Hauntings

by Ellen Datlow (Editor)

Ghosts are everywhere. They wait for you in the backseat of your car, lurk under the pile of laundry in your closet, and star in your waking nightmares.

You are haunted.

This fiendish anthology drags you into the twisted minds of modern literary masters at their wickedly thrilling best. Joyce Carol Oates, Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, David Morrell, Connie Willis, and other visionary storytellers fill this rich collection of tales lyrical and strange, monstrous and exhilarating, horrific and transformative...

• A sweetly vengeful voice on the radio calls a young soldier out to join a phantom patrol.

• A hotel maid who threw her newborn child from a fourth-story window lingers in an interminable state.

• An intern in a paranormal research facility delves deeply into the unexplained deaths of two staff members.

• A serial killer plans his ultimate artistic achievement: the unveiling of an extremely special instrument in a very private concert.

At once familiar and shocking, these riveting stories will haunt you long after you put down your book and turn out the light.

Table of Contents

“Anna” by F. Paul Wilson
“Cargo” by E. Michael Lewis
“Eenie, Meenie, Ipsateenie” by Pat Cadigan
“Hunger: A Confession” by Dale Bailey
“Delta Sly Honey” by Lucius Shepard
“Nothing Will Hurt You” by David Morell
“The Ammonite Violin (Murder Ballad #4)” by Caitlín R. Kiernan
“Haunted” by Joyce Carol Oates
“The Have-Nots” by Elizabeth Hand
“Closing Time” by Neil Gaiman
“Mr. Fiddlehead” by Jonathan Carroll
“The Fooly” by Terry Dowling
“The Wall” by Paul Walther
“The Pennine Tower Restaurant” by Simon Kurt Unsworth
“Distress Call” by Connie Willis
“The Horn” by Stephen Gallagher
“Everybody Goes” by Michael Marshall Smith
“Transfigured Night” by Richard Bowes
“Hula Ville” by James P. Blaylock
“The Bedroom Light” by Jeffrey Ford
“Spectral Evidence” by Gemma Files
“Where Angels Come In” by Adam L. G. Nevill
“Two Houses” by Kelly Link

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Ghosts, Fantasy, Ghost Stories

422 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Ellen Datlow has been editing science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction for forty years as fiction editor of OMNI Magazine and editor of Event Horizon and SCIFICTION. She currently acquires short stories and novellas for Tor.com. In addition, she has edited about one hundred science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies, including the annual The Best Horror of the Year series, The Doll Collection, Mad Hatters and March Hares, The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea, Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories, Edited By, and Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles.
She's won multiple World Fantasy Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, Bram Stoker Awards, International Horror Guild Awards, Shirley Jackson Awards, and the 2012 Il Posto Nero Black Spot Award for Excellence as Best Foreign Editor. Datlow was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for "outstanding contribution to the genre," was honored with the Life Achievement Award by the Horror Writers Association, in acknowledgment of superior achievement over an entire career, and honored with the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention.

Reviews

[Justin Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally appeared on my blog, The Arkham Digest.

When purchasing an anthology, the first thing that readers typically look at is the table of contents to see which authors are represented. I admit, this is one of the things I look at when picking up an anthology as well, but not the first thing I look at. The very first thing I check? The editor. Each editor is different, and has his/her own tastes. When a reader reads an anthology that they find to be exceptional, they should not only remember which authors blew them away, but which editor compiled the satisfying volume. And when a reader finds an editor whose tastes align with theirs then they found something special.

What I am getting at is simple. Ellen Datlow has long ago caught my attention as one of the premiere editors working in the genre today. Whenever I see an anthology with her name on the cover I scoop it up without even looking at the contents, because I've come to trust her judgement. Hauntings is one of her latest offerings, a reprint anthology of twenty-four stories dealing with ghosts and the afterlife. In the introduction Datlow points out that many of the stories involve children and that with this anthology she hopes to broaden the readers understanding of what a haunting is. And in this she was successful, as these are not typical ghost stories.

And now for some stories. Keep in mind this was an ARC and the layout of the stories could change between now and publication.

Pat Cadigan's Eenie, Meenie, Ipsateenie opens the collection with a truly chilling tale concerning a childhood game gone wrong. The story goes back and forth from the present (well, 1983 when the story was written) and the past. The narrator is revisiting his old neighborhood and reminiscing, all while strolling and chatting with a young boy from the neighborhood. The man's recollections are not pleasant, and are about his last night in the neighborhood as a small, anxious boy, and a game of hide and seek that goes completely wrong. There is a darker undercurrent here as well, and by the end it seems apparent that the man has become a child predator of some sort. One of the things that really struck me about this story was how it can be interpreted not just as a ghost story, but also as a story of a man whose mental issues stem from that night long ago, and drive him to do what he now does.

