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Something Was There . . .
A recently discovered Daphne du Maurier tale as well as new stories by Polly Samson and Naomi Alderman are included in this ghost-themed short story collection
Nothing was changed, nothing at all, and yet it began to seem to me that something was there . . .
The Asham Short Stories Award, founded to encourage and promote new writing, is the only short story competition whose winners and runners-up are published alongside well-known women writers. This year's theme, Ghosts and Gothic, was chosen in honor of contest judge Sarah Waters, from whose ghostly novel The Little Stranger the title of the collection comes. Polly Samson, author of Perfect Lives and Lying in Bed, was also a judge, as was the publisher of Virago. These short stories, culled from 600 entries, include tales that are poignant, droll, loving, and of course puzzling, mysterious, subtle, and frightening. Best of all, in true gothic form, they are sure to leave the the reader's skin crawling.
Nothing was changed, nothing at all, and yet it began to seem to me that something was there . . .
The Asham Short Stories Award, founded to encourage and promote new writing, is the only short story competition whose winners and runners-up are published alongside well-known women writers. This year's theme, Ghosts and Gothic, was chosen in honor of contest judge Sarah Waters, from whose ghostly novel The Little Stranger the title of the collection comes. Polly Samson, author of Perfect Lives and Lying in Bed, was also a judge, as was the publisher of Virago. These short stories, culled from 600 entries, include tales that are poignant, droll, loving, and of course puzzling, mysterious, subtle, and frightening. Best of all, in true gothic form, they are sure to leave the the reader's skin crawling.
230 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2011
23 people want to read
About the author
Kate Pullinger
41 books84 followersKate Pullinger is an award-winning writer of novels, short stories and digital works. Her most recent book is FOREST GREEN, out in Canada in August 2020. She is Professor of Creative Writing and Digital Media at Bath Spa University.
Born in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Kate dropped out of McGill University after a year and a half of not studying philosophy and literature. She then spent a year working in a copper mine in the Yukon where she crushed rocks and saved money. She spent that money travelling and ended up in London, England, where she lives with her husband and two children.
Kate’s other books include The Mistress of Nothing, winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction 2009, Landing Gear, A Little Stranger and The Last Time I Saw Jane, as well as the ghost tale, Weird Sister, and the erotic feminist vampire novel Where Does Kissing End? These four titles have recently been re-released in new ebook editions.
Kate’s digital works include Inanimate Alice (www.inanimatealice.com), an episodic online multimedia novel and Flight Paths: A Networked Novel (www.flightpaths.net)
You can find out more about Kate and her work at www.katepullinger.com
Born in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Kate dropped out of McGill University after a year and a half of not studying philosophy and literature. She then spent a year working in a copper mine in the Yukon where she crushed rocks and saved money. She spent that money travelling and ended up in London, England, where she lives with her husband and two children.
Kate’s other books include The Mistress of Nothing, winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction 2009, Landing Gear, A Little Stranger and The Last Time I Saw Jane, as well as the ghost tale, Weird Sister, and the erotic feminist vampire novel Where Does Kissing End? These four titles have recently been re-released in new ebook editions.
Kate’s digital works include Inanimate Alice (www.inanimatealice.com), an episodic online multimedia novel and Flight Paths: A Networked Novel (www.flightpaths.net)
You can find out more about Kate and her work at www.katepullinger.com
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 9, 2012
Didn't care for any of the short stories in this book. They were all quite boring and not scary at all.
November 23, 2012
This book was quite a good solid collection of Ghost & Gothic stories written by sixteen authors I've never heard of - well, except for Daphne du Maurier of course as her book 'Rebecca' was one of my old classic favourites.
Out of 600 entries that the editors and judges received, I think that they could've probably chosen a few more interesting stories to replace some. Don't get me wrong, I liked a lot of the stories, and I loved some, but then there were those few that honestly just made no sense to me, and felt silly, lacking and very...incomplete.
I'm going to quickly go through each of the sixteen stories and very briefly say what I thought of it:-
1. Red Branwen - Janet Tchamani: There were only four stories out of the sixteen that I loved and marked as a favourite. Red Branwen was one of them. Starting out with a prostitute telling her customer a gruesome ghost tale of murder that took place at their establishment, it captures your attention from the very first words out of her mouth, "I've got a tale that will freeze the hairs on your balls, sir, if you'll pardon the word." Written in first person, set in the summer of Eden Place, and from the language, I would assume it was Old England. The story was short, to the point, intriguing, grim and utterly disgusting - it shocks you until the very end.
2. The Real Story - Kate Clanchy: Honestly, I did not understand a single thing about this story. Some sort of literary agent traveled from London to some odd town to meet a writer who wrote a book of poems that could possibly win her a Man Booker award. However, due to a weird series of events, she loses her opportunity to get the book. Something like that anyway. It wasn't scary, it made no sense, it was very uninteresting, the characters were silly and - dare I say? - stupid. I would skip this one if I were you.
3. Company - Elizabeth Iddon: This is my favourite of all four stories I loved. Company is about three people who seem to live together at the same strangely empty and abandoned house. It is also written in first person, we know she's female, but we don't know her name. She speaks of her companions Josh and Janie, who are obviously in a relationship. One stormy night, they receive a guest who is close to death and Janie persuades Josh to allow him to stay until he is feeling better. This is an extremely short story, one of the more shorter ones in the book, and yet this is a story that will chill you to the bone. The twists, the turns, and the ending will make this a memorable story indeed.
4. The Second of November - Celine West: This was a good story. Not great, but good. This story is about a woman who hears her name being called at random everywhere she walks - "Estelle" "Estelle" "Estelle". At first she tries to find the source of the sound, but soon enough, she learns to deal with it and ignore it. That is until things start moving around her house. Little things at first, like a hairbrush, or a coin - things she could always excuse as her misplacing things and forgetting about them - until one morning, the oddest thing of all occurs. It frightens her so much that she loses her ability to communicate with her husband, and he decides to take her on a trip to France. While there, and on the second of November, she finally discovers the answers to all her questions.
5. The Courting - Gabriela Blandy: This story confused me. It was chosen as an Honourable Mention and described as an "eerie futuristic story". I did not get that in the least, and it confused me because I couldn't seem to categorise it as either a Ghost story or a Gothic story, not in the "spooky" sense anyway. Yes, some sort of ghost does exist, but to me, it was more of a spirit. A woman, Macha, loses her husband. And even though she never felt happy by his side, she feels his loss greatly and is saddened by his death. At one point, she sees or feels his spirit, and is comforted. Can't say I liked this story much or understood why it was an Honourable Mention either.
6. All Over the Place - Linda McVeigh: This story was the first place winner - unanimously chosen - of the Asham Award. I liked it a lot, but I wouldn't have voted it the first prize winner. It's about a woman who thinks at first that she is looking at her reflection, but then thinks its her doppleganger, only to realise that she can see herself everywhere! On the train, in the bookstore, pharmacy, walking across from her, at the coffee shop and so on. She rushes home, and walks into her house to greet her husband, who is always waiting for her, only to realise that he is busy in bed with another woman - herself. What happens next is quite sad and depressing, but I wouldn't say it was surprising. You see it coming and that makes it quite predictable for me.
7. The Happy Valley - Daphne du Maurier: This is my third favourite story marked in the book. Daphne du Maurier is a classic writer and she excels in writing Gothic themed novels, so I knew I was going to like it before I started reading it. This is a very sad story about a young lady who seems to see into the future, whether she dreams of it at night, or envisions it during the day. She knows she's going to meet her future husband before the meeting even takes place. She knows she's going to marry him before they fall in love. She knows where they're going to live before they move there. She sees their future house before her husband tells her he's going to buy it. She meets their son before she bears him. But she also knows how their story is going to end - and that, I believe, is the saddest thing of all.
8. Sam Brown - Kate Morrison: So, this was voted the second place winner of the Asham Award. And again, I have no clue why. Sam Brown talks about two kids - both ironically called Sam Brown - who end up being roommates in college, Cambridge University that is. They stay out of each others way and are as different as night and day. While one Sam spends all night partying and smoking pot, the other Sam spends all day studying and working hard. Until one night, they both clash, and odd things start to happen to both of them. Studious Sam begs the other Sam to help him, telling him the Devil won't leave him alone, why won't he leave him alone?! This, naturally, spooks Sam and he pushes him away telling him not to touch him and to get out of his room. Through a series of events that only get odder, the worst happens. I will say this about the story - it was the scariest of the lot. It reminded me of a typical horror movie like The Exorcist and such, but it still wasn't good enough for it to win second place, in my opinion.
9. Vin Rouge - Caroline Price: So this is a story about a couple who are on this trip to a French village for a week. It starts out well enough, with them enjoying their time and living in bliss. But then, oddly enough, a red van starts to show up every night at their cottage - their private cottage, if I may add. At first they think it's normal, but when it starts to happen every single night at around the same time, and then having it disappear later during the day, they start to freak out. They start bickering and arguing, and problems arise as he wants to know the secret of the van, and she just wants to forget about it. The van seems to appear and vanish without leaving any traces or marks. And they don't understand the reason it's there or what the story behind it is. Interesting story, but the ending was a little vague.
