyne, a well-known writer and young Withermore had been very close friends. George is allowed to work in Ashton’s study, to go through his documents and papers to get information for the biography on his friend. After some time, George has a negative feeling while writing about Ashton.

The Third Person

“The person the elder of the pair had seen in her room was not – well, just simply was not any one in from outside.” (Citation pos. 5244)

Miss Susan and Miss Amy, second grade cousins, have inherited an old house in Marr and the will said it should be sold. But they both were so happy about the house; they liked it and decided to live there together, in the house of their anchestors. One day they find a small chest full of old papers and they ask the vicar to do some researches.

A humorous ghost story.

The Jolly Corner

“For me it is lived in, for me it is furnished.” (Citation pos. 5869)

Spencer Brydon left New York with twenty-three and returned thirty-three years later. Owner of several houses, family property, he had lived in Europe from the leases and has come back for some renovation and construction works. Just one of the houses remains as it is with its great, grey, empty rooms.

A story about alternative futures and possibilities.

Conclusion

A selection of the famous Gothic ghost stories by Henry James. Family secrets and spooky tales about the unknown, the mysterious in life and occurrences that remain inexplicable. A perfect read for dark winter days.