Can anyone recommended a good ghost story that's not too scary?

[Kasterborous]

I've read a couple of the Susan Hill ones a while ago and I just fancy reading a ghost story but don't know where to start.

[glenthebattleostrich]

I really like the James Herbert ones.

Haunted, the ghosts of sleath and the secrets of crickley hall are very good.

[claracluck1978]

Dark Matter is a real lesson in suspense. I loved it but right now can't think of authors name, sorry.

[Viviennemary]

I'm watching this thread for some ideas. Somebody recommended Phil Rickman to me which are slightly spooky but not terrifying. But they are a bit long winded and have too many characters.

[Kasterborous]

I've read The Secret of Crickley Hall, but not Haunted or The ghosts of sleath so I might try them.

I've read Dark Matter, I think it's by Michelle Paver but not certain, was it set in one of the poles?

Thankyou for the recommendations.

[maudpringles]

Sarah Walters- The Little Stranger is a cracking read.

[Kasterborous]

I've read The little stranger too. It was a really good read. I've just read one called The Screaming Staircase that is for older children/young adult, but I really enjoyed it.

[alittlebitmeh]

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger is a good book. Not scary. An unusual ghost story.

[Clawdy]

The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore is a well-written ghost story,but refreshingly free of horror scenes.

[tobiasfunke]

Naomi's room by Jonathan Aycliffe.
It got a bit silly but it was nice and scary.

[MiddleAgeMiddleEngland]

Ages ago I read What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn. It wasn't at all, but more interesting than I'd expected. Not sure it would qualify as a real ghost story, but it has resonances of that.

I like the Susan Hill ones, although I didn't find them scary.

[MiddleAgeMiddleEngland]

Sorry - should be 'It wassn't at all scary'

[Kasterborous]

Thanks all I've read Naomi's room and Her Fearful Symmetry (which I really enjoyed). I will have a look at The Greatcoat and What Was Lost.

[notnowImreading]

I enjoyed The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones. A bit like Downton Abbey with ghosts (although better than that sounds).

[SarahAndFuck]

I've read a few spooky/ghostly stories so far this year.

Have you read any of these?

Harrowgate by Kate Maruyama. A new father fears that his wife and son are under the influence of a mysterious doula.

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin. Newly married couple move into a building with a strange history.

The Reviver by Seth Patrick. There is an agency of people who can revive the recently dead for a short time, but in bringing them back one man believes that something else has come back with them.

The Memory of Midnight by Pamela Hartshorne. A woman escaping a troubled marriage finds that her new life is overshadowed by visions of the past and her life is being taken over by the ghost of a 16th century woman.

Black is the Colour by Helen Howe. Mostly not a ghost story but there are a couple of ghostly sightings and it's a good book anyway.

Times Echo by Pamela Hartshorne. Pretty much the same as the other book, a woman starting a new life feels overtaken by the ghost of a woman from centuries before.

A Good and Useful Hurt by Aric Davies. Set in a tattoo shop who offer a service to tattoo bereaved people with the ashes of their loved ones and discover a way to use this to try and solve the crimes of a serial killer. This one is quite brutal in places but I thought it was a good read.

I will second the recommendation of What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn as that is a very good book.

FG Cottam is a one of my favourites for ghostly books that have an old fashioned feel to them. The Waiting Room is probably my favourite of his but they are all very good.

And I read a Kindle novella called A Sincere Warning About The Entity In Your House by Jason Arnopp which was very good.

[BreakingDad77]

I'd agree with The ghosts of sleath,

How about "The Fog" by james herbert - film was terrrible!

Maybe some of the 80-90's Dean koontz stuff

Clive barkers -Gallilee, Thief of always, Abararat

[PaulinesPen]

House of Lost Souls FG Cottam. Also Stephen King of course!

[PaulinesPen]

Bag of Bones is one of my favourite SK's.

[SarahAndFuck]

I've been thinking about this and have a re-read list a mile long now.

Have you given Graham Masterton a try? His Manitou series is good and have a bit of a twist on the ghostly side of things. In the first book a fake psychic actually has more powers than he believes and becomes involved in a case of a young woman possessed by the ghost of an ancient indian medicine man trying to return to earth and take revenge. It's much better than I have described and the series as a whole is one of my old favourites.

[bunnybing]

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver is brilliant as is The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian

Don't read Ghost Story by Toby Litt - it is pretentious and v dull.

[DuchessofMalfi]

DH likes a good ghost story, but the scarier the better for him :o

He liked Dark Matter. I read it last year but didn't find it all that creepy.

One he did read, and said I shouldn't because it involves the deaths of children (can't handle stories with children dying), is The Orphan Choir by Sophie Hannah. He said it was good, and quite disturbing.

[ThaneOfScunthorpe]

The Little Stranger is fantastic!

I like old stuff - MR James. Old fashioned ghost stories you'd read around the fire. Or

[ThaneOfScunthorpe]

OR Henry James, The Turn of the Screw.

[Clawdy]

Love MR James but I do find them seriously scary! Even years later,can't forget tales like "Lost Hearts".