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sarahlizsmiles's review against another edition
2.0
Most of the stories are painfully boring :/ a couple really good ones tho
thebobsphere's review against another edition
3.0
I have been seeing copies of Roald Dahl’s anthology of ghost stories for a long time but I put off buying the book for a long time for no apparent reason but finally I buckled under and purchased it two years ago and finally it was chosen.
As Roald Dahl personally chose the stories (originally part of a film project that fell through) I expected a lot of nasty and twisted tales, after all Dahl’s own short stories can be pretty gruesome within themselves but, as with all short story collections, the quality varies and I ended up liking five of them, with the first two being some of the best short stories I’ve read in a long time.
The first piece is a metaphysical story called W.S., in where a writer meets one of the characters in his books, which leads to peculiar consequences and the second story is Harry, which cannot be explained here as I will give away everything but all I can say is the ending will have you reaching for a tissue.
The remaining stories verge from ok to mediocre, with lots of scenarios repeated, in fact there’s an inferior version of ‘Harry’ towards the end of the book. On the whole I was disappointed but I was glad that I read it.
As Roald Dahl personally chose the stories (originally part of a film project that fell through) I expected a lot of nasty and twisted tales, after all Dahl’s own short stories can be pretty gruesome within themselves but, as with all short story collections, the quality varies and I ended up liking five of them, with the first two being some of the best short stories I’ve read in a long time.
The first piece is a metaphysical story called W.S., in where a writer meets one of the characters in his books, which leads to peculiar consequences and the second story is Harry, which cannot be explained here as I will give away everything but all I can say is the ending will have you reaching for a tissue.
The remaining stories verge from ok to mediocre, with lots of scenarios repeated, in fact there’s an inferior version of ‘Harry’ towards the end of the book. On the whole I was disappointed but I was glad that I read it.
tallyjorn's review against another edition
3.0
wanted so badly to love this, but found it hard to trudge through the layers of misogyny and classism previous generations of writers gifted us with.
of course, was a reality of the times (1800s-mid 1900s) but i found it distracting me from the stories themselves.
of course, was a reality of the times (1800s-mid 1900s) but i found it distracting me from the stories themselves.
susiegorden's review against another edition
3.0
Very much as the title suggests ... each one is a GHOST story. Some age well, some less so. But still a fun read.
bekab20's review against another edition
4.0
While I was expecting short stories by Dahl it was actually a very nice surprise to read short stories by other people that inspired or loved Dahl. Full of thrills, ghosts, bizarre happenings.... Read with low light creepy music and a cup of tea, it was fantastic spooky read for fall.
twstdtink's review against another edition
2.0
This book was such a disappointment. Most of the stories weren’t at all spooky. They were pretty boring and predictable, actually. The one redeeming story in the entire book, “Ringing the Changes” by Robert Aickman, would be better read from a collection of Aickman’s “Strange Stories.”
thepancreas11's review against another edition
2.0
Some stories I couldn't stop reading ("Playmates" and "The Upper Berth", for example), and others, I couldn't start ("Ringing the Changes" took me three days to read, despite being just twenty pages long). Generally, I don't like scary things, but surprisingly, my favorite stories were the ones that really got to me.
My least favorite part of the book was actually the introduction. Aside from being incredibly pretentious, it really doesn't talk about ghost stories. Half of it is about the plight of the children's author, and a large part of it is weirdly sexist, talking about the history of women in writing (or lack thereof). Definitely didn't age well, especially when you consider how successful women have been of late in producing influential novels. I wish I hadn't read it, and if I were you, I'd skip it.
I read this compilation while reading other books, which I thought was a perfect way to enjoy it. Might have something to do with my cowardly nature, when it comes to psychological horror.
My least favorite part of the book was actually the introduction. Aside from being incredibly pretentious, it really doesn't talk about ghost stories. Half of it is about the plight of the children's author, and a large part of it is weirdly sexist, talking about the history of women in writing (or lack thereof). Definitely didn't age well, especially when you consider how successful women have been of late in producing influential novels. I wish I hadn't read it, and if I were you, I'd skip it.
I read this compilation while reading other books, which I thought was a perfect way to enjoy it. Might have something to do with my cowardly nature, when it comes to psychological horror.