A review by ed_moore
Complete Ghost Stories by Charles Dickens

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.25

This collection of stories took me so long because I had initially planned to read it around halloween, though didn’t manage to and then reached ‘A Christmas Carol’ which I opted to read on Christmas Eve. Come 2024 I have finally finished Dickens’ ghost stories and individually made notes of my ratings for each story. Excluding ‘A Christmas Carol’ and ‘The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain’ as they were novellas which I marked as separate books, the stories were mostly lacking. My highlights were ‘The Signalman’, an eerie tale about a haunted train station signalman, and ‘The Lawyer and the Ghost’ which was such an unexpectedly wholesome story versus the tone of many of the others. There were however a couple of extremely stereotypical stories, some that weren’t even really ghost stories, and many that made little sense and not confusing due to supernatural elements but rushed and poor writing. Dickens had some moments of brilliant prose but also badly written ramblings. I expected a lot more from this collection to say the least.