Title: Cargo Author: E. Michael Lewis In: Hauntings (Ellen Datlow) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Horror Dates read: 31st March 2021 Pace: Fast Format: Short story Publisher: Tachyon Year: 2013 5th sentence, 74th page: There was none.
Their job is to ship cargo. They don’t get to know what or why. But this lot of cargo has a much darker secret.
This story seriously and deeply hurt my poor heart. There is nothing more tragic in war than the loss of innocent children’s lives. And I seem to be coming up against this theme quite a bit at the moment. So reading a seriously creepy horror story about this theme… yeah, my heart bled a little. Particularly since I read this so soon after finishing Zlata’s Diary.
War is one of the more horrifying aspects of human nature in my opinion. Reading about it was harsh and kind of sucked. But it most definitely drove home the fact that it’s the innocents that really suffer. And that children, the world over just want to play.
In this story, the fact that children just want to play is kind of creepy. I mean, it’s a great notion. But the actual moments in this story? Yup. Seriously terrifying.
Title: Hunger: A Confession Author: Dale Bailey In: Hauntings (Ellen Datlow) Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Horror Dates read: 28th February 2021 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Tachyon Year: 2013 5th sentence, 74th page: That’s when I remembered Mom’s warning that I wasn’t to fool around down here.
Jeremy has always told the most horrifying stories right before bed time… but this one will make you want to keep the light off.
This was… freaking terrifying. Like. Completely, totally and utterly terrifying. I’m really damn glad that I didn’t read this late at night.
I’m a big sister, and I know that I have done many, many things over the years to torture my little sister. But what was happening in this story… I think she should be glad that I didn’t try and torture and scare her as much as Jeremy did in this. But, the uh…. Comeuppance was waaaaaaay more worse.
This was brilliantly written and completely spine tingling. It is beautiful and wonderful. But yeah… don’t read this late at night. Honestly, it is horrifying.
Title: Eenie, Meenie, Ipsateenie Author: Pat Cadigan In: Hauntings (Ellen Datlow) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Ghosts, Horror Dates read: 11th February 2021 Pace: Fast Format: Short story Publisher: Tachyon Year: 2013 5th sentence, 74th page: This was the fourth apartment they’d had since coming to the Midwest, but they’d all been the same.
Milo didn’t want to be IT. And now he’s haunted by the fact that he’ll forever be “IT”.
This was a bit of a meandering story. And one that you tend to fill the gaps in on… it just makes you feel all that much more uncomfortable when you don’t quite know if you have the complete picture. Which I’m convinced is what Cadigan was going for.
There is something extra haunting about a childhood killing. A childhood ghost. I think that it’s something about that loss of potential. Plus the fact that IT is capitalized throughout this whole story made me think of the Stephen King story IT which involves a creepy clown literally feasting about children’s potential… all in all not something that is overly comfortable. And most certainly helps to file this short story safely in my horror shelf.
I finished this short story and honestly felt goosebumps. It was most definitely not a comfortable tale to read. And I kind of want to read it again and again. It may not have been comfortable… but it was intriguing. And there were so many subtleties throughout that I’m sure I totally missed. But I’m pretty sure Milo turned into a killer of children…
25 chilling short stories by outstanding female writers
Women have always written exceptional stories of horror and the supernatural. This anthology aims to showcase the very best of these, from Amelia B. Edwards’s ‘The Phantom Coach’, published in 1864, through past luminaries such as Edith Wharton and Mary Elizabeth Braddon, to modern talents including Muriel Gray, Sarah Pinborough and Lilith Saintcrow.
From tales of ghostly children to visitations by departed loved ones, and from heart-rending stories to the profoundly unsettling depiction of extreme malevolence, what each of these stories has in common is the effect of a slight chilling of the skin, a feeling of something not quite present, but nevertheless there.
If anything, this showcase anthology proves that sometimes the female of the species can also be the most terrifying…
This is a fantastic collection. One which I thoroughly enjoyed but learnt fairly quickly that I shouldn’t be reading this late at night… after all, some of these ghost stories are actually kind of scary. And reading them late at night with the wind blowing through the house while you’re home alone… not the best decision making of my life. To be fair, it’s also not the worst…. But that’s a whole other story.
I love that all of these ghost stories are written by women. I definitely believe that we need a collection of women-only writers more often. Or at least, I need to buy more to put on my shelves… although not all of these stories had strong women as the voice, they still felt more relatable than many of the stories that I read by men. I suppose shared experience and all that nonsense.
As a kid, I was never into ghost stories or tales of things that go bump in the night. Although I’ve gotten more into the genre over the past few years, it’s still sometimes not the most powerful driver for me. This collection though is swaying me more and more towards those horror stories.
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: The Phantom Coach Author: Amelia B. Edwards In: The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women (Marie O’Regan) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Ghosts, Horror Dates read: 21st November 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 1864 5th sentence, 74th page: The words that I was about to utter died upon my lips, and a strange horror – a dreadful horror – came upon me.
