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Ghost Bus: Tales from Wellington's dark side
Twisty scares with heart - Paranormal humour that will make you smile while you nervously look over your shoulder. Ghosts, sea monsters and a rest home for troublesome witches all feature in this short story collection/creepy love letter to Wellington New Zealand.
125 pages, ebook
First published June 1, 2020
3 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Anna Kirtlan
3 books13 followersAnna Kirtlan is a writer who lives in Aotearoa New Zealand. Her fiction is a mixture of sci-fi, fantasy, horror and humour, often with a nautical bent.
Her non-fiction work focuses on mental health advocacy and attempting to sail.
You can find out more about Anna’s work and read her blog at https://annakirtlanwrites.nz/ follow her on Instagram and Twitter as @Seamunchkin and join her Facebook page Anna Kirtlan writes
Her non-fiction work focuses on mental health advocacy and attempting to sail.
You can find out more about Anna’s work and read her blog at https://annakirtlanwrites.nz/ follow her on Instagram and Twitter as @Seamunchkin and join her Facebook page Anna Kirtlan writes
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 20, 2023
All of the short stories are fantastic and show cases Wellington in all its weird and wonderful glory.
Forget 'Wellington Paranormal' this is a more fun and interesting look at the weirdness that is Wellington.
Thanks to the book, I'm a little paranoid in seeing a cat outside Lighthouse Cinema, and my imagination has gone wild over spaceships under the bucket fountain and the Wellington southerlies being a means to release the rage inside.
My favorite was certainly the Home for Troublesome Witches.
I was laughing out loud the whole time.
The writing style is easy to read and makes light and fun to many science and fictional concepts seen in other books. It certainly the book to read if you are feeling stressed, tense or just need a good laugh.
Forget 'Wellington Paranormal' this is a more fun and interesting look at the weirdness that is Wellington.
Thanks to the book, I'm a little paranoid in seeing a cat outside Lighthouse Cinema, and my imagination has gone wild over spaceships under the bucket fountain and the Wellington southerlies being a means to release the rage inside.
My favorite was certainly the Home for Troublesome Witches.
I was laughing out loud the whole time.
The writing style is easy to read and makes light and fun to many science and fictional concepts seen in other books. It certainly the book to read if you are feeling stressed, tense or just need a good laugh.
May 2, 2024
Ghost Bus does an excellent job of keeping things simple and entertaining. Enjoyed every one of these shorts! Kindof like Goosebumps but for an adult audience.
May 31, 2020
Ghost Bus - tales from Wellington's dark side is a collection of short stories about the paranormal, all set in Wellington city, New Zealand. It doesn't take itself too seriously and some of the stories are laugh-out-loud funny, while also providing a goodly measure of gore and moments of genuine horror. The author has a vivid imagination for the spirit of inanimate objects and sympathy for all things neglected, disrespected, unappreciated and discarded, which stew with malevolent energy in these stories.
If you have ever wished supernatural vengeance upon the inconsiderate types who haunt our public spaces - the vandals, manspreaders, litterbugs, pick-up artists, terrible drivers and the generally obnoxious, I think you will love these stories. I think my favourite was Ghost Bus, with its portrait of an urban hell which taps into some of the real anxieties and suppressed rage that come with life in any city.
I enjoyed learning some interesting facts about Wellington and its characters. The book felt a bit like a guided tour, full of titbits of local history, only with an alternative history full of outrageous invention thrown in, such as the real story of that famous fountain and sinister revelations about Wellington's favourite cat.
If you want to know what Marie Kondo has to do with pirahnas, or why Katherine Mansfield would be biting the head off a seagull, you're just going to have to read this book.
If you have ever wished supernatural vengeance upon the inconsiderate types who haunt our public spaces - the vandals, manspreaders, litterbugs, pick-up artists, terrible drivers and the generally obnoxious, I think you will love these stories. I think my favourite was Ghost Bus, with its portrait of an urban hell which taps into some of the real anxieties and suppressed rage that come with life in any city.
I enjoyed learning some interesting facts about Wellington and its characters. The book felt a bit like a guided tour, full of titbits of local history, only with an alternative history full of outrageous invention thrown in, such as the real story of that famous fountain and sinister revelations about Wellington's favourite cat.
If you want to know what Marie Kondo has to do with pirahnas, or why Katherine Mansfield would be biting the head off a seagull, you're just going to have to read this book.
March 6, 2024
Delightfully quirky short stories that leave you wanting more. As a fellow Wellingtonian, I found the stories particularly special as I could picture each location, icon or news story so well, but I’m sure even non-locals could picture things just as well thanks to the authors ability to describe things so clearly as a part of her interesting stories. I for one will certainly have more respect for bus etiquette, never again complain about our famous Wellington winds and am grateful to know there is a suitable place for me to retire where my broom transport will not be questioned. Thank you Anna for some great, humorous and very relatable reading!
November 19, 2020
Brilliant! Spooky, funny, strange, warm.. and above all it was like being back in my home town, warts and all. <3
May 1, 2021
The stories in this small collection (eight entries) made me smile. Some even made me laugh. Not bad for a collection titled Ghost Bus: Tales from Wellington’s Dark Side. I’m generally not a fan of either horror or grim dark fantasy, but these stories are on the lighter edge of the ‘dark side’, saturated with a sense of humour that counteracts the grim kernels at the core of several stories.
That sense of humour takes over in a few, veering into the whimsical or outright silly in Raven’s Home for Women of Magic and The Night I Helped an Interstellar Bogan. Entertaining, but I preferred the ones that had more of a balance between light and dark. My favourite is The Oriental Bay Piranhas. It has social commentary, gore, and a sly poke at Marie Kondo’s decluttering advice. Delicious.
Besides the humour, there are other reasons to like these stories. One is the matter-of-fact, almost reportorial, tone. The Ministry of Public Art starts off with a real event: on 7 October 2018, a tourist broke the Water Whirler, a kinetic sculpture on Wellington’s waterfront, when he attempted to climb it. (Like most of the city’s inhabitant’s, I was pretty disgusted when this happened.) Then, having firmly grounded the opening paragraphs of the story in reality, the author catches the reader by surprise by veering off into the fantastic. When you realise the story has left the highway, so to speak, you have to look back to see where it started to go sideways. She does this particularly well in The Oriental Bay Piranhas, too.
As the author, Anna Kirtlan, admits in her Introduction, this collection is a love letter to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city. The stories exude a strong sense of place, not by name-dropping streets or suburbs, but by building the action around details that make Wellington unique and interesting. Details like Wellington’s iconic sculptures (Katherine Mansfield, Woman of Words and Solace in the Wind), or the locks festooning the footbridge over the entrance to the lagoon, or the unwary getting splashed by the bucket fountain. Or the bustrastrophe, the 2018 reset of the city’s bus routes and contracts that left us with chaos and ghost buses.
And, finally, there’s a story about Wellington’s infamous wind: You Can’t Beat Wellington on a Good Day. A good day, when the clouds whip by and the wind blows your hair into your eyes and the cobwebs and rage out of your mind. Exhilarating, both the wind and the story.
That sense of humour takes over in a few, veering into the whimsical or outright silly in Raven’s Home for Women of Magic and The Night I Helped an Interstellar Bogan. Entertaining, but I preferred the ones that had more of a balance between light and dark. My favourite is The Oriental Bay Piranhas. It has social commentary, gore, and a sly poke at Marie Kondo’s decluttering advice. Delicious.
Besides the humour, there are other reasons to like these stories. One is the matter-of-fact, almost reportorial, tone. The Ministry of Public Art starts off with a real event: on 7 October 2018, a tourist broke the Water Whirler, a kinetic sculpture on Wellington’s waterfront, when he attempted to climb it. (Like most of the city’s inhabitant’s, I was pretty disgusted when this happened.) Then, having firmly grounded the opening paragraphs of the story in reality, the author catches the reader by surprise by veering off into the fantastic. When you realise the story has left the highway, so to speak, you have to look back to see where it started to go sideways. She does this particularly well in The Oriental Bay Piranhas, too.
As the author, Anna Kirtlan, admits in her Introduction, this collection is a love letter to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city. The stories exude a strong sense of place, not by name-dropping streets or suburbs, but by building the action around details that make Wellington unique and interesting. Details like Wellington’s iconic sculptures (Katherine Mansfield, Woman of Words and Solace in the Wind), or the locks festooning the footbridge over the entrance to the lagoon, or the unwary getting splashed by the bucket fountain. Or the bustrastrophe, the 2018 reset of the city’s bus routes and contracts that left us with chaos and ghost buses.
And, finally, there’s a story about Wellington’s infamous wind: You Can’t Beat Wellington on a Good Day. A good day, when the clouds whip by and the wind blows your hair into your eyes and the cobwebs and rage out of your mind. Exhilarating, both the wind and the story.
May 31, 2020
A marvellous collection!
I was fortunate enough to get my hands on this before it was released, and I was most excited to read more from the author of "Which Way is Starboard Again?" (A wonderful tale of adventure and anxiety on the high seas, that has helped me deal with life in more ways that I originally thought a book about sailing could - buy it, you will not be disappointed)
This wonderful series of short stories also did not disappoint!
It's whimsy at it's finest, wrapped in some Wellington on a *very* good day. There's some nostalgia, a bit of history, some creepy characters and a lot more humour than I was expecting.
It's hard to pick a favourite, I must admit as a Wellington public transport user I really enjoyed Ghost Bus, also the nautically themed and slightly gory "The Oriental Bay Piranhas" and the creepy "Nautical Nightmare" but I all of the stories really resonated with me - "The Ministry of Public Works" was a fascinating concept, and "The Night I helped an Interstellar Bogan" made me belly laugh.... "The Wondrous Adventures of Mittens" is a must read for any Wellingtonian, or cat lover!
Buy this book - I promise, you will be entertained!
I was fortunate enough to get my hands on this before it was released, and I was most excited to read more from the author of "Which Way is Starboard Again?" (A wonderful tale of adventure and anxiety on the high seas, that has helped me deal with life in more ways that I originally thought a book about sailing could - buy it, you will not be disappointed)
This wonderful series of short stories also did not disappoint!
It's whimsy at it's finest, wrapped in some Wellington on a *very* good day. There's some nostalgia, a bit of history, some creepy characters and a lot more humour than I was expecting.
It's hard to pick a favourite, I must admit as a Wellington public transport user I really enjoyed Ghost Bus, also the nautically themed and slightly gory "The Oriental Bay Piranhas" and the creepy "Nautical Nightmare" but I all of the stories really resonated with me - "The Ministry of Public Works" was a fascinating concept, and "The Night I helped an Interstellar Bogan" made me belly laugh.... "The Wondrous Adventures of Mittens" is a must read for any Wellingtonian, or cat lover!
Buy this book - I promise, you will be entertained!
January 28, 2023
Loved this book of dark, witchy and spooky tales written with warmth and humour around the C.B.D. and suburbs of Wellington, NZ. Most of them should be an episode of the local TV show ‘Wellington Paranormal’ – would love to see that happen.
If you know Wellington, you will recognise the places and the sentiment: the wind, the sorry state of buses, the art, the buildings, and the iconic waterfront. Each with its own unique paranormal story.
An easy and enjoyable read of short stories. I’m hoping this author has some more ready for a new publication.
Recommended.
If you know Wellington, you will recognise the places and the sentiment: the wind, the sorry state of buses, the art, the buildings, and the iconic waterfront. Each with its own unique paranormal story.
An easy and enjoyable read of short stories. I’m hoping this author has some more ready for a new publication.
Recommended.
April 24, 2025
I feel like so many NZ books I read are set in Auckland so it's nice to have something really local haha. That's the huge draw for me; it's not perfect prose, but the sense of place is great. I think my favorite was the first one with the statues, and I also loved the key-piranhas. There was also some pretty good horror imagery in the mix. I had this as a library loan on my phone and it was perfect for the kind of pick up, put down reading I do while waiting for elevators and trains hah. Extra star for local ;)
August 4, 2020
Here I am once again reading a book based mostly on its geography. Fortunately, this time it worked out because Ghost Bus was a ton of fun. I love the details that are unique to Wellington but still very relatable (Surely the "Chad"is universal phenomenon?). All of that was wrapped with magical and mysterious happenings - yaay!
Made me extra, extra sad I wasn't able to get to New Zealand for WorldCon. But consider me extra inspired to use that plane ticket I still have...
Made me extra, extra sad I wasn't able to get to New Zealand for WorldCon. But consider me extra inspired to use that plane ticket I still have...
October 1, 2024
Very fun to listen to stories set in my own city. Lots of elements are relatable for a Wellingtonian, but the book is already a bit dated (e.g. Mittens moved to Auckland, Jacinda is no longer prime minister).
The characters between stories aren't particularly different from one another, but you can tell Anna was having a lot of fun with the concepts. I particularly like the statue story as the Wellington statues weren't something I ever paid much mind to (and how many we actually have).
The characters between stories aren't particularly different from one another, but you can tell Anna was having a lot of fun with the concepts. I particularly like the statue story as the Wellington statues weren't something I ever paid much mind to (and how many we actually have).
May 31, 2020
Quirky and imaginative tales from an author who knows her city so well.
The landmarks of the city are all there, re-imagined and taking on new qualities.
Well-paced and visual, these enjoyablestories took the everyday into the paranormal with a sense of fun, mischief and hilarity.
You won't look at people on the bus the same!
The landmarks of the city are all there, re-imagined and taking on new qualities.
Well-paced and visual, these enjoyablestories took the everyday into the paranormal with a sense of fun, mischief and hilarity.
You won't look at people on the bus the same!
May 31, 2020
The stories in Ghost Bus are instantly relatable while at the same time very clever sci-fi fantasy
Lots of fun to read and escape into.
Edgy and current writing that captures the magic of Wellington in all its gore and glory. Bite sized imaginings that could be straight outta Dr Who.
Lots of fun to read and escape into.
Edgy and current writing that captures the magic of Wellington in all its gore and glory. Bite sized imaginings that could be straight outta Dr Who.
August 10, 2020
Anna’s book is for all of you who like the quirky and unexpected, or can place yourself as a character in Wellington. :-)
December 20, 2020
A really fun collection of short stories, with a lot of love for Wellington. Enjoyed reading this on a lazy afternoon.
January 5, 2021
Lovely collection of often strange, witty and light stories set in Wellington, New Zealand. I particularly enjoyed Ghost Bus, the short story with the same name as the collection.
January 8, 2024
A fun and create book as an ode to Wellington.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews