The Mammoth Book of Modern Ghost Stories

Julia Lufting is still mourning the death of her only child and hoping against hope that the future will bring her better luck. Then her nights begin to be haunted by the ghost of a child. Not her own lost infant, apparently, but a quite terrifying little girl, and Julia finds herself driven to discover the unspeakable way in which the youngster died.

1977SWEETHEART, SWEETHEART by Bernard Taylor

To all intents and purposes Gerrard’s Hill Cottage, deep in the English countryside surrounded by meadows, trees and rose bushes, is an idyllic spot, promising rest and relaxation to anyone who visits. Instead, just beneath the surface, a malevolent female spirit is at large weaving an aura of murder, madness and betrayal around those who cross the threshold.

1977THE SHINING by Stephen King

Snowbound Overlook Hotel is intended to be a home-away-from home for writer Jack Torrance, his wife Wendy and their son Danny, when Jack accepts the post of janitor for the winter. But their stay turns to madness when ghosts of the past start to come to life and those gifted with the “shining” have to do battle with the darkest evils.

1978THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR by Anne Rivers Siddons

It seems like such a good idea for Walter and Colquitt Kennedy to buy the piece of land adjoining their house and build their “dream home” on it. But once work begins, mishaps start to occur with wildlife being killed, pets going missing and strange sights in the neighbourhood. The couple’s conviction they may have created a “haunted house” moves rapidly from suspicion to terrifying reality.

1979GHOST STORY by Peter Straub

There is a secret never mentioned when the five life-long friends in Milburn, NY meet each week as “The Chowder Society” to swap ghost stories. The mystery concerns Eva, a young girl the group accidentally killed in a car and dumped in the local lake when they were teenagers. Now a shape-shifting ghost has begun to haunt all their dreams and kill them one by one unless drastic action is taken.

1982THE WOMAN IN BLACK by Susan Hill

Arthur Kipps is a junior solicitor in Victorian England who attends the funeral of a client and during the service glimpses a mysterious woman in black. Later in the day, he sees the figure again and also hears the terrifying sounds of an adult and child sinking into a quicksand. To resolve the mystery he has to remain overnight in ancient Eel Marsh House and face the greatest horror of all.

1988HAUNTED by James Herbert

Ghost hunter David Ash is invited to investigate the hauntings taking place in an old house called Edbrook. Three nights the young man spends in the gloomy property with maleficent and blood-chilling events occurring one after another. On the third night, David has to face the enigma of his own past before the secret of Edbrook itself is revealed.

1991THE MIST IN THE MIRROR by Susan Hill

Sir James Monmouth is obsessed with the life and career of a mysterious traveller named Conrad Vane whose ghost has been seen about London. Monmouth’s research establishes that Vane was a man of evil deeds involving terrible cruelty to children. Now his curse threatens the lives of all those who become drawn to his legend.

1993GHOSTS by Noel Hynd

Following two unexplained deaths on sleepy Nantucket Island, a number of ghostly disturbances have started to upset the residents and visitors. Timothy Brooks, a detective assigned to investigate the killings, begins to suspect the ghost may be that of a stage actor killed in the 1920s and the deaths are in some way connected to him. It takes a mixture of sleuthing and “ghost-busting” to solve the mystery.

1994THE GHOSTS OF SLEATH by James Herbert

A second enquiry for ghost hunter David Ash takes him to the quiet and peaceful village of Sleath in the Chiltern Hills. This calm has been disturbed by reports of ghost sightings and some frighteningly bizarre events. Once again Ash has to confront secrets from his own past on a night of horror when awesome and malignant forces are unleashed on the helpless community.

1994REVENANT by Melanie Tern

The ghost town of Revant is where spirits congregate: the mother who talks to her dead children, the father with an image of his son before a fatal accident and a girl mourning her phantom aborted baby. But there is also a presence in Revenant, ancient, powerful and hungry waiting to feed on the souls in torment and free more terrifying spirits into the darkness.

1996A FACE AT THE WINDOW by Dennis McFarland