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Cold Iron: Twenty-First Century Ghost Stories
Seventeen tales, whittled down from a total of almost 200 submitted from writers both established and unknown, bring a selection both paying homage to the tradition of the ghost story and placing it firmly in the context of our own times.
Thus, ghosts appear on football terraces, from cancer wards, on the floor of TV shows, on the late night service bus, over a Sunday dinner and at a supermarket checkout.
Authors include Wendy Robertson, Kitty Fitzgerald and Beda Higgins plus a host of promising new writers.
Thus, ghosts appear on football terraces, from cancer wards, on the floor of TV shows, on the late night service bus, over a Sunday dinner and at a supermarket checkout.
Authors include Wendy Robertson, Kitty Fitzgerald and Beda Higgins plus a host of promising new writers.
- GenresShort StoriesAnthologies
154 pages, Paperback
Published June 8, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 6, 2017
Cold Iron is a wonderful collection of ghost stories. Scary, creepy, at times even touching, I gobbled them up in two evenings’ time. All of them quickly drew me into the story, and several stayed with me even after I was done reading, particularly The Undertaker’s Boy, Ghosted, and The Last Bus Home, which was so wonderfully descriptive I felt I like was inside the bus. (But I’m glad I wasn’t…) Kudos to Ms. Stephenson for that, as well as to all the other authors. Not a dull story in the bunch.
Fans of good old-fashioned ghost stories (with a modern-day flare) will surely enjoy this collection.
Fans of good old-fashioned ghost stories (with a modern-day flare) will surely enjoy this collection.
November 1, 2017
Assembled by indie publisher Iron Press, Cold Iron is a compilation of 17 tales 'paying homage to the tradition of the ghost story and placing it firmly in the context of our own times'. The only critera for submission: that the story should 'contain a ghost' and be set in the present day. Some of the authors are new writers, while others are more established (for what it's worth, the only name I recognised was Matt Wesolowski, author of the horror-thriller novel
Six Stories
).
As the introduction reminds us, many ghost stories now considered classics were, at the time of their publication, bang up to date, engaging with the threat represented by new technologies and developments in culture. Among the 21st-century hauntings offered up here are ghosts at football matches and on buses and in supermarkets, or even brought home from a charity shop; there are unusual interpretations of what a 'ghost' might be alongside more traditional apparitions. These are quick stories, bite-sized and moreish.
My favourites were...
'The Last Checkout' by Wendy Robertson. A recently widowed woman has a disconcerting encounter while doing her weekly shopping. An effective portrait of a character rediscovering herself.
'The Undertaker's Boy' by Karen Turner. An undertaker finds his work experience assignment has an unnerving habit of reeling off facts about the dead. One of the more traditional plots in the book, but beautifully done.
'Playing In Their Own Time' by Tracy Fahey. A crew filming a ghost-hunting show think they might have caught a real haunting on tape. This feels fully realised, and I totally believed in the characters.
'The Installation' by Noreen Rees. After his girlfriend leaves, a lonely man is visited by a TV installation guy; he's got the wrong house, but our protagonist is glad of the company. I think this might have been my favourite of the lot – it has some really strong imagery and uses humour well.
'A Trick of the Light' by Andrew Jones. A simple but wonderfully evocative tale that has the feel of a classic about it.
'Appropriation' by Michael James Parker. Jess is delighted to bag a valuable pair of Chinese hair sandals at a bargain price. Little does she know that there'll be a different sort of price to pay for bringing them into her home. One of the most original stories, this is both funny and scary.
'The Last Bus Home' by Andrea Stephenson. A newly qualified bus driver picks up a strange passenger, and finds herself reckoning with a local myth. Atmospheric, authentic and sinister; a perfect ending to the book.
TinyLetter | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr
As the introduction reminds us, many ghost stories now considered classics were, at the time of their publication, bang up to date, engaging with the threat represented by new technologies and developments in culture. Among the 21st-century hauntings offered up here are ghosts at football matches and on buses and in supermarkets, or even brought home from a charity shop; there are unusual interpretations of what a 'ghost' might be alongside more traditional apparitions. These are quick stories, bite-sized and moreish.
My favourites were...
'The Last Checkout' by Wendy Robertson. A recently widowed woman has a disconcerting encounter while doing her weekly shopping. An effective portrait of a character rediscovering herself.
'The Undertaker's Boy' by Karen Turner. An undertaker finds his work experience assignment has an unnerving habit of reeling off facts about the dead. One of the more traditional plots in the book, but beautifully done.
'Playing In Their Own Time' by Tracy Fahey. A crew filming a ghost-hunting show think they might have caught a real haunting on tape. This feels fully realised, and I totally believed in the characters.
'The Installation' by Noreen Rees. After his girlfriend leaves, a lonely man is visited by a TV installation guy; he's got the wrong house, but our protagonist is glad of the company. I think this might have been my favourite of the lot – it has some really strong imagery and uses humour well.
'A Trick of the Light' by Andrew Jones. A simple but wonderfully evocative tale that has the feel of a classic about it.
'Appropriation' by Michael James Parker. Jess is delighted to bag a valuable pair of Chinese hair sandals at a bargain price. Little does she know that there'll be a different sort of price to pay for bringing them into her home. One of the most original stories, this is both funny and scary.
'The Last Bus Home' by Andrea Stephenson. A newly qualified bus driver picks up a strange passenger, and finds herself reckoning with a local myth. Atmospheric, authentic and sinister; a perfect ending to the book.
TinyLetter | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr
August 10, 2017
Cold Iron is a terrific and at times terrifying collection of ghosts stories from the modern day. There are ghosts mixed in with more modern concepts of ghosting as disappearing online too. I really enjoyed all the stories in this collection and it definitely made me want to read more short stories. A few gave me goosebumps, some gave me a shiver, and two made it hard to go to bed afterwards. My favorite story was the last one, Andrea Stephenson's "The Last Bus Home," because it lingered with me long after I shut the book. I have to compliment the editors for ending the collection on such a creepy high note!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews