A review by proseamongstthorns
Haunted by Mal Peet, Derek Landy, Philip Reeve, Berlie Doherty, Sam Llewellyn, Matt Haig, Susan Cooper, Robin Jarvis, Jamila Gavin, Joseph Delaney, Eleanor Updale
5.0
I received Haunted: Ghost Stories to Chill your Blood in collaboration with Kaleidoscopic Tours and I'm so glad I did. A perfect collection of eerie, disturbing and just plain spooky short stories brilliant for spooky season. Plus it features authors such as Matt Haig, Philip Reeve and Derek Landy.
As with any collection of stories, they're not all for you. It is an anthology aimed at younger people, so obviously they're not pee-your-pants scary - but they do perfectly tread the line. For me, this was perfect as I'm not much of a horror fan. It really helped me ease into spooky season (as I read it way back at the beginning of October). Some of the stories are funny, tense, confusing and metaphorical, but there is certainly something in there for everyone.
As Derek Landy is my favourite author, I obviously I loved his short 'Songs the Dead Sing'. It featured his usual dark humour and did something a little different with the idea of ghosts. Sadly, I can't really give you more information on most of these shorts without giving it away. I enjoyed how even with overlap between stories (quite a few dealt with the same topics) they were all very distinct and clearly portrayed the voice of the author. I enjoyed not knowing what to expect from each story.
Two other favourites of mine were 'The Castle Ghosts' by Joseph Delaney, which kicked off this anthology, and 'The Ghost Wood' by Philip Reeve, the penultimate story. I was pleasantly surprised by both of them, though they deal with similar themes (ghosts and haunting) the outcomes are vastly different...
This was a great read. The short stories are all really quick to get through and there's a brilliant flow between them which helps keep you wrapped up in the book. Even with each story being fully independent, there are enough common threads to make this anthology collate to feel like one story. I definitely recommend this if you're looking for a quick, spooky read or a ghostly horror to dip your toes into.
As with any collection of stories, they're not all for you. It is an anthology aimed at younger people, so obviously they're not pee-your-pants scary - but they do perfectly tread the line. For me, this was perfect as I'm not much of a horror fan. It really helped me ease into spooky season (as I read it way back at the beginning of October). Some of the stories are funny, tense, confusing and metaphorical, but there is certainly something in there for everyone.
As Derek Landy is my favourite author, I obviously I loved his short 'Songs the Dead Sing'. It featured his usual dark humour and did something a little different with the idea of ghosts. Sadly, I can't really give you more information on most of these shorts without giving it away. I enjoyed how even with overlap between stories (quite a few dealt with the same topics) they were all very distinct and clearly portrayed the voice of the author. I enjoyed not knowing what to expect from each story.
Two other favourites of mine were 'The Castle Ghosts' by Joseph Delaney, which kicked off this anthology, and 'The Ghost Wood' by Philip Reeve, the penultimate story. I was pleasantly surprised by both of them, though they deal with similar themes (ghosts and haunting) the outcomes are vastly different...
This was a great read. The short stories are all really quick to get through and there's a brilliant flow between them which helps keep you wrapped up in the book. Even with each story being fully independent, there are enough common threads to make this anthology collate to feel like one story. I definitely recommend this if you're looking for a quick, spooky read or a ghostly horror to dip your toes into.