"Such things may have attached to them heaven knows what spooks and spirits." - The Ikon On the evening of Saturday, 28 October 1893, Cambridge University's Chit-Chat Club convened its 601st meeting. Ten members and one guest gathered in the rooms of Montague Rhodes James, the Junior Dean of King's College, and listened - with increasing absorption one suspects - as their host read "Two Ghost Stories". Ghosts of the Chit-Chat celebrates this momentous event in the history of supernatural literature, the earliest dated record we have of M. R. James reading his ghost stories out loud. And it revives the contributions that other members made to the genre; men of imagination who invoked the ghostly in their work, and who are now themselves shades. In a series of essays, stories, and poems Robert Lloyd Parry looks at the history and culture of the Club. In addition to tales and poems never before reprinted, Ghosts of the Chit-Chat features earlier, slightly different versions of two of M. R. James's best-known ghost stories; Robert Lloyd Parry's profiles and commentaries on each featured Chit-Chat member sheds new light on this supernatural tradition, making Ghosts of the Chit-Chat a valuable resource for casual readers and long-time Jamesians alike.
Considered by many to be the most terrifying writer in English, M.R. James was an eminent scholar who spent his entire adult life in the academic surroundings of Eton and Cambridge. His classic supernatural tales draw on the terrors of the everyday, in which documents and objects unleash terrible forces, often in closed rooms and night-time settings where imagination runs riot. Lonely country houses, remote inns, ancient churches or the manuscript collections of great libraries provide settings for unbearable menace, from creatures seeking retribution and harm. These stories have lost none of their power to unsettle and disturb. This edition presents all of James's published ghost stories, including the unforgettable 'Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad' and 'Casting the Runes', and an appendix of James's writings on the ghost story. Darryl Jones's introduction and notes provide a fascinating insight into James's background and his mastery of the genre he made his own. --! From publisher's description.
From Ellen Datlow (“the venerable queen of horror anthologies” (New York Times) comes a new entry in the series that has brought you stories from Stephen King and Neil Gaiman comes thrilling stories, the best horror stories available. For more than four decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the thirteenth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as: Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, Laird Barron, Mira Grant, and many others. With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today’s most challenging and exciting writers.
Ghosts make great friends for life (and beyond)! If you're lucky enough to have a ghost find you, you'll need to know how to treat it right. Open up this "how-to" guide to discover how to be the best friend a ghost could ever ask for! What do you do when you meet a ghost? One: Provide the ghost with some of its favorite snacks, like mud tarts and earwax truffles. Two: Tell your ghost bedtime stories (ghosts love to be read to). Three: Make sure no one mistakes your ghost for whipped cream or a marshmallow when you aren't looking! If you follow these few simple steps and the rest of the essential tips in How to Make Friends with a Ghost, you'll see how a ghost friend will lovingly grow up and grow old with you. A whimsical story about ghost care, Rebecca Green's debut picture book is a perfect combination of offbeat humor, quirky and sweet illustrations, and the timeless theme of friendship.
