The Dark

It took me nearly two months of searching, but I finally found a collection of ghost stories I really like. (That isn't M.R. James, Sarah Monette, or Algernon Blackwood, that is.) Of course, it's an Ellen Datlow collection. I should have known. "Limbo" by Lucius Shepard was rather wonderful (up to a disappointing twist at the end), but the standout for me was Tanith Lee's "The Ghost of the Clock." Had me checking behind me all evening.

A collection of new stories, never before published, by some pretty heavy hitters -- including, Tanith Lee, Gahan Wilson, Ramsey Campbell, Joyce Carol Oates & Lucius Shepard. Inevitably, the quality is variable, but not egregiously so. My favorites tend towards the more elliptical, particularly: "The Silence of the Falling Stars" by Mike O'Driscoll, "An Amicable Divorce" by Daniel Abraham, and, especially, "Dancing Men" by Glen Hirshberg. The latter is a truly exceptional story that mingles themes as diverse as the Holocaust and Native American ritual, while being filled with ghastly little comic bits.

Leaving the house without a book this morning meant that I *had* to go book shopping at the first opportunity. This collection was an excellent find; it will be interesting to compare it to the collection of classic ghost stories I picked up a while ago.

1. FORD, Jeffery: "Trentino Kid, The"

2. LEE, Tanith: "Ghost of the Clock, The"

3. DOWLING, Terry: "One Thing About the Night"

4. O'DRISCOLL, Mike: "Silence of the Falling Stars, The"

5. WILSON, Gahan: "Dead Ghost, The"

6. CADY, Jack: "Seven Sisters"

7. OATES, Joyce Carol: "Subway"

8. GALLAGHER, Stephen: "Doctor Hood"

9. ABRAHAM, Daniel: "Amicable Divorce, An"

10. CAMPBELL, Ramsey: "Feeling Remains"

11. McCRUMB, Sharyn: "Gallows Necklace, The"

12. GRANT, Charles L.: "Brownie, and Me"

13. KOJA, Kathe: "Velocity"

14. SHEPARD, Lucius: "Limbo"

15. LINK, Kelly: "Hortlak, The"

16. HIRSHBERG, Glen: "Dancing Men"