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A review by lucyp21
Ghosts of Christmas Past by Tim Martin
3.0
I picked this book up on impulse from my local cheap bookshop. I’m not normally one to pick up short story anthologies, they’re such a mixed bag for me and quite a lot of short stories I’m left unsatisfied at the end. This one was about ghostly story set at Christmas, fulfilling my love of ghost stories and Christmas stories all in one swoop.
While I was reading this book, I was noting down what each story was about and what I thought about it which made it far easier to read and review.
The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance by M. R. James – this is a story about a man sending his brother letters about the disappearance of their uncle, who disappeared right before Christmas. This errs on the creepy side, especially the dream the protagonist has, and it would have made a great novella or longer short story.
Dinner For One by Jean Ashworth – this story started off as a couple having disagreements over something in the past and as the story progresses, things start to not add up as you realise something else is going on. This is a great example of an unreliable narrator and their voice is more than a little creepy. It’s the little details that slip in as you realise what is going on that really make this story, but the horrifying aspects were the human parts, rather than the supernatural parts. However, when it came down to it, I didn’t like it that much.
The Shadow by E. Nesbit – this is the story of Miss Eastwick and the shadow of her past stalking her. There is something horrifying about monsters in the shadows, maybe because you can never escape them. And shadows that steal people’s lives – even worse. The ending fell a little on the flat side to me but I think that was meant to be the point, that ‘real’ ghost stories never have a neatly wrapped up ending.
This Beautiful House by Louis De Bernieres – this seems to be a lovely Christmas story about a family house and then the ending comes and hits you right in the gut. I’m pretty sure about what happened to the narrator at the end but it’s never really confirmed. I think I prefer that, although I would like to know if my suspicions are correct.
The Leaf-Sweeper by Muriel Spark – I wasn’t such a fan of this story. It’s about a man called Johnnie, his hatred of Christmas and his ghost which appears while he’s alive. I like the concept of a ghost of a living man but nothing really happens in this one and I just end up feeling sorry for Johnnie but in a slightly apathetic way.
Christmas Eve on a Haunted Hulk by Frank Cowper – this is the story of a man who goes to visit a friend in the country and ends up spending his night on an abandoned ship on the mud flats. The writing was truly haunting in this one and the narrator’s description of his fear as he listened to unexplained noises in the darkness sent a shiver up my spine. I wasn’t blown away by the plot but the writing itself was something I really enjoyed.
The Step by E. F. Benson – this is about John Cresswell, a British man who lives in Alexandria. At first he comes across as a genial, good-natured man but we soon learn that he is like that only tk those he thinks equal to him. He ends up cursed with footsteps following him around. The ending was left a little open but I couldn’t help but like the fact he had disdained the monks so throughly and then was running tk them for help in the end.
The Vanishing House by Bernard Capes – a man recounts the story of what happened to his grandfather as he was travelling the country. I didn’t like this some much, I think the way of telling it with a retelling of story told to the narrator gave it a sense of distance which didn’t really work for this story. This is probably the most forgettable story of the lot.
Someone in the Lift by L. P. Hartley – this story is about Peter, a boy who is fascinated with the lift at the hotel. He keeps seeing someone in the lift when no one else can. This story does a great job of putting out what Peter thinks and the logic that young children have – he never sees the person in the lift when he’s with his father so that means it’s Daddy in the lift. Throughout the story, you got this real sense of foreboding which was justified by that ending.
The Visiting Star by Robert Aickman – this story is about Colvin, a nonfiction writer staying in a small, bleak town at the same time the famous actress, Arabella Rokeby, is coming back to perform in the play. This is one of the longer ghost stories and I was a little bored. The revelation wasn’t really exciting enough to make up for it and I didn’t care enough about the story itself.
Nicholas Was by Neil Gaiman – well, that was a darker take on Father Christmas. I liked it but ouch.
The Ghost of the Blue Chamber by Jerome K. Jermone – this was a relatively light-hearted story despite there being a haunted room and a ghost of a serial killer. I did like the narrator’s reaction to the ghost and how the ghost talked about how he murdered everyone.
The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link – this is a story with a more supernatural slant than the others, a more fairytale slant. There are deals and rules and people who are ghosts but aren’t. It is one of the longer stories and a little different in that it’s not a horror story as such, but more of a love story. I did like it, this is the one story where I really liked the protagonist and was rooting for her.
Overall, I liked this book. But I didn’t love it. There is no one story which justifies keeping this book to reread it, and there were far more stories I was meh about than I was actually loving.
3.5 stars!
While I was reading this book, I was noting down what each story was about and what I thought about it which made it far easier to read and review.
The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance by M. R. James – this is a story about a man sending his brother letters about the disappearance of their uncle, who disappeared right before Christmas. This errs on the creepy side, especially the dream the protagonist has, and it would have made a great novella or longer short story.
Dinner For One by Jean Ashworth – this story started off as a couple having disagreements over something in the past and as the story progresses, things start to not add up as you realise something else is going on. This is a great example of an unreliable narrator and their voice is more than a little creepy. It’s the little details that slip in as you realise what is going on that really make this story, but the horrifying aspects were the human parts, rather than the supernatural parts. However, when it came down to it, I didn’t like it that much.
The Shadow by E. Nesbit – this is the story of Miss Eastwick and the shadow of her past stalking her. There is something horrifying about monsters in the shadows, maybe because you can never escape them. And shadows that steal people’s lives – even worse. The ending fell a little on the flat side to me but I think that was meant to be the point, that ‘real’ ghost stories never have a neatly wrapped up ending.
This Beautiful House by Louis De Bernieres – this seems to be a lovely Christmas story about a family house and then the ending comes and hits you right in the gut. I’m pretty sure about what happened to the narrator at the end but it’s never really confirmed. I think I prefer that, although I would like to know if my suspicions are correct.
The Leaf-Sweeper by Muriel Spark – I wasn’t such a fan of this story. It’s about a man called Johnnie, his hatred of Christmas and his ghost which appears while he’s alive. I like the concept of a ghost of a living man but nothing really happens in this one and I just end up feeling sorry for Johnnie but in a slightly apathetic way.
Christmas Eve on a Haunted Hulk by Frank Cowper – this is the story of a man who goes to visit a friend in the country and ends up spending his night on an abandoned ship on the mud flats. The writing was truly haunting in this one and the narrator’s description of his fear as he listened to unexplained noises in the darkness sent a shiver up my spine. I wasn’t blown away by the plot but the writing itself was something I really enjoyed.
The Step by E. F. Benson – this is about John Cresswell, a British man who lives in Alexandria. At first he comes across as a genial, good-natured man but we soon learn that he is like that only tk those he thinks equal to him. He ends up cursed with footsteps following him around. The ending was left a little open but I couldn’t help but like the fact he had disdained the monks so throughly and then was running tk them for help in the end.
The Vanishing House by Bernard Capes – a man recounts the story of what happened to his grandfather as he was travelling the country. I didn’t like this some much, I think the way of telling it with a retelling of story told to the narrator gave it a sense of distance which didn’t really work for this story. This is probably the most forgettable story of the lot.
Someone in the Lift by L. P. Hartley – this story is about Peter, a boy who is fascinated with the lift at the hotel. He keeps seeing someone in the lift when no one else can. This story does a great job of putting out what Peter thinks and the logic that young children have – he never sees the person in the lift when he’s with his father so that means it’s Daddy in the lift. Throughout the story, you got this real sense of foreboding which was justified by that ending.
The Visiting Star by Robert Aickman – this story is about Colvin, a nonfiction writer staying in a small, bleak town at the same time the famous actress, Arabella Rokeby, is coming back to perform in the play. This is one of the longer ghost stories and I was a little bored. The revelation wasn’t really exciting enough to make up for it and I didn’t care enough about the story itself.
Nicholas Was by Neil Gaiman – well, that was a darker take on Father Christmas. I liked it but ouch.
The Ghost of the Blue Chamber by Jerome K. Jermone – this was a relatively light-hearted story despite there being a haunted room and a ghost of a serial killer. I did like the narrator’s reaction to the ghost and how the ghost talked about how he murdered everyone.
The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link – this is a story with a more supernatural slant than the others, a more fairytale slant. There are deals and rules and people who are ghosts but aren’t. It is one of the longer stories and a little different in that it’s not a horror story as such, but more of a love story. I did like it, this is the one story where I really liked the protagonist and was rooting for her.
Overall, I liked this book. But I didn’t love it. There is no one story which justifies keeping this book to reread it, and there were far more stories I was meh about than I was actually loving.
3.5 stars!