The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories, 2 (The Mammoth Book Series)
Ghost stories helped balance many a writer's checkbook over the past 100 years, so the first Mammoth Book (Carroll & Graf Pubs., 1990) did not exhaust the prime examples, and the second has little dross. Tempted to skip the unknowns and read the many "name" authors here, this reviewer was helplessly lured on to read every page. Many stories avoid the formulaic or routine, and the "supernatural" is sometimes just an occasion for good nature writing, character analysis, or lyric flights; a wide variety of approaches compensates for the limits of the sub-genre. From genteel ghosts through neat intellectual puzzles to a few macabre tales, this collection offers good literary as well as emotional value. Even readers with spines immune to tingling will be delightfully diverted. Brief headnotes mention other titles by the nearly 60 writers, Victorian to present day. Recommended for public libraries.- Patricia Dooley, Univ. of Washington Lib. Sch., SeattleCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.