They wanted to move into a haunted house. But what they didn’t realise is that they wouldn’t realise that they had been haunted until Afterward. Long, long Afterward.
Afterwardis all about the power of hindsight. Or at least, that’s what I noticed about this. Every moment is hindsight on the one before and focuses on the ways in which knowing something afterward can be wonderful. But in the moment, in kind of sucks.
This couple face a whole number of issues in their endeavor to live in a haunted house. And honestly… anyone who wants to live in a haunted house is, well, kind of an idiot. Why would you want to live in a haunted house? It seems horrifying and… just not a great idea…
This was a fun and intriguing story. I didn’t get entirely swept away by it, which is why it has a slightly lower rating than other stories, but I definitely had a good time reading it. And as the second to last story in the The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women collection, it has a great sense of winding down from all the horror of the other stories.
Title: Home from America Author: Sharan Newman In: Death’s Excellent Vacation (Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner) Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Family, Paranormal fantasy, Urban fantasy Dates read: 24th November 2020 Pace: Fast Format: Short story Publisher: Gollancz Year: 2010 5th sentence, 74th page: In the gray light of morning the plane slid down through the cloud cover and the O’Reillys got their first glimpse of what for them was the Promised Land.
Patrick has always dreamed about he home land. And been incredibly self-conscious about his height. Now he finally gets to go “home”. What he finds is nothing like what he expected.
I have always wanted to find out more about my ancestors. But I can’t say that I’ve ever had wonderful, powerful imaginations about them. After all, I’m probably from farm folk or some such. Even though I would love to go and see England and Scotland, I don’t think it would be like coming home. Which made it interesting to read a short story that featured a young man who was so desperate to live in and move to a country that he had never laid eyes on because he thought he was from hero stock.
Pride is never really a good thing. If we’re being honest here. And Patricks’ pride in this short story leaves his vacation at a pretty grisly ending. He is too proud to love his family for who they are. And he is certainly too proud to stay and listen and learn. Rather, he wants to be a hero and from more “impressive” ancestors. I really don’t understand that, and I’m kind of glad that he got his comeuppance. He was a bit of a weeny in this tale.
I love that this story dealt with family and pride. Leprechauns and the Luck of the Irish. The whole story was fun and had me smiling as I turned the pages. It wasn’t quite what I expected from the title. But it was most definitely a tale that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Title: Murder on the Orient Express Author: Agatha Christie Series: Hercule Poirot #10 Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Crime, Mystery Dates read: 10th – 24th November 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Novel Publisher: Harper Collins Year: 1934 5th sentence, 74th page: This is where I’m supposed to go all goosefleshy down the back.
‘The murderer is with us – on the train now…’
Just after midnight, a snowstorm stops the famous Orient Express in its tracks. A passenger is brutally murdered, and the luxurious train is no longer a place of safety. Everyone is a suspect.
This illustrated edition contains the complete text of Agatha Christie’s II Murder on the Orient Express, II together with 200 glorious production paintings and sumptuous photos from the new film, directed by Kenneth Branagh.
Wow. This was a pretty, seriously intense novel. I knew that it probably would be, considering it’s so damn well-known and popular. But I really didn’t expect… this level of awesomeness. Now I just desperately want more of these books on my shelves!
Recently, I’ve been watching some Agatha Christie movies with one of my clients. I can never guess who the culprit is in these (all except one thus far have come as a complete shock). This is such a wonderfully new experience for my crazy brain that I was looking forward to trying to match my wits to this storyline. And I couldn’t predict this either, every time I thought that I might be beginning to put all of the puzzle pieces together… Christie threw another curveball my way. It was brilliant and wonderful.
