A Little Gray Book of Gloom by Sabine Baring-Gould — Limited Edition, Signed by the Editor John Maclay

The 4th Book in our Past Masters of Horror & Fantasy Series V!

Since our Series IV of Past Masters was so popular, we will continue with a new Series to present the works of writers who deserve the recognition and appreciation of new generations of readers!

Our next writer in Series V is  Sabine Baring-Gould—a British writer from the Victorian era known for his literary ghost tales.

From editor John Maclay’s Introduction:

Of most interest to readers of this present volume would be Baring-Gould’s work in fiction to include nearly 200 short stories appearing in various periodicals, and especially that in the areas of terror and the supernatural. In 1865, he published The Book of Were-Wolves, in 1866-68, Curious Myths of the Middle Ages – and in 1904, A Book of Ghosts, which is in actual short story form, and from which seven of its 21 stories are reprinted here.

In this editor’s opinion, Baring-Gould is a fine stylist, his work falling into the Victorian Gothic category yet his prose having a modern ring to it. He relies heavily on dialogue in telling his stories, but also upon exposition and description. His work isn’t all that atmospheric nor psychological, but he always builds suspense, often resulting in surprise endings. All in all, I consider Sabine Baring-Gould to be an oft-overlooked writer of his period, and certainly a fascinating character in himself, given his many pursuits.