Ghosts of Yesterday

by Jack Cady

Ghosts of Yesterday is a stunning collection by multiple-award-winning author Jack Cady The Off Season, The Haunting of Hood Canal. Cady captures the sights and emotions of America, from the Pacific Northwest ("Jeremiah"), to the streets of San Francisco ("The Lady With the Blind Dog"), to the Midwest-heartland ("Halloween 1942"), along the roads and highways in between ("The Ghost of Dive Bomber Hill"), and back into the history of the American Southeast ("The Time That Time Forgot"). The stories that make up Ghosts of Yesterday are detailed and realistic portraits of the world that, despite (and perhaps because) of their authenticity, manage to convey a sense of wonder and fantastic, where anything is possible. The characters and places that Cady brings to life demonstrate clearly why he is one of the most versatile and respected writers today... His stories will move you, and change the way you look at the world.

Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Collections

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Winner of Nebula, Phillip K. Dick, World Fantasy and Bram Stoker awards.

Obituaries:
in Seattle PI
in Peninsula Daily News
in Seattle Times
from Komo News

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was Cady's final book published while he--one of the Pacific Northwest's most distinctive literary voices--was alive. Ghosts of Yesterday is a wonderful tribute to that cult genre he loved so much, the ghost story. Here Cady writes with the gregarious, ear-bending flair of a natural & irrepressible storyteller, & each story is a delight.

"The Lady With the Blind Dog," though full of distinctive Cady elements, reads like the sort of modern mytho-fantasy so prominent in the writing of Neil Gaiman. "Daddy Dearest" is one of the more successful renditions of the "humorous ghost story" that I've come across, succeeding as it does by substituting fright with Twain-like, tall-tale audacity. The collection's 80-page novella, "The Time that Time Forgot" (though marred somewhat by anti-war moralizing) is a hypnotic, atmospheric, mystical adventure. And "The Ghost of Dive Bomber Hill," I am certain, will prove to be one of the great, enduring American ghost stories, a tale ranking alongside the work of Russell Kirk.

In addition, the book includes two wonderfully engaging essays, one on the ghost story and the other on religion in science fiction.

[Renee E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cady feels everything his characters do. He laughs and cries with them, is confused, afraid with them; he breathes and bleeds with them. And makes us do the same.

And he makes it seem so damned easy, so natural.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bunch of his short stories. Some of them were alright. I liked the essay in the middle. Mostly, I just didn't think it was great. A short story needs to capture you immediately, because if you wait until the last three pages to get a reader's engagement, then they are just going to be disappointed that it ends, even while they were disappointed that it went on for so long before that.

2.7

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was unfamiliar with Jack Cady before I saw this book on sale in the Kindle store a couple of weeks ago. It looked intriguing.

There are three absolutely stunning stories: The Lady With the Blind Dog; The Ghost of Dive Bomber Hill; and The Time That Time Forgot. Halloween 1942 was good too. Some of the other stories were lighter, and I think there were a few essays, and one poem.

I really liked the stories I listed above. They're mostly ghost stories, but not the scary kind of ghost story. Cady's ghosts are echoes from other times/other places. The Time That Time Forgot, with characters walking deeper and deeper into a mythic sort of place reminded me of Robert Holdstock and his Mythago Wood stories. In a GOOD way.

I'm not sure I really got some of the other bits. I'm sure that's me, and not the author, though.

Will definitely look for more from this author.

[Jason S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to an amazing short story writer. "The Time that Time Forgot", which ends the book, is amazing. If you like Jeffrey Ford or Steve Tem, you'll dig Cady.

[Bserdar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Jack Cady book. It won't be my last. Sad stories with ghosts, told in a dark mood.