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The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories
In this small but perfectly formed collection of supernatural short stories, bestselling author, Sophie Hannah, takes the comforting scenes of everyday life and imbues them with a frisson of fear. Why is a young woman so unnerved by the presence of a visitors book in her boyfriend’s inner-city home? And whose spidery handwriting is it that fills the pages? Who is the strangely courteous boy still lingering at a child’s tenth birthday party when all the parents have gathered their children and left? And why does the presence of a perfectly ordinary woman in a post office queue leave another customer pallid and quaking with fear?
106 pages, ebook
First published October 21, 2015
40 people are currently reading
468 people want to read
About the author
Sophie Hannah
107 books4,570 followersSophie Hannah is an internationally bestselling writer of psychological crime fiction, published in 27 countries. In 2013, her latest novel, The Carrier, won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Specsavers National Book Awards. Two of Sophie’s crime novels, The Point of Rescue and The Other Half Lives, have been adapted for television and appeared on ITV1 under the series title Case Sensitive in 2011 and 2012. In 2004, Sophie won first prize in the Daphne Du Maurier Festival Short Story Competition for her suspense story The Octopus Nest, which is now published in her first collection of short stories, The Fantastic Book of Everybody’s Secrets.
Sophie has also published five collections of poetry. Her fifth, Pessimism for Beginners, was shortlisted for the 2007 T S Eliot Award. Her poetry is studied at GCSE, A-level and degree level across the UK. From 1997 to 1999 she was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge, and between 1999 and 2001 she was a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. She is forty-one and lives with her husband and children in Cambridge, where she is a Fellow Commoner at Lucy Cavendish College. She is currently working on a new challenge for the little grey cells of Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s famous detective.
Sophie has also published five collections of poetry. Her fifth, Pessimism for Beginners, was shortlisted for the 2007 T S Eliot Award. Her poetry is studied at GCSE, A-level and degree level across the UK. From 1997 to 1999 she was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge, and between 1999 and 2001 she was a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. She is forty-one and lives with her husband and children in Cambridge, where she is a Fellow Commoner at Lucy Cavendish College. She is currently working on a new challenge for the little grey cells of Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s famous detective.
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January 14, 2025
I read this book by accident. Some of the best discoveries of authors who are new to me happen that way. Sadly, this is not one of those occasions. The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories by Sophie Hannah, published in 2015, was a disappointment.
I could have left well alone, but I like a good ghost story, and when three ghost stories were read on the radio, in the dark chilly depths of an English winter, it was too good to miss. The first seemed OK, but a bit dull. Little did I know that it would be the best of the bunch. The second made both my husband and I look at each other with equally puzzled expressions. Was that it? The third was even more dreary - but calamity! The end of the recording was missing! I couldn’t stand not hearing the ending (even though we both felt sure we knew what it would be). I would have to get a hard copy of the book.
The first surprise was how small it was. Comments made it plain that its selling point that it was a “compact book”, or even a “great little handbag book”! Why this should be adjudged a good reason for reading a book I have no idea - nor do I understand why I am expected to carry such a thing as a handbag. Opening this dinky little book I saw wide margins, extra blank pages, generous space between the lines of print. I had expected maybe ten stories in the collection, judging by the length of those I had read. There were just four. The book is less than 100 pages long (106 actually, but it starts on page 11). Of course this must all be for ease of reading mustn’t it? There can’t be any other reason, surely?
So I began again with the first story I had heard, the title story “The Visitors Book”. Interestingly, the inside cover is designed to look like a visitors book, and set out with columns headed, “Name, Address, Arrival, Departure, Comments”. A little confusing, but a neat enough gimmick. On to the story. It is written from the viewpoint of a young upper middle class woman, Victoria Scase. On going to her boyfriend, Aaron’s house for the first time, she is taken aback to be presented with a visitors book that he has in the hall, which he is extremely keen for her to sign.
Victoria comes from a big mansion in the country, a home which has a history, so why should this unnerve her so? But it does, and she refuses, saying that it is ridiculous.
“‘You think I’ve got ideas above my station’ says Aaron, ‘You’re wrong’”
Victoria is not a snob, and keeps reiterating that fact, but ... Aaron lives in a perfectly ordinary two-bedroomed house in Walthamstow, a district of London which is not known for its affluence. The house has no particular heritage. The more she refuses, the more insistent and intense he becomes. Does she really know him at all? What keep coming back to her is the defensiveness and horror she feels at being accused of snobbery.
Eventually Victoria walks off in disgust. Yet the absurdity of the idea keeps returning to her. “Netterden”. That’s what he called the house, and she can remember some of the previous entries in the visitors book too. She decides to follow it up a little.
“Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again …Manderley, in the novel, is a vast country estate. Would Rebecca have become a classic if Maxim De Winter had lived in a two-bedroomed terrace in in Walthamstow? No, it would not. Mrs Danvers would have had to sleep in the second bedroom. A stone’s throw from the first; she’d have heard her boss and his new wife having sex through the partition wall.”
This paragraph on “Manderley” from “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier indicates Sophie Hannah’s ability for dark humour, although I am suspicious of its inclusion, as if the author is piggybacking, attempting to create a gothic feel by reminding us of this far more established and successful work.
The story involves a tragedy; there is a violent history. There are shades, and suggested ghosts, and although the ending is not very original - in fact it has echoes of many classic ghost stories - it is quite creepy and the whole is quite well played out as an exercise in tension.
The second story is called “The Last Boy to Leave”. It is about a child, Max’s tenth birthday party, which the boy’s mother, Jen, has decided to host herself. Another domestic setting, another old chestnut about how hopeless and illogical men are. Greg, the husband, has his nose in a newspaper and is basically useless, whereas the narrator, our heroine, is of course supremely competent and much maligned. Sigh. Fodder for a certain type of women’s magazine.
All this is by the by, of course, although I did find it very tiresome in a so-called “ghost story”. The title references what should be the focus of the story, the fact that one boy whom she hadn’t really noticed, Oliver, stays longer than planned, and even after quite a long time, still has not been picked up by his parents. He is polite, courteous, almost unnaturally well-mannered - and now she comes to think of it, she had never noticed him before the party itself. This shouts out the ending. Very hackneyed, this one.
Ordinary people leading ordinary lives, who experience something terrifying, can be the basis for unsettling chilling fiction, but here the balance is wrong. There is too much humdrum domesticity, too much of the protesting female, and too much attempt at slapstick humour. It has been done better by other authors.
The third story is called “Justified True Belief”. It starts,
“The second thing I notice about the woman waiting to cross the road is that the roots of her teeth are visible and blackened where they meet the gum. I see them clearly as she talks; dark flashes in her pink mouth. She hasn’t noticed that the green man is illuminated. Her friend has, but doesn’t want to interrupt. Both are smartly dressed, with laminated name badges on strings around their necks. I can’t read their names. The friend, the listener, is considerably more attractive. How could she not be, when the speaking woman is a ghost?
Which was the first thing I noticed about her.”
The female narrator, Suzie, has started to see ghosts in the street. The question she wants to ask is, why? Will people say it is a panic attack? Or clinical depression? Of course the first thing she does when she gets home is to tell her husband. Bad move. She must have forgotten for the moment that she is in a book like this, a “let’s affirm that we’re powerful, superior, all women together” sort of book. Of course her husband does not believe her, or even listen properly. He is sarcastic and mocking, impatiently reminding her that she has (apparently) thought deluded thoughts before. She is just being crazy. Of course he reacts like this. All the men in this books are either selfish or moronic.
“Arguing helps. Annoyance and frustration have started to push the dread, slowly, out of the way.”
Indeed they have. Not only for Suzie, but also for the reader. Any little frisson of fear, any sense of uneasiness or dread has now completely dissipated, overwhelmed yet again by humdrum domestic dullness. It’s not even claustrophobic, this family squabbling, and it seems so routine for the characters that it has no tension either.
Suzie has a pain in her neck. Both these two are a pain in the neck.
The story rescues itself when we have a second sighting (apologies for another pun!) in a post office queue. Our heroine engages the second ghost in conversation, though he is pallid and quaking with fear. She learns something ... interesting. The reader is hooked. Suzie begins to have a theory, and visits a brain specialist to find out more. Again the ending is predictable, but slightly more chilling than the previous two. Slightly more hysterical too.
With the final tale, “All the Dead Mothers of My Daughter’s Friends”, we slip even lower in the scary ghost story ratings. The most terrifying thing about this is the title. There you have it, the explanation.
If you view it as a skit, a macabre parody of middle-class, smug, yuppie mothers, then it succeeds better. The viewpoint character is a mother, Mel, who is standing outside the school gates, waiting for her daughter to come out of school. Another mother approaches her, introducing herself as “Lisa Paskin”. She seems to embody bitchiness and snide remarks. Mel herself does not feel part of the “in crowd” of mums, but neither is she drawn to this unpleasant sarcastic stranger, who revels in mocking the rest of the waiting mums. It does however have darkly funny moments. There is one mum who posts pictures of her spoilt daughter “Gracie” on Instagram. Of course these two both get their come-uppance, in a wickedly vindictive little scene.
Basically the story goes on for far too long. The viewpoint character loses credibility. If she really were so ordinary, she would have backed well away from the vicious new “friend” fairly near the beginning of the story. I am not engaged by these clones, not by those whose delight in life is to show them up for what they are. They are not drawn with enough wit to make the reader interested. Perhaps this appeals a little more to those who feel themselves trapped by the seemingly unending cycle of the “school run”. Certainly it would then provide a nice fantasy, and be easier to identify with the mischievous sadistic “what if”s in the story. As it is, the satirical elements are just too underplayed.
The interest in the story starts with the final scene. Until then it has been boringly routine - an attempt at a witty description of the scheming and bitchiness which goes on daily at some school gates, with hints of better things to follow. But the story is far too mumsy to be at all sinister.
The author, Sophie Hannah, has published psychological crime fiction novels, short stories and poetry. Her most famous work to date has been a revival of Agatha Christie’s character, Hercule Poirot, in “The Monogram Murders”. She is a successful author, and I so feel I should read something else, in the hope that this slim collection is atypical. But The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories left me underwhelmed, and also feeling rather short-changed. Why my library chose to categorise it as “Horror”, complete with a sticker of a horned devil on the spine, I have no idea. They might more accurately have classed it as “Humour”, as it does have darkly humorous moments. Nor is it truly ghost stories (although to be fair most writers would find it difficult to base a ghost story around the school run).
Sophie Hannah gives more than a nod to many classic ghost stories, and many readers may feel that her characters are very believable, and familiar types to them from their own lives. However, the stories are not particularly scary, which seems a basic prerequisite to me for a ghost story. They may incorporate a few supernatural elements, or have a paranormal hint here and there, but nothing very sinister, nothing to crank up the suspense. They are reasonably well written but they do not even begin to approach the chill inculcated by such masters of the genre as M.R. James, E.F. Benson, Edith Nesbit and so on.
She is said to write novels about the archetypal Everywoman plunged into a nightmare situation. I’m not at all sure what an “archetypal Everywoman” is, personally. To me, this book could be described as “chicklit with creepy elements”. If you like the genre, and want to pass at most a couple of hours with a quick easy read, then perhaps you might enjoy this book. Otherwise though, I wouldn’t bother. They are not gripping, as supernatural stories should be. I got bored with them, and fed up with always guessing the endings.
A couple of times as we listened, we glanced at each other, both wanting to ask “Is that it? What was the point of that one then?” Reading them on the page was no better.
I could have left well alone, but I like a good ghost story, and when three ghost stories were read on the radio, in the dark chilly depths of an English winter, it was too good to miss. The first seemed OK, but a bit dull. Little did I know that it would be the best of the bunch. The second made both my husband and I look at each other with equally puzzled expressions. Was that it? The third was even more dreary - but calamity! The end of the recording was missing! I couldn’t stand not hearing the ending (even though we both felt sure we knew what it would be). I would have to get a hard copy of the book.
