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A review by daniel_oneiroi
The Big Book of Ghost Stories by Otto Penzler
4.0
I mostly picked up this anthology for Isaac Asimov + Frederick Pohl, two very well-known early sci-fi writers. "Legal Rites" was originally published in 1950. I love this story particularly because it is by two Jewish writers who may have heard the folktale about the legal system and a rabbi charged with evicting spirits or demons from a house that they insist they inherited from the former human occupant. Of *course* the legal system, not Catholic exorcism magic. "Legal Rites" also deals with a ghost who inhabits a home that is legally inherited by a human after the living owner dies. The story alone is very enjoyable, but the history behind it makes it twice so.
I had the pleasure of reading through other ghost stories in the same compilation. Ghost stories are fascinating. They tell so much about the hidden fears and taboos of each 'group,' like culture, in-group like a small group of socialites or farmers, etc. Compendium books after dozens of authors from various time periods and places. Some of these stories are only spooky or odd if you were a person from that particular place + time, reading it in context. Either skip those stories or delve more into why that would be scary for people when it was published, like an anthropologist on a smaller scale. You might enjoy the investigation, unravelling the mystery, the same way people enjoy true crime shows.
I had the pleasure of reading through other ghost stories in the same compilation. Ghost stories are fascinating. They tell so much about the hidden fears and taboos of each 'group,' like culture, in-group like a small group of socialites or farmers, etc. Compendium books after dozens of authors from various time periods and places. Some of these stories are only spooky or odd if you were a person from that particular place + time, reading it in context. Either skip those stories or delve more into why that would be scary for people when it was published, like an anthropologist on a smaller scale. You might enjoy the investigation, unravelling the mystery, the same way people enjoy true crime shows.