Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories
Ratings10
Average rating3.2
Who better to investigate the literary spirit world than that supreme connoisseur of the unexpected? From the author of such beloved books as James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Witches comes a collection of spooky tales carefully curated by the author himself, Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories.
Of the many permutations of the macabre or bizarre, Dahl was always especially fascinated by the classic ghost story. As he relates in the erudite introduction to this volume, he read some 749 supernatural tales at the British Museum Library before selecting the 14 that comprise this anthology. "Spookiness is, after all, the real purpose of the ghost story," Dahl writes. "It should give you the creeps and disturb your thoughts."
For this superbly disquieting collection, Dahl offers favorite tales by such masterful storytellers as E. F. Benson, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Rosemary Timperley, and Edith Wharton.
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As with many short story collections, I enjoyed some immensely and eas dragged through others. Loved (was properly scared by) playmates, the corner shop, and one of the first. Enjoyed the one with the visitor Elwell.
To be honest, I thought this book was going to be all ghost stories written BY Roald Dahl. Sadly, I was mistaken. (It was my own fault for not reading the blurb properly) But as I read the introduction, I got more excited. Dahl explains that he was supposed to adapt some of the stories in the book for TV show. Unfortunately, the pilot wasn't approved. He still kept all the short stories and compiled into this book.
Now onto the stories themselves. I was promised stories that would “give you the creeps and disturb your thoughts” and I personally feel as if I didn't get that. Most of the stories were extremely predictable and not at all creepy. I found that the first two or three were quite good but from then on the stories seemed to drag for pages and pages unnecesarilly. I felt like abandoning the whole thing a couple of times and I did fall asleep while reading some of them (which I never do).
I feel bad for the low rating but out of the 14 stories in the book, I think I only liked 5 of them.