The first surprise was how small it was. Comments made it plain that its selling point that it was a “compact book”, or even a “great little handbag book”! Why this should be adjudged a good reason for reading a book I have no idea - nor do I understand why I am expected to carry such a thing as a handbag. Opening this dinky little book I saw wide margins, extra blank pages, generous space between the lines of print. I had expected maybe ten stories in the collection, judging by the length of those I had read. There were just four. The book is less than 100 pages long (106 actually, but it starts on page 11). Of course this must all be for ease of reading mustn’t it? There can’t be any other reason, surely?
So I began again with the first story I had heard, the title story “The Visitors Book”. Interestingly, the inside cover is designed to look like a visitors book, and set out with columns headed, “Name, Address, Arrival, Departure, Comments”. A little confusing, but a neat enough gimmick. On to the story. It is written from the viewpoint of a young upper middle class woman, Victoria Scase. On going to her boyfriend, Aaron’s house for the first time, she is taken aback to be presented with a visitors book that he has in the hall, which he is extremely keen for her to sign.
Victoria comes from a big mansion in the country, a home which has a history, so why should this unnerve her so? But it does, and she refuses, saying that it is ridiculous.
“‘You think I’ve got ideas above my station’ says Aaron, ‘You’re wrong’”
Victoria is not a snob, and keeps reiterating that fact, but ... Aaron lives in a perfectly ordinary two-bedroomed house in Walthamstow, a district of London which is not known for its affluence. The house has no particular heritage. The more she refuses, the more insistent and intense he becomes. Does she really know him at all? What keep coming back to her is the defensiveness and horror she feels at being accused of snobbery.
Eventually Victoria walks off in disgust. Yet the absurdity of the idea keeps returning to her. “Netterden”. That’s what he called the house, and she can remember some of the previous entries in the visitors book too. She decides to follow it up a little.
“Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again …Manderley, in the novel, is a vast country estate. Would Rebecca have become a classic if Maxim De Winter had lived in a two-bedroomed terrace in in Walthamstow? No, it would not. Mrs Danvers would have had to sleep in the second bedroom. A stone’s throw from the first; she’d have heard her boss and his new wife having sex through the partition wall.”
This paragraph on “Manderley” from “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier indicates Sophie Hannah’s ability for dark humour, although I am suspicious of its inclusion, as if the author is piggybacking, attempting to create a gothic feel by reminding us of this far more established and successful work.
The story involves a tragedy; there is a violent history. There are shades, and suggested ghosts, and although the ending is not very original - in fact it has echoes of many classic ghost stories - it is quite creepy and the whole is quite well played out as an exercise in tension.
The second story is called “The Last Boy to Leave”. It is about a child, Max’s tenth birthday party, which the boy’s mother, Jen, has decided to host herself. Another domestic setting, another old chestnut about how hopeless and illogical men are. Greg, the husband, has his nose in a newspaper and is basically useless, whereas the narrator, our heroine, is of course supremely competent and much maligned. Sigh. Fodder for a certain type of women’s magazine.
All this is by the by, of course, although I did find it very tiresome in a so-called “ghost story”. The title references what should be the focus of the story, the fact that one boy whom she hadn’t really noticed, Oliver, stays longer than planned, and even after quite a long time, still has not been picked up by his parents. He is polite, courteous, almost unnaturally well-mannered - and now she comes to think of it, she had never noticed him before the party itself. This shouts out the ending. Very hackneyed, this one.
Ordinary people leading ordinary lives, who experience something terrifying, can be the basis for unsettling chilling fiction, but here the balance is wrong. There is too much humdrum domesticity, too much of the protesting female, and too much attempt at slapstick humour. It has been done better by other authors.
The third story is called “Justified True Belief”. It starts,
“The second thing I notice about the woman waiting to cross the road is that the roots of her teeth are visible and blackened where they meet the gum. I see them clearly as she talks; dark flashes in her pink mouth. She hasn’t noticed that the green man is illuminated. Her friend has, but doesn’t want to interrupt. Both are smartly dressed, with laminated name badges on strings around their necks. I can’t read their names. The friend, the listener, is considerably more attractive. How could she not be, when the speaking woman is a ghost?
Which was the first thing I noticed about her.”
The female narrator, Suzie, has started to see ghosts in the street. The question she wants to ask is, why? Will people say it is a panic attack? Or clinical depression? Of course the first thing she does when she gets home is to tell her husband. Bad move. She must have forgotten for the moment that she is in a book like this, a “let’s affirm that we’re powerful, superior, all women together” sort of book. Of course her husband does not believe her, or even listen properly. He is sarcastic and mocking, impatiently reminding her that she has (apparently) thought deluded thoughts before. She is just being crazy. Of course he reacts like this. All the men in this books are either selfish or moronic.
“Arguing helps. Annoyance and frustration have started to push the dread, slowly, out of the way.”
Indeed they have. Not only for Suzie, but also for the reader. Any little frisson of fear, any sense of uneasiness or dread has now completely dissipated, overwhelmed yet again by humdrum domestic dullness. It’s not even claustrophobic, this family squabbling, and it seems so routine for the characters that it has no tension either.
Suzie has a pain in her neck. Both these two are a pain in the neck.
The story rescues itself when we have a second sighting (apologies for another pun!) in a post office queue. Our heroine engages the second ghost in conversation, though he is pallid and quaking with fear. She learns something ... interesting. The reader is hooked. Suzie begins to have a theory, and visits a brain specialist to find out more. Again the ending is predictable, but slightly more chilling than the previous two. Slightly more hysterical too.
With the final tale, “All the Dead Mothers of My Daughter’s Friends”, we slip even lower in the scary ghost story ratings. The most terrifying thing about this is the title. There you have it, the explanation.
If you view it as a skit, a macabre parody of middle-class, smug, yuppie mothers, then it succeeds better. The viewpoint character is a mother, Mel, who is standing outside the school gates, waiting for her daughter to come out of school. Another mother approaches her, introducing herself as “Lisa Paskin”. She seems to embody bitchiness and snide remarks. Mel herself does not feel part of the “in crowd” of mums, but neither is she drawn to this unpleasant sarcastic stranger, who revels in mocking the rest of the waiting mums. It does however have darkly funny moments. There is one mum who posts pictures of her spoilt daughter “Gracie” on Instagram. Of course these two both get their come-uppance, in a wickedly vindictive little scene.
