Ghost Stories (Magazine)

18th February 2024. Reading Time: 1 minute General, Paranormal Book Club. 763 page views. 0 comments.

Ghost Stories was an American pulp magazine which published 64 issues between 1926 and 1932.

Before Haunted Magazine, Ghost Stories was an American magazine of "uncanny, spooky, creepy tales" published in the 1920s and 1930s.

Launched in 1926 by Bernarr Macfadden, Ghost Stories was slotted to be a competitor to the popular Weird Tales. Initially, it was a very successful magazine with a niche following, however soon the magazine began to lose readers and in 1930 was sold to Harold Hersey. He was unable to save the magazine, and publication of Ghost Stories ceased in early 1932.

In addition to original material, Ghost Stories ran many reprints, including well-known Victorian ghost stories such as

"The Signalman" by Charles Dickens

"The Open Door" by Mrs. Oliphant

Agatha Christie's "The Last Seance" appeared in the November 1926 issue, with the title "The Woman Who Stole a Ghost"

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a regular contributor, with his non-fiction piece titled Houdini's Last Escape published in March 1930.

What I found most intriguing through my deep dive was a notice posted in the October 1930 Issue which was published not long after Sir Arthur Conan Doyle passed away (7th July 1930) stating it was a very exciting time for the paranormal community as they may finally receive long-awaited answers through Doyle himself:

Equally intriguing are some of the ads of the time. In 1927, you could send $1000 to the University of Applied Science and become a professional finger print expert!

The following website has all of the covers, and some issues available to download in PDF form:

Luminust.org

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