The next story is quite similar in a few ways. Dale Bailey's Hunger: A Confession features a child narrator whose state of mind is also called into question. The young boy is tormented by horror stories told by his older brother, but the tables are turned when they move into an old house with a gory past and the young boy finds a bundle of rusty, old butcher tools under the basement furnace. Bailey expertly builds up the tension to the story's ghastly conclusion. Like the previous story, the ghostly element could be taken at face value or as an aspect of the mentally disturbed narrator's mind.

Cargo by E. Michael Lewis was a story I first read in one of Datlow's Best Horror of the Year collections. This tale concerns one of the great tragedies of the 20th century; the Jonestown Massacre. An Air-Force loadmaster is in charge of a cargo of caskets, and has a hair-raising experience while en route to the Dover Air Force Base. The story is more heart-wrenching than scary, but powerful nonetheless.

Lucius Shepard takes readers to the jungles of Vietnam in Delta Sly Honey. The insanity of war is apparent, and things get even crazier when a young radio operator who jokingly tries to make contact with a ghostly regiment is finally answered. There are truly some weird events going on, and the story has some nice bits of action.

Another heart-wrencher is David Morell's Nothing Will Hurt You. This is a depressing story about a parent driven mad by grief when his daughter becomes the victim of a serial killer. The night she is killed, her father saw Sweeney Todd, and from that night on has the song "Nothing Will Hurt You" stuck in his head. The story serves as a reflection of grief and obsession, and it definitely hits home seeing how the father of the victim falls apart. This is a story which is more about a man being haunted by the events that happened than by an actual ghost, and the supernatural events can once again just as easily be attributed to the madness brought about by grief than by actual spirits.

Caitlin R. Kiernan is an amazing writer. The Ammonite Violin (Murder Ballad No. 4) is another story featuring both a serial killer and music. In this tale a killer who fancies himself a collector has a violinist travel to his house to play a very special instrument that the collector had special made. The story is beautifully written, and a perfect example of Kiernan's gift with language.

Joyce Carol Oates is a literary writer who sometimes dabbles in the horror genre. Whenever I come across one of her tales in a horror themed anthology I know I am in for a treat. Her story Haunted is just as impressive as I knew it was going to be. Oates has a way of leaving the reader chilled, and often hints at the horrors rather than exposing them. Haunted is presented as the writings of a middle aged woman reminiscing about her childhood best friend and their love for exploring abandoned places. Oates brilliantly builds an uneasy atmosphere and stretches it taut until the end. There's a lot here to like.

Following the chiller from Oates is a light-hearted story from Elizabeth Hand called The Have-Nots. The language is fun, and told in the voice of a southern woman, telling a story of her friend and their weird, ghostly experience as she tries to sell her makeup to some of her housewife acquaintances. It's quite humorous, and touching.

Neil Gaiman comes next with Closing Time, a frame story which makes for quite an effectively creepy tale. The narrator is in an after-hours club drinking with a few other regulars and a stranger when they decide to swap ghost stories. The story-within-a-story is told about a young boy's terrifying experience after school. The imagery is quite chilling, and the story is about the loss of innocence if anything else. There is also more going on under the surface, and the identity of just which character tells the story is called into question, making this a story that rewards rereads.

A few tales lighter in tone follow. F. Paul Wilson's Anna is a straightforward tale about ghostly revenge. Jonathan Carroll's Mr. Fiddlehead focuses on a type of "ghost" that we can create ourselves, and Terry Dowling's The Fooley is a silly little story about a man's experience with a stranger on a nighttime road.

After the lighthearted excursion, Datlow brings us right back into horror by throwing us head first into the deep end. First Paul Walther brings readers to the lake shore on the last day of summer in The Toll. A young lifeguard deals with an increasingly creepy man who has failed to mature past his teenage years all while seeing shadowy figures out in the water.As creepy as this story is, it is only an appetizer for the next one.

