Author:Roald Dahl,Roald Dahl
Scare yourself silly this Halloween with fourteen terrifying ghost stories chosen by the master of the macabre, Roald Dahl
'Spookiness is the real purpose of the ghost story. It should give you the creeps and disturb your thoughts . . .'
Who better to choose the ultimate in spine-chillers than Roald Dahl, whose own sinister stories have teased and twisted the imagination of millions?
Here are fourteen of his favourite ghost stories, including Sheridan Le Fanu's The Ghost of a Hand, Edith Wharton's Afterward, Cynthia Asquith's The Corner Shop and Mary Treadgold's The Telephone.
Filled with fright and spine-tingling tension, these delightfully disturbing tales are the perfect companion for all this Halloween.
One of our truly essential new writers
—— GQRoss is the kind of writer who gets into his often-dysfunctional characters' heads with ease and inhabits them with compassion, giving them a sense of vulnerability... His prose has a pleasing ease to it, without being easy - there's an edge to the worlds he creates that rewards closer reading and prevents sentimentality or predictability. Definitely one to watch
—— Lesley McDowell , The HeraldIf you like short stories with a sharp twist in the tale, Adam Ross' astringent collection will be perfectly to your taste
—— Daily MailWitty and well-shaped short-story collection... Ross charts the progress of his characters' disillusionment with a compelling mixture of sympathy and ironic detachment
—— Nick Rennison , Sunday TimesRoss is a gifted writer with a soft spot for the kind of stop - you - in - your - tracks twists that will have readers dropping their cups of tea, slow-mo, into their laps
—— Alice Wylie , Scotland on SundayVivid depictions of modern anxiety and a lament to humankind's waning attachment to commitment, deftly told by one of the most accomplished new writers working in the US today
—— Yasmin Sulaiman , The ListTen years ago the American short story was in decline. Now it is once again a vital genre
—— Ruth Franklin , ProspectDistinctive, surreal and intelligent
—— Antonia Charlesworth , Big Issue in the NorthSublimely irresistible
—— Tim Samuels , theholbornmag.com