One of the things about this story that I did struggle with was the amount of characters. I actually struggled to keep all of the pieces in my brain and keep track of who was who. What the motives were. What the evidence was… I’ve been assured that that’s unique to this Hercule Poirot story, but it was certainly a little bit difficult. I’m just grateful that I had the movie edition of this book, so there were many pictures to help me sort out what exactly was happening…
The thing that I loved the most about this was that I just couldn’t predict what was going to happen. This surprise, partnered with the humour and Christie’s ability to completely change register and language style completely hooked me. I am most certainly in love with this and can’t wait to get my hands on some more Agatha Christie novels…
Gabe just wants prom night to be good, fun and filled with love. But, there’s a hitch in his plans and he might just be able to save her.
I was so hoping that this novella would begin to redeem Meyerto me. But it really didn’t. partially this is probably because I went into it with a negative expectation. But also the fact that it is, in general just not that well written. Her writing still feels clunky to me. Clunky, not well edited and just not enough to be interesting.
The idea of this novella was kind of brilliant. And I think that most other authors, I would have happily read the novella and actually enjoyed it. But, that is just not destined to be the case for this story.
I won’t write much about this as I don’t have much to say that is positive.
Title: Among the Shoals Forever Author: Gail Z. Martin In: The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women (Marie O’Regan) Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Ghosts, Pirates, Vampires Dates read: 23rd November 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 2012 5th sentence, 74th page: All the while, I kept my senses keen to magic.
Set in New Orleans, a trio of pirates work for a vampire who needs them to take down a necromancer.
This was a wonderfully intense and brilliant short story. I couldn’t look away, and it took me a little while to get the ghost story angle. Actually, I probably enjoyed it so much because it didn’t have such a horror aspect to the story. Sometimes its nice to not have horror in every single ghost story.
I love that this story feature Voodoo (or whichever spelling of it is required here), vampires, pirates, and necromancers. This story pretty much had everything in it that I needed for my happiness and literary desire. I loved the mish mash of different paranormal creatures marching across the pages as justice and freedom were fought for.
The happy ending of this story left me feeling very happy and content. It was something that not only rounded out a very brilliant story. But it also gave me hope for the future and just felt comfortable. I would read this again and again. And honestly, I just wish that it was a full-length novel. All of the characters were brilliant and impossible to forget.
35 OUTSTANDING WESTERNS, FROM JAMES FREDERIC REMINGTON TO RICK BASS
The Western is one of the greatest genres of world literature – singularly American, but with a truly global readership. 88 Ever since James Fenimore Cooper transformed frontier yarns into a distinct literary form, the Western has followed two paths: one populist – Time magazine’s American Morality Play – able to fit any political philosophy from red to redneck, with a sentimental attachment to the misfit; the other literary – eschewing heroism and debunking many of the myths of the West.
The best of both are represented in this excellent collection which includes stories by Willa Cather, Stephen Carne, Hamlin Garland, A.B. Guthrie, O. Henry, William Kittredge, Mari Sandoz, Leslie Marmon Silko and Wallace Stegner.
This wasn’t a bad collection. But it also wasn’t my favourite… actually, thus far, it is my least favourite Mammoth Books collection. Nothing against the layout or the writing… I just don’t really love Westerns as I have now discovered. A new genre to try, but not one to necessarily fill my shelves with.
Since I didn’t fall head over heels for this, I think that it’s the kind of collection that I will read again. Once I’m a little older and possibly more mature… after all, my tastes in books and genres is constantly changing as I grow and change myself. But, for now, it will go back on my shelves and probably not be touched again for a little while.
One of my favourite aspects of this book is the mini bio at the beginning of each story. Not only did it highlight when and where the author lived, but some of their better-known books. A great bit of information if I had wanted to add any of these authors to my wishlist…
Title: Neversleeps Author: Fred Van Lente In: Dead Man’s Hand (John Joseph Adams) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Weird western Dates read: 22nd November 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Titan Books Year: 2014 5th sentence, 74th page: The split-second, right before: his breath catching, pulse racing like a thoroughbred, thrilling to the randomness of life without thaumaturgy, the keenness of a skate down the razor’s edge, without horoscopes that definitively told him what the next day would bring, without love enchantments to spark others’ desire, without the certainty magery’s manipulation of reality brought.