Simon Kurt Unsworth's The Pennine Tower Restaurant was perhaps my favorite story in the entire book, and had me genuinely creeped out. The author took the approach of presenting the story as nonfiction. He describes how a former coworker, who appears to be falling apart at the seams, approaches him with files and asks him to write about why the Pennine Tower Restaurant can not be reopened. What follows is a compilation of events that transpired in the restaurant over the years. The matter-of-fact presentation of the events lends a certain coldness to the story that adds to the overall effect, making for a grade-A horror tale.

Distress Call by Connie Willis is an interesting story, a bit confusing at times as it seems to jump around, although the confusion seems intentional, helping the reader relate to the confused protagonist. The story eventually comes together but still leaves several questions open. Overall not a bad story, but not exceptional either.

Stephen Gallagher's The Horn follows three men trapped in a blizzard with an angry ghost. There are some pretty strong moments in the story, but it seems more like a monster story than a ghost story.

Michael Marshall Smith's Everybody Goes is another story that's not scary, and has a nice little twist of an ending.

Transfigured Night by Richard Bowes is another story that touches on the theme of childhood's loss of innocence, although in a much more disturbing manner than Gaiman's story. The story itself has moments that are quite intense, and is probably the darkest story in the book. A lonely boy cuts his finger, uses his blood to make a circle, and wishes for a best friend. His wish is answered, with the appearance of a boy who seems to know too much for his age. As the man grows into a drifting hustler, he goes on a dark, bloody quest to be reunited with his old friend, bringing the story full circle to quite a conclusion. Definitely a haunting story, this one will be stuck in the mind for awhile.

James P. Blaylock, an author mostly known for being a pioneer of steampunk, pens a tale about a man searching for something. He doesn't really know what it is he is searching for, but it seems connected to a visitation he had during his childhood. Not a horror story, Hula Ville is more of a dark fantasy and whether or not it's about a ghost is up to the reader to decide.

The Bedroom Light by Jeffrey Ford is an interesting story, while there isn't really much of a plot. A couple lies in bed, avoiding a certain conversation topic, instead talking about their neighbors, in particular a creepy young girl they refer to as the "demon seed". Despite not much actually happening, Ford's talent as an author is on display; conversation that feels truly natural and some creepy stories shared by husband and wife.

Spectral Evidence reads as a case file at a paranormal research facility. The file consists of photographs which are described, the notes on each photograph (written by three different characters), and footnotes written by another character. While not scary, the story works on many levels and is quite a fun read. It makes for a perfect example of why Gemma Files is an author well worth reading.

Kelly Link brings us into space with Two Houses. Members of a decades-long space mission awaken from slumber and swap ghost stories. While some of the stories are interesting and some interesting questions are raised I thought the ending was a bit of a let down.

Adam Nevill, a British horror author who has really been making a name for himself with his novels, brings us a story of cinematic horror with Where Angels Come In. Two schoolboys decide to brave the huge white house on the hill, in order to find some sort of treasure and come back as schoolyard heroes.What they find in the building (Is it a mansion? An asylum?) is something that completely justifies their fears and helps explain the many disappearances in the town. Nevill excels when it comes to creating horrific imagery, and leaves enough unexplained to add a sense of dreadful mystery to the setting.

The collection closes with Peter Straub's Hunger, An Introduction. The narrator is a psychopath who is quite clearly delusional, and is definitely a character most readers will be familiar with. Everyone knew or went to school with one of these people at some point. A person who can be quite smart yet thinks they are much smarter than they are, lacking in social skills, quick to point out other's failings and alienating themselves from everyone else. Instead of finding the success they wrongfully think they are entitled, they usually tend to be underachievers who live in their own little world. The narrator is one of these familiar faces, and is quite far from likable. When he comes into contact with a ghost from his town's local folklore he finds a sort of inspiration. The narrator also has an interesting theory about ghosts and why they haunt the living, and the end of the story shows why this is the perfect story to close out the collection.

Datlow once again proves herself as a master editor. Her mission to broaden readers' concepts of what a haunting can be is nothing short of a success, and the twenty-four stories on display run the gamut from explicitly terrifying to eerily familiar. Readers who wish to be haunted themselves should not miss this one. Highly recommended.

[Justyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second anthology from Datlow (also an autographed copy), and I had higher hopes for this one. The anthology, as in the title, deals with hauntings and the ghosts surrounding them. Datlow also makes note in her introduction, the majority of the stories involve children or memories of childhood, a time where we are most vulnerable to fear.
“Eenie, Meenie, Ipsateenie” by Pat Cadigan
In the opening story, a man recalls childhood memories of hide-and-seek, and his fears of being found, which he runs away from. However, the ghosts of the past continue to haunt him. 3/5
“Hunger: A Confession” by Dale Bailey
An older brother torments his younger brother with scary stories until one of them might be real. 4/5

“Cargo” by E. Michael Lewis
This story was also collected in Datlow’s The Best Horror of the Year Volume One. It tells the story of soldiers bringing back the dead from Jonestown. The story was okay, and I didn’t bother to reread it again this time around. 3/5
“Delta Sly Honey” by Lucius Shepard
A taciturn soldier takes to being a popular radio show host at a military camp during the Vietnam War. There was nothing too remarkable from this story. 2/5

“Nothing Will Hurt You” by David Morrell
After the death of his daughter, a father struggles accepting her death and vows revenge on the serial killer who murdered her along with several other college women. This was another standout story with a shocking, but brilliant ending. 5/5
“The Ammonite Violin (Murder Ballad No. 4) by Caitlin Kiernan
The story follows a serial killer with a taste for collecting ammonites and suffocations, and a young violinist who is invited to play for him. This story was by far one of my favorites, and the prose was beautiful. 5/5
“Haunted” by Joyce Carol Oates
A woman remembers her childhood best friend and the mysterious circumstances around her death. There was some creepiness to the story, but overall it was decent. 3/5
“The Have-Nots” by Elizabeth Hand
This is a sad story of a woman whose baby daughter was taken away from her, although there was a happy ending. The narration I didn’t enjoy too much because there was a lot of cutting in as if they were cutely addressing some customer. I suppose it was a bit more experimental, but it was a bit detracting from the story. 2/5
“Closing Time” by Neil Gaiman
This was one of those stories of people hanging out at a pub and telling each other scary stories. Whether there is any truth to them or not, it’s interesting when someone in the audience knows the truth. 4/5

“Anna” by F. Paul Wilson
“Anna” is a very strange, but original story about a man who finds something odd about his foot stool leading him to face something he buried in his past. 4/5
“Mr. Fiddlehead” by Jonathan Carroll
A woman discovers her best friend’s husband’s imaginary friend and wants him to stay around. It was okay. 2/5
“The Fooly” by Terry Dowling
There’s an unexpected, but enjoyable twist in this short tale of a ghostly encounter. 5/5
“The Toll” by Paul Walther
A lifeguard spends her last days of summer along with a man who is living an endless summer. I thought it was an interesting read. 4/5
“The Pennine Tower Restaurant” by Simon Kurt Unsworth
Written as an investigative article, the strange occurrences at the Pennine Tower Restaurant are documented. As the author writes this isn’t fiction, I was left with uncertainty by the end of it. 5/5

“Distress Call” by Connie Willis
This was a nice combination of a ghost story and a murder mystery. It was nicely done. 4/5

“The Horn” by Stephen Gallagher
Three strangers are stranded in a snow storm and try to find a way out. Unfortunately for them, a local tragedy lurks nearby. This was a very engaging read. 4/5
“Everybody Goes” by Michael Marshall Smith
A young boy recalls times he spent with his friends. There wasn’t much of a horror element to it, but it was a nice sad and nostalgic story. 3/5

“Transfigured Night” by Richard Bowes
This is an intriguingly dark story about The Guest, his past, and his plans for a family. 4/5

“Hula Ville” by James P. Blaylock
This story was probably one of the most forgettable. 1/5
“The Bedroom Light” by Jeffrey Ford
Before going to bed, a couple, who happen to live in a creepy residence, discuss the strange occurrences. I enjoyed the dialogue, but at times it jumped around a bit much and I ended up wanting more from this story. 3/5

“Spectral Evidence” by Gemma Files
This deals with evidence of ghosts written in a research report format. It was interesting at least stylistically. 3/5

“Two Houses” by Kelly Link
After some passengers wake up on a ship, they start telling each other ghost stories. Since I’m not into sci-fi, I was initially just reading to get through this story, but I have to say it picked up near the end and the characters had some engaging ghost stories to tell that were worth a listen. 4/5

“Where Angles Come In” by Adam L. G. Nevill
A boy recalls his traumatic experience when he and a friend decide to sneak into a haunted house. This was one of my favorites, and a very good read. 5/5
“Hunger, An Introduction” by Peter Straub
The final story happens to be the longest is narrated by a ghost who dispels notions the living have of them. In quite a literary manner he recounts his entire life story leading up to his death. 4/5
Overall, like any anthology, there’s always a mix of good and not so great stories and Hauntings is no exception. I enjoyed this anthology and there were many memorable stories I would read again. 3.6/5

[Horror DNA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like most people, when I decide whether or not to buy an anthology, I first check the cover (or maybe even the index) to see what authors have stories within it. If I see that it has multiple writers whose works I enjoy, I will more often than not purchase it. However, there's something to be said about the editor (or, in some cases, editors) of these story collections as well. I have a short list of editors that I will buy an anthology of, regardless of whether or not I have even heard of the writers it contains, and Ellen Datlow is at the top of that list. She has this crazy knack of consistently putting together stellar anthologies and Hauntings is no different.

