A Preliminary Bibliography of
The Weird Tales of
William Wymark Jacobs (1863-1943)

   

   

from Deep Waters
London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1919; New York: Charles Scribner's, 1919.

1. "Sam's Ghost" comic ghost story.

   

from Lady of the Barge
London: Methuen, 1902; New York: Harpers, 1902.

1. "The Monkey's Paw" is one of the half-dozen most reprinted horror stories of all time. Everett Bleiler in The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural quite rightly calls the tale "one of hte most powerful in English literature." The tale was dramatized by Louis N. Parker as The Monkey's Paw: A Story in Three Scenes (New York & London: Samuel French, 1910).
   
   
2. "The Well" splendid tale of a murder victim's ghost.

   

from Light Freights
London: Methuen, 1901; New York: Dodd Mead, 1901.

1. "Brevet Rank" humorous dialect story of mesmerism.
   
   
2. "Jerry Bundler" Tragedy awaits those who would impersonate the haunted inn's ghost. Anthologist Richard Dalby liked this story sufficiently to make it the lead item of his Mistletoe & Mayhem: Horrific Tales for the Holidays (in the UK as Horrors for Christmas). The tale originally appeared in the Christmas number of Windsor Magazine in 1897. In 1899 it was adapted by Jacobs for the stage, retaining the horrific denoument. The original conclusion must have been thought too much for the general public, for when the play was revived in 1902 it had a new, happier ending, and ran for 100 performances at the Haymarket Theater. This lightened version was published as The Ghost of Jerry Bundler by Jacobs & Charles Rock (London: Samuel French, 1908).

   

From Many Cargoes London: Lawrence & Bullen, 1896; New York: Stokes, 1897.

Note: This was the author's first book & the true first edition is quite rare. It is more accessible in the 1st Heinemann edition of 1898, & in the first illustrated UK edition from Methuen, 1912. The Canadian 1st (Toronto: Bell & Cockburn, 1912) has the same 16 color plates by Maurice Greiffenhagen. The Stokes edition of 1903 was illustrated throughout by E. W. Kemble, 33 illustrations including eight color plates (Grosset & Dunlap reissued the Kemble-illustrated edition).

1. "The Rival Beauties" Sea serpent comedy. This is also in the anthology Pause to Wonder (New York: Messner, 1944)

   

From The Monkey's Paw
& Other Tales of Mystery & the Macabre
Chicago: Academy Chicago, 1997. Edited by Gary Hoppenenstand.

Note: This modern paperback selection attempts to be complete for the weird fiction. It includes a couple items never before collected, is padded out with a couple that are not supernatural, & it did miss a couple that should have been included. The entire content runs:

1. "The Monkey's Paw" from Harper's Monthly September 1902
   
   
2. "The Well"
   
   
3. "The Three Sisters"
   
   
4. "The Toll House" from The Strand April 1907
   
   
5. "Jerry Bundler" from The Windsor Magazine December 1897
   
   
6. "His Brother's Keeper" from The Strand December 1922
   
   
7. "The Interruption" from The Strand November 1925
   
   
8. "In the Library" from Harper's Monthly Jun 1901
   
   
9. "Captain Rogers" from Harper's Monthly February 1901
   
   
10. "The Lost Ship"
    
    
11. "Three at Table"
    
    
12. "The Brown Man's Servant" from Pearson's Magazine December 1896
    
    
13. "Over the Side" from Today May 29, 1897
    
    
14. "The Vigil" from The Strand September 1912
    
    
15. "Sam's Ghost"
    
    
16. "In Mid-Atlantic"
    
    
17. "Twin Spirits" from The Strand February 1901
    
    
18. "The Castaway" from The Strand March 1903

   

From Night Watches.
London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1914; New York: Scribners, 1914

Note: Mike Ashley in his Who's Who of horror cited from this collection "The Unknown" as a supernatural tale, but that tale is merely a light comedy about a trumped up love-letter which induces jealousy in a watchman's wife. The volume does have two excellent weird tales however:

1. "The Three Sisters" Cautionary tale about impersonating a ghost in a gloomy haunted house.
   
   
2. "The Vigil"

   

From Sailors' Knots
London: Methuen, 1909; New York: Charles Scribner's, 1909; Toronto: Copps Clark, 1909

Note: Twelve illustrations by Will Owen.

1. "Keeping Up Appearances" comedy about impersonating a ghost.
   
   
2. "The Toll-house" ferociously haunted house, his best story after Monkey's Paw; also in Snug Harbor

   

From Sea Whispers
London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1926; New York: Scribner's, 1926

Note: Jacobs' heyday was over & relatively few copies were printed, hence this one's comparatively hard to find, though calling it actually rare would be a stretch. Sixteen black & white illustrations by Bert Thomas.

1. "His Brother's Keeper" a tale of murder with the possibility of an outside, supernatural agency inducing somnambulant actions.
   
   
2. "The Interruption" -- Both of these weird tales were cited by Ellery Queen in 1942 as among the best mystery yarns ever published.

   

from The Skipper's Wooing & the Brown Man's Servant
London: Arthur Pearson, 1897; New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1897.

1. "The Brown Man's Servant"

   

From Snug Harbor New York: Scribners, 1932.

Note: A selected omnibus of tales all having earlier book publication, often reprinted & one of his easiest books to find, though not issued in England & not including many of his weirds.

1. "The Toll House" reprinted from Sailor's Knots.
   
   
2. "Sam's Ghost" reprinted from Deep Waters.

   

Uncollected

1. "A Black Affair" from The Idler April 1896. Humorous ghost story.

   

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