A short life of the author
Eleanor Spencer is an American writer and editor associated with collections of ghost stories and supernatural fiction.
Key Works
Famous Modern Ghost Stories — an anthology collecting notable supernatural tales from the modern era. The ghost story anthology has been a significant publishing format since the Victorian period, when M.R. James, Le Fanu, and others established the modern literary ghost story. Anthologies like Spencer’s serve as curated introductions to the genre and preserve stories that might otherwise fall out of print.
The tradition of ghost story anthologies — from the Creeps series of the 1930s through the Fontana and Pan Books of Horror collections to contemporary “year’s best” compilations — has been essential in maintaining the genre’s readership and critical reputation.
Collecting Spencer
Ghost story anthologies are collected as a category by enthusiasts of supernatural fiction. The value of individual volumes depends primarily on the contributing authors, the publisher, and the rarity of the edition rather than on the editor.