You can read Steve's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a somewhat weak anthology compiled by someone whom I've long considered to be the premier editor of horror and fantasy fiction. There are some good stories, most of them in the first half: the pieces by Neil Gaiman, Joyce Carol Oates, Kelly Link, David Morrell, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Lucius Shepard, Pat Cadigan and Dale Bailey are all well worth reading. That may seem like a lot, but there's quite a bit more. Some of the stories are much too light and silly for my tastes, like Jonathan Carroll's story about an imaginary friend come to life, or a story about haunted furniture by F. Paul Wilson (who seems to be obsessed with unborn babies.) There were several others that I simply didn't get at all.

Datlow's commissioned anthologies of original fiction are always superb, but between this (which covers work done from the early eighties till now) and the currently running Best Horror of the Year (also disappointing), I wonder if she really has access to everything that's been published. Maybe the small presses have limited funds to acquire reprint rights? I'm ambivalent about this volume, and I'd suggest getting The Dark: New Ghost Stories instead.

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Ellen Datlow picks the finest of the genre to include in this anthology. I think she's done one antho that I didn't absolutely love, and this isn't it. Hauntings is delicious.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I generally find that Ellen Datlow edited anthologies are a cut above the rest, as her reputation draws stories from better authors and she knows how to separate the wheat from the chaff.

This book looked like a winner, being comprised of ghostly stories and including such authors as F. Paul Wilson, Michael Marshall Smith, Caitlin R. Kiernan, David Morrell, Neil Gaiman, Adam L. G. Nevill and Peter Straub. And for the most part it payed off, at least through the early going. Through the first 10 stories, I enjoyed most of them, with Elizabeth Hand's "The Have-Nots" being the exception, as it was so absurdly silly I couldn't bother to finish it. The book reached it's apex with F. Paul Wilson's "Anna," arguably the best tale within. However, the collection took a distinct downward turn from that point forward.
In the latter stages of the book there were at several stories that had no business being in the book. Considering the theme was "Hauntings" I don't get why Datlow included stories about angels, imaginary friends and general horrors that had nothing to do with hauntings, ghosts, spirits or anything ethereal. One of the better tales in the book was Nevill's "Where Angels Come In" but it didn't strike me as being about ghosts or spirits, but more of malevolent creatures. Nor was Kiernan's "The Ammonite Violin" which was more about an evil living person.
I was mostly disappointed that authors I generally like, Kiernan, Smith, Hand, produced such bizarre and not particularly good stories. But overall I was left with the feeling that Datlow felt obligated to include some of these authors despite them not meeting the theme or offering some of their better work.

[Geeky Like · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something incredibly satisfying about anthologies for me. I like them as they are perfect night time reads, as in you can read one or two of the short stories and put the book down instead of staying up all night (Of course this completely depends on not being completely engrossed in the stories and wanting to read all of them at once because they are so good) . I also like them as it takes skill to tell an entire story in just a few pages rather than over the course of a trilogy or a lengthy series. It is also not something that a whole lot have mastered. Essentially you are hooking me with the first paragraph and giving me enough to build a world, tell a story, have some plot and character development, all within a few pages. Now admittedly I am the kind of gal who looks at the authors who have done some of the stories, but there is one person whom I always dig, and that is Ellen Datlow as an editor. She is the one who has chosen each in order to take you on a journey as much as the author’s stories themselves. Now my first really memorable anthologies that I loved were also Datlow’s doing (along with Terri Windling). They were Snow White, Blood Red and Black Thorn, White Heart. They were tales from my childhood except oh so much more sinister. I loved them, still do as those volumes still sit on my bookshelves.

