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3 reviews
Excellent anthology of 14 short ghost stories.
These are excellent ghost stories. Many were new to me and each held my attention. Roald Roald Dahl says in his introduction that he compiled a selection of 24 tales from reading as many as 749. This collection includes 14 of them (shame on Penguin for imposing an arbitrary limit and not printing all 24! I bet they could have included another at no extra cost on the seven blank pages at the back). He selected them originally with a television series in mind, so I wonder if he was thinking more of their dramatic possibilities rather than their effectiveness as short stories, because he dismisses the 725 he did not select as 'rubbish'. Some may have been, but there are many famous stories he did not include. However, these 14 are really good. Shame on television as well for not going into production! Dahl's introduction is worth reading for its philosophical reflections on writing.
Shaun TyasRead full review...
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: webuybooks
a pretty average selection from some unremarkable authors
Roald Dahl didn't actually write these stories. His contribution, so he claims, was to read through hundreds of contenders in order to make a selection, and also to write an introduction in which he develops his thesis that to write a children's book is a greater accomplishment than to write a great novel. All a bit strange, as these stories are definitely not for kids - not only because of the vocab and writing style, but the 'adult themes' involved in many (beyond death and the afterlife, I mean). Most of the acknowledged masters of the genre, like MR James or Rudyard Kipling, are not featured, and I don't see anything out of the ordinary in the stories chosen; I have read plenty as good, and a fair number that are much better.Read full review...
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ghost stories picked by Dahl
4 really good stories here.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: momox_uk