I like the British Library's collections of themed uncanny stories a lot, but this is weaker than most. Man Size in Marble and MR James are pretty claI like the British Library's collections of themed uncanny stories a lot, but this is weaker than most. Man Size in Marble and MR James are pretty classic anyway, the rest could have remained forgotten to my mind. I have a sneaking suspicion they did this one purely because someone thought of the title, and who could blame them. ...more
Romance with woman who owns a haunted B&B and ex high school crush now working on a Most Haunted type TV show. The haunting bits are great, with a verRomance with woman who owns a haunted B&B and ex high school crush now working on a Most Haunted type TV show. The haunting bits are great, with a very spooky ghost and some proper scary sections. There is basically no conflict in the romance: they are both solid people, strongly attracted and supportive with nothing to keep them apart, so if you're looking for a read where all the stress is in the external plot, this may float your boat. ...more
Second instalment in this entertaining series. Claire is a total shambles of a thirtysomething, largely because she's haunted by the ghost of her bestSecond instalment in this entertaining series. Claire is a total shambles of a thirtysomething, largely because she's haunted by the ghost of her best friend, murdered at 17 and now a perpetual teenager. Claire's life is a horrible mess due to constantly talking to people who aren't there, but she has an awkward sort of found family thing going on with Basher (gay ex policeman) and Alex (nonbinary glam 19yo).
In this one, the three have a random holiday at a wellness retreat on an Irish ex prison island. There is murder, awful wellness people, marooning, and pirate ghosts, plus Claire's ongoing inability to cope with life (highly relatable). Thoroughly entertaining: like Randall and Hopkirk Deceased but with stroppy teens, prickly friendships, and too much to drink. ...more
Immensely enjoyable, relentlessly mickey-taking murder mystery with a Randall and Hopkirk Deceased vibe: our incredibly amateur sleuth is also an amatImmensely enjoyable, relentlessly mickey-taking murder mystery with a Randall and Hopkirk Deceased vibe: our incredibly amateur sleuth is also an amateur medium, albeit one who can actually see and speak to dead people, because she's had her murdered best friend at her side since they were 17.
That's actually quite a dark premise and we definitely touch into quite how screwed up Claire is, but it's well balanced with the enjoyable elements. There's also a huge amount of fun with her sidekicks, ex cop Basher (actually Sebastian, lol) and nonbinary sarcasm teen Alex, plus the ludicrous posh family who may have murdered someone.
Great assurance in the writing--hard to believe it's a debut--and marvellous characters make this a highly entertaining comic detective romp. I hope this is a series....more
Another silly but very likeable Manning Coles ghost comedy, very much in the vein of Brief Candles. In this case it's a German Graf who's temporarily Another silly but very likeable Manning Coles ghost comedy, very much in the vein of Brief Candles. In this case it's a German Graf who's temporarily returned from the dead, rather sweetly demanding acknowledgement of his long ago secret wife, and incidentally appearing in a film. fun. ...more
Back on my Manning Coles bullshit. This is part of their ghost comedies, in which ghosts are able to take physical form (here by mildly draining the eBack on my Manning Coles bullshit. This is part of their ghost comedies, in which ghosts are able to take physical form (here by mildly draining the energy of descendants) and basically cause mild havoc in a fish out of water/time slip/being a ghost way. Very silly but entertaining....more
I have no idea how I missed this last year! Gao and Wei-wei are hands down my favourite pair of Jeannie Lin protags, and the hint in the author's noteI have no idea how I missed this last year! Gao and Wei-wei are hands down my favourite pair of Jeannie Lin protags, and the hint in the author's note that she considered doing a series of mysteries with them is OH MY GOD YES PLEASE CAN A PUBLISHER JUST DO THAT NOW, A SIX BOOK DEAL SOUNDS ABOUT RIGHT.
Gao the Knife, a street thug turned constable, is married to Lady Bai, who has descended from a vast social height to be with him and is learning to cook and live on the street. They are lovely. This is a delightful novella steeped in Chinese tradition, superstition and myth, where we are left pleasingly unsure of what constitutes reality. Beautifully atmospheric, evocative and vivid writing, and it's such a pleasure to hang out with Gao and Wei-wei again....more
Set in Sri Lanka in the late 80s: corruption, appalling brutality and civil war. Maali, a gay war photographer, has been disappeared and murdered and Set in Sri Lanka in the late 80s: corruption, appalling brutality and civil war. Maali, a gay war photographer, has been disappeared and murdered and his body dumped. The book is about his experience of the afterlife, him working out who killed him, and attempting to contact his boyfriend and best friend to keep them safe and revenge himself on his killers.
It's a great premise for a book about a serious, dreadful time about which I know shamefully little. This was a bit of an issue as there's a huge amount of domestic factional politics plus foreign interference from the US and India and it was pretty hard to follow, with an awful lot of characters and hidden motives. There's also an afterlife plot which is also complicated and full of intrigue and hidden motives.
Which could make for a hugely absorbing read--the writing is vivid and powerful and the story bitterly important--but unfortunately it is told in second person present tense ("You watch them cut off your head and dispose of your body") including in the many flashbacks. I am sure there's a good literary reason behind this decision but it absolutely didn't work for me. Present tense is usually fairly pointless IMO (the only book I can think of that actively benefits from its use is Infomocracy by Malka Older) and becomes thoroughly annoying when flashbacks get involved. And the second person is confusing in a complicated book, and I found it very distancing. That may well have been the intention, reflecting Maali's war photographer 'onlooker' attitude and his enforced emotional detachment as a gay man in a homophobic society, but the cumulative effect made it a tough read for me.
I keep saying "for me" because I can see the skill here and I'm very sure others will find it engaging and moving and powerful, but I am not the right reader for this. DNF at 56%....more
Perhaps the most peculiar member of the peculiar Benson family. AC was an incredibly prolific repressed-gay church bore who wrote Land of Hope and GloPerhaps the most peculiar member of the peculiar Benson family. AC was an incredibly prolific repressed-gay church bore who wrote Land of Hope and Glory, EF was an incredibly prolific and not even slightly repressed gay party animal who wrote the Mapp and Lucia books, Maggie was a lesbian Egyptologist, writer, and artist, and RH veered between being an Anglican priest, a Catholic priest, and a, yes, prolific writer of historical and SF novels, and horror and occult tales, who spent his time when he wasn't being extremely religious hanging out with dubious characters including Baron Corvo and Lord Alfred Douglas. Their mother was a magnificently intelligent woman whose life was pretty much ruined by her horrible grooming by and marriage to the ghastly EW Benson, who first proposed when he was 24 and she was 12. He then became the Archbishop of Canterbury. I mean.
This is basically a collection of ghost stories told through a mystical-Catholic prism. Sort of like what Chesterton did for detective stories with Father Brown, only with creepiness. Not as weird as I hoped, tbh, I'm going to try a novel. ...more
An overview of mostly English hauntings and famous ghost stories, well placed in the cultural and social context. This includes looking at religion, gAn overview of mostly English hauntings and famous ghost stories, well placed in the cultural and social context. This includes looking at religion, gender, class, technology, and the fact that most of London in the 1700s was permanently shitfaced on gin. Doesn't have a super strong thesis, perhaps, but it's an interesting read with a few excellent insights and some great footnotes....more
Horror stories from Marjorie Bowen, written in the 20s and 30s though many with historical settings. These are mostly ghost type stories but the actuaHorror stories from Marjorie Bowen, written in the 20s and 30s though many with historical settings. These are mostly ghost type stories but the actual horror here is domestic abuse: the stories are all but one a procession of murdered, raped, abused, exploited women, over and over, usually as background for the story of a man's haunting or a man's narrative. Ooof, basically....more
Five stories all set at the same address (not the same house, there's no crossover). The house theme means they all have a domestic horror sort of feeFive stories all set at the same address (not the same house, there's no crossover). The house theme means they all have a domestic horror sort of feel--abuse, fearing the people closest to you-- as well as the supernatural.
I bought this for Tade Thompson's story, which was terrific and compellingly horrible. The multi narrator story by Sarah Lotz is also fantastic, will seek out more by this author. I found the KJ Parker a bit thin by his standards, and neither of the others worked for me: lots of sploshy body horror rather than building atmosphere....more
A pretty good collection of short stories. Some are supernatural, though by far the most sinister are about domestic situations and people inflicting A pretty good collection of short stories. Some are supernatural, though by far the most sinister are about domestic situations and people inflicting small cruelties on one another. Well written. Pretty damn gay in a super-repressed way....more
An odd, unclassifiable mix of memoir, travelogue, lit crit and nature writing. The author travels round the UK to its more haunting (not -ed) locationAn odd, unclassifiable mix of memoir, travelogue, lit crit and nature writing. The author travels round the UK to its more haunting (not -ed) locations, places lined with ghost stories, folk horror, Hammer films etc. If you love MR James and Vincent Price this book is for you. It's interspersed with birdwatching and vividly written about the landscapes, both plants and buildings. And there is also the ongoing thread of him writing about personal tragedy: multiple members of his family dying from cancer.
It's beautifully written and elegiac but I found myself a bit unsatisfied at the end. Possibly because we never quite confront the connection between the enjoyment of fictional horror, body horror, doom, and death that's interwoven with the reality of those things in the family story, which makes the literary part eventually feel a bit trivial. Maybe that's the point. ...more
Absolutely stunning. A ghost story, meditation on inspiration, and slide back and forth through the US's bitter history.
The salt-marsh town of ShimmeAbsolutely stunning. A ghost story, meditation on inspiration, and slide back and forth through the US's bitter history.
The salt-marsh town of Shimmer is haunted by a spirit born out of slavery that demands worship through art and consumes her worshippers. This is not easily summarisable, because the entire point is the tapestry the author builds up, with queer and Black and female voices needing to be heard in a culture that isn't comfortable with colour and stifles life. Just read it, basically.
Really, really good, beautifully written, magical, inspiring and haunting. I love this....more
This is really fantastic. A short set in an alt-Edwardianish Britain, now a republic, recovering from a devastating war. Vaguely steampunky without beThis is really fantastic. A short set in an alt-Edwardianish Britain, now a republic, recovering from a devastating war. Vaguely steampunky without being annoying. Ben has returned from the war wounded in mind and body after his charming, handsome, entitled, privileged commanding officer got his division wiped out by arrogant incompetence. Ben is the only one to speak at the disgraced man's funeral, and is taken in by his bereaved family. He is also haunted by his CO's ghost. Subsequent events play out beautifully, with the story very much about human kindness and cruelty and neither of them lying where you might expect. There are a couple of casual slurs used but keep with it, this author is working mindfully.
Really well written, elegantly paced and constructed, a perfect example of the novella form. I'm thrilled this author has a full length book coming: can't wait. ...more
Weird, horrible, brilliant, compelling. A despairing surgeon in a dilapidated village clinic is visited by a dead family who have been promised they wWeird, horrible, brilliant, compelling. A despairing surgeon in a dilapidated village clinic is visited by a dead family who have been promised they will live again at dawn--but the wounds of their murders have to be repaired first. Subsequent events mix clinical ghastliness with the mundane horror of a deeply corrupt system mired in bribery, hopelessness, poverty, moral exhaustion and failures of humanity. Fable-like in the telling--nobody has a name, they are the surgeon, the official, the boy--but grounded with precise detail, and just enough hope to make it unbearable because, the surgeon and the dead show us, if you could just stop hoping and give up then that would be a form of relief. Except the ending then makes you think again about all the above. Thought-provoking topics along with a compelling plot, superb writing. Excellent stuff....more
Ambrose Bierce is best known for disappearing never to be found, the Devil's Dictionary, and Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge iirc, amazing short story Ambrose Bierce is best known for disappearing never to be found, the Devil's Dictionary, and Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge iirc, amazing short story about a bloke being hanged. This is a collection of rather macabre short stories in that sort of vein. Redolent of the 19th century West, vivid scars of the Civil War. They're of varying quality, but very similar feel, and I suspect would have a lot more impact read single in a magazine. Lot of mysterious stories that stop abruptly and end with people looking at each other with wild surmise, lot of ghosts all doing roughly the same thing. An interesting period piece but not one I'm likely to return to, though anyone with a love of Americana or western weird might get more from it. ...more
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