Basically the story goes on for far too long. The viewpoint character loses credibility. If she really were so ordinary, she would have backed well away from the vicious new “friend” fairly near the beginning of the story. I am not engaged by these clones, not by those whose delight in life is to show them up for what they are. They are not drawn with enough wit to make the reader interested. Perhaps this appeals a little more to those who feel themselves trapped by the seemingly unending cycle of the “school run”. Certainly it would then provide a nice fantasy, and be easier to identify with the mischievous sadistic “what if”s in the story. As it is, the satirical elements are just too underplayed.
The interest in the story starts with the final scene. Until then it has been boringly routine - an attempt at a witty description of the scheming and bitchiness which goes on daily at some school gates, with hints of better things to follow. But the story is far too mumsy to be at all sinister.
The author, Sophie Hannah, has published psychological crime fiction novels, short stories and poetry. Her most famous work to date has been a revival of Agatha Christie’s character, Hercule Poirot, in “The Monogram Murders”. She is a successful author, and I so feel I should read something else, in the hope that this slim collection is atypical. But The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories left me underwhelmed, and also feeling rather short-changed. Why my library chose to categorise it as “Horror”, complete with a sticker of a horned devil on the spine, I have no idea. They might more accurately have classed it as “Humour”, as it does have darkly humorous moments. Nor is it truly ghost stories (although to be fair most writers would find it difficult to base a ghost story around the school run).
Sophie Hannah gives more than a nod to many classic ghost stories, and many readers may feel that her characters are very believable, and familiar types to them from their own lives. However, the stories are not particularly scary, which seems a basic prerequisite to me for a ghost story. They may incorporate a few supernatural elements, or have a paranormal hint here and there, but nothing very sinister, nothing to crank up the suspense. They are reasonably well written but they do not even begin to approach the chill inculcated by such masters of the genre as M.R. James, E.F. Benson, Edith Nesbit and so on.
She is said to write novels about the archetypal Everywoman plunged into a nightmare situation. I’m not at all sure what an “archetypal Everywoman” is, personally. To me, this book could be described as “chicklit with creepy elements”. If you like the genre, and want to pass at most a couple of hours with a quick easy read, then perhaps you might enjoy this book. Otherwise though, I wouldn’t bother. They are not gripping, as supernatural stories should be. I got bored with them, and fed up with always guessing the endings.
A couple of times as we listened, we glanced at each other, both wanting to ask “Is that it? What was the point of that one then?” Reading them on the page was no better.
September 2, 2016
Exceedingly clever little snapshots into the terrifying supernatural, precisely and warmly written by with wonderful Sophie Hannah. I think she's actually best for ghost stories. Try 'The Orphan Choir' for another eerie chill.
March 23, 2016
Actual rating 3.5
Within these pages you will find four stories, each with a slightly supernatural twist.
Victoria Scase's boyfriend has a visitors book in his small apartment. A visitors book that bothers her on a level she can't quite understand, but which her boyfriend is challenging her to sign.
The rest of this review can be found HERE!
Within these pages you will find four stories, each with a slightly supernatural twist.
Victoria Scase's boyfriend has a visitors book in his small apartment. A visitors book that bothers her on a level she can't quite understand, but which her boyfriend is challenging her to sign.
He doesn't sound angry. He sounds bored, as if it doesn't matter to him; he'd quite like to win the argument but he isn't emotionally invested in it. It makes me feel uneasy. So does the way he avoids my eye.Jen notices a polite little boy has been left behind after her son Max's birthday party.
Parents began to ring the doorbell again. When they asked if I knew where their particular child was, I forced myself not to say, 'Oh, just take any. There are no individuals here. They've merged to form a rabble.'Suzie starts seeing ghosts one day. But maybe they're not really ghosts, because other people seem to see them but be unafraid of them...
They cross the street. The hem of the ghost's coat touches my car as she passes. Neither woman looks at me through the windscreen; I only realise I was afraid they would - afraid she would - once it hasn't happened.And Mel finds a confidant on the edge of the school oval; another mother who hates the rest of the mothers as much as she does, a woman who talks about ghosts and encourages Mel to mess with the other women.
Julie sighs heavily. 'Don't be thick, Mel. With cremation, the ashes are scattered and that's it, job done. With burial, there's a grave to be visited and tended week after week, year after year. There's a ... a site that needs to be maintained.'
Did I hear a note of pride in Julie's voice? Is she actively looking forward to being a high-maintenance cadaver?
The rest of this review can be found HERE!
December 16, 2016
This is a collection of four short (really short) stories.
In "The Visitors Book" our narrator has a philosophical argument with her boyfriend about the pretentiousness of his visitors book. But why is it so important to him?
In "The Last Boy to Leave" Jen and Greg host a birthday party for their son in their family home. But after all the guests have left, one boy remains. Where are his parents?
In "Justified True Belief" Suzie suffers from bad neck pain and thinks she's seen a ghost. Are the two related?
In "All the Dead Mothers of My Daughter's Friends" Mel has an unusual encounter with Lisa outside their daughters' school. Do you know the difference between a daytime ghost and a nighttime ghost? You'll find out here.
All of the stories have a common thread, though I can't say what it is for fear of giving too much away. They are all eerie, suspenseful, and give you a feeling of dread as you read them. They will also keep you guessing until the very end.
My only complaint: I just wish this collection was a little longer.
I received this book in return for an honest review.
Full blog post (16 December): https://booksdirectonline.blogspot.co...
In "The Visitors Book" our narrator has a philosophical argument with her boyfriend about the pretentiousness of his visitors book. But why is it so important to him?
In "The Last Boy to Leave" Jen and Greg host a birthday party for their son in their family home. But after all the guests have left, one boy remains. Where are his parents?
In "Justified True Belief" Suzie suffers from bad neck pain and thinks she's seen a ghost. Are the two related?
