I think it's safe to say that the title isn't entirely accurate here. Of the eight short stories collected in this volume, a couple actually have ghosts in them. Others contain general supernatural nastiness, from demons to spiders to sack-and-toad monsters, sort of. They're all, however, very entertaining, although they do all come to seem a bit too similar to each other by the end. I happen to have read a couple of them before - the final story, "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas," is one that's always creeped me out. I don't even know why, really. If I were to describe it, I doubt it would seem that frightening, but it has one moment in it that's never failed to make me shudder. Of the stories collected here, I think that one's my favourite, although "The Mezzotint" is a close second.

These aren't stories that succeed in horrifying by virtue of gore. There's very little of that, and often there's barely any action at all. They all have similar protagonists - upper middle class male scholars, well educated individuals who find something odd in the course of their research. Frequently that research is archival, which gives them access to old and mysterious documents or artifacts but is not an especially glamorous vocation in itself. As I said, the stories can come across as much of a muchness, but they are so quietly well-written that an atmosphere of threat consistently develops regardless.