He is an author whose work I enjoy reading again and again; whenever I'm immersed in one of his novels or numerous short stories, I am never disappointed. His writing is always a feast for the imagination. And Ghosts In The Attic is no exception.
Trying to list my favorites from the choice morsels here was made nigh impossible by Mr Gunnells, as the stories range from great to excellent, but I managed to whittle it down to the gems:
The collection opens with 911, a poignant ghost story with its origin straight out of 9/11.
Another stand out for me is The Delivery Boy, a great thriller about a seemingly crazy pizza delivery boy that ends with a bang!
Wasted On The Young starts out pretty straight forward then takes an unexpected turn that brings the story to a creepy end.
The crown jewel of the collection, The Ghost Of Winnie Davis Hall, is a lovely, haunting story about belief and myth. In it, we meet a ghost who over the years has become lost, and now only wants to find her place in the world again. Beautiful!
Circular is a graphic tale about grief and desperation that can lead to obsession. Very creepy!
A Stranger Comes To Lipscomb Street and Finders Keepers are both love stories at their core, yet surreal and weird.
Ghosts In The Attic is another superb collection by an author who injects his writing with thoughtfulness and heart. Even his "horror" stories are emotive, and those collected here are wistful and wicked. Probably my only complaint is that the majority of these stories are very short and while that makes for quick reading, when I am reading Mark Allan Gunnells, I want to be lost in the writing for as long as possible.
Happy reading!
(This counts towards the 2013 Horror Reading Challenge hosted by Midnyte Reader)
"Wistful and wicked" what a great description. I'm going to look into this one. Thanks for the great review.
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