In "All the Dead Mothers of My Daughter's Friends" Mel has an unusual encounter with Lisa outside their daughters' school. Do you know the difference between a daytime ghost and a nighttime ghost? You'll find out here.
All of the stories have a common thread, though I can't say what it is for fear of giving too much away. They are all eerie, suspenseful, and give you a feeling of dread as you read them. They will also keep you guessing until the very end.
My only complaint: I just wish this collection was a little longer.
I received this book in return for an honest review.
Full blog post (16 December): https://booksdirectonline.blogspot.co...
May 8, 2024
I really enjoyed these short and sweet ghost stories; each one better than the last.
The first, the title story had a twist at the end that, while I guessed what it would be, was very well executed.
The last story was my favourite though, and definitely the scariest of the four.
While somewhat predictable, each story was a brilliant blend of comedy and horror, and the writing style is engaging and light.
I'd been wanting to read more Sophie Hannah after loving Haven't They Grown, and this collection of ghost stories didn't disappoint.
The Visitors Book can easily be read in a single sitting, which is a nice change after some of the longer books I've been reading recently.
The first, the title story had a twist at the end that, while I guessed what it would be, was very well executed.
The last story was my favourite though, and definitely the scariest of the four.
While somewhat predictable, each story was a brilliant blend of comedy and horror, and the writing style is engaging and light.
I'd been wanting to read more Sophie Hannah after loving Haven't They Grown, and this collection of ghost stories didn't disappoint.
The Visitors Book can easily be read in a single sitting, which is a nice change after some of the longer books I've been reading recently.
December 31, 2015
Some of the stories enjoyed but the others was on the fence about but overall enjoyed the ghost/thriller of the whole book
October 1, 2022
The key to an effective ghost story often lies in a satisfying ending. I could not find this in any of the tales in The Visitors Book.
Sophie Hannah is primarily known as a crime fiction writer. I do not know why she penned this small collection of spooky short stories but I feel it was misjudged. Her writing style is clear and her dialogue is readable but she consistently fails to create the creeping atmosphere one expects from ghost stories. More often than not these tales sprinkle slight details in the beginning and middle and then cram the more significant context into an overburdened ending. A lot of previous ghost stories keep important information back until the ending but not in the way that Hannah does here. It usually reads like the tale's conclusion has caught her off-guard.
I wonder if she had a set page limit ahead of writing this collection. If Hannah had added a dozen extra pages to each tale, there would be a chance to get the most out of the unreliable narrators and really explore the uncanny realisation of their being haunted. However, as it stands, the stories of The Visitors Book seem leisurely in their set-up and rushed in their resolution.
The themes and plots of the tales are fine, often featuring disorientated female protagonists, their incredulous male partners and well-dressed ghosts. Each premise had potential but these were unfortunately fumbled by uneven plotting and strange cut-offs. I only hope that Hannah puts more thought into her terrestrial mysteries.
I can't really recommend The Visitors Book but suspect that it might intrigue those who enjoy Hannah's crime fiction and want to sample how she handles another genre entirely.
Notable Stories
• The Last Boy to Leave – with a thorough edit, this tale of an exhausting children’s party might have earned its spooky twist.
• Justified True Belief – if framed through the Gettier problem, this tale about irrational belief could have been fascinating.
Sophie Hannah is primarily known as a crime fiction writer. I do not know why she penned this small collection of spooky short stories but I feel it was misjudged. Her writing style is clear and her dialogue is readable but she consistently fails to create the creeping atmosphere one expects from ghost stories. More often than not these tales sprinkle slight details in the beginning and middle and then cram the more significant context into an overburdened ending. A lot of previous ghost stories keep important information back until the ending but not in the way that Hannah does here. It usually reads like the tale's conclusion has caught her off-guard.
I wonder if she had a set page limit ahead of writing this collection. If Hannah had added a dozen extra pages to each tale, there would be a chance to get the most out of the unreliable narrators and really explore the uncanny realisation of their being haunted. However, as it stands, the stories of The Visitors Book seem leisurely in their set-up and rushed in their resolution.
The themes and plots of the tales are fine, often featuring disorientated female protagonists, their incredulous male partners and well-dressed ghosts. Each premise had potential but these were unfortunately fumbled by uneven plotting and strange cut-offs. I only hope that Hannah puts more thought into her terrestrial mysteries.
I can't really recommend The Visitors Book but suspect that it might intrigue those who enjoy Hannah's crime fiction and want to sample how she handles another genre entirely.
Notable Stories
• The Last Boy to Leave – with a thorough edit, this tale of an exhausting children’s party might have earned its spooky twist.
• Justified True Belief – if framed through the Gettier problem, this tale about irrational belief could have been fascinating.
January 6, 2016
An incredibly quick read, all four are short ghost stories, nothing special or memorable.
July 28, 2020
1 lonely, ghostly star.
Sophie Hannah is the author of three brand new Agatha Christie novels, and being such a Christie fan, I am eagerly anticipating reading them.
Whilst in the library, I spotted this little book by her, comprising of 4 (VERY) short ghost stories, and seeing as ghost stories are also right up my street I decided to indulge.
The 4 ghost stories contained wherein are:
The Visitor's Book
The Last Boy To Leave
Justified True Belief
All The Dead Mothers of My Daughter's Friends
In this order I will rate them:
1 Star
2 Stars
1 Star
1 Star
Not a fantastic result there then.
In the first two stories, the author seems obsessed with money? The first story revolves around a couple who are at loggerheads over the perceived 'snobbery' that the main character is displaying. This theme is drummed in, with the scrutiny of class, and wealth, and the main issue in hand - the Visitor's Book itself. The Main Character refuses to sign the Visitor's Book for some unknown reason, and this forms the main storyline of the story. Not for many pages though as this truly is a short story, being only about a chapter long. The story seemed pointless, and I couldnt quite follow - why would someone refusing to sign a book be such an issue? The whole story felt odd. Then the ending just arrives. Just like that in a few sentences and that's that. Overall the reader is left thinking "WTF? Is that it?"
