Ghost Writing: Haunted Tales by Contemporary Writers (Halloween)

Ghost Writing collects 21 literary ghost stories, most of which are original to the anthology. The award-winning contributors range from newcomers to big names (T. Coraghessan Boyle, Robert Coover, Louise Erdrich, Nicola Griffith, Peter Straub, and John Updike). If the settings run rather often to New England, the theme is broadly defined to include not only the traditional restless spirits and haunted houses, but a mirror, a troll, a sunken train, clothes, and much more.

In T. Coraghessan Boyle's hilariously over-the-top contribution, "The Miracle at Ballinspittle," a plaster statue of the Virgin Mary grants a hellaciously thorough vision. In Louise Erdrich's sharp and funny "Le Mooz," a pair of aging, argumentative Ojibwe Indians share a love that transcends death in unique fashion. Nicola Griffith's "A Troll Story" portrays a haunted Viking-era farm in the beautiful language and rhythms of an Old Norse saga. Pamela Painter's spooky "Doors" would have made a fine Twilight Zone episode. In Ben Pastor's "Achilles' Grave," a pair of enemy soldiers, English and German, raise the dead at Gallipoli. In "The Way He Knew It," Rick Zind explores a transcendantly dysfunctional relationship. --Cynthia Ward