The Gravedigger's Daughter: Ghost stories and other otherworldly tales

by Donald S. Olson

Ghosts gay and straight, living and dead, haunt the pages of this collection of tales set in five different locales and time periods.

Victorian London is the background for The Gravedigger’s Daughter, a novella-length thriller about an impoverished young woman raised in a cemetery and forced into the ghoulish life of a grave robber.

In Uncle Jack, the penniless nephew of a 1950s film star inherits his dead uncle’s mid-century modern house in Beverly Hills and gradually realizes that he is not the only one laying claim to the estate.

In The Selfie of Doralynne Gray, a selfie-obsessed woman is taken hostage by her own image.

A restoration project on a 500-year-old manor in Provence draws antiques-dealer Michael Fischer, the title character in Michael’s St. Michael into a terrifying encounter with a violent and unquiet past.

And when a homophobic teenager named Slayde destroys his gay neighbour’s cherished collection of garden gnomes, he learns to his horror that the gnomes in Gnome Man’s Land are not the gentle creatures everyone thinks they are.

280 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 21, 2020

Reviews

[Stephanie Tucker · Rating 1 out of 5]

37% DNF

I read two of the stories, neither of them being the title story, and they just weren't good. The writing in general wasn't very good, and whoever transcribed this into the kindle version missed so many grammatical and spelling mistakes.
The first story was predictable, boring, and not at all creepy. I was excited for queer representation but it was very stereotypical gay.
The second one... if you've read Dorian Gray, you've read the second story.

I don't think I'll be readimg more from this author.

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was rather a surprise. I've never heard of the author (who seems to have had a rather scattered literary career) and Lume is a press that tends to specialize in resuscitating old mediocre books and giving them a second lease on life rather than putting out original, contemporary work. So, I did not expect much, and ended up surprised quite pleasantly.
This collection comprises a handful of longer form short stories, set in the present and the past, that feature ghosts, gnomes, and gravedigging ... among other things. These haunting tales are quite nicely written and have a strong gay lean, with characters and thematically. They are also mild, relying more on the atmosphere than gore and guts.
The collection is slightly uneven, with some rather simplistic turns, but overall, the writing's rather good and very engaging. Olson definitely has a natural storytelling gift. The eponymous final story is the real star of the show and the reason to round this rating up. Recommended for those who prefer their scares subtle and more along the literary side of things.

This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/

[Marz Nature Trinity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grand!

I more than loved the stories in this book.I dived right in and stayed,without coming up for air until the very last page! I didn't find one story that didn't hold my interest. Spectacular! Thank you!

[Kim Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really scary

Yes, these are supposed to be ghost stories but they are not really scary. In fact I found one in particular quite boring, though the others weren't too bad.

[V · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf during the second story. idk maybe i’ll come back to it

[Jim Melvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spooky, elegant, and slick

These dense and flawless tales provided high-quality entertainment and were clearly written by an author at the top of his game.