The second story follows much the same vein - an over friendly mother desperate to show off her wealth (or afraid to be seen to be showing off her wealth), who throws a birthday party for her child.
Both stories felt like the only person making an issue out of the wealth of her characters was the author, and that felt weird.
The third and fourth story were just so awful, and were just so short there wasnt really room to create a time, place and situation before the ending came - which felt rushed and deliberately dramatic in stark contrast to the lack of drama in the story preceding it.
Im really disappointed not to have enjoyed this book, not just because I really like short stories, and ghost stories....but because I really wanted more from this author. I hope that her writing is vastly improved in the Agatha Christie remakes.
Sophie Hannah is the author of three brand new Agatha Christie novels, and being such a Christie fan, I am eagerly anticipating reading them.
Whilst in the library, I spotted this little book by her, comprising of 4 (VERY) short ghost stories, and seeing as ghost stories are also right up my street I decided to indulge.
The 4 ghost stories contained wherein are:
The Visitor's Book
The Last Boy To Leave
Justified True Belief
All The Dead Mothers of My Daughter's Friends
In this order I will rate them:
1 Star
2 Stars
1 Star
1 Star
Not a fantastic result there then.
In the first two stories, the author seems obsessed with money? The first story revolves around a couple who are at loggerheads over the perceived 'snobbery' that the main character is displaying. This theme is drummed in, with the scrutiny of class, and wealth, and the main issue in hand - the Visitor's Book itself. The Main Character refuses to sign the Visitor's Book for some unknown reason, and this forms the main storyline of the story. Not for many pages though as this truly is a short story, being only about a chapter long. The story seemed pointless, and I couldnt quite follow - why would someone refusing to sign a book be such an issue? The whole story felt odd. Then the ending just arrives. Just like that in a few sentences and that's that. Overall the reader is left thinking "WTF? Is that it?"
The second story follows much the same vein - an over friendly mother desperate to show off her wealth (or afraid to be seen to be showing off her wealth), who throws a birthday party for her child.
Both stories felt like the only person making an issue out of the wealth of her characters was the author, and that felt weird.
The third and fourth story were just so awful, and were just so short there wasnt really room to create a time, place and situation before the ending came - which felt rushed and deliberately dramatic in stark contrast to the lack of drama in the story preceding it.
Im really disappointed not to have enjoyed this book, not just because I really like short stories, and ghost stories....but because I really wanted more from this author. I hope that her writing is vastly improved in the Agatha Christie remakes.
December 10, 2015
Love Sophie Hannah. Love these stories. Real gems.
August 5, 2017
Bof... pas terrible ; je suis déçue et ce n'est pas encore avec ce livre-là que je suis convaincue du talent de Sophie Hannah. La première nouvelle, après un démarrage long et limite ennuyant, est bien. La seconde m'a pas mal plus aussi malgré une fin abrupte. Les deux dernières ne m'ont pas du tout plu.
February 14, 2024
I liked the writing style/voice of the book, but it wasn't enough for me to enjoy the short stories. They were too short and had little to no plot. It was a book full of nothingness.
December 9, 2016
4.5 Stars
'The Visitors Book' is a deliciously creepy collection of short stories that readers will devour in a matter of hours. I normally don't read short stories because it never feels like enough time to really develop deep characters or intricate plot lines - especially since some of my favorite genres are thrillers and mysteries. There never seems to be the right amount of space to give these kinds of stories the scope they deserve, in my opinion. I decided to give this collection a try simply because I've read some of the author's other books and loved them. I'm so glad that I did - they were well worth it!
Each one had fascinating characters and intense story lines that had me hooked from the very beginning. Sure, they would have each made amazing full novels in themselves, but they managed to work as short stories as well - which I honestly wasn't anticipating. I loved that I could read one story at a time, in between my hectic schedule, and not be worried about forgetting where I was at or what was happening in the story wherever I happened to leave off. That was another huge plus for me while reading this collection - and yet another happy surprise that I figured would actually turn me off about them.
The author has a phenomenal talent which shines through even in these short stories, and makes me only want to read more of her other works. I definitely recommend this author for fans of the genre - and this fantastic book for readers who, like me, love thrillers and mysteries but are a little low on time for a full length novel!
Disclosure: I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
'The Visitors Book' is a deliciously creepy collection of short stories that readers will devour in a matter of hours. I normally don't read short stories because it never feels like enough time to really develop deep characters or intricate plot lines - especially since some of my favorite genres are thrillers and mysteries. There never seems to be the right amount of space to give these kinds of stories the scope they deserve, in my opinion. I decided to give this collection a try simply because I've read some of the author's other books and loved them. I'm so glad that I did - they were well worth it!
Each one had fascinating characters and intense story lines that had me hooked from the very beginning. Sure, they would have each made amazing full novels in themselves, but they managed to work as short stories as well - which I honestly wasn't anticipating. I loved that I could read one story at a time, in between my hectic schedule, and not be worried about forgetting where I was at or what was happening in the story wherever I happened to leave off. That was another huge plus for me while reading this collection - and yet another happy surprise that I figured would actually turn me off about them.
The author has a phenomenal talent which shines through even in these short stories, and makes me only want to read more of her other works. I definitely recommend this author for fans of the genre - and this fantastic book for readers who, like me, love thrillers and mysteries but are a little low on time for a full length novel!
Disclosure: I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
June 11, 2016
A good collection of short stories, I can't wait to read more from this author :)
August 10, 2016
This was a neat little gem, beautifully presented, and each story gave me the shivers. Perfect for a public holiday full of reading time.
August 17, 2016
Short quite chilling book
September 19, 2017
I'm giving up as I put this collection down a while ago and haven't felt the urge to pick it up again. I normally enjoy short stories but these felt like there was something missing from them.
October 11, 2024
The short story of the title name felt like a reverse ghost story and I enjoyed the sudden eeriness of it.
Justified True belief, the 3rd story, was slow to get into but once it clicked, I thought it was a great piece of spooky, sciencey fiction.
The other two stories were eery and clever in their execution but not as stand out as the two mentioned.
Overall, Hannah perfectly lulled me into a sense of security before building up an uncomfortable atmosphere that made me feel haunted.
All of the stories showed a level of intelligence and realism that left me wondering how the spooky, ghostly aspect would be implemented then BAM there you are, and I liked that.
It was a lovely taste of Sophie Hannah's writing style, particularly her creepy stories, but ultimately I don't think it's a collection that will stay with me indefinitely on the whole.
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy!
Justified True belief, the 3rd story, was slow to get into but once it clicked, I thought it was a great piece of spooky, sciencey fiction.
The other two stories were eery and clever in their execution but not as stand out as the two mentioned.
Overall, Hannah perfectly lulled me into a sense of security before building up an uncomfortable atmosphere that made me feel haunted.
All of the stories showed a level of intelligence and realism that left me wondering how the spooky, ghostly aspect would be implemented then BAM there you are, and I liked that.
It was a lovely taste of Sophie Hannah's writing style, particularly her creepy stories, but ultimately I don't think it's a collection that will stay with me indefinitely on the whole.
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy!
January 2, 2022
I didn't really enjoy the first two short stories, the first one didn't really work as a short format for me, and the second was a tad obvious though interesting. I'm glad I didn't give up though as I thoroughly enjoyed the third and fourth stories and they will stay with me for some time, especially the difference between 'day ghosts' and 'night ghosts'.
It would have been a two star book without the later stories for me, but now I will try more of this authors work.
It would have been a two star book without the later stories for me, but now I will try more of this authors work.
January 8, 2020
Quick quirky stories ... I've read some other books from this author so thought I would give these a go! Not my cuppa, but I don't read many short stories.
May 25, 2025
Sophie Hannah can tell a good story. This short collection of ghost stories are OK but the endings can be a bit lacking and rushed. Not a bad collection but not her best work.
January 11, 2016
A good ghost story is hard to find, and a truly chilling contemporary ghost story near impossible. Ironically, in Michelle de Krester’s Springtime: A Ghost Story (Allen and Unwin, 2014), a character explains that we are, in fact, post-ghost:
"Do you know this idea that electricity put an end to ghost stories? People stopped seeing ghosts when rooms were properly lit … The way stories were written changed around that time. Ghost stories work up to a shock, but the modern form of the short story is different. When a loose, open kind of story came in, writing about ghosts went out."
As a fangirl of all things sinister and spectral, I cannot—will not—accept this. And so I’m always searching for stories that startle and make me afraid to look up from the page for fear of what I may find staring back, for that uncanny twist in the tale that renders the cosy and familiar strange and terrifying. But even I have to admit that the Victorians (and writers who harken back to that era—Susan Hill, John Harwood) rule the genre. Still, I haven’t given up, and when I saw the (utterly gorgeous) cover for Sophie Hannah’s The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories (Sort Of Books, 2015), I was hopeful.
Hannah is a British author best known for her psychological thrillers, and while I love the genre, I’m not familiar with her earlier work. The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories is a slim volume of four short ghost stories: ‘The Visitors Book’, ‘The Last Boy to Leave’, ‘Justified True Belief’ and ‘All the Dead Mothers of My Daughter’s Friends’. While all four are set in contemporary London, they follow the traditional structure of mounting tension that turns on a single effect that Edgar Allan Poe laid out in his definitive essay, ‘On the Importance of the Single Effect in a Prose Tale’ (1847).
With the exception of ‘Justified True Belief’, the stories start with a domestic scene: a couple arguing in an apartment, parents preparing for a child’s birthday party, mothers chatting in the playground while they wait to collect their daughters from school, before the inkling that something’s not right sets in and these scenes of banal domesticity distort into something more sinister. Hannah depicts her ghosts as flesh and blood people, and much of the horror lies in the uncanny flip in perspective as the reader realises that a small child or a woman in an evening gown is not, in fact, a living person but a ghost. However, while Hannah has mastered the art of suspense, she’s working against the fact that the reader knows the stories are ghost stories and is on the lookout for specters. The twists feel inevitable rather than surprising and chilling; although, in Hannah’s defense, each offers a little more than just a ghost.
The exception is ‘Justified True Belief’, which begins with a ghost sighting:
"The second thing I notice about the woman waiting to cross the road is that the roots of her teeth are visible and blackened where they meet the gum. I see them clearly as she talks: dark flashes in her pink mouth. She hasn’t noticed that the green man is illuminated. Her friend has, but doesn’t want to interrupt. Both are smartly dressed, with laminated name badges on strings around their necks. I can’t read their names. The friend, the listener, is considerably more attractive. How could she not be, when the speaking woman is a ghost.
Which was the first thing I noticed about her."
Revealing the ghost in the opening paragraph promises a fresh twist and the story sparks with mounting tension.
I was somewhat underwhelmed by the collection as a whole—I hoped for something innovative and chilling and didn’t find it. But it was worth reading if only to discover Hannah herself. In each story, she works tension into the most pedestrian scenes, her characters are layered and intriguing, and her prose is clean and tight—I’ll be adding her thrillers to my reading list.
Read more Lectito reviews.
"Do you know this idea that electricity put an end to ghost stories? People stopped seeing ghosts when rooms were properly lit … The way stories were written changed around that time. Ghost stories work up to a shock, but the modern form of the short story is different. When a loose, open kind of story came in, writing about ghosts went out."
As a fangirl of all things sinister and spectral, I cannot—will not—accept this. And so I’m always searching for stories that startle and make me afraid to look up from the page for fear of what I may find staring back, for that uncanny twist in the tale that renders the cosy and familiar strange and terrifying. But even I have to admit that the Victorians (and writers who harken back to that era—Susan Hill, John Harwood) rule the genre. Still, I haven’t given up, and when I saw the (utterly gorgeous) cover for Sophie Hannah’s The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories (Sort Of Books, 2015), I was hopeful.
Hannah is a British author best known for her psychological thrillers, and while I love the genre, I’m not familiar with her earlier work. The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories is a slim volume of four short ghost stories: ‘The Visitors Book’, ‘The Last Boy to Leave’, ‘Justified True Belief’ and ‘All the Dead Mothers of My Daughter’s Friends’. While all four are set in contemporary London, they follow the traditional structure of mounting tension that turns on a single effect that Edgar Allan Poe laid out in his definitive essay, ‘On the Importance of the Single Effect in a Prose Tale’ (1847).
With the exception of ‘Justified True Belief’, the stories start with a domestic scene: a couple arguing in an apartment, parents preparing for a child’s birthday party, mothers chatting in the playground while they wait to collect their daughters from school, before the inkling that something’s not right sets in and these scenes of banal domesticity distort into something more sinister. Hannah depicts her ghosts as flesh and blood people, and much of the horror lies in the uncanny flip in perspective as the reader realises that a small child or a woman in an evening gown is not, in fact, a living person but a ghost. However, while Hannah has mastered the art of suspense, she’s working against the fact that the reader knows the stories are ghost stories and is on the lookout for specters. The twists feel inevitable rather than surprising and chilling; although, in Hannah’s defense, each offers a little more than just a ghost.
The exception is ‘Justified True Belief’, which begins with a ghost sighting:
"The second thing I notice about the woman waiting to cross the road is that the roots of her teeth are visible and blackened where they meet the gum. I see them clearly as she talks: dark flashes in her pink mouth. She hasn’t noticed that the green man is illuminated. Her friend has, but doesn’t want to interrupt. Both are smartly dressed, with laminated name badges on strings around their necks. I can’t read their names. The friend, the listener, is considerably more attractive. How could she not be, when the speaking woman is a ghost.
Which was the first thing I noticed about her."
Revealing the ghost in the opening paragraph promises a fresh twist and the story sparks with mounting tension.
I was somewhat underwhelmed by the collection as a whole—I hoped for something innovative and chilling and didn’t find it. But it was worth reading if only to discover Hannah herself. In each story, she works tension into the most pedestrian scenes, her characters are layered and intriguing, and her prose is clean and tight—I’ll be adding her thrillers to my reading list.
Read more Lectito reviews.
September 19, 2017
This was a quick book to get through, with only 4 short stories to read. I liked all of them well enough, although one or two gave me the heebie-jeebies more than the rest. They weren't your typical ghost stories, all of them starting out in normal settings, with people having normal conversations with subtle insertions of ghosts, that you sometimes miss it completely and at other times feel the small hairs at the back of your neck rise.
One such story was the “Last Boy to Leave”, which really played out in a very ordinary manner, with a family celebrating their kid’s birthday at home, but then the mom notices one boy left behind, still waiting for his parents to pick him up. The ghost factor played out so subtly that you finish the story and think, wait…what just happened? Was he or was he not a ghost? I honestly couldn’t tell. It seemed more like a vision the mother was having, but it was never fully clarified in any way and I wasn’t sure how to feel about it.
On the other hand, you have a story like “All the Dead Mothers of My Daughter's Friends”, which really ticks the creepy factor with a cruel ghost taking revenge on a bunch of mothers for no other reason than the fact that she doesn’t like them, or thinks they are too superficial…so she stands outside the school gates with another mother, who is unaware she is speaking to a ghost, making fun of all the other moms. It takes a sinister turn when this mother mentions her at a dinner to the other moms and they are all confused and don’t know who or what she’s talking about. The twist at the end was really good, although I wish there was more to the story.
Overall, I found the general vibe of the book to be entertaining and fun to read.
One such story was the “Last Boy to Leave”, which really played out in a very ordinary manner, with a family celebrating their kid’s birthday at home, but then the mom notices one boy left behind, still waiting for his parents to pick him up. The ghost factor played out so subtly that you finish the story and think, wait…what just happened? Was he or was he not a ghost? I honestly couldn’t tell. It seemed more like a vision the mother was having, but it was never fully clarified in any way and I wasn’t sure how to feel about it.
On the other hand, you have a story like “All the Dead Mothers of My Daughter's Friends”, which really ticks the creepy factor with a cruel ghost taking revenge on a bunch of mothers for no other reason than the fact that she doesn’t like them, or thinks they are too superficial…so she stands outside the school gates with another mother, who is unaware she is speaking to a ghost, making fun of all the other moms. It takes a sinister turn when this mother mentions her at a dinner to the other moms and they are all confused and don’t know who or what she’s talking about. The twist at the end was really good, although I wish there was more to the story.
Overall, I found the general vibe of the book to be entertaining and fun to read.
December 22, 2019
Just shy of 3 stars
A friend told me about Sophie Hannah, and I decided to start with short stories. I am not entirely certain that I should have. I used to adore reading short stories, but as of late, I find myself wanting more -- feeling that they're cut short.
Such is the case with The Visitor's Book. Hannah's stories are great in concept, but the short story does not seem to do them justice.
While I skipped the two excepts, I plan to read them in full, as I like her writing style.
A friend told me about Sophie Hannah, and I decided to start with short stories. I am not entirely certain that I should have. I used to adore reading short stories, but as of late, I find myself wanting more -- feeling that they're cut short.
Such is the case with The Visitor's Book. Hannah's stories are great in concept, but the short story does not seem to do them justice.
While I skipped the two excepts, I plan to read them in full, as I like her writing style.
March 31, 2017
I found this book a bit hit and miss to be honest. A couple of the stories I really loved and some of the others left me scratching my head wondering what I had just read. I think that The Visitors Book story was the best one in the book. It was a really quick read although I did give up on the last story.
June 5, 2016
A great collection of paranormal short stories, very enjoyable. Each story had a likeable protagonist, and I liked that they took place in a realm of possibility - making them that little bit more creepy! I enjoyed them all but especially "All the Dead Mothers of my Daughter's Friends" - I gasped out loud at the end - didn't see that coming at all!
January 31, 2016
A quick read with four short ghost stories. They were ok.
July 2, 2016
Creepy, quick read. My favourite story being 'All The Dead Mothers Of My Daughter's Friends' closely followed by 'Justified True Belief'
September 26, 2016
Nice spooky short stories. Great bedtime reading. Or not.
December 27, 2021
Christ, bore me to death why don't you?
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