10. The Traveller - Fiona Law: The third place winning story of the Asham Award. I have to say I enjoyed this story, but again, I didn't really think it was spooky or exciting in the least. The ghost of a mother trying to protect her child - the only survivor of a horrible attack - seeks a traveller who has crossed the path of the ruins and lures him into finding her boy and protecting him. Very interesting, but very short and incomplete.
11. A Rose for Paul - Polly Samson: I didn't really like this story. A wife and her son are at the burial of her husband, and his ex-wife of twenty years, also shows up to the funeral. She keeps comparing the woman's son to her son Paul, and you get little bits and pieces of how she was treated in the past by her then husband, now dead, Vincent and his other family. At the end you realise that Paul, the son she continuously talks about throughout the story, is actually dead.
12. On the Turn of the Tide - Jacky Taylor: An odd lady, who is treated as crazy and an outsider in her village, is always at the beach collecting just the right stones to hear what they have to say. One day, a young boy, Cam, follows her and she allows him to. He starts asking her questions, and she answers them, and then takes him back to her house where he is entranced with her lovely garden. Inside, he asks question about a strange creature in her living room. And then a series of odd events occur that will leave you with goosebumps.
13. Pandian Uncle and his Ghosts - Anita Sivakumaran: This is an Indian based ghost story. I'm not a fan of these kinds of stories, and therefore I will not go into it the way I did with the above stories. I will only say that an Uncle assumed to be crazy has a great knowledge of ghosts and tries to teach the village people all that he knows. No one takes him seriously though. One strange night, he successfully manages to escape the grasps of a vengeful ghost, making himself a target forever. I didn't like it.
14. Obeah Blue - Jacqueline Crooks: A man sends emails to a woman from the "afterlife" and spooks the living hell out of her. Very silly story, I don't understand how it made the cut.
15. Cold Snap - Maggie Ling: This was my fourth favourite marked in the book. I absolutely loved it, and it made me feel so many things for the old man and his wife. Sadness, grief, shock, despair, hope, and so much more. I don't want to say much about it, because it is a story that should be read and experienced as you discover the full events yourself. Very profound story. I loved it.
16. Car - Naomi Alderman: The final story of the book, written by an author who was apparently first discovered by the Asham Award. A woman who leaves a party late and looks for her car to go home, finds instead another fancier, relatively new car in its place. The key to her car works on this car, and so she decides to take it until she can figure things out in the morning. However, the car has other plans for her. It takes her to a secluded, scary area in the middle of nowhere, where she realises that all her sins and secrets have been revealed. Started out very interesting, but as it neared the end, I was just slightly confused.
All in all, a good collection, but I just wish I could see what the other 584 stories that didn't make the cut, were like. I will say this though, what I liked about this book and the stories, is that it got me motivated and inspired me to write my own collection of short stories. Maybe even take part in the next Asham Award collection. It makes you feel like it's possible to write and become an author, if you start out slowly and small by writing a bunch of short stories. I haven't felt this drive or inspiration in quite a long time, so for that, I think this book is a success, and is definitely worth the read.
Out of 600 entries that the editors and judges received, I think that they could've probably chosen a few more interesting stories to replace some. Don't get me wrong, I liked a lot of the stories, and I loved some, but then there were those few that honestly just made no sense to me, and felt silly, lacking and very...incomplete.
I'm going to quickly go through each of the sixteen stories and very briefly say what I thought of it:-
1. Red Branwen - Janet Tchamani: There were only four stories out of the sixteen that I loved and marked as a favourite. Red Branwen was one of them. Starting out with a prostitute telling her customer a gruesome ghost tale of murder that took place at their establishment, it captures your attention from the very first words out of her mouth, "I've got a tale that will freeze the hairs on your balls, sir, if you'll pardon the word." Written in first person, set in the summer of Eden Place, and from the language, I would assume it was Old England. The story was short, to the point, intriguing, grim and utterly disgusting - it shocks you until the very end.
2. The Real Story - Kate Clanchy: Honestly, I did not understand a single thing about this story. Some sort of literary agent traveled from London to some odd town to meet a writer who wrote a book of poems that could possibly win her a Man Booker award. However, due to a weird series of events, she loses her opportunity to get the book. Something like that anyway. It wasn't scary, it made no sense, it was very uninteresting, the characters were silly and - dare I say? - stupid. I would skip this one if I were you.
