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Category: Ghost novels

reviews of ghost fiction

Ghost Novel Review: The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

Ghost Novel Review: The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

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The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson Grand Central Publishing, 336 pages Laurel awakens one night to find her teenage daughter’s best friend at her bedside—a ghostly manifestation that leads Laurel to its body in the pool. This is a great beginning and allows the author to set the stage with characterization of the maternal, compassionate Laurel in action. We love her immediately. I particularly enjoyed Laurel’s reaction to the girl once she realizes the friend is dead: “You…

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The Graveyard Book Readalong: Conclusion

The Graveyard Book Readalong: Conclusion

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In her commencement speech to the Barnard class of 2010, Meryl Streep said, “There is only change, and resistance to it and then more change” (Graduation Wisdom). If you think about it, that word “commencement” is so cool because your first thought at such a moment is of graduation or end. For me, Meryl Streep’s thoughts encapsulate the theme of change–at the end of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book and at the beginning of Bod’s coming life. The narrator sets…

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The Graveyard Book Readalong Part Two

The Graveyard Book Readalong Part Two

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We meet again for our discussion of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book readalong hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings. Are we having fun? I am! Today we’re checking out chapters 4-6. Of these, “The Witch’s Headstone” is my unequivocal favorite. It is here, against all manner of warnings from his elders about the evils of the dead in Potter’s Field, that Bod meets a wistful witch. Of course, we all want our children to obey us without question, but…

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Ghost Novel Review: The Graveyard Book Part One

Ghost Novel Review: The Graveyard Book Part One

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Today we begin our three part discussion of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman as part of Carl’s group read over at Stainless Steel Droppings. The book opens with a visit from a knife-wielding Jack who kills a family minus one toddler. Said toddler wanders into a cemetery where he is quickly adopted by kind-hearted nonliving beings (aka ghosts) and one crusty undead curmudgeon with a soft center. In an effort to keep the child safe from knife-wielding Jack, the…

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Ghost Novel Review In Honor of Banned Book Week: The Lovely Bones

Ghost Novel Review In Honor of Banned Book Week: The Lovely Bones

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Welcome to Banned Book Week 2012! I love the irony inherent in turning a dusty, fusty institution on its head, don’t you? Here at Pen in her Hand, we’ve already reviewed two banned ghost books. They are Beloved and The Headless Cupid. Check them out. I liked them both, and I believe Beloved is a true tour de force. Today, we’re going to discuss one more banned ghost novel, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. A true ghost book, the…

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Ghost Novel Review: The Night Strangers

Ghost Novel Review: The Night Strangers

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The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian I LOVED this book. That is, I loved half of this book. Here are some of my notes to self–“right from the start I adore the style,” “this is refreshing after the last lackluster book,” and “Thank you, Crown Publishers for not italicizing the prologue!” (For more on the great prologue controversy, read my post on prologues here.) It begins so well. A goose-downed (as in a-gaggle-of-geese-downed-the) plane ends in  a failed landing (notwithstanding…

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Ghost Novel Review: The Winter Ghosts

Ghost Novel Review: The Winter Ghosts

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The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse In The Winter Ghosts, a despondent Freddie Watson mourns the loss of his favored brother who perished in WWI. Even ten years after the war, Freddie cannot rid himself of a paralyzing case of survivor’s guilt. After crashing his car in a snowstorm in the French Pyrenees, he hikes to the nearest village where some of the local denizens give him a cold reception. However, he soon finds himself invited to a fête, treated…

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R.I.P. Reading Event 2012

R.I.P. Reading Event 2012

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Today is my birthday. Or was when I began this post. (Alas, I’m a slow writer.) But I have a gift for you. R.I.P is here again! Hard to believe a year has gone by, but there it is. And autumn, the best time of the year, arrives. And with autumn, comes R.I.P. R.I.P (Readers Imbibing Peril) is the brainchild of Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings. It’s an opportunity for those of us who like things that go bump in…

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Water Ghosts by Shawna Yang Ryan

Water Ghosts by Shawna Yang Ryan

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Water Ghosts by Shawna Yang Ryan With Ghost Month starting this week, this is the perfect time to review Water Ghosts. This book was originally published under the title Locke 1928, and until I neared the end of the book, I would have said Locke 1928 was a better title than Water Ghosts. This is one of those novels in which the town becomes a kind of character, similar to Empire Falls by Richard Russo. And indeed, author Ryan paints…

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Neverwhere, the Final Installment

Neverwhere, the Final Installment

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I am a genuine “giver” applicant for the 2013 World Book Night. My first duty as aspirant was to nominate four books I deem worthy of giving away. It was my great pleasure to nominate Neverwhere, which I found to be a fantastic read. Now, sadly, our group read of Neverwhere is over, and it’s time for final thoughts. Our fearless leader Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings has asked us to consider the characters we found compelling as well as…

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Paranormal Novel Review: Neverwhere

Paranormal Novel Review: Neverwhere

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Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman Harper Collins, 386 pages This isn’t a traditional ghost story such as I usually review. This is more of a ghost-as-metaphor-for-the-forgotten-ones story. But that’s actually a quest I seek in the ghost stories I read, the yearning that drives one to cross barriers and struggle to connect. You’ve wondered, I know you have, what would happen if one day you went left instead of right, if one day you stopped because a street person asked for…

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Ghost Novel Review: The Séance

Ghost Novel Review: The Séance

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      The Séance by John Harwood I decided to participate in a reading challenge run by Laura at Laura’s Reviews—my second ever! (The first was R.I.P. at Stainless Steel Droppings.) I recommend reading challenges to all you avid readers and writers out there. Anyhow, Laura’s challenge is Victorian related novels and movies, as in the setting takes place or the author lived between 1837 and 1901. Check it out here. Of course, me being me (or is it…

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Ghost Novel Review in Honor of Read an Ebook Week: Ghost Island

Ghost Novel Review in Honor of Read an Ebook Week: Ghost Island

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Ghost Island by Bonnie Hearn Hill Kindle e-book So, you’ve been hearing a lot about ebooks and are wondering if you should try one. But wait, you’ve also heard ebooks are sophomoric, self-indulgent, self-promoting drivel by authors who couldn’t get a traditional publisher’s attention if they handed out manuscripts clad in red spike-heeled pumps and see-through raincoats. Let’s talk about it. Normally, today’s post would be Writer Unleashed, but in honor of Read an E-book Week (March 4-10), I’m shuffling…

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