Ali Karim was a Board Member of Bouchercon [The World Crime & Mystery Convention] and co-chaired programming for Bouchercon Raleigh, North Carolina in 2015. He is Assistant Editor of Shots eZine, British correspondent for The Rap Sheet and writes and reviews for many US magazines & Ezines.
Following the success of the two preceding collections The Haunting Season and The Winter Spirits comes this offering just in time for Halloween. Featuring new ghost stories from Great Britain’s brightest writers of contemporary horror. There are a variety of styles showcased, each thought-provoking and nightmarish.
Included are the award-winning Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s The Second Witness a historical ghost story set in 1780, with a few twists that are genuinely creepy. When Jonathan Bernard is urged to investigate the haunting at Sir Robert Marsham’s country house, he teams up with Miss A. A. Hayes a psychic investigator. Initially a sceptic, Barnard tries to ascertain a criminal motive to the unearthly knocking from the late Eliza Marsham’s bedroom – only to discover something far worse.
Catriona Ward’s Macaw, has a dream-like quality that follows the thoughts and actions of an exotic parrot-like Macaw named Benjy, who repeats the phrase “I’m a good boy”, but there lies concealed something far more sinister for Lord and Lady Clough.
A Midnight Visitor by Susan Stokes-Chapman features a Parisian fortune teller, Noelle who must face her own past actions as she reflects upon those she loved as her own life stutters.
The Bugle and the Drum by Andrew Michael Hurley tells the tale of Howard Halliday and his meeting with the mysterious Laurence Mortimer. The journeying in a Northern England of the past is evocative as well as hallucinatory. What commences as an opportunity in investment for young Halliday soon transforms into something far stranger.
The complete listing of contributing writers are Michelle Paver, Stacey Halls, Bridget Collins, Imogen Hermes Gowar, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Andrew Michael Hurley, Jess Kidd, Natasha Pulley, Elizabeth Macneal, Susan Stokes-Chapman, Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Stuart Turton, and Catriona Ward.
All the narratives come complete with dénouements that will force the reader to not only shiver, but also pause for reflection for they will remain in the mind like fragments of jagged glass.
Perfect for a winter evening, with perhaps a small Brandy to steady the nerves before bed.
