Category: Short story

Humorous Ghost Stories

Not every ghost story has to be terrifying! Indeed, horror and humor are surprisingly similar modes of writing—both depend on eliciting certain emotional reactions from the reader through carefully timed revelations and unexpected juxtapositions. Horror can all too easily give way into unintentional humor, as any connoisseur of schlocky B-movies can tell you. But that blurred line can also be courted intentionally. All throughout the Golden Age of the ghost story—from the mid-nineteenth century through the early twentieth—writers poked fun at the popular genre with silly and satirical takes on the ghost story. Here are just a few of my favorite examples of spectral tales more likely to make you split your sides with laughter than scream in fright:

Photo of a sheet ghost holding a yellow smiley face balloon in front of an elaborate clock-face window
Photo by Tandem X Visuals on Unsplash

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Review of The Unknown—Algernon Blackwood Stories and Essays

The Unknown coverEven the most celebrated of classic ghost story writers could use a bit of a boost to their visibility these days. British author Algernon Blackwood was essentially a celebrity in the early twentieth century. Revered for his contributions to the ghost story and weird fiction genres, he became a household name toward the end of his life when he shared his stories through popular radio and early television broadcasts. Today, he is best known for two stories in particular, “The Willows” and “The Wendigo.” But these two tales are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his prolific career of both fiction and nonfiction writing that spans almost half a century. Publisher Handheld Press and editor Henry Bartholomew seek to introduce a wider audience to the breadth of Blackwood’s talents with a new collection, The Unknown: Weird Writings, 1900–1937, which came out last week.  Continue reading Review of The Unknown—Algernon Blackwood Stories and Essays

Review of The Gathering Dark: An Anthology of Folk Horror

The Gathering Dark coverIt’s perhaps one of the earliest forms of horror fiction: the local legends of monsters, dark magic, or cursed places that are told in whispers, passed down from one generation to the next in every society. But, as with most things in the Gothic, everything old is new again. With the success of films like The Witch and Midsommar, folk horror is definitely having a moment, and here to ride that wave is The Gathering Dark: An Anthology of Folk Horror, edited by Tori Bovalino, which came out in September. Continue reading Review of The Gathering Dark: An Anthology of Folk Horror

Review of An Unholy Thirst: Fifteen Vampire Tales

An Unholy Thirst coverVampire stories were some of my first reading loves, and I still have a soft spot for them today. Which is why I can never turn down a new anthology of vampire tales—especially when it includes some of my favorite authors! An Unholy Thirst: Fifteen Vampire Tales, edited by Cliff Biggers and Charles R. Rutledge, came out back in 2021 and I’ve been sitting on it for a while, waiting for the right moment to sink my teeth in. I’m quite happy it turned out to be my first finished read of 2023, as it makes a great start to my reading year. Continue reading Review of An Unholy Thirst: Fifteen Vampire Tales

Review of Strange Relics—Haunted Archeology

There is an allure to the ruins of past civilizations, but perhaps some things are better left buried…. Archeologists Amara Thornton and Katy Soar explore this notion in a new collection, Strange Relics: Stories of Archeology and the Supernatural, 1895-1954, which came out from Handheld Press last month. Y’all know I love a themed anthology, and I’ve been particularly enjoying the collections of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century weird/horror/ghost stories from this publisher, which so far have also included Women’s Weird (volumes one and two), The Outcast and the Rite, and From the Abyss. If you’re a fan of ancient civilizations or the people who study them, this collection provides some fascinating insight into how the boom in archeology influenced our horror literature. Continue reading Review of Strange Relics—Haunted Archeology

Review of Screams from the Dark: 29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous

Screams from the Dark coverIf you’ve been a long-time follower of this blog, you’ve probably noticed by now how much I love anthologies—especially anything edited by the inimitable Ellen Datlow. So of course I had to pick up her latest horror collection, Screams from the Dark: 29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous, which came out back in June. If you love monsters, this book has quite the selection! Continue reading Review of Screams from the Dark: 29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous

Review of The Outcast and The Rite—Interwar Supernatural Stories

The Outcast and The Rite coverI love discovering new-to-me authors from centuries gone by, whose works could sit comfortably alongside those of Poe and Lovecraft but haven’t received quite the same attention. And no one provides better opportunities for such discoveries than Melissa Edmundson and the folks at Handheld Press. Over the last few years, this team brought us two volumes of Women’s Weird collections. Now, they are focusing in on one such weird fiction writer: Helen de Guerry Simpson. The Outcast and The Rite: Stories of Landscape and Fear, 1925-1938 contains thirteen tales of weird, supernatural horror published during the period between the two World Wars by this underappreciated Australian writer. The collection came out from Handheld Press earlier this month.  Continue reading Review of The Outcast and The Rite—Interwar Supernatural Stories

Review of Dark Stars: New Tales of Darkest Horror

Horror has really been having a moment lately! This was part of the thought Dark Stars coverprocess of editor John F. D. Taff when he decided to compile the short story anthology that became Dark Stars: New Tales of Darkest Horror. This collection, which came out last month, was created in the spirit of the seminal 1980s horror anthology Dark Forces, edited by Kirby McCauley, and is meant to do for our current moment of horror what Dark Forces did in the ’80s. Continue reading Review of Dark Stars: New Tales of Darkest Horror

Review of Vampires Never Get Old—Giving the Genre New Life

Vampires Never Get Old cover“Vampires are dead.” People have been saying this ever since the overwhelming popularity of the Twilight series led to an explosion of young adult paranormal fantasy in the mid-2000s that saturated the market. But as a life-long vampire fan, I’ve always felt that these denizens of the undead still have more to teach us. There is something universally appealing about the vampire that isn’t going away anytime soon, and there are still infinite new angles from which the topic can be approached. Instead of telling everyone that the genre has been done to death already, why not open it up to a diversity of fresh new voices that haven’t yet had the chance to tell their story? That’s exactly what Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker do in their new anthology Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite, which came out back in September. Continue reading Review of Vampires Never Get Old—Giving the Genre New Life

Christmas Ghost Stories, Part 2

A couple years ago, I wrote about the tradition of the Christmas ghost story—which became an indispensable part of the festive season after Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol in 1843. The heyday of the Christmas ghost story overlapped with the Golden Age of the ghost story more generally, and many celebrated spooky authors began incorporating Christmas into their haunting tales. Last time, I highlighted several stories by male authors, but women were equally if not more involved in the festive ghost story game. Check out the stories by women below for a seasonally appropriate scare!

Close-up of golden ornament on a Christmas tree
Photo by Joran Quinten on Unsplash

Continue reading Christmas Ghost Stories, Part 2