The Best Psychic Stories

In Short

Edited by Joseph Lewis French, this 1920 anthology gathers classic fiction, essays, and reports that explore the hidden edges of human consciousness. Across its pages, characters face ancient ancestral identities, haunted bedchambers, revenge beyond the grave, and spectral visits at sea. Interwoven with these tales are early spiritualist studies examining phantom photography, physical mediumship, elemental spirits, and premonitions experienced by historical figures. The collection endures as a compelling, multifaceted record of how early twentieth-century literature and research attempted to capture the mysterious, persistent shadow of the supernatural.

The Story

The volume opens with a literary argument for the enduring presence of the ghost in art, noting that no dramatic device grants quite the same thrill as an idea drawn from the domain of the invisible. It then moves into narrative terrain where modern minds collide with primitive forces. In one tale, James G. Ward, an unhappy modern business man, finds himself gripped by a strange dual existence. He discovers that he harbors a brutal, prehistoric self alongside his modern persona. When a blackmailer named Dave attempts to extract money from him, Ward’s ancient physical strength surges forth, terrorizing the intruder and forcing him to flee into the night.

In another narrative, a man stands at an open London window, overwhelmed by the sudden, luminous beauty of the night sky. As peace washes over him, he recalls a forgotten pact made twelve years prior with a friend named Straughan—that whoever died first should appear to the other. Soon after, a letter arrives from India revealing that Straughan had died at that exact hour, returning to his friend through the transcendent magic of the night. Elsewhere, an ancient house holds a room modern in appearance yet burdened by memory. A guest who had been killed there in a former life wakes to see the shadow of a wheel-back chair cast against the ceiling by the fire. Recognizing the pattern from the night of his murder, he flees down the stairs, passing the lingering, unseen presence of the woman who took his life.

Love and desire also cross the barrier of death, as in the classic account of Ligeia, whose passionate devotion to her husband turns into a ferocious, despairing struggle against mortality itself. In a very different key, a traveler named Neil Ross walks through mist and rain to the Scottish coast, carrying a bitter burden of vengeance. After confronting his enemies and renouncing their dead, he seeks an ancient rune to cast sins into the ocean, hoping to navigate the dangerous spiritual path ahead.

Alongside these dramatic fables, the collection presents investigative accounts of the occult. Researchers describe seances where physical forms materialize, measuring the immense physical toll on the medium, whose weight drops dramatically during the phenomenon. Reports from field encounters in India describe dangerous night journeys through thickets to observe local practitioners, ending in chaotic retreats. Finally, documented reports collect notable historical occurrences, such as Charles Dickens dreaming vividly of a stranger in a red shawl named Miss Napier, only to be introduced to that exact woman in his dressing room the following evening.

How It Unfolds

A primitive shadow emerges A troubled businessman confronts an attempted blackmailer, revealing a terrifying physical force derived from an ancient, savage self that resides alongside his modern mind.

A forgotten pact fulfilled While gazing over London’s night skyline, a man experiences a sudden wave of beauty and peace, only to realize his deceased friend has kept a promise to manifest at the moment of death.

Escaping the haunted chamber A houseguest awakens to see the shadow of a wheel-back chair on the ceiling and realizes he was murdered in that exact room in a past existence.

A desperate struggle against death A dying woman pours out her impassioned love to her husband, reciting a grim poem about the human tragedy before succumbing to her fierce longing for life.

Seeking safety from ancient wrongs Neil Ross wanders through wet sea-mist to his home region, confronting old enemies and bargaining for a protective charm to escape the curse of a dead man's sins.

Measuring the invisible world Investigators conduct controlled laboratory seances, recording heavy weight loss in mediums and observing materialized figures interacting with the observers.

A dream prefigures reality Author Charles Dickens records a vivid dream of a unknown woman wearing a red shawl, only to meet her in person hours later after a reading.

The People

• James G. Ward: A successful forty-year-old business man who suffers from a dual personality. He lives simultaneously as a modern educated man and as an ancient, savage barbarian, wielding shocking physical power when provoked.
• Dave: A blackmailer who attempts to extract money from James G. Ward, only to be terrified and physically shaken by the sudden, overwhelming strength of Ward's primitive self.
• Neil Ross: A weary, resolute wanderer who travels miles across rainy Scottish landscapes. He seeks to settle a bitter score, cast off tainted money, and learn an ancient protective rune before traveling to the west side of Iona.
• Maisie Macdonald: A local woman who recognizes Neil Ross, accepts his abandoned money, and teaches him the ancient rune used to throw the sins of the dead into the sea.
• Ligeia: A woman of extraordinary intellect and intense passion whose idolatrous love for her husband fuels a wild, desperate refusal to surrender to mortal death.
• Charles Dickens: The famed author who writes down a surprisingly detailed dream involving an unfamiliar woman named Miss Napier, who unexpectedly appears in his room the next day.

In Its Own Voice

"Ever and always the shadow of the supernatural invites, pursues us."

The preface highlights how the supernatural has served as an abiding motive in storytelling from the ancient Greek tragedies to modern art.

"There is no motive in a story, no image in poetry, that can give us quite the thrill of a supernatural idea."

The editor reflects on the unique, irresistible pull that psychical themes exert on the human imagination.

"A wet wind out of the south mazed and mooned through the sea-mist that hung over the Ross."

This vivid description sets the somber, brooding mood for the atmospheric Scottish story of Neil Ross.

What It's Really About

At its core, the collection examines the thin, permeable boundary separating the known physical world from unseen forces. It explores how memory, guilt, and deep affection refuse to be contained by mortal lifespans or rational explanation. Through both creative narratives and investigative essays, the book asks whether human identity is confined to a single lifetime or if it echoes across time through inherited instincts, spectral returns, and unexplained premonitions. Ultimately, it argues that human fascination with the invisible domain stems from a fundamental need to find wonder, meaning, and continuity beyond the material world.

Why Read It Today

This volume appeals to readers who appreciate classic ghost stories, early twentieth-century spiritualism, and historical paranormal research. It captures a fascinating cultural moment when literary fiction and early psychical research frequently overlapped, treating supernatural phenomena with serious intellectual curiosity.

Reading the collection offers a rich, atmospheric experience, shifting between eerie gothic tales and formal observational reports. However, modern readers should be prepared for period stylistic choices: the prose can be deliberate and formal, with occasional uses of regional dialect and archaic vocabulary. Certain investigative sections reflect the specific, dated frameworks of early 1900s spiritualism. Despite these period qualities, the anthology's sense of mystery and its exploration of the unknown remain genuinely engaging, leaving a lingering impression of life's stranger dimensions.