The Story List:
1. “Eenie, Meenie, Ipsateenie” by Pat Cadigan
2. “Hunger: A Confession” by Dale Bailey
3. “Cargo E.” by Michael Lewis
4. “Delta Sly Honey” by Lucius Shepard
5. “Nothing Will Hurt You” by David Morrell
6. “The Ammonite Violin (Murder Ballad #4)” by Caitlín R. Kiernan
7. “Haunted” by Joyce Carol Oates
8. “The Have-Nots” by Elizabeth Hand
9. “Closing Time” by Neil Gaiman
10. “Anna” by F. Paul Wilson
11. “Mr. Fiddlehead” by Jonathan Carroll
12. “The Fooly” by Terry Dowling
13. “The Toll” by Paul Walther
14. “The Pennine Tower Restaurant” by Simon Kurt Unsworth
15. “Distress Call” by Connie Willis
16. “The Horn” by Stephen Gallagher
17. “Everybody Goes” by Michael Marshall Smith
18. “Transfigured Night” by Richard Bowes
19. “Hula Ville” by James P. Blaylock
20. “The Bedroom Light” by Jeffrey Ford
21. “Spectral Evidence” by Gemma Files
22. “Two Houses” by Kelly Link
23. “Where Angels Come In” by Adam L. G. Nevill
24. “Hunger: An Introduction” by by Peter Straub

Things I loved: Now I love the folks over at Tachyon Publishing. Not only do they send me out ARCs every now and again to read and review, but they are nice people to boot. And I love that they send me anthologies. This one was all about hauntings and not just of the ghostly variety and that interested me. I won’t go into each of the stories but rather highlight my favorites. As far as the what I like and didn’t like it really only comes down to what stories I liked and did not like.

Hunger by Dale Bailey was great about a young boy who is tormented by his older brother’s horror stories which so often leave him shuddering in the dark. But when the siblings move into an old house with a sordid and horrific past, the roles are reversed. I love the way it is told, very much like a fireside ghost story and quite chilling. Immediately following Hunger was also one of the best stories in the anthology, Cargo by E. Michael Lewis about a loadmaster and some precious cargo he has aboard. Not exactly scary, but thought provoking and emotional. I love that each of the those two ghost stories had such different reactions from me.

Surprisingly I loved Caitlin R. Kiernan’s The Ammonite Violin as I thought the story was a bit of a retread, but she has a wonderful gift with words and teh way the story is told is what makes it special. But it also makes me want to put on Jamie Bell and watch the Red Violin. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Of course sometimes you need some lighter fare, and Terry Dowling’s The Fooley is one of them about one man’s adventure when he comes across a stranger on the road. Two of my favorite tales in the anthology were Transfigured night by Richard Bowes and Where Angels Come In by Adam Nevill but for very different reasons. One is about a little boy who wishes for a best friend and the other is about the creepy house on the hill. Another great story is The Pennine Tower Restaraunt by Simon Kurt Unsworth which is delightfully creepy and atmospheric. There are other great stories mixed within as well and even the ones I didn’t care for as much certainly have their merits.

Things I didn’t love so much: I wasn’t in love with Delta Sly Honey by Lucius Shepard as the pacing was a bit too slow for me and the story just not my cup of tea overall. Distress Call by Connie Willis was just confusing with a lot of loose ends and not in the good way. Surprisingly I didn’t love Neil Gaiman’s Closing Time (I know weird huh?) as much as I thought I would as I felt it spent too much time setting up the tale rather than telling it, though the "ghost story" bit was wonderful and creepy. Not that any of these tales are bad, but they didn’t hook me the way that the others did.

Buy or Borrow: Buy. The great things about anthologies is there is usually something for everyone, kind of like a soundtrack. And if you are looking for some atypical ghost stories this anthology is also great.

Part of: Standalone

Also Recommended: Please try some of Ellen’s other anthologies. As I mentioned earlier the Blood Red Anthology is divine especially if you like the retelling of some of your favorite childhood fairy tales and some you may not have heard of. I would also recommend Sirens and other Daemon Lovers, the Best Horror of the Year Anthologies and More. For more urban fantasy fare in anthology form are The Unusual Suspects, the Blood Lite anthologies, Urban Fantasy Anthology and more. As I said there is usually something for everyone when it comes to Anthologies

