I love me some ghost stories.

When I was very, very small, my grandmother used to terrify me with stories of Anne Boleyn, walking the halls of the Tower with her head under her arm. As I grew older, I took to watching those historical ghost shows A&E used to broadcast. They scared me senseless, but I had a blast with them. I seesawed back and forth between desperately wanting to meet a ghost and hoping against hope that I never would.

But oddly enough, I didn't have much to do with written ghost stories until about a year ago. A friend sent me to a blog that had linked to a number of classic horror stories in honour of Hallowe'en. I read a bunch of them. I enjoyed them quite a bit. I started thinking I ought to take a look at what was out there.

And so I started seeking out more horror, both classic and modern. I've found some good stuff in the pages of the YEAR'S BEST FANTASY AND HORROR anthologies, and I've amassed a nice little stack of horror collections I can dip into when the mood strikes me. I've also found some classic stuff online, and I've had a blast seeking out recommendations and seeing what strikes my fancy.

Around the middle of August, I started reading in earnest. I'd decided I wanted to launch Stella Matutina at the beginning of September, and I figured that October would be a good time to hold my first special event. Namely: a classic horror extravaganza!

Every day for the next thirty-one days, I'll be featuring a vintage horror story on my blog. Most of these will be of the ghostly variety, but I've got a few favourites that don't quite fall into that category. I've done my best to choose shorter pieces; the majority of the stories shouldn't take more than five or ten minutes to read, at the absolute most. I'll do my best to confine the longer ones to the weekends, when everyone's got a bit more time.

And what, I ask you, would be the fun of a ghost story extravaganza without a contest to accompany it?

I encourage you all to read the stories and comment on them. Tell me what you liked about them, what you disliked, what you found creepy, what you feel is no longer relevant to modern readers. Where do you think these stories fit in the horror genre as a whole? Can you recommend any similar stories that I and others should check out?

Every time you comment on a story, you earn one entry into a random drawing I'll hold on November 1st. If you post about the contest on your blog or in a public forum, you'll earn an extra three entries.

The contest is open to international readers. Anyone, anywhere, can enter.

And what, you ask, do you stand to gain from this?

Penguin recently reissued a number of classic horror anthologies from top authors, including H.P. Lovecraft, Ambrose Bierce and M.R. James. I've got a shiny new copy of the James collection, THE HAUNTED DOLLS' HOUSE, to offer the winner. In addition, the winner will receive 6 BookMooch points s/he can use to get whatever they'd like on BookMooch.



So, let's recap The Rules:

1. The contest is open to international readers.
2. Every time you comment on a story I've posted, you earn one entry.
3. Post about the 31 Tales of Terror on your own blog or in a public forum to earn an additional three entries. Remember to link to your post here so I know you've done so!
4. The winner will be chosen by a random draw of all entries received by November 1st.
5. The winner stands to gain 6 BookMooch points and a copy of THE HAUNTED DOLLS' HOUSE by M.R. James. (If you're not a BookMooch member, don't worry; I'll help you pick the books you want and see that they're sent your way).

Sound good? Then get reading!