As part of my R.I.P. Challenge I wanted to read some short stories and while I had several books to choose from, I decided to read from the book I borrowed from the library a couple of weeks ago, The Big Book of Ghost Stories.
Before I get into the stories, I just have to share this picture. Isn’t that great? The book has these cool, retro illustrations throughout and I love seeing those. So far I’ve read three of the stories in this collection. There are old favorites like The Monkey’s Paw to more recent stories from Joyce Carole Oates and Donald E. Westlake for example.
The first story I read was Laura by Saki. Two women talk about the afterlife and Laura imagines what she’d come back to life as. Her friend is a bit perturbed by all this but when Laura dies, things start to get real interesting. This one was creepy.
Next up The Furnished Room by O. Henry. A sad story about a young man looking for his sweetheart. Will he find her? Will he finally be at peace? I didn’t find this one scary but did like the story overall.
The last story I read was The Toll-House by W.W. Jacobs. I chose this one because the writer also wrote The Monkey’s Paw which was a story I first heard when I was in elementary school and I thought had such a great twist at the end. My expectations were high for this tale. In this story four men dare each other to spend the night in a haunted house. One of course scoffs at the idea of there being anything such as a haunted house. Of course the night is long and things do go bump in the night. I liked the story well enough but I didn’t get a scare from this one.
So those are my short stories for the season. I hope to squeeze in a few others before the challenge is over and in time for Halloween. I’ll keep you posted.
When I was in elementary school, I loved reading ghost stories and The Monkey’s Paw scared the living hell out of me! I adore these types of stories, even if they aren’t totally scary. BTW, if you want to read a scary book, read “The House Next Door”. That is some good stuff!
Laura sounds like a great story. I just looked it up and found it online, so I know what I’m reading at lunch!
Isn’t this a great collection? I checked it out from the library last year and found lots of good stories in it. I wouldn’t mind owning it actually! I am rereading The Monkey’s Paw right now as a matter of fact. And Saki is great! Enjoy the rest of your stories–I have two more in the collection I’ve been reading from to look forward to.
Laura does sound like a fun and creepy story.
I’ve been skimming 100 Tiny Tales of Terror–fun!
I like a scary short story and this collection sounds good. I remember reading The Monkey’s Paw and Laura sounds like a creepy one!
Sandy – I’m taking note of The House Next door. I’m reading a good ghost story right now but it’s not too scary. Would love something really creepy!
Andi @ Estella’s Revenge – Did you get a chance to read it? What did you think?
Danielle – I’d love to own this collection too. I think the one thing that bugs me a bit though is that the book is a over-sized and it’s kind a hard to hold while reading in bed! haha… I hope I get to read more stories before it’s due back.
Stefanie – It was and I must read more Saki! I wonder if his other works are similar at all.
Tiffany – Oh that sounds like a good collection. You must post about that, I want to hear more!
Bookworm – Wasn’t the Monkey’s Paw great? I hope you’ll give Laura a try!