It’s dark, snowing and deathly cold. Queque the Phantom Coach and the journey that strikes fear into the heart of man.
Phantom coaches seem to be a bit of a theme in ghost stories. I suppose there should be cars in some more modern-day stories. But I’ve only ever read tales which feature a phantom coach. Which is probably why I’ve never found the idea of a horse and carriage, or a coach to be all that romantic.
This short story had a whole heap of mystery occurring throughout. There is a mysterious house with a mysterious master to begin with. Then there is the phantom coach travelling the roads late at night. It gives this whole story a serious mystical feeling that left me sitting in my very well-lit room, thinking about what I’d just read. I love stories that I think about for long after I’ve turned that final page.
I really enjoyed the setting of this story. I felt like the catching of the phantom coach was a bit of a repetitive trope. But the setting… it was beautifully described and brilliantly put. It swept me away so that when I turned that final page, it took me a moment to return to reality.
Title: God Grant That She Lye Still Author: Cynthia Asquith In: The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women (Marie O’Regan) Rating Out of 5: 2 (Managed to read it… just) My Bookshelves:Ghosts, Horror Dates read: 20th November 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 1931 5th sentence, 74th page: I thought I should never see anything more beautiful, but I did the next time I saw her, for the variety of her beauty was unending.
He’s found the woman he loves – but she’s put upon by a mysterious affliction. One that could just be the death of her.
I really struggled with this short story. I’m not sure if it was the story, or the fact that there was a whipper snipper going on out the front of my house. Either way, I reread certain passages and just generally had trouble reading this.
This story made me think of Dracula and Jekyll and Hyde. They had that same feeling of possession and mystery that these classics both have. Plus, the language was actually really similar. Pleasantly so.
I gave this short story such a low rating because I just didn’t get into it. Having said that, I did enjoy the process of reading it. I just wouldn’t want to try again.
Title: Let Loose Author: Mary Cholmondeley In: The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women (Marie O’Regan) Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one) My Bookshelves:Ghosts, Horror, Vampires Dates read: 14th November 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 1902 5th sentence, 74th page: The moon in its various quarterings has always exerted a marked influence on what I may call the sub-dominant, namely, the poetic side of my nature.
He always wears unexpectedly high collars, but the reason behind his decision making all has to do with an open crypt. And a series of mistakes.
In the incredibly intense journey that The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women has so far taken me on, this is less terrifying. Not to say that it wasn’t still a little bit spine-tingling. But it just wasn’t as can’t sleep at night as many of the other stories.
I liked the interesting setup within this story – after all, it was a tale within a tale. I didn’t really like the guy who told either tale. After all, one married the sister, and the whole thing was just… icky feeling. But I did like the format of the story. And the writing style. I just didn’t love the actual storyline.
I’m pretty sure that this story was about vampires. Or at least, releasing the evil beings from the tomb. It’s a reminder to maybe just let the dead sleep and leave them in peace.
Title: Return Author: Yvonne Navarro In: The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women (Marie O’Regan) Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Ghosts, Horror Dates read: 13th November 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 2012 5th sentence, 74th page: My coach says I’m goo enough for the pros.
Mara has Returned.
Return deals with death a little bit differently from some of the other stories in the The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women collection. Death in this is treated as a way of finding peace and an ending to some pretty horrible things in the living world. It was seriously tragic, but I liked how death was a nice ending.
I love that throughout this story Mara says absolutely nothing. All of the drama and horribleness unfolds as she just… sits there. The moments that are revealed are spine-tingling and horrifying. And the fact that it all unfolds around a girl who just sits there and watches… it somehow made everything all that much better.
Outside of death and peace, this is all about facing up to the consequences of one’s actions. The fact that the consequences are horrible and twisted… well, it’s a good reminder that every action has consequences.
Title: Freeze Out Author: Nancy Holder In: The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women (Marie O’Regan) Rating Out of 5: 3.5 (Liked this) My Bookshelves:Ghosts, Horror Dates read: 12th November 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 2012 5th sentence, 74th page: Cody found himself remembering walking into the Lazy Daisy Flower Shop on the night of the prom to pick up Tiffany’s corsage.
It’s their mother’s funeral and their father has dementia. But he might not be as clueless as he thought he was…
Freeze Out is filled with very many creepy twists and turns. It was hard to gain a grasp on who the bad guy and the culprit in this story was. And where the ghost aspect of the ghost story would com in. Every time I felt like I had a grasp on the story, something would change and I would be swept down another turn that I just wasn’t expecting.
The “bad guy” in this story really wasn’t who I expected. Rather, towards the end, when everything was revealed, and the darkness lifted from the family… I was kind of surprised and also content to finally turn that final page.
Freeze Out was very well written and a phenomenal short story. However, it was also difficult to read and experience. Difficult in the fact that it gave me the heebie jeebies right the way through. And, although I enjoyed this, it also left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.
Earth and Skye 