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aliensummer's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
megan_lindell's review against another edition
3.0
Like any short story collection, some hits and misses. Note that this is a collection curated by Dahl, not written by him. The into he writes is great and points out that he feels that women make better ghost story writers.
eliserml's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
carrionlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
"Introduction" by Roald Dahl - Bleh, skip this off topic misogynistic drivel.
⭐
"W.S." by L. P. Hartley - Not a ghost story. Self indulgent choice by Dahl.
⭐⭐
"Harry" by Rosemary Timperley - The perfect ghost story. All the necessary beats are here. Chilling.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"The Corner Shop" by Cynthia Asquith - Boring.
⭐⭐
"In the Tube" by E.F. Benson - Pessimistic tale of the supernatural.
⭐⭐⭐
"Christmas Meeting" by Rosemary Timperley - Too short to be satisfying.
⭐⭐
"Elias and the Draug" by Jonas Lie - Not a ghost story. Old white guy literature. yawn.
⭐
"Playmates" by A.M. Burrage - Excellent ghost story. I've read this one before in Ghostly: A Collection of Ghost Stories by Audrey Niffenegger.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Ringing the Changes" by Robert Aickman - What the hell am I supposed to take away from this? Great premise. Poor execution. Not frightening. Just confusing and vaguely insulting.
⭐⭐
"The Telephone" by Mary Treadgold - More sexist melodrama than ghost story. Sad because the premise was pretty interesting. Why are all these beautiful young women attracted to useless old men again? Oh right, fuck the patriarchy.
⭐⭐
"The Ghost of a Hand" by J. Sherian Le Fanu - Intriguing, but dated style.
⭐⭐
"The Sweeper" by A. M. Burrage - Not sure why Burrage rated two stories out of only fourteen stories, but he could have chosen a worse ghost story.
⭐⭐⭐
"Afterword" by Edith Wharton - Confusion causing title aside, solid enough ghost story. Perhaps a tad longer and more florid than necessary.
⭐⭐⭐
"On the Brighton Road" by Richard Middleton - Forgettable.
⭐⭐
"The Upper Berth" by F. Marion Crawford - A subtler touch would have made this one a lot scarier but not a bad tale.
⭐⭐⭐
⭐
"W.S." by L. P. Hartley - Not a ghost story. Self indulgent choice by Dahl.
⭐⭐
"Harry" by Rosemary Timperley - The perfect ghost story. All the necessary beats are here. Chilling.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"The Corner Shop" by Cynthia Asquith - Boring.
⭐⭐
"In the Tube" by E.F. Benson - Pessimistic tale of the supernatural.
⭐⭐⭐
"Christmas Meeting" by Rosemary Timperley - Too short to be satisfying.
⭐⭐
"Elias and the Draug" by Jonas Lie - Not a ghost story. Old white guy literature. yawn.
⭐
"Playmates" by A.M. Burrage - Excellent ghost story. I've read this one before in Ghostly: A Collection of Ghost Stories by Audrey Niffenegger.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Ringing the Changes" by Robert Aickman - What the hell am I supposed to take away from this? Great premise. Poor execution. Not frightening. Just confusing and vaguely insulting.
⭐⭐
"The Telephone" by Mary Treadgold - More sexist melodrama than ghost story. Sad because the premise was pretty interesting. Why are all these beautiful young women attracted to useless old men again? Oh right, fuck the patriarchy.
⭐⭐
"The Ghost of a Hand" by J. Sherian Le Fanu - Intriguing, but dated style.
⭐⭐
"The Sweeper" by A. M. Burrage - Not sure why Burrage rated two stories out of only fourteen stories, but he could have chosen a worse ghost story.
⭐⭐⭐
"Afterword" by Edith Wharton - Confusion causing title aside, solid enough ghost story. Perhaps a tad longer and more florid than necessary.
⭐⭐⭐
"On the Brighton Road" by Richard Middleton - Forgettable.
⭐⭐
"The Upper Berth" by F. Marion Crawford - A subtler touch would have made this one a lot scarier but not a bad tale.
⭐⭐⭐
groovygreeks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
childofmongreldogs's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.0
Unsure if these are so lackluster because I have access to really good writing with more palatable modern conventions or if the choices are just based on an old white man's taste. Are these groundbreaking? I don't think so.
erica_lynn_huberty's review against another edition
5.0
After a somewhat cocky intro by Dahl (explaining how most ghost stories are rubbish, and a surprising number of good ones are written by women... sigh), the collection is truly one of the best I've read. There is nary a dull or unoriginal one in the bunch.