Name: The Haunting Season
ISBN: 9780751581973

Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Laura Purcell

Andrew Michael Hurley

Imogen Hermes Gowar

Bridget Collins

Sara Collins

Natasha Pulley

Jess Kidd

Elizabeth Macneal

Nine Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights

The Haunting Season

This book rekindled my love of short stories. All were enjoyable and well done, though the final story was probably the weakest and felt out of place, not taking place in winter or at Christmastime. Aside from this, this book is a perfect read for this time of year! The stories are interesting and thought provoking, many differing in tone and style. The classic, Victorian inspired ghost stories were my favorites; some of this collection felt a little too modern, when I was expecting each to be an example of gothic historical fiction.

Amanda

Bilge Ince

The 4 stars are for the 4 out of 8 moderate stories that have given me chill.

A Study in Black and White - It was just amazing. Especially If you like haunted stories has chess in it.

The Eel Singers - 2 friends and a boy(Six) having a holiday out of London. Everything looks welcoming and charming but were they?

The Chillingham Chair - A haunted wheeling chair. Some parts of this story were more creepy than spooky.

Confinement - It was too real. In fact, It is based on a real serial killer, Amelia Dyer. She murdered infants in her care over thirty years during the Victorian period of the United Kingdom

Eight bestselling authors. A dazzling new collection of original haunted tales. This is your indispensable companion to the long, dark nights this October. 'You won't find a more thrilling winter read this year, or a better line up of writers who have mastered the gothic and ghostly.' SARA COLLINS, Costa Award-winning author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton ______________ Featuring new and original tales from: Bridget Collins Sunday Times bestselling author of The Binding | Imogen Hermes Gowar Sunday Times bestselling author of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock | Kiran Millwood Hargrave Sunday Times bestselling author of The Mercies | Andrew Michael Hurley Sunday Times bestselling author of The Loney | Jess Kidd International award-winning author of Things in Jars | Elizabeth Macneal Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doll Factory | Natasha Pulley Sunday Times bestselling author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street | Laura Purcell Award-winning author of The Silent Companions ______________ Long before Charles Dickens and Henry James popularized the tradition, the shadowy nights of winter have been a time for people to gather together by the flicker of candlelight and experience the intoxicating thrill of a ghost story. Now eight bestselling, award-winning authors - all of them master storytellers of the sinister and the macabre - bring the tradition to vivid life in a spellbinding new collection of original spine-tingling tales. Taking you from the frosty Fens to the wild Yorkshire moors, to the snow-covered grounds of a haunted estate, to a bustling London Christmas market, these mesmerizing stories will capture your imagination and serve as your indispensable companion to the cold, dark nights. So curl up, light a candle, and fall under the spell of winters past . . . ______________ 'Makes you feel oddly cosy, in the way only the best ghost stories can. Exquisitely crafted, I enjoyed every word.' FRANCINE TOON, Sunday Times bestselling author of Pine 'Brilliantly chilling . . . an absolute treat' ANNA MAZZOLA, author of The Unseeing 'Gorgeous . . . a book destined to be read and re-read' AMANDA MASON, author of The Wayward Girls

Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights

about what i expected. it is difficult to get the right atmosphere for a haunting / horror story and even more so for a winter / festive season one but there were some really good entries in this collection.

among them, i really enjoyed "thwaite's tenant" by imogen hermes gowar which centres a mother and her child running from her abusive husband. it is a story about a woman trying to build up her autonomy to escape the abusive influence of both her husband and her father who confines her away from civilisation.

another title i enjoyed was "the eel singers" by natasha pulley which is set in the same universe as "the watchmaker of filigree street" and follows the same character on a christmas adventure. even though the story needs to pull the "and they magically forgot all about it trick" at the end, pulley's ability to create an atmosphere and draw the reader in is unmatched. this is definitely one of the top two entries in the collection.

another really good story is "lily wilt" by jess kidd which involves a - to put it in modern terms - a gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss character who manipulates a young man into necromancy. a delicious and very masterfully told story that i cannot recommend enough.

there is also "the hanging of the greens" by andrew michael hurley which is fantastic and creepy but i do feel i need to acknowledge that it reads a little like a creepy pasta post / a short story someone would send to the watcher's "are you scared?". it is a form i occasionally enjoy, when done well, and this is done 

the last entry is "monster" by elizabeth macnal which is a traditional story of the overly ambitious scientist becoming the monster it seeks. the story puts a twist on it by making it clear from the very start that the protagonist is not a good person who is susceptible to corruption. from then onwards, it is a game to see how far exactly he would go.

the collection is rounded up by "a study in black and white" by bridget collins, "the chillingham chair" by laura purcell and "confinement" by kiran millwood hargrave. there is plenty good in them too but they do not quite hit like the above.

about what i expected. it is difficult to get the right atmosphere for a haunting / horror story and even more so for a winter / festive season one but there were some really good entries in this collection.

among them, i really enjoyed "thwaite's tenant" by imogen hermes gowar which centres a mother and her child running from her abusive husband. it is a story about a woman trying to build up her autonomy to escape the abusive influence of both her husband and her father who confines her away from civilisation.

another title i enjoyed was "the eel singers" by natasha pulley which is set in the same universe as "the watchmaker of filigree street" and follows the same character on a christmas adventure. even though the story needs to pull the "and they magically forgot all about it trick" at the end, pulley's ability to create an atmosphere and draw the reader in is unmatched. this is definitely one of the top two entries in the collection.

another really good story is "lily wilt" by jess kidd which involves a - to put it in modern terms - a gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss character who manipulates a young man into necromancy. a delicious and very masterfully told story that i cannot recommend enough.

there is also "the hanging of the greens" by andrew michael hurley which is fantastic and creepy but i do feel i need to acknowledge that it reads a little like a creepy pasta post / a short story someone would send to the watcher's "are you scared?". it is a form i occasionally enjoy, when done well, and this is done very well.

the last entry is "monster" by elizabeth macnal which is a traditional story of the overly ambitious scientist becoming the monster it seeks. the story puts a twist on it by making it clear from the very start that the protagonist is not a good person who is susceptible to corruption. from then onwards, it is a game to see how far exactly he would go.

the collection is rounded up by "a study in black and white" by bridget collins, "the chillingham chair" by laura purcell and "confinement" by kiran millwood hargrave. there is plenty good in them too but they do not quite hit like the above.

Excellent collection of spooky stories set in the wintery months. Would certainly recommend reading during the dark nights close to Christmas!

The Haunting Season Nine Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights