While wandering around Downtown Disney a few weeks ago, I stopped in the combo bookstore coffee shop to get a shot of caffeine. While waiting for my brew I noticed a display of Halloween themed books, and picked up the one titled Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories. I’m a sucker for themed displays and I manage to buy a new Halloween related book almost every year. A book of short stories seemed just the thing to get me in the Halloween spirit, and I was interested in what stories Roald Dahl would put together.

This anthology contains 14 stories out of 24 that Roald Dahl collected for a television project. The idea was for a series based on ghost stories, and Dahl claims to have gotten a hold of practically every ghost story ever written. Even though he was reading authors like Hardy, Hawthorne, Wilde, Twain, Irving, James and Eliot, he claims that most of the ghost stories he read were bad: trivial, poorly written and not spooky. Finally he came across some good ones and by the time he was done he had 11 stories written by women and 13 written by men. Dahl goes on to talk about why it is he thinks that women can write good ghost stories and children’s books when women pale in comparison to men in areas like music, painting and the writing of novels. Frankly I found this discussion a bit condescending, as he seems to think that this is more a matter of ability rather than circumstance. But he does tell the reader that he thinks it is more difficult to write a good children's novel than one for adults, so he redeems himself a bit.

I will admit that it isn’t as easy to write a good book for children as some people may think, but I find it amusing that he says “I do not say it because I sometimes write children’s books myself.” His reputation as a children’s author seems to overshadow everything else he has written, as even this book is listed in Epinions in the genre of juvenile fiction; it doesn’t belong there, but he can't escape his reputation.

Dahl describes why he chose some of the stories, and I wanted right away to read the one called Elias and the Draug which he pronounced quite disturbing. I restrained myself from flipping ahead, however, and read the stories in the order that they are listed in the book. I thought there might be some significance to that, but I don’t really see it if there is. Most of these stories involve ghosts that make contact with the one or more of the characters; some are harmless enough but others have more of an evil intent.

The stories and authors are as follows:
W. S. L. P. Hartley – This was an eerie little story with a stalker theme; not a typical ghost story but similar in theme to what might be found in some horror movies.

Harry Rosemary Timperley – This was the first ghost story that Dahl liked of the ones he read. He said the end gave him shivers. It actually made me cry.

The Corner Shop Cynthia Asquith – I enjoyed this one although I felt it was a bit contrived. It reminds me of some of those forwarded stories I get via e-mail in which the moral is the good doer wins in the end.

In the Tube by E. F. Benson – This particular tale did nothing for me. It deals with being able to see the astral projection of living people doing things that their physical body will be doing within the next few days.

Christmas Meeting by Rosemary Timperley – A very short little story, not even three pages long, that was an interesting idea and could have made a good story had it been fleshed out more.

Elias and the Draug Jonas Lie – Dahl seemed to think this was a disturbing story and I can see where he is coming from, but perhaps because of the translation from the Norwegian it just isn’t as effective as it could have been. It is written more in the style of a folktale and lacks a personal touch. I personally found the most disturbing part to be when the wife of the main character lets her husband know that two of their children have been swept overboard. He replies that she’d better hold fast to the halyard or she’ll lose more. No foolish sentiment wasted there!

Playmates by A. M. Burrage – I quite enjoyed this one and although it started out to seem like it couldn’t possibly have a good ending, it ended up on a rather positive note. The ghosts in this story help a little girl get over a rough time, but they understand she is a real person who needs more human interaction.

Ringing the Changes Robert Aickman - A very odd and downright gruesome story that doesn’t involve ghosts at all.

The Telephone Mary Treadgold – Interesting and unique, but a more lighthearted story than some of the others.

The Ghost of a Hand J. Sheridan Le Fanu – This one reads like a report of factual events and the author makes it out to be like that. Because of this format, it doesn’t have much in the way of character development, but it is creepy nonetheless.

The Sweeper A. M. Burrage – Another good one from the author of Playmates this story involves an old woman whose past deeds come back to haunt her in an ironic way, the cornerstone of most ghost stories but it was still pretty inventive and not as predictable as you might expect.

Afterward Edith Wharton – This was one of my favorites simply because of the way it was written. Wharton really has a way with words and her descriptions of things and treatment of the characters add layers that make this more than a simple ghost story.

On the Brighton Road Richard Middleton – Another 3 page exercise with an interesting concept. At first I was confused by what the author was trying to say, but upon further reflection I think the author got his point across pretty well.

The Upper Berth F. Marion Crawford – The last story in the book, this one was probably the most thrilling and spooky. It was set on a ship and I have a fear of water, so perhaps that was part of it, but I found it hard to put the book down until I had finished it.

All in all this was a good collection of ghost stories. Most of them involved wrongdoing in the characters with punishment meted out by the ghosts. A few involved guilt in the ghosts themselves, but some departed completely from either of those two themes and were unique. As with most ghost stories, there was no overt description of gore and very little violence at all, but many were disquieting. If you are looking for some interesting stories to chill you this Halloween Eve, Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories would be a great starting place. I only wish I could read the other 10 he liked.

This has been part of the Freestyle Halloween Write Off. Please check out the contributions of these other fine participants: shadow8 (host) * marytara * LorinSilver * dandj * anderclayton * KingpinLJC * JackSommersby * Furie * jankp * ChromeKiller * Wokelstein * Tibullus * lansky2000 * Elerad * dancingpotato * matt_harney * Vormancian * systemdwn * The_Wood * jo.com * lisaatucla * kuuleimomi * blackelve * debbie26 * mellkinwa * DGTurtle2 * lorendiac


Recommended: Yes