Terrific Tales Explained

Terrific Tales
Author:Isabella Lewis
Cover Artist:Ryan Cagle
Country:United Kingdom
Language:English
Genre:Gothic Fiction
Published:1804
Media Type:Print (Hardcover)
Pages:108 pages
Isbn:0-9777841-5-0

Terrific Tales is the title of a collection of forty-four Gothic fiction short stories by Isabella Lewis, published in 1804 and originally printed by R. Cantwell of Temple Bar for J. F Hughes of Cavendish Square.[1] James Fletcher Hughes was an important publisher of Gothic fiction between 1800 and 1811, publishing many texts. http://www.british-fiction.cf.ac.uk/publisherTitles.asp?publisher=Hughes%2C+James+Fletcher&browse=y Nothing at all is known of the author of the present work, Isabella Lewis never published another book, and the name may in fact be a pseudonym. These stories all appear concerned with the supernatural and repeat themes with spectres, ghosts, demons and other supernatural events.

About the stories

These short stories are all concerned with the supernatural. The supernatural is often left unexplained and they range from, but are not limited to, Spectres, Hobgoblins, Ghosts the devil. They are never any longer than 7 pages and are all extremely different and versatile.

Contents

  1. "A Note on the Text"
  2. "The count of Macon, in the midst of life and health, transported into the air by a spectre in the shape of a horse"
  3. "Count Despilliers and one of his soldiers nearly smothered between the bed and mattrass by an invisible hand"
  4. "The body of a woman that had been hanged invested by the devil"
  5. "The Ghost of Sancho three months after his death appearing to Pierre d’Englebert in Spain, at his bed-side by moon-light"
  6. "The apparition of the Duke of Milan’s brother to two merchants"
  7. "Hobgoblins that appeared near the Castle of Lusignan in 1620"
  8. "Spectres that haunted the house of a Gentleman in Silesia through his rash wishes"
  9. "Spirit of a Gentleman which burst through a casement in his Daughter’s bed chamber, at the hour of his death, invisible to every one except a dog, who continued barking till it vanished – A fact!"
  10. "A Spectre loaded with Chains appearing to a Young Gentleman, who courageously followed it into a Garden, where it pointed out to him the spot where the bones of a person in Chains were actually discovered – A FACT"
  11. "A troop of Spirits seen wandering at Narni in the middle of the day"
  12. "The Ghost of Brutus appearing to him before his death"
  13. "A young lady murdered by an evil Spirit through her impious wishes, and afterwards transformed into a Black Cat"
  14. "The ghost of an old gentleman in chains, appearing to the philosopher Athenodore, a fact related by Pliny"
  15. "The spirit of the Marquis de Rambouillet appearing to his friend the Marquis de Precy, as by appointed when alive"
  16. "The death of Carlostadt, announced by a spectre that seized his youngest child and threatened to dash his brains out: afterwards ordered him to tell his father to prepare himself, as he should call again in three days"
  17. "The awful dream of Xerxes, the king of Persia"
  18. "The ghost of Desfontaines, appearing to his friend Mr. Bezuel to inform him that he had been drowned, according to a reciprocal agreement"
  19. "A dream told by Cicero concerning two Arcadians who travelling together stopped at Megarda, and lodged at different houses. The one of them appeared to the other in a Dream, told him he was murdered by the innkeepers, and begged that he would look in the morning for his body, which was concealed in a waggon"
  20. "The Ghost of Humbert Birk, a Flanderskin, that haunted a house in a manner similar to Scratching Fanny"
  21. "The Spirit of a Gentleman appearing several nights to a Taylor in a cloud of Sulphur"
  22. "An invisible Spirit that infested a Printing Office, boxed the ears of the Workmen, threw their hats about the room, pelted them with stones, and committed various acts of mischief"
  23. "A Slave supposed to have been cut in pieces through his presumption in conjuring up Devils in an Old Castle at the Isle of Malta"
  24. "A most extraordinary account of a Ghost that appeared to a Young Man. After lifting up his bed, and removing his bedstead several times, and making the most uncommon noises, threw him into a kind of trance"
  25. "A tall Spectre that appeared in the air, warning the people of Besanson to amend – when a terrible earthquake ensued, which engulfed the whole city"
  26. "The Spirit of a departed Soul appears to a Countryman, who found a Vase which contained its Ashes"
  27. "A supernatural Agent appears to a Herdsman in the shape of a young Girl, and through its insinuations causes him to Murder his only Son"
  28. "Two Gentlemen having promised that he who should die first should come and inform the other how he approved of immortality; at his Decease his Spirit actually appeared mounted upon a White Horse"
  29. "An Angel appears to a religious Character in a Monastery"
  30. "The Spirit of a Philosopher while sleeping transports itself into a distant Country"
  31. "A Spectre appears to an Old Woman and points out a hidden treasure"
  32. "A Spirit convinces a Philosopher in a Dream of the immortality of the Soul"
  33. "A Book flies from one place to another, and opens by an invisible hand"
  34. "The Apparition of a Woman after her decease visits and torments her Daughter"
  35. "This Historical Tract, respecting Charles le Chauve, related by himself in Latin, was extracted from the manuscripts 2447, belonging to the National Library, in folio, page 188. The translation is as follows"
  36. "The Ghost of a Nobleman appears in armour to his Commander under whose service he had lost his life"
  37. "The Ghost of a Young Lady commits several acts of violence"
  38. "A Young Gentleman troubled by the incantations of a Wizard. – A fact related by a Clergyman"
  39. "The ghost of a woman appears to her husband five years after her death to warn him of his future conduct"
  40. "A young gentleman who sold himself to the devil"
  41. "The Night Mare"
  42. "The Spirit of a Young Man appearing to a Clergyman under various awful shapes, and at every visit makes the most horrid groans"
  43. "The Spectre of a Young Lady who was in the habit of visiting her sweetheart for the space of six months after she died"
  44. "A wonderful and horrid Spectre that appeared to John Helias, Sir d’Audiguer’s servant, on the 1st January 1623 in the Church of St. Germain. The recital is by Sir d’Audiguer himself"
  45. "The Spectre of a shepherd that appeared to several persons, when after having called them by their names, they died on that day week ensuing"

Reception

Only reception appears to be from Diane Hoeveler when she proposes 'a series of short vignettes that purport to be true, although the contents are fantastical and reveal an interesting mix of residual supernaturalism combined with rationalizing Christian moral exemplum.' https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-240729252/gothic-chapbooks-and-the-urban-reader

Notes and References

  1. ISABELLA, Lewis. (2006). Terrific Tales. 2nd ed. Chicago, Valancourt Books.

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