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Ghost stories

18 replies

Twang · 30/12/2013 22:17

Does anyone have any good recommendations for proper scary ghost stories? I'm talking about old-fashioned spooky ones as opposed to horror stories. I am a fan of M R James if that helps!

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BeerTricksPotter · 30/12/2013 22:27

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ChillieJeanie · 31/12/2013 15:15

If you haven't read The Woman in Black by Susan Hill, you really must. And MR James was brilliant.

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TheBunsOfPanettone · 31/12/2013 19:59

There is a very scary ghost story (at least I thought so when I read it a long while ago!) in a Gerald Durrell collection called The Picnic and Suchlike Pandemonium. I must track it down and re-read it one of these days.

YY to The Woman in Black!

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LordEmsworth · 31/12/2013 20:09

I really like Jonathan Aycliffe. He is a bit horror-ific but really creates the atmosphere...

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Twang · 01/01/2014 10:50

Thanks for the suggestions, will give them a try! And yes, I loved The Woman in Black! !

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drudgewithagrudge · 01/01/2014 15:26

I can recommend The Virago Book of Ghost Stories. There are some spinechilling goodies in it. Not to be read at night.

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MiddleAgeMiddleEngland · 03/01/2014 14:17

Also the Penguin Book of Ghost Stories, some good/scary ones in there.

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Caitlin17 · 03/01/2014 17:45

The Virago collections, there are 2 and The Oxford collections . One is the Oxford book of Victorian ghost stories and the other The Oxford Book of English Ghost stories.

Edith Nesbit wrote some terrific ghost stories and there are also the Benson brothers A C and E F.

Edith Wharton wrote very subtle ghost stories, some of which are just a bit too subtle.

Peter Straub's Ghost Story isn't actually a ghost story but is very scary.

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nobodysbaby · 23/01/2014 20:54

Adam Nevill is brilliant. Also second Ramsey Campbell,try Alone With the Horrors or Told by the Dead.

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Dapplegrey · 23/01/2014 20:58

Hmmm...... I think The Monkey's Paw by W.W.Jacobs very spooky, though I'm not sure if it's a ghost story or a horror story.

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LumpySpacePrincessOhMyGlob · 23/01/2014 21:00

Try Phil Rickman, spine tingling stuff that's incredibly well written. He has a long standing series based on a female deliverance priest (exercist)

The first book is The Wine of Angels. He makes orchards really really spooky. Grin

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BringBackBod · 25/01/2014 15:52

Sheridan Le Fanu. A selection of short stories written in 1872, called In a Glass Darkly.
I would recommend it.

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spabbygirl · 27/01/2014 19:03

I loved 'The Ghost House,' by Helen Phifer. loads of my friends did too. Its got a fab old house, some really spooky spooks, murder and just a smidgen of romance. It moved me and I couldn't forget it for a few weeks. It isn't horror, I don't like that, more like a contemporary ghost story that M R James would have approved of.

Lynne

www.amazon.co.uk/The-Ghost-House-Helen-Phifer-ebook/dp/B00EAPX6HU?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

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SarahAndFuckTheResolutions · 27/01/2014 19:32

Not ghost stories as such (not all of them anyway) but Robert Shearman has written some good collections of short stories that just feel 'wrong'.

If you have read Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghosts and liked it then you will probably like the RS collections. Tiny Deaths is my favourite.

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Suzietwo · 09/02/2014 17:53

Guy de Maupassant wrote some cracking short horror stories

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Aliama · 11/02/2014 19:13

The little Stranger, by Sarah Waters (try affinity, as well)
Dark Matter, by Michelle Paver (highly recommend)
Heart Shaped Box, by Joe Hill

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