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The Art of Ghost Writing
"There is a tangible tension and a feeling of discomfort in his writing that is at once refreshing and unnerving." ~ Helen Scott, peer review
A woman haunted by a childhood nursery rhyme.
A literary scholar obsessed with tracking down the origins of a primeval scream.
A boy with behavioural problems who is sent to an old country estate in the hopes he can be reformed.
These are just some of the characters encountered in Alistair Rey’s unique brand of weird fiction. This collection features stories where places have their own secrets, where terror comes alive, where the simplest of us find nothing is so simple anymore. We can no longer trust music and art; we become bound to them to learn their horrors. We cannot trust the mundane or commonplace; we become absorbed beneath its deceiving exterior. We learn that the ordinary can rapidly change, and the extraordinary become normal.
We can accept what we are, who others perceive us to be, and what we may become. But only if we realize we inhabit a world of diminishing returns, and truthfully . . . we are not here .
"Alistair's collection of stories is an incredibly cerebral, dark adventure that leaves you contemplating every shadowy corner in your house." ~ Tasha Reynolds, The Sinister Scoop
A woman haunted by a childhood nursery rhyme.
A literary scholar obsessed with tracking down the origins of a primeval scream.
A boy with behavioural problems who is sent to an old country estate in the hopes he can be reformed.
These are just some of the characters encountered in Alistair Rey’s unique brand of weird fiction. This collection features stories where places have their own secrets, where terror comes alive, where the simplest of us find nothing is so simple anymore. We can no longer trust music and art; we become bound to them to learn their horrors. We cannot trust the mundane or commonplace; we become absorbed beneath its deceiving exterior. We learn that the ordinary can rapidly change, and the extraordinary become normal.
We can accept what we are, who others perceive us to be, and what we may become. But only if we realize we inhabit a world of diminishing returns, and truthfully . . . we are not here .
"Alistair's collection of stories is an incredibly cerebral, dark adventure that leaves you contemplating every shadowy corner in your house." ~ Tasha Reynolds, The Sinister Scoop
240 pages, Paperback
Published June 2, 2023
1 person want to read
About the author
Alistair Rey
13 books10 followersAlistair Rey is an author of dark sepculative fiction. His style has been categorized at different times as bizarro fiction, literary horror, and the new weird, drawing comparisons with writers such as Shirley Jackson and Robert Aickman. He currently resides in the United Kingdom.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 14, 2023
Although Alistair Rey’s ‘The Art of Ghost Writing’ is a short story collection, it is by no means short, coming in at fourteen stories, with absolutely no fillers! The abundance of quality stunned me, and in the end, I had to pick favorites simply by choosing those that spoke most personally to me.
All the stories are tremendous quality reads. The author has been justifiably compared to Shirley Jackson and M.R. James, but I was reminded more of Robert Aickman, since Rey’s command of the English language is impeccable, and there’s a great emphasis on both haunting atmosphere and bleak, ironic endings.
What makes these stories stand out is the coupling of human fallibility with the bewilderingly realistic detail: take “An Autumn Settling,” for example, the story opening the collection. It takes place in Paris, and, having lived there myself for some years, I can attest that the atmosphere is accurate, the descriptions spot on, the behaviors entirely convincing. This makes it all the more unsettling when the horror element arrives. Or “Here Feel We the Childing Autumn,” a fantastic, weird story about an academic researching a scream in the history of art and literature – a memorable story partly written as an academic paper or a journal article, with pictures and diagrams, a story sure to stay with me for a long time!
There are awesome stories here. The horror creeps on you very slowly, never hitting you over the head. I loved “Montauk’s Design,” a brilliant tale of architectural terror, “Call to Me, Sweet Alecto,” a disturbing story seemingly of female empowerment, “Sightseeing,” a terrific, weird story of archeological horror, “The Artist’s Apartment,” a story of crime, identity confusion, and mystery (I had to read this moving story twice, all the clues are there), and “The Big Idea,” a science fiction tale, with some body horror, a story unlike any I’ve ever read!
Do not miss this one!
Many thanks to the author for the ARC.
All the stories are tremendous quality reads. The author has been justifiably compared to Shirley Jackson and M.R. James, but I was reminded more of Robert Aickman, since Rey’s command of the English language is impeccable, and there’s a great emphasis on both haunting atmosphere and bleak, ironic endings.
What makes these stories stand out is the coupling of human fallibility with the bewilderingly realistic detail: take “An Autumn Settling,” for example, the story opening the collection. It takes place in Paris, and, having lived there myself for some years, I can attest that the atmosphere is accurate, the descriptions spot on, the behaviors entirely convincing. This makes it all the more unsettling when the horror element arrives. Or “Here Feel We the Childing Autumn,” a fantastic, weird story about an academic researching a scream in the history of art and literature – a memorable story partly written as an academic paper or a journal article, with pictures and diagrams, a story sure to stay with me for a long time!
There are awesome stories here. The horror creeps on you very slowly, never hitting you over the head. I loved “Montauk’s Design,” a brilliant tale of architectural terror, “Call to Me, Sweet Alecto,” a disturbing story seemingly of female empowerment, “Sightseeing,” a terrific, weird story of archeological horror, “The Artist’s Apartment,” a story of crime, identity confusion, and mystery (I had to read this moving story twice, all the clues are there), and “The Big Idea,” a science fiction tale, with some body horror, a story unlike any I’ve ever read!
Do not miss this one!
Many thanks to the author for the ARC.
July 25, 2023
More than a dozen unique "slipstream"/"new weird" stories make up this collection that takes the world we know and adds elements that are enough off-kilter to give the reader an eerie, surreal sensation.
Elements I liked:
The descriptions of the world we know are detailed and well-done, providing a great set-up for the parts that are "off". There's some lovely phrasing, such as "a mental image sketched from the dust of memory". The eeriness absolutely seeps through each story and gives a delightful little shiver to the spine.
Elements I struggled with:
A few stories felt unfinished - just ending rather than having a clear denouement. In some others, the twist and ending felt rushed, especially after the meticulous set-up of the "normal" part of the story.
Overall:
This is an interesting collection of "new weird" stories that skillfully produces the expected unbalanced, strange feeling. Each story's approach is a little different and they reminded me of episodes from that old television series "The Twilight Zone".
Elements I liked:
The descriptions of the world we know are detailed and well-done, providing a great set-up for the parts that are "off". There's some lovely phrasing, such as "a mental image sketched from the dust of memory". The eeriness absolutely seeps through each story and gives a delightful little shiver to the spine.
Elements I struggled with:
A few stories felt unfinished - just ending rather than having a clear denouement. In some others, the twist and ending felt rushed, especially after the meticulous set-up of the "normal" part of the story.
Overall:
This is an interesting collection of "new weird" stories that skillfully produces the expected unbalanced, strange feeling. Each story's approach is a little different and they reminded me of episodes from that old television series "The Twilight Zone".
June 22, 2023
The comparisons to Shirley Jackson and Robert Aickman are apt. If you like eerie stories with well-constructed narratives, then you will enjoy this book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews