Stranger Than Fiction: Being Tales from the Byways of Ghosts and Folk-lore

Stranger Than Fiction: Being Tales from the Byways of Ghosts and Folk-lore

I have to thank the Editor of the Occult Review for his kindness in allowing me to reprint here many stories which have appeared at different times in his magazine. And I am most grateful to the friends who have helped to swell the contents of this little volume, by permitting me to record their interesting experiences of the supernatural, or by furnishing me with details concerning local beliefs and superstitions, which would otherwise have been difficult to obtain. M. L. LEWES CHAPTER I. Introductory CHAPTER II. Welsh Ghosts CHAPTER III. Welsh Ghosts (continued) CHAPTER IV. Other Ghosts CHAPTER V. Corpse-Candles and the Toili CHAPTER VI. Corpse-Candles and the Toili (continued) CHAPTER VII. Welsh Fairies CHAPTER VIII. Wise Men, Witches, and Family Curses CHAPTER IX. Odd Notes CHAPTER X. Conclusion If we may judge by the assertion contained in the above quatrain, Omar Khayym was no believer in ghosts. In which respect the Persian poet must have differed from the general opinion of his times. For until a very few centuries ago, it was only a small minority of those who considered themselves wise above their fellows, who ventured to deny the possibility of the spirit's return to earth. Even amongst the Romans during the Antonine Age (A.D. 98-180), when scepticism on religious matters had become almost universal among the learned, and the worship of the gods had sunk to mere outward observance of ceremony, Gibbon says, "I do not pretend to assert that in this irreligious age, the natural terrors of superstitions, dreams, omens, apparitions, &c., had lost their efficacy." The younger Pliny, in a letter to his friend Sura, writes: "I am extremely desirous to know whether you believe in the existence of ghosts, and that they have a real form, and are a sort of divinities, or only the visionary impression of a terrified imagination." He also relates a really exciting tale of a haunted house at Athens, but it is too long to quote here. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 36595
Author: Lewes, Mary L.
Release Date: Jul 4, 2011
Format: eBook
Language: English