Ravenous Ghosts [Paperback]

Kealan Patrick Burke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2003

They walk undetected through the veils of the rational world. . .
Their exsistence is unproven. . .
Their purpose is unknown. . .
And their hunger is insatiable.

With these sixteen nerve-grinding tales, auhtor Kealan Patrick Burke takes you over the threshold to a place where a man can make brds fall from the sky, the future can be found in the pages of a comic book, fairy tale creatures are very real . . . and the ghosts are hungry.

Editorial Reviews

Review

". . .takes the reader into a grim yet elegant world of living nightmares, where no one is safe. . ." -- Mark McLaughlin, author of Shoggoth Cacciatore and Once Upon a Slime

"Superbly well-crafted, literate, with a slowly rising sense of tension and dread, ending with non-predictable startling conclusions. . ." -- Gene O'Neill, author of The Burden of Indigo

About the Author

Kealan Patrick Burke was born in the small coastal town of Dungarvan in the south of Ireland. A qualified journalist, he didn't start submitting his genre efforts until moving to the States in September 2001. Since then he has had work appear in over thirty print and web-based magazines; including: Fangoria’s Frightful Fiction, Horrorfind, Electric Velocipede, The Three-Lobed Burning Eye, Deviant Minds, Banshee Press, Wicked Hollow #2 & 4, Scared Naked (poetry), The Palace of Reason and Gothic.net.
His work is due to appear in the upcoming anthologies: Verte Brume: The Anthology of Absinthe, The Night Has Teeth, Fresh Blood, The Fear Within, The Book of Final Flesh, Lingering Dementia and The Decay Within.

He edited Taverns of the Dead; an anthology of stories set in bars/taverns/inns (Cemetery Dance Publications) and is currently editing Quietly Now: A Tribute to Charles L. Grant (Borderlands Press), Night Visions 12 (Subterranean Press) and Brimstone Turnpike, (Cemetery Dance Publications).
Ravenous Ghosts is his first collection. Another, entitled, Gone Are Those We Know is in the works. He is also at work on his first novel.

He lives in Ohio with his wife and son, and a mad dog named Max.

Product Details

• Paperback: 211 pages
• Publisher: 3F Publications (May 2003)
• ISBN-10: 0972930906
• ISBN-13: 978-0972930901
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,222,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born and raised in Dungarvan, Ireland, Kealan Patrick Burke is a Bram Stoker Award-winning author described as "a newcomer worth watching" (Publishers Weekly) and "one of the most original authors in contemporary horror" (Booklist).

Some of his works include the novels KIN, MASTER OF THE MOORS, CURRENCY OF SOULS, THE LIVING, and THE HIDES, the novellas THE TURTLE BOY (Bram Stoker Award Winner, 2004), VESSELS, MIDLISTERS, JACK & JILL, and the collections RAVENOUS GHOSTS, THE NUMBER 121 TO PENNSYLVANIA & OTHERS (Bram Stoker Award-Nominee, 2009), and THEATER MACABRE.

Kealan also edited the anthologies: TAVERNS OF THE DEAD (starred review, Publishers Weekly), BRIMSTONE TURNPIKE, QUIETLY NOW (International Horror Guild Award Nominee, 2004), the charity anthology TALES FROM THE GOREZONE, NIGHT VISIONS 12 (starred review, Publishers Weekly, British Fantasy Award & International Horror Guild Award nominee), and DUST & SHADOW.

A movie based on his short story "Peekers", directed by Mark Steensland (DEAD @ 17), and scripted by veteran novelist Rick Hautala (Bedbugs, The Mountain King), is currently available to watch on YouTube.

He recently played the male lead in Greg Lamberson's film SLIME CITY MASSACRE, the long-awaited sequel to the cult classic SLIME CITY. The film is available on DVD, Blu-Ray, and is scheduled for limited theatrical release this summer.

He is a member of the International Thriller Writers Organization.

Visit Kealan on the web at www.kealanpatrickburke.com, or visit his blog at http://kealanpatrick.wordpress.com/

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars recommended for Bram Stoker Award... need i say more?, September 27, 2003

By 

Kelli Owen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ravenous Ghosts (Paperback)

'You live in an age where television, books and computer games sell monsters to the imagination of children in staggering doses. There is not a doubt in my mind that I could convince you that I am one of those monsters. But I won't.' --Sparrow Man

If ever you doubted the direction of written horror, rest assured it's here and it's strong as ever! Few have the ability to make you feel uncomfortable about normal situations, Burke is one of those writers.

Ravenous Ghosts is a tautly written orchestra of the macabre that leaves the doors open for your imagination and hungers for you to fill in the blanks. The writing style is edgy yet comfortable, and doesn't insult the reader - but rather presumes their involvement. Each tale carefully designed to build the tension without your noticing, only to explode in a direction you hadn't expected.

16 tales to make you uneasy and happy about it, including:
- A man literally trapped with the ghosts of his childhood
- A zombie tale like no other! Intelligent zombies unaware of their condition...
- A prophetic comic book
- A sweet old man, dealing death and clensing evil
- Insanity trapped in the strangest of windows
- A ghost that reveals the true meaning of haunting

Perhaps the Afterword by Gary A Braunbeck said it best - "we need Burke's brand of so-so stories so so very much." [funniest afterword i've ever read!] Perhaps we could compare him to other great writers of the genre that deliver their tales with spit and vinegar. Or perhaps, just perhaps, we should just rejoice in the fact that we have a new face on the playing field - a face with hollow eyes, a forked tongue, and a typewriter!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Spine Tingling, August 29, 2003

By 

Greyghost - ... (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ravenous Ghosts (Paperback)

Ravenous Ghosts, I was looking for somthing quick to read, short stories that I could read one at a time. That was two days ago, I just couldn't put it down. Wow! it's different, dark, compelling. The stories draw you into the pages, the fear is at times palpable. These are no ordinary Ghost Stories, I read all 17, and then I read them again.
I'm not sure if I have a favourite story, perhaps "The Barbed Lady Wants for Nothing."
It's a good read, spine-tingling. A book worth having for those long, cold, winter evenings. A good scare for those special occasions. In no time at all, you'll have your own favourite Ravenous Ghost.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ravenous Reading!, July 21, 2003

By 

"urthfireair" (St. Louis Park, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ravenous Ghosts (Paperback)

Review by David Wilbanks

Want to have more fun than should be legal? Want to gasp in horror and shake your head in wonder? Then read Kealan Patrick Burke's new short story collection, RAVENOUS GHOSTS.

Each story wastes no time dropping you into the mix, and they don't release you until the end, when you're left wanting more, more, more. That's when your jaw drops and you wonder how he did it: how his characters could be so alive, how the frights could be so tangible and delicious.

Burke's writing is crisp and transparent, just the way I like it. To me, his writing suggests Richard Matheson, who also wrote gripping short stories and wasted no time placing you in the scene, as if you turned a corner and suddenly came upon a stranger, darker part of the world, whether you wanted to or not. If the television shows `Twilight Zone' or `Night Gallery' were still running, I have a feeling they'd want Burke for their main writer.

I haven't had this much reading enjoyment in a while, and there's not a weak spot in the lot. I predict this author will go places fast, leaving other writers coughing in his dust. Simply amazing. Let's hope there's more soon.