Saturday 17 December 2011

CHRISTMAS PRESENCE


'Overheard In A Graveyard' by Susan Price.
         
           Christmas will soon be here, and Christmas is the season for ghost stories.  I think it was Jerome K Jerome who observed that at Christmas, that time of fellowship and good cheer, we love to tell stories of the grave, of hearts torn asunder by death, of ghastly presences hovering in the dark just outside the lamplight... How right he was.
          Here's a little Christmas present for my readers, a link to one of the stories in my book OVERHEARD IN A GRAVEYARD - in fact, the title story itself.
          I'll be posting links to another ghost story on Christmas Day itself, over on Do Authors Dream of Electric Books.


'Nightcomers' by Susan Price.
          The story going up on Christmas Day is a much sweeter tale than Overheard - it's based on family Christmases from my childhood, and was inspired by my mother talking about her childhood Christmases and how much her mother always looked forward to Christmas.  It's called 'The Christmas Trees' and comes from my collection of ghost stories, NIGHTCOMERS.
          It's a bit of a family affair, as all the covers to my e-books are done by my brother, Andrew Price.
'Hauntings' by Susan Price
          I have yet another collection of ghost stories on kindle, HAUNTINGS.  I like  ghost stories - I like reading them and writing them.  They aren't an easy form.
          For me, they aren't about gross-out horror.  That's for horror-stories.  Ghost stories, I feel, should unsettle or disturb in some way - but they are as much for talking about sadness and loss as fear.  They are about our shadow-side and the numinous, as well as the dead.
         But for now I'll wish you all a Merry Christmas, because this blog will be taking a break over Christmas (and eating itself sick.)
          But, before I go, Blot has a Christmas Message he wishes to impart - 

7 comments:

Joan Lennon said...

Oh Blott, you make me shiver ... and then grin!

Penny Dolan said...

Blott, your wise blue paws have pounced on exactly the right point. Great ghost stories too!

madwippitt said...

Overheard in a Graveyard raises the hairs on the back of my neck every time I read it ...

but Blott colliding head on with A Christmas Carol - now that really is scary!


PS And hurrah for JKJ - an author who still manages to make me laugh out loud!

Leslie Wilson said...

I have Overheard in a Graveyard and it's brill! Love the Blott cartoon.. Happy Christmas everyone, and Sue, and Blott and the Author of his Being..

madwippitt said...

Oh, I forgoit to say I enjoyed the post title ... the world is a better place for a bad pun!

Anonymous said...

Hope you had a happy Christmas and a wonderful new year. Also - the covers your brother does are fantastic!
All the best for 2012,
Die

Susan Price said...

Thanks Die - thanks from Andrew too, who needs a bit of ego-boosting. I think his covers are great too. I know I'm biased, but I think they're often better than the original, 'professional' ones.