Irish fairy and folklore there were in abundance but there was no book of ghosts. And so I determined to supply this sad omission.

Suddenly a brilliant thought struck me. I wrote out a letter, stating exactly what I wanted, and what I did "not" want, and requesting the readers of it either to forward me ghost stories, or else to put me in the way of getting them: this letter was sent to the principal Irish newspapers on October 27, and published on October 29, and following days. On October 30, the first answers reached me. Within a fortnight I had sufficient material to make a book; within...