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for Southwest Michigan Spark magazine:
"With the air bringing cooler breezes that portend a darker season, sit yourself outside and settle in to Hauntings, a collection of ghost stories that will double the chill with tales that range from quiet loose ends to make you wonder what really happened to the gruesome, violent abrupt conclusion. The authors contained in this anthology represent a variety of genres and voices, each as spellbinding (and creepy) as the last making this a difficult book to put down. In Hunger: A Confession, horror writer Dale Bailey tells of an innocent gruesomely possessed; King of Fantasy Neil Gaiman mesmerizes with Closing Time, an account of disappearances tinged by something dark and evil; Joyce Carol Oates makes us wary of abandoned places; F. Paul Wilson shows us that the monsters hidden within us will get their come-uppance; and Elizabeth Hand delivers a rare happy ending. If you enjoy experiencing the occasional anxiety brought on by ghoulish anecdotes, your cravings will be satisfied by the contents of these pages." - jlenget

[Alise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can understand the negative reviews of this book, because i can see how if you are expecting really scary stories, this may be disappointing. It's not really "horror" stories. They are mainly ghost stories, and a lot of them were subtle in their creepiness. I didn't enjoy all of the stories (or even understand them all, some were confusing), but even the ones I didn't like as much I still thought were written well. Every author featured in this anthology is an amazing writer. I didn't expect that when I started reading this book. It sounds weird but some of the stories were beautiful. "Cargo" was my favorite, it was a tragic one but it was written very well. Definitely "haunting" like the title of the book suggests! Most of the stories definitely haunted me for a while after I finished them, I couldn't stop thinking about them! Overall I enjoyed this book a lot and it's made me really interested in this genre. I looked up a lot of the authors and am going to read more of their books/stories.

[Metagion · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is *incredibly* cool! Clocking in at 400+ pages, it has stories from some 'greats' in the business (Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub) as well as some up-and-comers (Connie Willis, Kelly Link). Whatever you're into (as far as the subject matter goes) is VERY well written, but somehow some stories (I felt) were "unfinished", like the author ran out of paper (or the editor forgot to include it; it *could* happen...) Only two of the stories (to me) would be better suited in more of a "sci-fi" kind of book (and you'll know which ones I mean when you read it; I'm not giving away spoilers here, sorry! ;) ). This book, overall, though, is a wonderful read, and it'll give you leads on who's books to get next (which is how *I* get new authors to read...awesome, isn't it?) Get a copy, a mug of hot tea (or coffee) and some quiet, and ENJOY! ;)

[Lindsay Farassat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good collection, though only a few stories really stand out in my mind. "The Pennine Tower Restaurant" is one of the most unsettling and unnerving ghost stories I've ever read. Though it's not actually haunted (as far as anyone knows), it is a real place, and that always makes a creepy story even creepier for me. Caitlin Kiernan's "The Ammonite Violin" was good too, though mostly because her prose is so memorable. "Two Houses", by Kelly Link, was probably the most unique in the collection because it was basically sci-fi, fantasy, and ghost story all rolled into one. Very original, a little confusing. I think the book is worth purchasing for "The Pennine Tower Restaurant" alone.

[Marcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this through the GoodReads FirstReads giveaways.

I really wanted to give this book a 2.5 rather than 3 star ratings; as an anthology of short stories by a variety of authors, some stories really did warrant 4 and 5 star ratings, but most were only what I would consider 2 or 3 star works.

I will say for others considering picking this up, the stories that I really enjoyed were:
"Hunger: A Confession"
"Nothing Will Hurt You"
"The Pennine Tower Restaurant"
"Spectral Evidence"
"Two Houses"

I'd rate all of the above as at least 4 stars, with the last two definitely hitting the 5 star mark.

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really solid collection, but for some reason I didn't feel quite right giving it four stars (my usual "everyone interested in the genre should read it"). Particularly liked "Delta Sly Honey", "The Pennine Tower Restaurant", and "Where Angels Come In"; "Spectral Evidence" is beautifully constructed, and "The Fooly" is oddly sweet. But overall while it's definitely worthwhile, the conjunction and sequence of stories seems to work against them rather than for them.

Don't listen to me, check it out. It's possible I've just been having a bad couple of weeks; just understand where I'm coming from.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

An above average collection of short stories revolving around the broad theme of "hauntings". Some really great stories in this, my favorites being "Haunted" by Joyce Carol Oates, "Anna" by F. Paul Wilson, "Transfigured Night" by Richard Bowes, and "Spectral Evidence" by Gemma Files. There were many more that I enjoyed, and I can say with confidence that even the worst stories in this collection did not fail to be interesting. Worth a look.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really excellent collection overall with few, if any, low points. "The Pennine Tower Restaurant", "Closing Time", "Haunted", and "Cargo" stand out as exceptionally good and remarkably chilling variations on the ghost story model, the sort of stories that can leave you unnerved even in the middle of a crowded plane.

