The Dark

Most ghost story anthologies have stories about ghosts. This book does do that, but the authors all have different definitions about what a ghost story should be. What I like best is when the author tells their favorite ghost story.

The Dark: New Ghost Stories, won the 2003 International Horror Guild Award for Best Anthology, and the story "Dancing Men" by Glen Hirshberg, won the award for Best Mid-Length Fiction.

Jeffrey Ford's "The Trentino Kid," starts things off on a slightly creepy note. It's about a guy who has frittered his youth away in what he thought was an easier route. He's regretting the choices he's made when he comes across a ghost that'll force his hand in a (hopefully) new direction. This is a story that'll resonate with anyone who wishes they had taken a different path years earlier. I know it certainly struck a nerve with me! Tanith Lee's "The Ghost In The Clock" is atmospheric as is her usual style and features a tale of a clock with a horrific past, a ghost and a good dose of madness. Descriptive writing, a creeping sense of unease make this one a chill inducing read. "The Thing About the Night" just wasn't to my taste. Too scientific, me thinks. "The Silence of the Falling Stars about a park ranger whom I didn't care for at all didn't work very well for me either, I'm afraid. I can't pinpoint where it went wrong. I just found it dull overall. Gahan Wilson's "The Dead Ghost" was a short and to the point recounting of an injured man's encounter with an overweight, naked ghost. I enjoyed this one, maybe because it was a nice breather after the previous two stories which I thought were both over long. Oates "Subway" is a haunting but somewhat familiar story of tragedy and a woman's never-ending search for love. "The Seven Sisters" is a story about 7 formerly grand homes now falling to ruin. This one didn't resonate with me in any way and I can't really remember much else about it. "Doctor Hood" was more accessible the the previous story. It's about a woman returning to her childhood home because she's worried about her increasingly distant father. It's about loss, letting go and features a good dose of ghostbusting. I enjoyed the originality of the end of this one. "An Amicable Divorce" is a story rooted in tragedy and is deeply emotional. It's about a man still deeply in love with his ex-wife. Sadly, she isn't at all in a good place to return his love but calls him often and begs for help with a creature that is inhabiting their home late at night. This one gets under your skin and lives up to the promises made by the editor and, despite it's very gloominess, was probably my favorite. "Feeling Remains" is about a young boy whose feminist mom seems more interested in everyone but him. After forcing him to care for an aging neighbor who dies, he's haunted by the old lady's treasured book of photos. This story, the neglect of the child, and the over-the-top selfishness of the mother annoyed the heck out of me. "The Gallow's Necklace by Sharyn McCrumb" was a "past coming back to haunt you" type of ghost story that was very enjoyable. The idea of the Gallow's Necklace was so utterly chilling it won't be something easily forgotten. "Brownie, and M" Charles Grant has always been a difficult read for me. His quiet style of horror didn't work for me when I was younger and more into the likes of Clive Barker & Poppy Z. Brite but this

This anthology, featuring 16 stories taking place in modern settings, demonstrates that horror can be found almost anywhere, even in these enlightened times. Most feature a subtle, psychological type of horror that make them all the more unnerving. Personally, I did find a few of the stories disappointing, but most were well worth the read. Since, as of this date, the publisher has declined to let the reader search inside the book, or even view the table of contents, the titles and a very brief synopsis of each piece follow for any who might be interested: 1. The Trentino Kid - Fishermen haunted by local legends and the errant body of a drowned boy. 2. The Ghost of the Clock - A clock haunted by a vengeance-seeking dead remnant, or the offspring of projected hateful energy? 3. One Thing About the Night - A home with a missing owner and bricked up windows features a six-sided mirrored room with a single chair placed directly in the center ... 4. The Silence of the Falling Stars - A canyon or "dry lake" that swallows noise - and perhaps people - where the rocks are known to move by themselves. There is also a park ranger undergoing some sort of identity crisis. 5. The Dead Ghost - A hospital plagued by the apparently random appearance of a phantom cadaver. 6. Seven Sisters - A semi-circle of massive houses - in their prime masterpieces of Victorian architecture - now fallen to ruin. One of the structures houses an immense theatre filled with murmurs from luminous shadows. 7. Subway - A tragic accident (murder?) resulting in a needy ghost. 8. Doctor Hood - The daughter of a scientist returns to her childhood home and discovers her widowed father trying to make contact with her deceased mother, while carefully documenting the attempts. But is the dead haunting the living, or the living haunting the dead? 9. An Amicable Divorce - A very disturbing tale about a divorced man who harbours feelings for his ex-wife. She calls him when something starts getting into the marital home through the cat door, and it isn't the cat. 10. Feeling Remains - A young boy forced by his bleeding heart parents to care for an aging demented neighbor finds himself haunted by her photograph album after her death; also her strange phobias seem to be contagious. (I found the boy's mother to be far more frightening than the crazy neighbor.) 11. The Gallows Necklace - A long-ago tragedy, which originated with a family heirloom, seems destined to repeat itself. 12. Brownie, and Me - An elderly man begins seeing the image of an acquaintance that passed away 9 years earlier. Is it a ghost, an angel, or a harbinger of death? 13. Velocity - Explores the borderline between madness and art. 14. Limbo - A retired criminal, trying to stay one step ahead of his past, falls for a beautiful, but elusive, woman. 15. The Hortlak - "Hortlak" means "ghost" in Turkish. A weird story about an all-night convenience store, zombies, ghost dogs and many differen

I always enjoy a good scare, and was happy to come across this anthology of "new" ghost stories. These are not your typical chain rattling, spook filled, gorey tales. For the most part these stories focus on the subtle line between the living and the dead, playing on our fears of the unknown, and leaving the reader with an overall feeling of disquiet rather than downright fear. These stories will have you pondering the possibilities rather than jumping at noises in the night. My personal favorites were "The Trentino Kid", "Doctor Hood", and the very unnerving "An Amicable Divorce" If you can appreciate a "thinking" reader's ghost story, these are the tales for you.