3. Company - Elizabeth Iddon: This is my favourite of all four stories I loved. Company is about three people who seem to live together at the same strangely empty and abandoned house. It is also written in first person, we know she's female, but we don't know her name. She speaks of her companions Josh and Janie, who are obviously in a relationship. One stormy night, they receive a guest who is close to death and Janie persuades Josh to allow him to stay until he is feeling better. This is an extremely short story, one of the more shorter ones in the book, and yet this is a story that will chill you to the bone. The twists, the turns, and the ending will make this a memorable story indeed.
4. The Second of November - Celine West: This was a good story. Not great, but good. This story is about a woman who hears her name being called at random everywhere she walks - "Estelle" "Estelle" "Estelle". At first she tries to find the source of the sound, but soon enough, she learns to deal with it and ignore it. That is until things start moving around her house. Little things at first, like a hairbrush, or a coin - things she could always excuse as her misplacing things and forgetting about them - until one morning, the oddest thing of all occurs. It frightens her so much that she loses her ability to communicate with her husband, and he decides to take her on a trip to France. While there, and on the second of November, she finally discovers the answers to all her questions.
5. The Courting - Gabriela Blandy: This story confused me. It was chosen as an Honourable Mention and described as an "eerie futuristic story". I did not get that in the least, and it confused me because I couldn't seem to categorise it as either a Ghost story or a Gothic story, not in the "spooky" sense anyway. Yes, some sort of ghost does exist, but to me, it was more of a spirit. A woman, Macha, loses her husband. And even though she never felt happy by his side, she feels his loss greatly and is saddened by his death. At one point, she sees or feels his spirit, and is comforted. Can't say I liked this story much or understood why it was an Honourable Mention either.
6. All Over the Place - Linda McVeigh: This story was the first place winner - unanimously chosen - of the Asham Award. I liked it a lot, but I wouldn't have voted it the first prize winner. It's about a woman who thinks at first that she is looking at her reflection, but then thinks its her doppleganger, only to realise that she can see herself everywhere! On the train, in the bookstore, pharmacy, walking across from her, at the coffee shop and so on. She rushes home, and walks into her house to greet her husband, who is always waiting for her, only to realise that he is busy in bed with another woman - herself. What happens next is quite sad and depressing, but I wouldn't say it was surprising. You see it coming and that makes it quite predictable for me.
7. The Happy Valley - Daphne du Maurier: This is my third favourite story marked in the book. Daphne du Maurier is a classic writer and she excels in writing Gothic themed novels, so I knew I was going to like it before I started reading it. This is a very sad story about a young lady who seems to see into the future, whether she dreams of it at night, or envisions it during the day. She knows she's going to meet her future husband before the meeting even takes place. She knows she's going to marry him before they fall in love. She knows where they're going to live before they move there. She sees their future house before her husband tells her he's going to buy it. She meets their son before she bears him. But she also knows how their story is going to end - and that, I believe, is the saddest thing of all.
8. Sam Brown - Kate Morrison: So, this was voted the second place winner of the Asham Award. And again, I have no clue why. Sam Brown talks about two kids - both ironically called Sam Brown - who end up being roommates in college, Cambridge University that is. They stay out of each others way and are as different as night and day. While one Sam spends all night partying and smoking pot, the other Sam spends all day studying and working hard. Until one night, they both clash, and odd things start to happen to both of them. Studious Sam begs the other Sam to help him, telling him the Devil won't leave him alone, why won't he leave him alone?! This, naturally, spooks Sam and he pushes him away telling him not to touch him and to get out of his room. Through a series of events that only get odder, the worst happens. I will say this about the story - it was the scariest of the lot. It reminded me of a typical horror movie like The Exorcist and such, but it still wasn't good enough for it to win second place, in my opinion.
9. Vin Rouge - Caroline Price: So this is a story about a couple who are on this trip to a French village for a week. It starts out well enough, with them enjoying their time and living in bliss. But then, oddly enough, a red van starts to show up every night at their cottage - their private cottage, if I may add. At first they think it's normal, but when it starts to happen every single night at around the same time, and then having it disappear later during the day, they start to freak out. They start bickering and arguing, and problems arise as he wants to know the secret of the van, and she just wants to forget about it. The van seems to appear and vanish without leaving any traces or marks. And they don't understand the reason it's there or what the story behind it is. Interesting story, but the ending was a little vague.
