Shannon Page

Murmurs in the Dark: Thirteen Ghostly Tales delivers on its promise of being a varied collection. The stories range from humorous to a couple that hint at the gruesome. There's a broad middle ground of the moody, the mysterious, the atmospheric, and even the practical in ghostly goings on.

Even though I enjoyed most of the stories, I have a few favorites. “The Summer House: a Fable” by Chaz Brenchley had a mysterious and sensual quality that languidly sweeps the reader along during a show more summer house season. “Given to the Sunrise” by Dave Smeds is an atmospheric tale hinting at legends and a search for final resolution. Of the several stories treating the affairs of ghosts as a business, my favorite was “Borrowed Places” by K.E. Kimbriel that put a fun twist on the rental and hospitality business.

I expect another reader would have a different set of favorites from this competent mix. It’s just a matter of personal taste. All of the stories are well written and creatively develop novel takes on the subject of ghostly matters. show less

Murmurs in the Dark edited by Marissa Doyle and Shannon Page—an early reader’s review:
I was lucky enough to read this book in October as the witching season approached, but rather than being scary, these stories seemed more like a series of bridges to understand the ghosts. Most of the stories were sensitive, some imagined from the departed’s point of view. They made the bumps in the night seem like compromises everyone makes when sharing a space with others. The personalities of the show more spirits were as varied as the personalities of the living and they were trying to figure things out after death just as much as we struggle before the fact. I did enjoy the different voices of the thirteen story tellers and I did like some more than others, but the collection holds together well.
If you crave action, blood and guts, this read might not be your cup of tea. This is more like sitting with a close friend who is struggling to confess a weird occurrence that he can’t explain, can’t forget, and fears looking foolish for believing, but, at the same time, can’t keep it to himself.
I enjoyed the book very much. show less

I really enjoyed this book even though fantasy is not a preferred genre for me. I think because the fantasy aspect was limited to a few talents and otherwise the story was about people striving to do their best in a world gone temporarily made. Oh yes, and there are also great battle scenes on the sea and hidden tunnels and gorgeous clothing and romantic liasions and skulduggery so that I was compelled to keep reading.

Sian Alkattha is a mature woman who runs a textile business with her show more husband of many years. The passion has long gone out of their marriage but they have a good partnership so they stay together. Sian also has a lover, Konstantin Reikos, a ship's captain who often comes to Alizar, the island nation where Sian lives. Two years before the events of the book take place a giant body washed up on the shore of one of the islands. The Factor, ruler of the nation, decreed that the body be cut up and the meat distributed to the poor. Since then a religious cult has taken to wandering the streets in the name of the Butchered God. The members of the cult are the poor mostly and they have withdrawn their labour so the merchants are finding it hard to stay in business. Sian falls into the hands of the mob and she is beaten badly by the priest of the Butchered God. When she awakes the next morning all her injuries have healed and she feels better than she has in years. Then she discovers she can heal anyone with her touch. She remembers the priest saying that she is to deliver a message to the Factor, a distant cousin, but she has no idea what the message is to be. Her fame as a healer spreads throughout the islands and this brings her to the attention of some of the powerful people. These people do not really want a healer encouraging the poor. Poor Sian suffers for this gift that she did not ask for but feels compelled to use.

Jay Lake has died of cancer since writing this book. He and the other author, Shannon Page, collaborated on it before he became too ill but the final draft was left to Shannon. I find the idea of collaborating in writing a book interesting and, in this case, it certainly worked out well. show less

Thirteen short ghost stories in various definitions collected together for a halloween theme. As usual with short stories collections some are notably more to my taste than others, despite some fairly big names in the author list. I'm never sure whether it's a good idea to allow editors to include their own works in such volumes.

The best is the opening story by Chaz Brenchley whom I've not heard of previously. A lovely little tale in the style of MR James, about a house and a passing show more resident who is more than he seems. A few of the stories try to blend humour into them, but the funny ghost story is a very niche market and they didn't appeal to me. Direct violence is also a little gauche in a ghost story where a creeping sense of dread is the optimum target.

All of the stories had a paragraph about the author, and a brief description of the story's genesis which was sometimes interesting. Marie Brennan's felt like an excerpt from a larger work, which it is, although the rest of the work is yet to see the light of day.

Book View Cafe is always an interesting publishing house, and this showcases some of their talent quite well. show less