SOURCE: Review of Mrs. Gaskell's Tales of Mystery and Horror, in Nineteenth Century Fiction, Vol. 34, No. 1, June, 1979, pp. 95-6.

Here, Ferris faults Gaskell's ability to portray the nonrational motivations which give rise to fantasy, mystery, and the Gothic.

This collection of six Gaskell stories [Mrs. Gaskell's Tales of Mystery and Horror] appears as part of the Gollancz Library of Fantasy and Macabre. But only two of the stories ("The Old Nurse's Tale" and "Curious If True") venture into the supranatural world of fantasy, and none generates the crawling horror of the genuine macabre. Readers hoping to discover exotic depths in a Gaskell released from the confines of realism will be disappointed. These tales come from the same world and the same mind as do the novels, so offer no startling insights into Gaskell as a fiction writer. Her novels, despite their diversity, draw sustenance from a firm belief...