10. The Traveller - Fiona Law: The third place winning story of the Asham Award. I have to say I enjoyed this story, but again, I didn't really think it was spooky or exciting in the least. The ghost of a mother trying to protect her child - the only survivor of a horrible attack - seeks a traveller who has crossed the path of the ruins and lures him into finding her boy and protecting him. Very interesting, but very short and incomplete.
11. A Rose for Paul - Polly Samson: I didn't really like this story. A wife and her son are at the burial of her husband, and his ex-wife of twenty years, also shows up to the funeral. She keeps comparing the woman's son to her son Paul, and you get little bits and pieces of how she was treated in the past by her then husband, now dead, Vincent and his other family. At the end you realise that Paul, the son she continuously talks about throughout the story, is actually dead.
12. On the Turn of the Tide - Jacky Taylor: An odd lady, who is treated as crazy and an outsider in her village, is always at the beach collecting just the right stones to hear what they have to say. One day, a young boy, Cam, follows her and she allows him to. He starts asking her questions, and she answers them, and then takes him back to her house where he is entranced with her lovely garden. Inside, he asks question about a strange creature in her living room. And then a series of odd events occur that will leave you with goosebumps.
13. Pandian Uncle and his Ghosts - Anita Sivakumaran: This is an Indian based ghost story. I'm not a fan of these kinds of stories, and therefore I will not go into it the way I did with the above stories. I will only say that an Uncle assumed to be crazy has a great knowledge of ghosts and tries to teach the village people all that he knows. No one takes him seriously though. One strange night, he successfully manages to escape the grasps of a vengeful ghost, making himself a target forever. I didn't like it.
14. Obeah Blue - Jacqueline Crooks: A man sends emails to a woman from the "afterlife" and spooks the living hell out of her. Very silly story, I don't understand how it made the cut.
15. Cold Snap - Maggie Ling: This was my fourth favourite marked in the book. I absolutely loved it, and it made me feel so many things for the old man and his wife. Sadness, grief, shock, despair, hope, and so much more. I don't want to say much about it, because it is a story that should be read and experienced as you discover the full events yourself. Very profound story. I loved it.
16. Car - Naomi Alderman: The final story of the book, written by an author who was apparently first discovered by the Asham Award. A woman who leaves a party late and looks for her car to go home, finds instead another fancier, relatively new car in its place. The key to her car works on this car, and so she decides to take it until she can figure things out in the morning. However, the car has other plans for her. It takes her to a secluded, scary area in the middle of nowhere, where she realises that all her sins and secrets have been revealed. Started out very interesting, but as it neared the end, I was just slightly confused.
All in all, a good collection, but I just wish I could see what the other 584 stories that didn't make the cut, were like. I will say this though, what I liked about this book and the stories, is that it got me motivated and inspired me to write my own collection of short stories. Maybe even take part in the next Asham Award collection. It makes you feel like it's possible to write and become an author, if you start out slowly and small by writing a bunch of short stories. I haven't felt this drive or inspiration in quite a long time, so for that, I think this book is a success, and is definitely worth the read.
June 16, 2012
This is an excellent collection of ghost stories. They are all written by women, and while it is always good to see women authors in this genre, I cannot detect any major differences between male and female ghost stories - but there is a very moving story about a motherly ghost, and two instances of murderers who battered their victims to death (a very masculine crime, surely) getting their come-uppance, although in one case the come-uppance is strangely gentle and involves hope and reconciliation, which perhaps shows feminine influence. I am not sure I would have classified my very favourite - The Real Story - by Kate Clanchy as a ghost story at all (time slip? alternative history?) but it is lovely, and I urge everyone to read it. It is, unusually for a ghost story, fun. There is also a selkie story, and a horror story, both very good, but not exactly ghosts, but the definition of ghost story can be quite elastic. Anyway they are all really excellent in their various ways, and if you like ghost stories - or even if you don't, because these might well change your mind - you will find it a delight.
December 9, 2023
This book wasn’t as good as I expected it to be at all most of the story’s were a two star with a few been 3 stars. This book dragged on and on for me and I struggled to try and finish it. It’s meant to be about ghost stories and none of them were that scary at all. Some of the stories didn’t make sense at all and most of the characters in the stories were so dull and boring and some stories not very much happend at all. I was so disappointed as I expected this book to be scary and tense but it wasn’t like that sadly. It’s a book I could of done without reading. I am sure all the authors in this book have written good books at some point. Xxx
March 12, 2012
Stunning collection.
September 23, 2015
Interesting collections of short ghost stories.
"The traveler" was the best!
"The traveler" was the best!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews