Tuesday, October 28, 2014

The Book of Dreams and Ghosts

Andrew Lang - The Book of Dreams and Ghosts (1897)

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Andrew Lang was a prolific Scottish author best remembered (at least in the U.S.) for his fairy books, running from The Blue Fairy Book (1899) to The Lilac Fairy Book (1910).  (Dover has kept them in print for years and years.)  The Book of Dreams and Ghosts collects accounts of ghostly and weird events in a somewhat disinterested inquiry (the introduction quotes William James) but perhaps with more emphasis on entertainment.  Selections range from "The Ghost That Bit" to "The Creaking Stair" to "The Dancing Devil" to "The Lady in Black".  I'll have to read just to find out what "The Cow with the Bell" and "The Ducks' Eggs" are about.  (Only swan eggs would be less spooky than duck's.)