Hungry Ghosts is cooked up by the best selling author and veteran chef, Anthony Bourdain (Kitchen Confidential, Emmy-Award winning TV star of Parts Unknown) and acclaimed novelist Joel Rose (Kill, Kill, Faster, Faster) back again from their New York Times #1 best seller, Get Jiro!. Featuring all-new original recipes prepared by Bourdain, plus a yellow ribbon bookmark , and a guide to the ghostly legendary spirits behind these horrifying tales. This horror anthology is sure to please--and scare! On a dark, haunted night, a Russian Oligarch dares a circle of international chefs to play the samurai game of 100 Candles--where each storyteller tells a terrifying tale of ghosts, demons and unspeakable beings--and prays to survive the challenge. Inspired by the Japanese Edo period game of Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai, Hungry Ghosts reimagines the classic stories of yokai, yorei, and obake, all tainted with the common thread of food. Including stellar artists Sebastian Cabrol, Vanesa Del Rey, Francesco Francavilla, Irene Koh, Leo Manco, Alberto Ponticelli, Paul Pope, and Mateus Santolouco as well as amazing color by Jose Villarrubia, a drop-dead cover by Paul Pope. "A gorgeous, haunting, at times gruesome saga that draws from the Japanese mythologies yokai, yorei, and obake, and mixes terrifying suspense with fascinating culinary intrigue, Hungry Ghosts cements an underrated literary legacy of Bourdain. " Entertainment Weekly "The expanded version of Anthony Bourdain's Hungry Ghosts . . . reimagines the Japanese tradition of Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai with a particularly spooky twist, as a group of chefs tell a series of stories linked by the common themes of the supernatural and food, each illustrated by artists like Vanesa Del Rey, Francesco Francavilla and Paul Pope. Of course, like all good ghost stories, there's a twist in the tale." --The Hollywood Reporter [Bourdain's] "final graphic novel, Hungry Ghosts, melds food, competition, and -- of course -- spooky specters with the culture-hopping human interest that Bourdain made his calling card." -- SYFY "A series of gastronomic ghost stories that bring together ... [Bourdain's] love of food, Japanese culture and old-school horror comics, plus some new recipes... An all-star roster of illustrators, from alt-comics legend Paul Pope to "The Legend of Korra" artist Irene Koh, to bring each spooky tale to life." --New York Post "The book is a thing of beauty, but the stories are filled with images of death and destruction. Knives and axes feature prominently. Decapitation and amputation abound. Eating but also being eaten. These are horror stories with recipes." --The Independent UK "Structured as an old-fashioned Tales from the Crypt-style horror anthology, complete with a frame story and ghoulish host, the twist ... is that these offerings are all food-themed--and all variations on yarns from Kwaidan, Lafcadio Hearn's collection of traditional Japanese ghost lore. ..... Each piece is drawn by a different artist, including such comics luminaries as Vanesa Del Rey, Francesco Francavilla, and Paul Pope." -- Publishers Weekly "Delicious." -- Previews World "An off-beat and very interesting read .... The artwork on the series ... [is] top notch and fascinating--a perfect combination of collaborators brought the stories to life across cultures." -- Comicon
In a world-altering cosmic event, the ghosts of everyone who ever died suddenly become visible to the living. They may be dead, but they're ready to rejoin society. All hundred billion of them. In this strange new world where everyone stays around forever, Ryan Matney decides that life really begins at death. So, with the help of some questionable technology, he embarks on a permanent out-of-body experience and becomes a ghost himself. It doesn’t go well. And soon, Ryan finds that he wants his body back. But it’s not where he left it. And if he doesn’t get back into it by the end of the week, he’ll cease to exist. Totally. Forever. Also, there’s a breakfast cereal he really wants to try. That’s less of a problem. But still a problem. “Laced with poignancy, humor, and loads of twists and turns” (Rachel Reads). “I found myself up late at night instead of sleeping and ignoring household chores wanting to know what happened next” (JBronder Book Reviews)
The Ghost of Fukuda Aijiro By: Jonathan Faulkner The modern say setting is Kenai landing, a 100-year-old cannery at the mouth of Alaska’s famous Kenai River. In this former Kenaitez fish camp, ancient spirits dwell and Fukuda Aijiro, fifty years buried, is running out of time. Juxtaposing this timeframe is the WWII-era evacuation of Alaska’s Aleut population from their ancestral homeland. Transferred to squalid camps and abandoned mines in southeast Alaska, Aleuts suffered irreparable harm to their people, a “forgotten war” that is traced here through the family of Needra Kudrin. Keeno Kudrin, captured and imprisoned by the Japanese, is among those tragically displaces. As he struggles to recover his prewar existence, Keeno must confront the forces of good and evil and the ghost of Fukuda Aijiro. Forced to resign the prior year, following his admission that the ghost of Fannie Guthry-Baehm helped him indict Bill Brady for murder; Chief Callahan is called back into duty. As fact-based collection of evidence collides with his newfound faith, Chief Callahan is asked to investigate a suspicious death, which means unraveling the mysteries of the past.
Lea Carson can’t believe it when her family moves into the creepy old house on Fear Street. Creepiest of all is the secret room up in the attic. The room has been locked and boarded up for at least a hundred years. A murder was committed in that room, the story goes, and it has been closed up ever since. Lea knows she should stay away. But she thinks she hears footsteps inside the secret room. And voices. Someone—or something—is waiting for Lea in there. Should she open the door? Can she resist?
