Customer Reviews

Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories

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And I've read most ghost story anthologies in print. However, I don't agree that the recommended reading level should be young adult and I can't help but wonder if this classification was made hastily because Dahl is best known as a writer of children's books. Most of these stories may be too dense, too subtle for readers used to graphic horror. Readers who are used to so-called "told for the truth" ghost tales will see how much more chilling and "true" a literary ghost story, well-told can be. "Suddenly something dark and shapeless with its arm seeming to hold a black vesture over its head, flitted, all sharp angles like a bat down the narrow ill-lighted street, the sound of its passage audible to none." --from Robert Aickman's "Ringing the Changes," my favorite story in the collection. For readers who like this kind of literary heft in their ghost stories, I also recommend THE GHOST STORIES OF EDITH WHARTON and VICTORIAN GHOST STORIES BY NOTED WOMEN WRITERS.

Contents:

***Introduction by Roald Dahl......11

***W.S by L.P. Hartley......21

***Harry by Rosemary Timperley......33

***The Corner Shop by Cynthia Asquith......47

***In the Tube by E.F. Benson......63

***Christmas Meeting by Rosemary Timperley......78

***Elias and the Draug by Jonas Lie......81

***Playmates by A.M. Burrage......90

***Ringing the Changes by Robert Aickman......115

***The Telephone by Mary Treadgold......146

***The Ghost of a Hand by J. Sheridan Le Fanu......154

***The Sweeper by A.M. Burrage (Ex-Private X)......162

***Afterward by Edith Wharton......179

***On the Brighton Road by Richard Middleton......210

***The Upper Birth by F. Marion Crawford......214
__________ __________ __________ __________ __________ _________

A great collection of very interesting ghost stories to be read and then re-read again and again!

It seems to me a better recommended reading age would be something like 13 yrs and above.

Originally, I thought that this was a book of stories all written by Roald Dahl himself... that was the impression I got from the title.

Anyway, I recommend this to you!

A ghost story should first and foremost be about atmosphere, and this collection of subtle, beautifully written ghost stories is a must-have. The stories range from the classic Victorian style to more bizarre stories such as the brilliant "Ringing the Changes." In addition, Dahl has selected works that are not usually included in the horror cannon. There is no Poe, no "Monkey's Paw." Instead, Dahl chose to emphasize more subtle and lesser-known works. And his introduction about the importance of women writers is also not to be missed. This is a brilliant anthology.

"Spookiness is, after all, the real purpose of the ghost story."

This line is from the late Roald Dahl's delightful introduction to a collection of ghost stories he selected in the late 1950's for a proposed t.v. series that was never picked up by a network. Not a single one of these stories was written by Roald Dahl, although he tells us in the introduction that he tried valiantly. His conclusion is that not just everyone is capable of writing for this genre and he apparently is one of those who is not.

The stories are beautifully written, every one, and present a nicely balanced variety of chills, from the eerie, oh-so-British, "Harry" by Rosemary Timperley to the primitive and gripping "Elias and the Draug" by Norwegian, Jonas Lie.

Be prepared, however, for these stories to be a bit subtle for a generation raised on the likes of Stephen King. They are the faint scritch-scratching of a ghostly hand on the chamber door -- as opposed to a bloodied corpse body-slamming through the door and clutching the reader by the throat.

I bought this book to read to my children, based on how much we adore Roald Dahl's children's books. This was not necessarily the best choice, not because the stories are too graphic or violent, but because the writing style in many of them is slightly wordy and archaic; rather slow going for an antsy eight and nine year old. Several did, however, pass our family "spooky test," which is whether or not one needs to take a flashlight to bed with one.

I don't usually seek out "scary" fiction, but I was looking for a gift for my son (a teen) and bought this one. He hasn't tried it yet, but I have been eagerly reading the stories. My favorite was also "Playmate", but all of the stories are good.
It should be noted that all of these stories were written quite a while ago. This means that the language is more complex and even maybe seems a little stilted to modern ears, but on the other hand, this is very high-caliber writing, and the language is a joy. (Many readers will have their vocabulary stretched just a little) I found the writing style to be an inspiration for my own writing. This is a very good collection!

A novelist receives strange and disturbing post cards from an unknown fan ; lonely children speak to and about what their parents or guardians dismiss as imaginary friends until contrary evidence materializes ; an impoverished writer visits an antique shop finding different surroundings and tenants at night to those during the daytime ; a strange hand haunts a mansion and it's inhabitants ; strange telephone calls from the dead ; a mystery figure sweeps up leaves at night ; all who sleep on cabin 105 on the ship Kamschatka go mad and throw themselves overboard. All of these happenings have only the explanation of the supernatural: Strange encounters with phantoms, ghosts , ghouls and the undead.

Roald Dahl puts together a charming anthology of eerie old-fashioned ghost stories from various different authors, with all the right touches, where the twists in the tale all have a supernatural flavour. These stories will chill your spine and stay in your mind long after you have read them.

My personal favourites are Harry, Playmates, Ringing the Changes, The Ghost of a Hand, The Sweeper and On the Brighton Road.

I think that this book is the best he has written. I read it for a report in sixth grade and loved it. All of the ghost stories he assembled in this collection were terrific. My favorite story of the fourteen in the book was called Playmates, but the rest were also wonderful.In the introduction, Roahld Dahl said that in good ghost stories you don't see the actual ghost, just the people and events that are affected by the spirit. I think that the book was a great idea and more like it should be published.

I own several ghost story anthologies and consider myself an afficionado of ghost stories written in a golden era of literature. This collection was assembled in preparation for a weekly television program of ghost tales. The collector states he read over 1000 ghost stories and narrowed down to 25, of the "best ghost stories ever written." The program never made it past the pilot and 14 of the 25 stories comprise this collection.

Now to the heart of the matter, this is a mediocre collection of classic ghost stories, truly it is, as compared to other collections, a couple of which I have listed below. Although there really are a couple of solid, well-written stories in this anthology, most just simply misfire, have too long an exposition, or too short a conclusion and never really deliver. But that's okay! They are all still good enough to spend your time a few dollars buying this book. The story "Harry" is indeed well written but may not be appreciated by those who are parents. The story "Playmates" is quite good but has an ending, not at all conventional for ghost stories (very foreboding). Stories like "Ringing in the Changes" are like a movie that is almost brilliant, just an element or two of storytelling mitigate it into something that leaves your scrathing your head as to what really happended and what the author was trying to convey.

So just what does make a good ghost story? Why are some better than others? One of the collections I have explains that a writer who is talented at the nearly impossible task of writing a successful ghost story is one that carefully leads the reader into a slow declining mental state of at first a feeling that something is not quite right, then into noticeable insecurity, then dread, and finally deals a blow of outright terror giving the reader a full reward for engaging with the story. And, this all happens as if the reader were walking into a city at night he/she is not familiar with, then notices that he/she is lost but has been lost for some time but just now noticed it.

The stories that to me are the best of the best, do it without any shocking violence whatever. No, these stories were written with intelligence and talent, not shock factors. They make you say to yourself, "I can't believe that just happened," and, very importantly, they disturb your sleep. They make you hear noises in your home you normally are not aware of. It wears off in a day or two, or three, but assureadly happens.

When people ask me why I love classic ghost stories, I explain it is an intellectual stimulation and, similar too, I suppose, to the reason some people love roller coasters, whatever that is. Perhaps the thrill of it all.

Anyway, worth the purchase but just know there are better collections out there. And here are some others:

Classic Scary Stories
Classic Ghost Stories
The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories
The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories
The Best Ghost Stories Ever
Classic Ghost Stories: Eighteen Spine-Chilling Tales of Terror and the Supernatural

Thanks for reading and pleasant....dreams.

I loved the high caliber writing in this book with every story that was chosen to be in this book. I agree with his assessment about female writers writing the best short ghost stories. Even though his praise is a bit bitter, he obviously admires women that could write. The most poignant and goose-flesh inducing stories in the collection for me was "Harry" by Rosemary Timperly and "Playmates" by A.M. Burrage. Anyone with a love for the excellent writing and ghost stories or story telling in general should pick this book up and read it.

The stories are dated; the introduction by Dahl is borderline offensive. And yet this collection of short stories has a certain charm that lies largely in its ability to summon up the ambiance of a bygone era, where ghost stories were read in a parlour on a stormy night over a steaming cup of tea.

Many of the stories do have the flavor of classic storytelling around a campfire, but as a group, they seem to have been chosen more for their literary pedigrees than their pure entertainment value-- which is a bit surprising coming from Dahl, who was a master entertainer himself.

Before getting any further into the book, I have to mention the lengthy introduction by Dahl, which is so odd and self-indulgent that it serves as a perfect example of an author who has cowed his editors into submission. In the space of 19 pages, Dahl makes some pretty ludicrous statements: "...women don't seem to be able to write plays or top-rate short stories," "[I don't believe that] any of these high-blown authors or critics [can] write a children's book," and "Nothing I have seen that has been published since [1958] has come anywhere near the standard of the select group in this book."

I'm an enormous fan of Dahl, but the introduction is truly bizarre.

While many of the stories are very dated, and some hinge on the predictable revelation that the narrator has been interacting with a ghost all along (gasp!), many of them are also pretty darn original.

Dahl himself cites "Elias and the Draug" as his favorite, and I have to echo his praise, as it seems very much like a Nordic folktale made accessible to modern audiences.

I don't think that a reader will be particularly frightened by the stories in this book, but they are interesting and worth reading. If you're a fan of ghost stories, or are thinking of buying a ghostly anthology for the first time, this is a great buy.