Story of the month/ week/ whatever :D

[joysilence]

Well now I think it's time to have a chat about our group read, Oh, Whistle And I'll Come To You, My Lad by Montague Rhodes James.

"O Whistle…" has been one of my favourite ghost stories ever since I read it when I was nine. I have outgrown many of the authors I used to enjoy back then, or at least come to view their writing with a more critical eye, but I still find James’ best work as flawless and spellbinding as when I went to primary school. Here is a short synopsis of the story in case some of you have already read it but would like to have your memories jogged:

( Cut for spoilers )

( What I thought )

What did you all think?

Finally, here are a couple more links I dug up recently:

An appraisal of James' work by a fellow horror author, Clark Ashton Smith, in 1934.

Last but not least, an excellent piece by Michael Chabon which featured as an introduction to one of James' many reprints. This is well worth a read and mainly deals with Oh, Whistle....

Japanese ghosts

[joysilence]

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY dfordoom)

Some of the most enjoyable (and unusual) ghost stories I've read in recent times were those in Lafcadio Hearn's "Kwaidan". Hearn was born in the US but became a Japanese citizen and collected traditional Japanese ghost stories and stories of the unusual. I highly recommend "Kwaidan".