Melissa Edmundson editor of Women’s Weird and Women’s Weird 2 has curated this selection of
the best of Elinor Mordaunt’s supernatural short fiction. Elinor Mordaunt was the pen name of
Evelyn May Clowes (1872-1942) a prolific and popular novelist and short story writer working
in Australia and Britain in the first thirty-five years of the twentieth century. Edmundson's
stories blend the technologies and social attitudes of modernity with the classic supernatural
tropes of the ghost the haunted house possession conjuration from the dead and witchcraft.
Each story is an original and compelling contribution to supernatural fiction making this
selection a marvelous new showcase for women’s writing in the genres. The Villa and The Vortex
includes the following short stories: The Weakening Point The Country-side The Vortex Hodge The
Fountain Luz The Landlady Four Wallpapers The Villa The Villa and the Vortex is a must-read for
those who find themselves drawn to older weird fiction and for those with a fondness for older
supernatural and ghost stories. – What Sleeps Beneath An attractive enjoyable collection of
supernatural tales including some real gems. – British Fantasy Society
