Reviews

Glimpses of the Unknown: Lost Ghost Stories by Mike Ashley

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the_reading_vampire's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

bibliobethreads's review against another edition

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dark lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

sohxpie's review against another edition

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5.0

An interesting collection of ghost stories. I really loved the variance in this collection, they weren't all horror, there were some sweet ones too. I really enjoyed "A Regent Of Love Rhymes." It was a lovely story, well minus the whole death thing of course. It was different (to me at least) to have a story where the ghost wasn't a dick and was actually quite sweet. I loved the little introductions before each story, they were really interesting to read, especially as most of the authors were unknown to me. There were definitely a few authors I am going to read more of!

bigbeardedbookseller's review against another edition

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4.0

I picked this up at random quite a while back as I liked the cover and the concept of revisiting never before republished supernatural stories of the early 20th century.

This is part of a larger overall series that the British Library is publishing, old supernatural tales in volumes with great covers of which I've picked up several and still have those to look forward to.

Yes, look forward to as this volume of eighteen short stories is highly varied and a great read. It fit my need for a volume of short stories to have by the bed so I can actually finish something every evening before going to sleep and what better to send you to sleep than spooky supernatural horrors.

Starting with the ghostly presence of the 'empty seat' in On The Embankment, all the way through to an almost Lovecraftian tale of Mesopotamian treasure seeking in The Treasure of the Tombs, all the stories were well paced with great characterisation as a short story should have.

I found all of the stories strong in their own fashion but my favourite was the above mentioned The Treasure of the Tombs, set in Mesopotamia where ex-servicemen from Britain try to steal from the tombs but find it impossible due to supernatural guardians.

I don't actually have much space on my bookshelves for 'keepers' anymore but this is going to be one as all the stories are fast, fun, and frightening and well worth a read late at night.