25 Icelandic Ghost Stories

by Jón R. Hjálmarsson, Lorenza García (Translator), Anna Yates (Translator)

In the old days, Icelanders´ belief in ghosts was widespread and deep-rooted. Much of the country´s folklore is decoted to ghost stories, in which various types of phantasms feature. The most common of these otherworldly beings are spectres and zombies, as well as the so-called „family“ ghosts, and, of course, poltergeists.

In this collection, educator an tale-teller Jón R. Hjálmarsson (1922-2018) retells many of the most famous of these stories and brings these ghosts back to life.

Genres: Fiction, Horror, Short Stories, Mythology

126 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Stacia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book on a trip to Iceland. The people there are really into ghosts and fairies and other legends, so I had high expectations. I was disappointed.

It was objectively awful. Each "story" was more of a collection of information about a ghost. There was no beginning, middle, and end, and the lack of narrative form made it awful to read. Most sections read more like the genealogy passages in the Bible, Jonbegat James begat Deborah. And many of the names, due to Icelandic naming conventions, were hard to keep straight. I often felt like I was missing connections between stories because of the similar names.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book holds a selection of 25 ghost stories, out of what appears to be 120 or more originally gathered by the author. The stories are told as if recorded in a history book, including details about the people involved, their relations, locations, occupations etc. So it reads a bit dry. Having the benefit of knowing how to pronounce the names and looking up the locations in more detail on the map helped to make them more relevant, to think about where I have been or what to go to, and getting to know the history a bit better. However, I felt most of the stories were incredibly similar - a rejected man gets angry and sets a ghost to haunt the woman who rejected them, or a visitor seeking shelter being turned down, or jealousy of another kind spurring on the cursing of another family and their 9 generations.
I thought only one story really gave me the spooks, and it was the story about car lights being spotted by numerous people, that then disappear. So haunted cars, that's what I found spookiest of the 25.

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't what I expected. Rather than actual ghost stories, it was a collection of accounts of (alleged) hauntings around Iceland, and was a bit dry overall.

[Signe Altersten · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nej!😡

Gillar idén med utförandet är inge bra. Bara massa namn som man inte kan hålla ordning på och historierna är helt enkelt tråkiga. Atmosfären är rätt härlig med kompenserar inte för hur dåligt skriven boken är👎

[Тaniia Тkachuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Дивна книга якщо чесно. Історії місцями чудернацькі, загалом закороткі, мало деталей. Деякі моменти повеселили, наприклад про випорожнення на могилах, взуття та те, що герої постійно мстять за те, що іх не вибрали.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deducted a star because there wasn’t a pronunciation guide and I couldn’t have a go at the names.

[Sombraline · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book, no doubt, although not necessarily what one would expect when picking it up.

25 Icelandic Ghost Stories reads much more like a record of historical events than stories exactly. The author (who died at 96, and seemed to have spent a significative amount of time gathering these tales) carefully writes down each report as though to preserve it carefully: he takes the time to record the location and places as they were when the event happened as well as the names and professions of all people involved. As a result, the book feels more like genealogy and geography than spooky ghost stories; but it is still a very valuable look into Iceland's folklore, beliefs and the particularity of its strange corporeal ghosts.

[Luís Pita · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a great souvenir from Iceland and we can see that there's a lot of mystery and beliefs in Icelandic culture. But I must say that the stories are not as captivating as it could be. They could improve on the story telling.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice for spooky season; the narrative quality from one tale to the next is quite uneven, but a couple of the stories are very well told.
Overarching moral of the book: if you live in Iceland, and someone comes knocking on your door asking for shelter in bad weather, DON’T turn them away!

[Nikolas Kalar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Icelandic relationship to the supernatural differs significantly from most Western countries, at least the non-Nordic ones. It is a country with deep roots in paganism, witchcraft, and all sorts of preternatural phenomena, so it goes without saying that their "Ghost Stories" are pretty different, too.

My favorites were the little menace who wouldn't stop putting his feet in the yogurt and the guy who, if you greeted him, would take off his head and shake the stump at you.

The Icelandic treatment of the ghost story is less of a chilling haunt and is almost closer to an oral history. Most of the 25 stories herein begin with some variation on a history lesson. There is a lot of "after so-and-so from such-and-such farm married so-and-so from such-and-such valley, they together moved to such-and-such town where they begat so-and-so, who, as he grew up, began to covet so-and-so, the daughter of the shepherd so-and-so who did not approve of their cavorting," and so on before anything actual supernatural takes place. That, combined with the often confusing parto- and matronymic conventions of Icelandic proper names and the long, complicated, but frequently interrelated place names, can be confusing, repetitive, and trying. But, once you get into the flow of it and begin treating it less like a New England ghost story and more as a way to keep history, memory, and tradition alive, it starts to make sense and read much easier.

And, once these things have been considered, reckoning with these unlikely phantasms can be a lot of fun! The ghosts, zombies, and poltergeists are often treated less like supernatural remnants from beyond the grave and more like annoying eccentrics, and the witches and sorcerers who cast and expunge them alternate between local heroes or grumpy bad apples. The ghosts of these tales are just as likely to blow smoke in your face or stand in front of your horse and impede your journey as they are to tear you from limb to limb or leave you psychically ravaged. Some will even do basic domestic tasks as long as you promise to feed, cloth, and house them. They are often created by acts of human jealousy stemming from foiled romances, though, just as often, they are made for cruelty. There is a recurring narrative theme of travelers or vagrants being denied shelter in a home or farm and haunting the landowner when they inevitably die in the country's extreme weather. Getting rid of the ghouls is just as easy as creating them, with solutions varying from leading them to water, moving across three rivers, or simply handing them a note written by a priest.

These are very different kinds of ghosts and very different kinds of ghost stories. And I can understand how that can be frustrating if that is not what you are expecting, but once you give yourself into the method, there is a lot of joy to be had here.

There is however, less forgivingly, more lost in translation than cultural differences and a sufficient introduction. There are many, many, many grammatical errors in the translation of this thing. Apparently, these 25 stories were pulled from a much larger Icelandic tome of ghost stories by the author and edited and slimmed into this volume. As such, you sometimes feel that not a ton of care was put into this because they knew it would just be sold to tourists in gift shops and the airport. Or maybe I just feel that way because I bought it duty-free at the airport.

[Ashlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple but charming collection of tales which provide an exploration of Icelandic culture through history, with many surprises. In particular the prevalence of witchcraft at the time, and especially the tendency for priests to command both religion and dark magic whilst performing their holy duties. The book is fun but I do wish there was a little more variety between the stories.

I read both of Jón R. Hjálmarsson books ‘25 Icelandic Folk and Fairy Tales’ and ‘25 Icelandic Ghost Stories’ in quick succession whilst travelling around Iceland. The maps in both novels made for a great experience, I won’t forget being able to stand in the place where these tales took place. The books provided an interesting insight into the country's history, and the daily lives of Icelanders and the presence of both religion and witchcraft at the time.

[James Tomasino · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book of Icelandic ghost stories probably won't appeal to people who haven't spent time in Iceland. The stories are dry histories, often with extensive lists of names and relationships, but rarely with much narrative to them. Before each story is a brief section detailing the area, farm, or town where the story takes place. These blurbs help place the context for the stories.

I found the location grounding really helpful. I've been to many of these places and know several of the histories of the people in the stories. That helps me connect some dots and brings more overall enjoyment than would otherwise be found inside.

[Mitchell Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a believer in ghosts or the supernatural in this area, so I'm biased. I picked this up at an Icelandic gift shop because I felt like it would make a good souvenir. It's not the most entertaining book, but it provides a nice armchair read and each story does provide an interesting snapshot of local geography

[Lauren Methven · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely little collection of short stories I bought on a recent trip to Iceland. The map at the beginning was lovely little touch and as someone who generally doesn’t enjoy short stories, this one was an exception!

[Amy Teetaert · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit interesting in that having recently been there I recognized some of the names. A lot of the stories seemed very similar / had similar storylines - to be expected from shared folk lore I guess. Maybe some of the mystery got lost in translation but felt a bit dull to me.

[Olga · Rating 3 out of 5]

в мене не було очікувань від цієї книги, але в процесі читання зрозуміла, що хотілось би більш художнього викладення історій. чому деякі люди ставали привидами було не дуже зрозуміло, але деякі розповіді були доволі страшними.

[Peter Lipták · Rating 2 out of 5]

Viac kuriózne ako strašidelná. Trochu nezáživná, našťastie veľmi útla knižka.

[Kelvin Pincé · Rating 1 out of 5]

Laatste 30 pagina's diagonaal gelezen. Matig souvenir.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The same names over and over and over

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poorly compiled and edited, many of the stories were nearly identical.

[Y · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a non fiction than good storytelling. Cured my insomnia o its all good

[Vilma Lumio · Rating 1 out of 5]

It took me so long to get through this. It was like reading a Wikipedia page instead of a storybook. Got the book because of the cool cover art, but was hugely disappointed.

[Neophrem · Rating 1 out of 5]

Avevo già letto Atlante leggendario delle strade d'Islanda in tempi non sospetti, quando la casa editrice Iperborea aveva iniziato a muovere i suoi passi nel mass market e l'Islanda era ancora un'isola che nessuno si sarebbe sognato di usare come sfondo dei propri video da influencer di quartiere.
E mi era risultato abbastanza indigesto.

Ci ho riprovato con questo e ho realizzato che Hjálmarsson è sostanzialmente un cronachista e non un narratore, pubblicizzato come tale da un buon marketing moderno (basta vedere le recensioni a 5 stelle su Amazon Italia di gente che evidentemente non ha mai letto racconti fantasy in vita propria).

Una lettura breve e tuttavia noiosissima.

[Topi Lepojärvi]

More like family histories than horror stories.

The best part is how strange and humane Icelandic ghosts are.

They want things. They have opinions. They get into fist fights.

Sometimes they are just like regular people. Sometimes they are sent by regular people. Sometimes regular people can be turned into them.

Edit. Actually, no. The best part is the way these stories offer a glimpse into Iceland's history.

Edit 2. For anyone interested, I'd rather recommend Icelandic Sagas.

[Veeti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stories were too short