Favorite ghostly books

[mollyringle]

My novel The Ghost Downstairs comes out in less than a month now, on April 3 (*dress rehearsal of confetti! whee!*), so in honor of that, I ask you:

What are your all-time favorite novels (or shorter stories) featuring ghosts?

The ones that come to mind for me are from my childhood, and are YA books: The Ghost Next Door by Wylly Folk St. John and Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn. In addition, I rather enjoyed Nora Roberts' "In the Garden" trilogy, which dealt with a haunted house owned by a garden nursery proprietor. And who could forget Jacob Marley and the three Christmas ghosts coming back to haunt Ebenezer Scrooge?

Hopefully when you answer with your favorites, I'll remember some other good ones, or discover some new gems.

Comments

[babydracky.livejournal.com]

CONGRATS! ;)

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[notemily.livejournal.com]

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb - a ghost falls in love. it's a beautiful, haunting story.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Oooh, someone else recently recommended that one. I'm definitely wish-listing it. Looks most creative!

[indrifan.livejournal.com]

Gosh, I'm completely blanking on ghost books, except for Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters, if that counts.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Hee. Well, my sister has the entire Pratchett library, so I can always borrow that one if it applies.

[pokeystar.livejournal.com]

Richard Peck's The Ghost Belonged to Me & Ghosts I Have Been (I haven't read the two others); Gus was a Friendly Ghost by Jane Thayer.

Nearless Headless Nick and company - Harry Potter.

The Shining by Stephen King scared the crap out of me - I couldn't go into a bathroom without checking behind the shower curtain for years.

and, um. I wrote one. A short story - HP fanfic.

Black & Blue


And - W00t! ~throws confetti~

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Cool, I need to look up those! Definitely including the fanfic. :)

I have read The Shining, of course. King pretty much always scares the crap out of me. Eek.

spookity!

[celticmommy.livejournal.com]

The Shining by Stephen King ... definitely. OMG.

Ummm someone got me into the Dark Hunter books by SherriLynn Kenyon, and I can't remember which one has a ghost named Jesse in it. (there's 25 of the blasted things in the series, they tend to blend together after a while) Jesse cracks me up.

Re: spookity!

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Eek, yes, anything King ever does with ghosts, or other creepy things--totally terrifying.

I keep hearing great things about Kenyon. Must read her sometime!

Re: spookity!

[celticmommy.livejournal.com]

If you don't mind ebooks, I've got the whole set you can read for a teaser. :) I'm trying to get a friend of mine hooked on them, she bought one of the books in the middle of the series and read like a chapter or two before she realized it was a continuation of a series that she needed to read from the beginning.

I much prefer the smell of paper and the cracking open of a new binding, but, ebooks work in a pinch if you want a taste of something new. :)

There are mannnnnny hot descriptives of characters, and supernatural bodice ripper moments, but verah nice!

Re: spookity!

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Hey, Buffy's a supernatural bodice ripper in a way, and I loved that. :) Sounds fun.

I can request the first couple of books from the library, and see how I like 'em. Our library sometimes even has ebooks that can be "checked out" via email.

[littleprelude.livejournal.com]

There was one novel I remember from elementary school called "The Discontented Ghost" by Scott Corbett. It's written from the perspective of the ghost, who is terribly funny. There's also an Oscar Wilde short story by the same name with similar characters...worth a read.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Ah ha, I think I know that Wilde story--or maybe it's a different one, since I think it was called "The Canterville Ghost." Anyway, it *was* funny. :)

[kz-snow.livejournal.com]

Wow, Molly, congrats!

Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. Best ever. The first paragraph alone is a masterpiece.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Heya! I didn't realize you were on LJ. My bad. :)

Oh goodness yes, Haunting of Hill House. It freaked me out so much that I think my brain forgot to list it out of sheer terror.

[(Anonymous)]

by Bruce Coville; The Ghost in the Third Row, The Ghost Wore Gray & The Ghost in the Big Brass Bed. they are books for kids (8-10?), but got more serious as they went on.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Thanks--added to my list!

[extrajoker.livejournal.com]

I have to mention Susan Hill's The Woman in Black. It's a good creepy read. There's a movie adaptation, which I haven't seen. The stage play it pretty awesome, though. I saw a wonderful production years ago. I've also read Hill's recent The Man in the Picture, which was enjoyable but not as haunting, I think.

And even though they aren't ghost stories per se, the short stories in John Connolly's Nocturnes are worthy of mention. My librarything review:

I loved this, my first exposure to the writing of John Connolly. The opening novella, "The Cancer Cowboy Rides," reads a bit like an X-file. Many of the short stories were written for BBC radio, so they are brief but smooth-flowing and quite creepy. At various times, I was reminded of Poe, Lovecraft, and the more contemporary Gaiman and King; still, these stories aren't reiterations....They're more like personalized echoes, if that makes sense. I'd recommend the stories to anyone in the mood for a good old-fashioned ghost story.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Excellent--I haven't heard of those, and am happy to discover good new stuff. Added to my list! Thanks.