[Lacey Conrad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed most of the stories in this anthology. I am not usually interested in reading short stories, but the format worked well in this instance. There were a couple that were more violent than I would like (kids being murdered-not for me!) but those were the exception.

[Aura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Below average collection with the exception of two stories - The Pennine Tower Restaurant and The Spectral Evidence. The rest was a real trial to read but these two stories deserve to be extracted and read in their own right.

[Calvin Campany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A+

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some excellent ghost stories in this collection.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not like ghost stories don't scare me. I can watch an evening of Most Haunted Houses in America on HGTV and not sleep all night. But nothing in Hauntings frightened me which I thought was the purpose of horror.

Confession. I recently did very well in writing contests, winning first and second prize in juvenile fiction and mystery novel. But, the judge in horror said my story wasn't horror. You'd think I'd be happy with my prize winning work, but nooooo, I'm obsessed with why the judge thought my story wasn't horror.

So I'm reading a bunch of horror and I still don't know what's up with the judge. One person's opinion. Oh well. Anyway, there is some good stuff in Hauntings. When I read Neil Gaiman's story side-by-side with other writers it's easy to see why we think he's so good. He IS good. There is another story, The Have-Nots by Elizabeth Hand, which was a laugh riot. The narrator is trying to sell "Mary Rose" cosmetics while telling her customers about seeing Elvis' ghost.

Some of the stories were artistic, some touching, one funny, but they just didn't scare me.

I think I'll write a story about a horror judge who is trapped in a haunted house and forced to read contest entries for eternity. Now that's scary.

[Arinn Dembo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid reprint anthology. Most of the stories are good quality, one or two are genuinely surprising or known classics.

The books starts strong, and I was particularly impressed with "Cargo" by E. Michael Lewis and "Delta Sly Honey" by Lucius Shepard, which I cannot remember having read before. "The Ammonite Violin" by Caitlin Kiernan is justly famous and beautifully told, but of course it's based on a famous murder ballad and therefore somewhat predictable, which can take the sting out of any horror tale.

Unexpected delights included "Two Houses" by Kelly Link, a story that was simultaneously a contemporary ghost story and a space opera ghost story, "The Have-Nots" by Elizabeth Hand, which startled me with its ending, and two well-crafted tales of interstitial horror, "The Pennine Tower Restaurant" by Simon Kurt Unsworth, and "Spectral Evidence" by Gemma Files.

My vote for the most horrifying story of the collection would probably go to "The Horn" by Stephen Gallagher, although "Where Angels Come In" by Adam L. G. Nevill and "Hunger: An Introduction" by Peter Straub both had some deeply disturbing aftershocks.

[Bryan Whitehead · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give this anthology a higher rating. Some of the stories included herein are really good, either excellent throughout or finishing strong after a slow start. Alas, the impressive stuff just has too much bad company, particularly tales that start off tedious and stay that way. I can tolerate a certain amount of obscurely poetic prose, and I can even cope with a measure of torture and death of pets and children as long as there’s some purpose to it. But when the underlying plot is odd or cliché rather than enlightening and engaging, the welcome gets worn out swiftly. I loved the cream but could barely stand the dregs. And though this isn’t a criticism of the book itself, I should note that the pagination was messed up on the Hoopla e-book edition. The errors made it hard to tell where one was at in the stories, which of course made the bad ones even harder to take.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second reading of this anthology since two years ago, at Halloween. This round, I found I loved the tale of Pat Cadigan and Hunger A Confession a lot more than last time. Nothing Will Hurt You intrigued me and I found an interesting bit I missed reading the first time. The Have Nots is still a favorite as well as Haunted, Anna, and The Toll. I want to keep this anthology on my shelf to re read every Halloween.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Above average collection - the last 4 or 5 stories in particular were among the best. “Where Angels Come In” was one of the creepiest things I’ve read in ages. Some that I’ve read before, but always enjoy Kelly Link, Gemma Files, F. Paul Wilson, etc.

[CJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was just not my thing. It happens.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some really creepy stories in this collection.

[Jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me forever to read, for some reason. But this was a wonderful collection.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5)

[Carrie Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for some short thrilling reads. Some of the stories i wished were longer.

[Mary]

I don’t like short stories, or at least almost never do. I don’t know why I continue to read this format.