The Haunting Season: The instant Sunday Times bestseller and the perfect companion for winter nights

Eight great stories to read any night. If you love ghost stories, you will love this collection. I highly recommend adding it to your collection.

Truly a nice read for any time of year. Some well known authors mixed with some newer ones I can’t wait to see more from in the future.

The Haunting Season is a collection of eight short stories by well-established contemporary writers of horror and paranormal fiction. This volume delivers what it promises in its subtitle: Ghostly tales for long winter nights. It taps into the British (but not only) tradition of the telling of horror stories at Christmas and, perhaps unsurprisingly, this is reflected both in the setting of the majority of the stories (Victorian era or thereabouts, in winter, if not specifically during festive season) and in style (redolent of the traditional “English ghost story”). The fact that seven out of the eight featured authors are women is also significant and surely has an impact on the general “feel” of the collection, given that more than half of the pieces reflect the feminist Gothic approach much favoured by contemporary horror writers.All the stories are well-written and there are none which I would describe as disappointing, except possibly Natasha Pulley’s The Eel Singers. That, I hasten to add, is not because of the quality of the writing (indeed, the story is one of the most effective and eerie in the book), but because it features characters from Pulley’s earlier novels and seems to presuppose a familiarity with those novels.That said, the collection as a whole left me a bit cold, because of a certain “sameness” in the selection. I have reviewed several works of feminist Gothic on this blog (and thoroughly loved some of them), but it has now become a veritable sub-genre, and the theme, however laudable it is, is no longer enough to make a story striking. Thus, Imogen Hermes Gowar’s Thwaite’s Tenant and Laura Purcell’s Gothic romance The Chillingham Chair are suspenseful but hardly memorable. The folk-horror tinged Confinement, by Kiran Millwood Hargrave is, in my view, stronger, in its description of a new mother’s obsession about a revenant witch out to get her baby. A postscript also reveals that this story has personal significance for the author. Even so, it is hard to better an iconic classic such as The Yellow Wallpaper. The eponymous Monster in Elizabeth Macneal’s contribution is a giant fossil which the protagonist Victor hopes to uncover at Lyme Regis when honeymooning with his young wife. As one would expect, “monster” is also what Victor himself turns out to be.Bridget Collins’ haunted-house story A Study in Black and White does not attempt to adopt a contemporary “take” on the supernatural. This is a pastiche of the traditional ghost story – strong in the vibes of M.R. James and his contemporaries. Lily Wilt by Jess Kidd features a photographer sent to capture a beautiful dead woman on film, only to end up falling in love with her.And then there’s Andrew Michael Hurley’s The Hanging of the Greens. This story feels as if it has stumbled into this book from another, totally different collection. It is a folk-horror work typical of the author, where the violence is understated until it grips you by the throat, where the presence of “evil” can be explained in psychological terms but the supernatural seems to be around the corner. This is a strong story, albeit one which feels out of place.The Haunting Season has been a bestseller and, as a lover of supernatural fiction, it might seem mean of me to appear less than enthusiastic about a volume which is bringing horror to readers of the mainstream. But perhaps, this is precisely the issue I have with the collection. It is great as an introduction to some of the best authors currently writing in this genre. The stories are fine in themselves, and newcomers will find much to enjoy and will – hopefully – be tempted to explore the further reaches of contemporary horror writing. However, I suspect that for seasoned readers of supernatural fiction, this book might turn out to be a tad disappointing.

"The Haunting Season" is another great collection of ghost stories by contemporary authors. Let me tell you, although it is 'advertised' for long winter nights, these stories will give you the chills also in the middle of summer! The topics range from ghosts to prehistoric monsters and in many narratives the attention is focused on women. In "Confinement" (by Kiran Millwood Hargrqave), post-partum psychotic depression is discussed and there is an author's note about that. In "Monster" (by Elizabeth Mcneal), a Victorian wife pays back her selfish, childish husband. In "Lily Wilt" (by Jess Kidd), the will to live and to love of a young girl defies even death. My favorite story is probably "Thwaite's Tenant" (by Imogen Hermes Gowar), clearly inspired by Anne Brontë's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," where the ghost of an abused woman saves another abused woman.I truly recommend this anthology and am looking forward to more like it.

Like most short story collections, The Haunting Season is a mixed bag. There are some really good stories mixed in with a number of mediocre stories. I was happy that the stories were reminiscent of Victorian ghost stories, but most didn't quite live up to their predecessors. Anyway, the following are my personal ratings for each story.* A Study in Black and White - 5 starsI quite enjoyed this one, but it wasn't quite living up to my expectations until that final paragraph. I loved the way this one ended.* Thwaite's Tenant - 5 starsI really enjoyed this one. It focused on the sad reality that women had few chances to escape an abusive relationship. Emily had such few options and it was good to see her standing up for herself.* The Eel Singers - 1 starI didn't care for this one. I haven't read the two books in the series with these characters and, as a short story, they just came across as strange. It was more steampunk than victorian. There were times when the writing didn't make sense either. This one needed an editor. I ended up skimming this one quite a bit.* Lily's Wilt - 5 starsThis one fits in well with Victorian ghost stories. It was creepy.* The Chillingham Chair - 5 starsThis one was do good, but I did wish there was more resolution. It left it wide open about what happened next. I probably should have docked a star for it, but I enjoyed it too much.* The Hanging of the Greens - 3 starsThis one was odd. It was well written, but I didn't really care for it.* Confinement - 5 starsThis was a chilling story. I loved the mother willing to do anything to save her baby and the premise that the reader doesn't know if it all happened or not.* Monster - 3 starsThe story of a horrible man who deserved what he got. I didn't care much for the vulgar language thrown in. It's not something that usually bothers me, but it was jarring. It seemed out of place and thrown it for effect when it was unnecessary.

arrived in less than a week. Great book of spooky stories. would definitely recommend.

"The Haunting Season" is another great collection of ghost stories by contemporary authors. Let me tell you, although it is 'advertised' for long winter nights, these stories will give you the chills also in the middle of summer! The topics range from ghosts to prehistoric monsters and in many narratives the attention is focused on women. In "Confinement" (by Kiran Millwood Hargrqave), post-partum psychotic depression is discussed and there is an author's note about that. In "Monster" (by Elizabeth Mcneal), a Victorian wife pays back her selfish, childish husband. In "Lily Wilt" (by Jess Kidd), the will to live and to love of a young girl defies even death. My favorite story is probably "Thwaite's Tenant" (by Imogen Hermes Gowar), clearly inspired by Anne Brontë's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," where the ghost of an abused woman saves another abused woman.I truly recommend this anthology and am looking forward to more like it.

This is some of the most talentless writing I've ever read. A cross between Harlequin romances and a chatBot version of the great ghost stories of the previous centuries, I wish someone had warned me about how YA stupid/contrived these stories actually were. I'll stick to the classics and read them over and over again. I left my copy in a hospital waiting room, it was so bad. Take heed, if you're looking for quality ghost stories... Nothing here at all.

I wish more collections like this existed. Quality ghost stories, although many of the authors are contemporary, they give off Allan Poe vibes. Scary but not gory, lead to the discovery of new authors such as Purcell.

War ein Geburtstagsgeschenk. Kam pünktlich. Buch war leider nicht nochmal eingeschweißt. Dadurch sah es leider aus als wenn da schon mal jemand durchgeblättert hätte. Für mich selber hätte es mich überhaupt nicht gestört, aber als Geschenk fand ich es jetzt nicht so prickelnd. Ist aber trotzdem gut angekommen.