The “Neversleeps” try to keep check with the world. But Edison has different ideas, he believes in free power for the world.
I love that this weird western features Edison. And the experiments on power and all sorts of fun history alright, there is a magic twist and a flying dragon and all sorts of other nonsensical fun, but still… the melding of actual history and pretend history… well, it works well.
This story jumps around in time a little bit, it was a great, fun journey. One that I think I need to take again… put all the pieces together in my head even better on this second reading. But, for now… my first read through was a lot of fun and filled with all sorts of joy.
Neversleeps is a fun and engaging short story. One that I very much enjoyed, and would most definitely read again.
He’s reminiscing about the demon in the dunes and the summer of 1975. Will he finally be able to figure out what the demon was warning against all those years ago?
This is the prefect story to discourage idiots from smoking. I mean, the whole thing is just completely creepy and uncomfortable. And then, when you get to the twist at the end and the consequences are realised. Well, it becomes just that much more powerful and intense.
The Demon in the Dunes is a fun short story that uses the past and foreshadowing in a perfect way. It makes you want to race to the end to find out what the demon was doing there, even if that will ruin everything. I love stories that use foreshadowing well, it gives an extra sense of suspense to a story line that would not necessarily have it otherwise.
The Demon in the Dunes was a great short story that pulled me in from the very beginning. In fact, I kind of walked into a doorway while I was reading, I got that wrapped up in the book. Which is not always a bad thing…
A chilling tale of the horrors of the past, as told by the children’s mother’s old nurse.
I really loved the cadence and flow of this story. It had this amazing flow throughout that pulled me in and made me incredibly happy. I also loved the way that the storyline unfolded. It was very easy to follow, but also intricate enough that it was impossible to look away from the pages of the book.
There is something quite scary about children ghosts, which I’m sure I’ve mentioned before. But, the child that is luring the children to their death is not what I would have expected. It gives this sinister feeling to the idea that there is now an orphan left unattached and vulnerable. Something which is kind of tragic and filled with a great backstory.
The Old Nurse’s Story is a wonderful tale that sweeps you away and immerses you in a reality that will take you away from daily life for a short while. It’s gothic and intense. A wonderful story that I look forward to journeying on again in the future.
Title: Last Night at the Mount Solemn Observatory Author: Danielle Binks In: Begin, End, Begin (Danielle Binks) Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Australian authors, Contemporary, Young adult Dates read: 22nd November 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Year: 2017 5th sentence, 74th page: Tonight is no different; Em’s legs are in Adelaide’s lap and she’s sitting up to talk to her, their faces so close together that Ravi has to lean round the back to hear, one hand on Em’s shoulder for balance.
It’s her big brothers last night in town, and she doesn’t know when he’ll be back. Sometimes it’s important to say goodbye.
As an older sister, I’ve never considered what it was like for my younger sister when I left home. And I didn’t move that far away. This was a great story that actually made me stop and think about what that moment was like for her. I can’t imagine that it would have been easy, and I almost wish we had’ve done something special together in that last night that we lived together.
Last Night at the Mount Solemn Observatory sparked all kinds of nostalgia for me. It was a great ode to sibling relationships and the love you can feel for people. It was also a fantastic way to highlight the feeling of loss, but empowerment when you finally leave the place that you know is pulling you down. It’s most definitely a difficult feeling. But it’s also one that we must all go through.
Lastly, the thing that I probably loved most about this story was that it featured someone who has a disability. In the case of this tale, the older brother is deaf. I would personally love to learn Australian Sign Language and this was really a reminder why. It’s always great when a story, any kind of story, features somebody from a diverse background.
![Poirot - Murder On The Orient Express [Illustrated Deluxe Edition] :HarperCollins Australia](https://i.harperapps.com/hcanz/covers/9780008249434/y648.jpg)
Earth and Skye 