What do you think?
Rate this book
The Empty House
Strange creatures and supernatural elements abound in this collection of stories. From exploring an empty house with dreadful secrets to the account of an eccentric children’s ayah and from vengeful animals carrying a spirit to a bunch of anxious children in a stark landscape—these are some of the most interesting stories about the supernatural. Selected and compiled by Ruskin Bond, this collection includes stories by authors like Rudyard Kipling, Algernon Blackwood, R.L. Stevenson and Alice Perrin, among others.
- GenresHorrorShort Stories
162 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2016
145 people are currently reading
190 people want to read
About the author
Ruskin Bond
680 books3,560 followersRuskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent. He is considered to be an icon among Indian writers and children's authors and a top novelist. He wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof, when he was seventeen which won John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then he has written several novellas, over 500 short stories, as well as various essays and poems, all of which have established him as one of the best-loved and most admired chroniclers of contemporary India. In 1992 he received the Sahitya Akademi award for English writing, for his short stories collection, "Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra", by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters in India. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 for contributions to children's literature. He now lives with his adopted family in Landour near Mussoorie.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 2, 2020
3|5
A really good read for Halloween. All the stories are revolving around a house in one way or another and the weird things that can happen inside the place you should feel safest in. I'm pleasantly surprised how spooky, well written and diverse these stories are. Very enjoyable, would definitely recommend.
A really good read for Halloween. All the stories are revolving around a house in one way or another and the weird things that can happen inside the place you should feel safest in. I'm pleasantly surprised how spooky, well written and diverse these stories are. Very enjoyable, would definitely recommend.
November 25, 2017
10 stories collected and compiled by Ruskin Bond with his story. This brings out supernatural, haunted stories with the description that will make you wonder about story writing.
July 11, 2017
Ruskin's Bond's stories are enchanting. They possess a unique combination of thrill, innocence, poignancy set in the picturesque Himalayan mountain towns and villages. His character sketches make you fall in love with them. Surprisingly supernatural occurrences too predominantly feature in his stories. So when he pick choses supernatural stories written by other authors it is treat for his readers, particularly for those who love supernaturals.
The Empty House is collection of such stories hand picked by the famous writer on the hills. In the title story The Empty House the writer's aunt calls him to explore the empty house which is said to be haunted. This story is the crest jewel of this collection. The way the writer creates thrill with every line with just two characters around is simply amazing. I haven't yet read any piece like this story before. Chuniya Ayah is the story of how the ghost of a young girl continues to haunt the Ayah responsible for her death.
The White Wolf of the Hartz Moutains is a long story with interesting twists and turns. It is a tragic tale of sorts, but will satisfy the loves of vampire genre. Mrs. Raeburn's Waxwork again is a nail biting thriller where the murderer enters the wax museum, were her own wax statue is kept. Did I mention that the murderer was executed to death for the gruesome act of hers, that too before her visit to the museum. Some Australian Ghosts contains nuggets of early ghosts in the Australia. Gone Fishing by Bond comes last in this collection. It has appeared in other collections of Bond and has all the quintessential elements of a Ruskin Bond story.
Though I thoroughly enjoyed these stories, the other stories are too verbose and difficult to understand.
All Ruskin Bond collections recently brought out by Rupa publications were ridden with typographical errors. Thankfully this time there aren't any. I am sure Bond fans would love to read the favourite stories of their favourite author.
The Empty House is collection of such stories hand picked by the famous writer on the hills. In the title story The Empty House the writer's aunt calls him to explore the empty house which is said to be haunted. This story is the crest jewel of this collection. The way the writer creates thrill with every line with just two characters around is simply amazing. I haven't yet read any piece like this story before. Chuniya Ayah is the story of how the ghost of a young girl continues to haunt the Ayah responsible for her death.
The White Wolf of the Hartz Moutains is a long story with interesting twists and turns. It is a tragic tale of sorts, but will satisfy the loves of vampire genre. Mrs. Raeburn's Waxwork again is a nail biting thriller where the murderer enters the wax museum, were her own wax statue is kept. Did I mention that the murderer was executed to death for the gruesome act of hers, that too before her visit to the museum. Some Australian Ghosts contains nuggets of early ghosts in the Australia. Gone Fishing by Bond comes last in this collection. It has appeared in other collections of Bond and has all the quintessential elements of a Ruskin Bond story.
Though I thoroughly enjoyed these stories, the other stories are too verbose and difficult to understand.
All Ruskin Bond collections recently brought out by Rupa publications were ridden with typographical errors. Thankfully this time there aren't any. I am sure Bond fans would love to read the favourite stories of their favourite author.
December 1, 2016
Stories that are horror and supernatural are always a fascinating experience. These kinds of books intrigue any reader, and especially the fans of horror stories. The mild horror slowly seeps into your mind and makes you wonder at length. Being a huge fan of horror stories, I definitely enjoyed reading this collection of 11 short stories by Ruskin Bond. Ruskin Bond never fails to amuse his readers. Be it his own stories or collected stories like “The Empty House”.
“The Empty House” is a book of short stories collected and compiled by Ruskin Bond that includes his own story “Gone Fishing”. Among the collected stories, the story of Empty House by Algernon Blackwood adorns the title of this book. The book has other stories like “Mrs. Raeburn’s waxwork” by Lady Eleanor Smith, “Thurnley Abbey” by Perecval London, Chunia Ayah by Alice Perrin and so on.
The book beings by the story of one of my favorite author Rudyard Kipling titled “The Return of Imray”. This is an interesting story that holds the suspense till the end. Imray is disappeared and despite many attempts to find the whereabouts of him, the result was in dismay. After few months, Imray’s bungalow was rented by Strickland of police and the narrator of the story is now inside this bungalow. During the stay in that bungalow, the narrator experiences some strange movements of figures. Even Strickland’s dog is quite disturbed. The very next day, Strickland and the narrator finds a snake up by the corner of ceiling cloth, which is disappearing into the roof space. When Strickland climbs up to see, to his horror, he finds Imray’s dead body up there with its throat cut. Upon interrogating the servant of Imray, the servant confesses to the crime citing the reason for which there is no rational explanation.
Read the full review here
Note: This book was given to me by the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review.
“The Empty House” is a book of short stories collected and compiled by Ruskin Bond that includes his own story “Gone Fishing”. Among the collected stories, the story of Empty House by Algernon Blackwood adorns the title of this book. The book has other stories like “Mrs. Raeburn’s waxwork” by Lady Eleanor Smith, “Thurnley Abbey” by Perecval London, Chunia Ayah by Alice Perrin and so on.
The book beings by the story of one of my favorite author Rudyard Kipling titled “The Return of Imray”. This is an interesting story that holds the suspense till the end. Imray is disappeared and despite many attempts to find the whereabouts of him, the result was in dismay. After few months, Imray’s bungalow was rented by Strickland of police and the narrator of the story is now inside this bungalow. During the stay in that bungalow, the narrator experiences some strange movements of figures. Even Strickland’s dog is quite disturbed. The very next day, Strickland and the narrator finds a snake up by the corner of ceiling cloth, which is disappearing into the roof space. When Strickland climbs up to see, to his horror, he finds Imray’s dead body up there with its throat cut. Upon interrogating the servant of Imray, the servant confesses to the crime citing the reason for which there is no rational explanation.
Read the full review here
Note: This book was given to me by the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review.
April 21, 2024
This book was gifted to me and it truly was a gift reading it.
The stories are expertly penned by various splendid writers including Ruskin Bond, who as usually did not fail my reading taste and duely added his magic as always..
The second last story in this book though by Frederick Marryat, might I add is my favourite by far in this book, is a tale of tragedy, deciet and melancholy, but it tugged at my heartstings and left me thinking. I would recommend this to anyone who likes to read, whether they like it or not; the genres of horror, thriller and suspense. It is a very worthy read, so do spend both your time and money, you won't regret it. I guarantee!
The stories are expertly penned by various splendid writers including Ruskin Bond, who as usually did not fail my reading taste and duely added his magic as always..
The second last story in this book though by Frederick Marryat, might I add is my favourite by far in this book, is a tale of tragedy, deciet and melancholy, but it tugged at my heartstings and left me thinking. I would recommend this to anyone who likes to read, whether they like it or not; the genres of horror, thriller and suspense. It is a very worthy read, so do spend both your time and money, you won't regret it. I guarantee!
May 25, 2024
2.75
my top picks among these stories would be 'the empty house', 'the isle of voices', and 'the white wolf of the hartz mountains'.
a large portion of the others was not for me. either i'm just too used to contemporary writing, or the writing is genuinely heavy and verbose to the point where it looses my attention.
my top picks among these stories would be 'the empty house', 'the isle of voices', and 'the white wolf of the hartz mountains'.
a large portion of the others was not for me. either i'm just too used to contemporary writing, or the writing is genuinely heavy and verbose to the point where it looses my attention.
May 15, 2017
Excellent stories. It was great walking back in time with authors on multiple stories from around the world. "The Frontier Guards", "Gone Fishing", "The Empty House", "Chuniya Ayah" are definitely to be cherished by a reader.
April 11, 2023
Short horror stories that aren't scary at all.
A collection of horror tales from several authors, including a few from Ruskin Bond. Cute little tales of haunted houses, ghostly people, kind spirits, and more. Recommended to all lovers of horror.
A collection of horror tales from several authors, including a few from Ruskin Bond. Cute little tales of haunted houses, ghostly people, kind spirits, and more. Recommended to all lovers of horror.
April 25, 2022
Excellent work
December 28, 2020
This book is a collection of short stories based on paranormal activities written by various authors curated by Ruskin Bond.
Very honestly, I did not find most of the stories very spooky and did not get anything even close to goosebumps. They were based of paranormal activities but were more of thrillers than horror. Nevertheless, I found a few of them, namely The Empty House by Algernon Blackwood, Chunia, Ayah by Alice Perrin and Gone Fishing by Ruskin Bond, engaging and they gave me the occasional adrenaline rush.
Very honestly, I did not find most of the stories very spooky and did not get anything even close to goosebumps. They were based of paranormal activities but were more of thrillers than horror. Nevertheless, I found a few of them, namely The Empty House by Algernon Blackwood, Chunia, Ayah by Alice Perrin and Gone Fishing by Ruskin Bond, engaging and they gave me the occasional adrenaline rush.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews