Obtain Immediately A Gathering Of Ghosts Engineered By David Haynes Supplied As Online Book

Gathering of Ghosts' serves up six stories revolving around spirits, memories, obsession, retribution, etc,

This collection was consistently good and varied, The horror was the kind that gradually crept up and was mostly on the tame side, Emotions were interwoven seamlessly, along with an underlying haunting quality and a feeling of impending danger, My favourite was:

The Stonegate Manor Collection Slee gets more and more curious about Lord Feltham's vast collection of paintings which the latter is adamant about getting rid of.
It was atmospheric and intriguing, thanks to little things such as the tasteless food and mysterious artist,

Overall, although 'A Gathering of Ghosts' did not exactly scare the daylights out of me, there was plenty to like such as the sombre feel, interesting characters and strong endings.
The Silent Bell/stars
I love the idea of this one, and there's definitely a creepiness factor, but I feel like it could have had a better delivery.
The reasoning was a bit shallow and I'm not really sure why it went down the way it did, But definitely a properly creepy idea that still gave me a shudder at the end,

The Stonegate Manor Collection/stars
Yikes, this one is probably going to give me nightmares, nervous laughter
This has the classic Victorian horror feel to it a gloomy manor, an eccentric master, dreary weather and strange happenings, Really liked it! I did keep reading 'Slee' as 'She' which did get super confusing, and I'm notsure of what happened right at the end there, but overall this was definitely dark and spooky and really enjoyable.


The Haunting of Reverend Carson/stars
Another one that certainly gave me the creeps! I saw a crow wander past the window while I was reading and it scared the crap outta me.

I enjoyed the way this one played out, Loved Musgrave he's such an interesting character! Great story,

The Last Waltz,/stars
This was more of a sweet sort of ghost story less about the chills and more about that longing that exists between the living and their lost loved ones.
I was a bit worried his obsession might get a little out of control, but in the end I feel content, No scares here, but still a satisfying ghost story,

The Speaking Tube/stars
Well this is clearly a family of despicable people, Hated them all, although revenge is always fun to read about so I quite enjoyed it for that! Not a lot of ghostly chills from this one, more chills at how horrible humans can be.
But a fun tale of revenge,

The Ghost Train/stars
This was a bit of an unusual start and I have no idea why Godfrey got involved but I liked it anyway.
Again, a tale of revenge, so I was invested in a morbid sort of way!

Overall thoughts
I really enjoyed this collection, and it was such a quick read! I loved the writing it never felt overdone yet it still created the atmosphere effortlessly with as few words as possible.
I enjoyed the variety to the stories and how sometimes our protagonist was not someone to root for,

I think The Haunting of Reverend Carson was probably my fave, mostly because I really liked Musgrave I think he had the best character growth of the whole collection.


Overall, it was just a really fun, creepy read that was light on but still created plenty of chills, Definitely recommend for horror lovers! This a a good collection of gothic style short stories, I enjoyed Silent Bell, The Ghost Train and Stonegate Manor the most, However all of the stories are well written and intriguing, Haynes has a knack for writing dark Victorian horror stories, After reading his "The Macabre Collection", set in Victorian London, and "The Scream of Angels", set in Paris in the same era, I was really looking forward to this collection of short stories.
I was not disappointed.

Unlike "The Macabre Collection", each of these stories stands alone, The one common thread running through the majority of these stories is Haynes' deployment of some Victorian era device as the centerpiece in his haunting tales, Safety coffins, zoopraxiscopes and speaking tubes take the center stage along with the ghosts from Haynes' imagination,


/STARS I call much of this “oldschool” writing, especially the first two stories, Think Mary Shelleys Frankenstein. These are actually new, but each harkens back to that time period, and the writing follows suit, Not all of them captured me completely, A couple put a scare in me, One made me really smile, Each had something interesting and concluded with a twist or cause to think,

The Silent Bell Part of what occurs here reminds me of the story inside the story of Misery by Stephen King, “Did we bury her alive!” Thats how Paul Sheldon brings back the character adeptly named Misery, Here in The Silent Bell, a doctors misdiagnosis leads to his professional demise, but worse than that, the end for a patient, Lets just say that sometimes a doctor receives medicine too,
The Stonegate Manor Collection Its beginning put me in mind of The Moors in that famous Sherlock Holmes case probably because theyre crossing the Moors, but this is not a case for our beloved detective, and the setting quickly turns to the estate named in the title.
The house is huge, but cloistered and dark, as if no one has cared for it or its hundreds of paintings that line its walls, And these are why Slee has come here, in hopes of securing this collection of art and his future, A secret is hidden behind the filth that covers these paintings,
This may be the longest of the six stories, The payoff was good, but comes abruptly after a slow buildup,
The Haunting of Reverend Carson ”They say he killed her when she fell for another and he threw here lifeless body into the river.
They say he carries a lock of her hair around his neck in a locket made from her skull, ” This starting sentence could be true, but I will not tell, The direction takes a turn anyway, revealing a man who swindles others as a medium, When he is called upon by the Reverend Carson for help, he may actually see and hear the beyond for real this time, And it may change his life,
The Last Waltz The best of the lot so far, and it isnt even a horror story, Yes, it has elements of wonder, or maybe supernatural would be a better term, It deals with the loss of a lifelong partner and love that never dies, I thought it was heartwarming without being cloying, and ended perfectly,
The Speaking Tube You wouldnt have got me off a Speaking Tube aka Voice Pipe, if one had been in my childhood home, Somehow itd have been far more fun than the ol Ma Bell, In this instance though, I wouldnt have gone near that thing after hearing the first whisper, laugh or calling whistle from its cone, In fact, Id be gone, Again, it is an example of what comes to those who ask for it, Answers to certain questions are best left alone,
The

Ghost Train If there is an overall theme to these six stories, I would call it retribution, Making right for the wrongs, That theme is represented in its clearest here in The Ghost Train, Not my favorite of the bunch, but it is unique in the way a man helps one who has passed,
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