Illusions of Presence
Lost Christmas Ghost Stories
2025
First Published
3.94
Average Rating
256
Number of Pages
As clanging bells pierce the Winter calm, a bustling throng of spectral visitants is making its approach. The eminent anthologist and seeker of forgotten tales, Johnny Mains, has been scouring the archives of newspapers and periodicals once more to bring you the gift of ‘new’ supernatural fiction from the Victorian and Edwardian era – the heyday of the classic ghost tale. Packed with ethereal messengers, chain-clanking ghouls, the odd cheery phantom and bundles of suspense, this collection is a welcome offering for any reader of the ghostly and Gothic.
Avg Rating
3.94
Number of Ratings
32
5 STARS
31%
4 STARS
44%
3 STARS
19%
2 STARS
0%
1 STARS
6%
goodreads
Authors
May Wynne
Author · 1 book
May Wynne is a pseudonym for Mabel Winifred Knowles, prolific author of 211 books published between 1899 and 1954, as well as many short stories. Her works include thrillers, romances, adventures, historical and guide stories, didactic and religious pieces, and girls' school stories. A Church worker at the Anglican mission parish of St Luke’s, Victoria Docks, Knowles used the proceeds from her writing career to fund mission activities. During the peak of her career, she wrote as many as eight books a year.
Mabel Collins
Author · 5 books
Mabel Collins was born in St Peter Port, Guernsey. She was a writer of popular occult novels, a fashion writer and an anti-vivisection campaigner. According to Vittoria Cremers, as related by Aleister Crowley, Collins was at one time being romantically pursued by both Cremers and alleged occultist Robert D'Onston Stephenson. Cremers claimed that during this time she found five bload-soaked ties in a trunk under Stephenson's bed, corresponding to the five murders committed in Whitechapel by Jack the Ripper. Stephenson is no longer a candidate as being Jack the Ripper due to the efforts of competent, modern researchers. However, Stephenson was a rival with Cremers for Collins' affections, and this account cannot be independently confirmed
