A Book for Christmas
Looking for a gift for some late Christmas party or gift exchange? Well, this little edition of Christmas stories from 1909 Nobel Prize Winner Selma Lagerlöf definitely fits the bill.
Ghosts
Ghost stories and books prominently featuring spirits of the dead, a favourite category of Hargrave’s.
Secrets in the Snow
I’m emphasizing the ghost stories, because even the crime stories in this collection mostly have a ghostly bent. I happen to prefer this, especially in a holiday collection.
The Invention of Morel
This novella’s setting of an opulent but derelict and rotting mansion infected with the suggestion of long-ago deaths and violence ticked all of the spooky season boxes for me.
Thus Were Their Faces
This book is a selection of work spanning multiple decades, and particularly has a focus on showcasing Ocampo’s tendency to be both insightful and at the same time grotesque, haunting, and fantastic.
Ghostroots
More powerful than gore, I find an eerie atmosphere is what really makes a collection like Ghostroots tick.
A Sunny Place for Shady People
Enríquez loves a twist ending, and ghosts and horrors found in unlikely places.
White Nights and A Nervous Breakdown
Both of these volumes are perfect for a night spent inside in the warmth of the fireside. Easy to get lost in, they are easily finished in a sitting and just begging to be turned over in your head or discussed with your favourite bookish friend.
Poems Bewitched and Haunted, Killer Verse, Poems Dead and Undead
The volumes are compact and beautiful, and look great on the shelf — plus the collections are both thorough and accessible for someone who doesn’t read as much poetry as literature.
Murder in the Age of Enlightenment
Though the subjects are varied, what remains is Akutagawa’s beautiful starkness and his precise use of prose. There is the feeling that cutting one word would be impossible, but adding one would be a shame.
Haunted Tales
What really shines about this collection is the informative introductions to each and every one of the stories.