Ghosts

Book Review: ‘A Moonlit Path of Madness’ by Catherine McCarthy

21st Apr 20251 Comment

Catherine McCarthy’s ‘A Moonlit Path of Madness’ is my latest read of 2025.

It took me a while to finish, but that’s not the book’s fault; life’s been chaotic. My wife gave it to me as a Christmas gift, along with a year’s worth of other books. And boy, does she know my taste in literature.

The story – set at the turn of the 20th century – follows Grace, whose mentally ill mother has passed away. Her brother inherits the family home in the US, where Grace lives with her servant. But her parents have left her another house on the Welsh coast. Hoping to leave her mother’s madness behind, Grace sets off for Wales to begin a new life. But escaping ghosts, real or metaphorical, is never that easy.

The story is dark and brooding, taking time to build the atmosphere. Being half English and half Welsh, I loved the damp, moisture-in-the-sea-air setting. You could almost taste the salt from the waves. Grace’s journey is haunting and relevant to our modern era. ‘A Moonlit Path…’ examines how we viewed mental health in the not-too-distant past. In doing so, the novel encourages reflection on how we face these issues today. McCarthy also creates a sense of fate’s inescapability, reminding me of Stephen King. It’s the type of story where you sense how it will end but hope things might turn out fine.

Haunting, beautiful, tragic.

If you enjoy slow-burn gothic fiction, this one’s for you.

Book Review: ‘Ghost Story’ by Peter Straub

6th Jan 2025Leave a comment

Peter Straub’s Ghost Story is my first read of 2025!

I started this book around Halloween last year, but finishing it took me a while. I picked it up after reading Stephen King’s high praise. And I’ve also enjoyed the books the two co-wrote (‘The Talisman’, ‘Black House’). I adore King’s slow-burn, small-town epics, so I went into this one expecting the same.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me.

Like King, Straub sets up a town’s worth of characters and a curious supernatural mystery. The atmospheric, snowy setting lingers on every page. The prologue, in particular, hooked me: a man kidnaps a young girl for reasons we don’t yet understand. But after that strong start, the story began to lose its grip on me.

The narrative shifts to a group of older men telling ghost stories. Straub punctuates this with extended, meandering explorations of the town and its people. While this setup has potential, I struggled to stay engaged. The pacing felt slow, with stretches where little happened. Some plot points felt underdeveloped or convoluted. I also found the dialogue and character behaviour hard to connect with.

I wanted to love this book. I gave it my all, but I struggled to stay invested. Even the conclusion, which Straub built up over hundreds of pages, felt anticlimactic.

That said, I see why others might enjoy it. Straub’s writing creates a strong sense of place, and the atmosphere is perfect for a cold night. Yet, it lacked the urgency and tension that makes a slow-burn story rewarding.

I wish it had lived up to its initial promise.

⭐⭐☆☆☆

‘Listening to Ghosts’: My occult Reedsy story!

12th Feb 202027th Feb 2020Leave a comment

I know, I know, I’ve been lazy with keeping this blog up to date. I do apologise! Unfortunately, my life has gotten incredibly busy over the last few weeks, for reasons I won’t bore you with here. All that matters is I’m back now, and I’ve got a few stories to share! I’ll be uploading ’em in the next few days, so keep an eye out, ’cause I reckon there’s a few good’uns!

Anyway, this story was written for the contest ‘Musical Genius’ (the theme was to honour the legendary Mozart!). I chose the prompt, “Write a story about a character obsessed with one of the long-dead “greats” in their profession.” The title of my story is Listening to Ghosts, and you can find it here on WordPress or over on my Reedsy profile.

Jed Blancher, now there was a good paranormal investigator. Rumour had it, he could talk with the deceased without need for a planchette or Ouija or anything.

Continue Reading

I hope you like the story! I really loved the vibe of this one — stories of the occult really speak to me!

‘Visit’: A story in 99 words

27th Sep 20194th Nov 20198 Comments

Gusts of wind moaned through the skeletal trees, scattering the burnt-orange leaves across the graves.

“That time of year again, Frank?”

“Yep.”

“Same as last year?”

“Same as every year, Harry.”

“Hmm.”

The wind wailed between the headstones, shrieking like a ghoul.

Harry cleared his throat. “Well… maybe they forgot?”

“Twenty-seven years in a row?”

“I—well, maybe not…”

“Yeah, maybe not.”

The gale was picking up speed now. The town’s citizens would be battening down the hatches.

Frank was changing, too. Becoming. Tattered skin and rotten flesh were stitching themselves together again.

“This year,” he said, “they’ll remember.”

night dark halloween horror — Photo by Skitterphoto on Pexels.com

Written in response to CarrotRanch’s September 26, 2019, prompt: unremembered.

‘The Comicbook Kid’: My entry for this week’s Reedsy contest!

21st Sep 201921st Sep 2019Leave a comment

Well, here we are again! It seems as though no time has passed at all, but somehow another week has gone by… This week’s theme was a celebration of legendary children’s author, Roald Dahl.

I chose prompt #5 — “Write a story infused with dark humour.” I wrote this story very quickly, as I spent the better part of the week in Prague for my brother’s stag party (the hangover was atrocious!). The title of the story is The Comicbook Kid, and you can read it here and here.

“Ralph’s parents were never the same after they died.” Continue Reading

As always, I hope you have fun reading the piece — I would have liked to work on it a bit more, but I’m happy with the story, considering how little time I invested in it!

P.S. Check back tomorrow for the 50th Bite-Size Horror!