Walsh's ghost stories- like many in this unique genre- are not exactly horror stories. At least, not what one
usually thinks of as horror: mounting dread, cold, visceral fear, cosmic terror
(though certainly, these traits can be present in a ghost story. Well, except
for cosmic terror). These are more like campfire tales, or an odd incident a friend might relate to you while driving down a lonely road at night.
The ghosts in this book come in many forms: mournful,
vengeful, frightening, or sympathetic. Some are mysterious and unknowable. Some
are not even human. One is a mirror, another an entire house. The stories fluctuate between light
supernatural fantasies such as “The Rose Stone” and “The Room in the Mirror” to
frightening, brutal hauntings such as “The Edge” or “Number Twenty-two” that
might have come from a vintage EC comic like Tales from the Crypt. Some stories feature ghosts that cannot rest and
must repeat their deaths over and over, such as the specters in “The Car in
Front” and “A Dark Place in the Forest”. “The Riven Ash” even veers into Welsh
mythology. All these different styles clumped together in one collection may
seem incongruous at first. But ghosts are mercurial beings, and so are tales
about them.
Many of these stories deal with loneliness. The protagonists
often feel like they’re out of place in the world. Some would rather escape to
an imagined golden past. The supernatural offers them this escape. But in
ways they don’t expect.
Most of the stories don’t take place in winter, except for
the last tale which is Christmas-themed. The Winter of the title instead refers
to the suggested reading season. it harkens back to a tradition of telling ghost
stories in the long, chill nights when blankets of sound-muffling snow create
the appropriate spooky atmosphere.
If there is any critique about this collection, it is that sometimes
the stories over-explain, dropping a huge pile of information about exactly
where the ghost came from, which dissipates the aura of supernatural mystery.
Better to leave some questions lingering. Overall, though, this is an excellent
collection of ghostly tales for reading in the quiet, dark hours.
You can get a copy of 13 Ghosts of Winter here.
No comments:
Post a Comment