Ghost

[close] What are you afraid of?

[close] The rarest of rare, a book that makes you aware that reality is gossamer. A story that bears down on your moorings like an existential 18-wheeler with a thick-gauge bullbar. One that degloves your sense of security like that semi degloves a deer. Most often found in the horror genre. I like to call it a 'sense of cosmic dread'. It can be found in any genre, but it almost certainly invites a perception within the reader of the supernatural or the inexplicable. Fears about social games are scary indeed but not the object of this group's search. This group is searching for those rarest types of stories. It is typically only a few moments within a novel or short that offers this unsettling, eerie, spooky experience. For me: Stephen King The Shining - topiary scene IT - several moments; best I've found so far The Mist The short story about the oil patch on the lake (I think?) Crichton - Sphere House of Leaves VanderMeer's Area X trilogy Most of Lovecraft's stories Algernon Blackwood's Willows and Wendigo William Sloane's The Rim of Morning etc. What is perhaps more helpful is what *doesn't* unsettle. Let's not waste time with that--it's quite fine to be blunt and highly-selective in here. King wrote many good books that never rose to the level of 'Actually Unsettled Me'.

[close] Dawn Farrow was dead. She hung from the crystal chandelier, her tiny neck snapped at a jagged angle. She lolled gruesomely back and forth, her tiny feet occasionally brushing against the chair that would have saved her life had it not been knocked aside in her final moments. Alas, it was too late to save her now, as indicated by the complete stillness of her chest. Her golden hair cascaded over her right shoulder, concealing the eye that nearly bulged out of its socket. Paralysed in the doorway, Elizabeth could only stand and stare, equally transfixed and horrified by the macabre pose. Her sister wore a floor length nightgown of pure white, which might have given her an angelic appearance were it not stained with blood. In the background, she could she just about register the mournful howls of her parents, the pleas of her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend that he had done all that he could to save her and a hundred games of Chinese Whispers all happening at once. She did not bother to acknowledge any of them. Lucas's pleas churned her stomach, her parents' wails shattered her eardrums and only one deep breath after another could prevent her from strangling those who, even now with her and her family present, would dare spread scandal about her sister. Her dead sister. Founded by Michael Farrow and ruled by his great granddaughter Elizabeth, Farrow Academy is a prestigious boarding school tucked away in the English countryside. Homed to the children of the world's wealthiest families, this is a place where scandal spreads like the plague and secrets are worth their weight in gold. But even if you can keep your secrets from the living here, who is to say that you can keep them from the dead?

[close] Welcome, this is Fall River Massachusetts. Founded in 1803, this town has a lot of history. Including, but not limited to, The infamous Lizzie Borden incident, and Battleship Cove. Recently this sleepy town has taken a turn for the worst. The towns people keep going missing and turn up dead months later. Does this have something to do with the towns history, or is it something more sinister. You are the townspeople, and you will decide the fate of this town. Good luck.