Favourite ghost story writers and stories?

I'd be very interested to know how after spending 35 years reading ghost stories you suddenly stumble into this site (both of you).

With such a wealth of experience you should have little trouble expanding upon your interests, telling us why you like this writer or that story, and what books you own, and which genre experts you admire, etc. Vague references to M R James being adapted at Christmas seems rather insubstantial for lifelong enthusiasts.

Most of the people in TLO have written stories or essays in the genre. Have you? Have you posted in any other groups about ghost stories, or did you just happen to Google 'ghost stories' recently and suddenly end up here?

As there are some mischief-makers out there who have stalked not only me but others into horror forums whilst feigning an interest in the genre, such questions deserve to be asked, especially of readers who claim 35 years experience, but then name-drop very obvious authors whose work is not really much discussed here, in addition to recommending cheap modern anthologies which any troublemaker can find on the shelves of Waterstones or Amazon.

Most of the people who post here have some sort of verifiable history e.g. website, blog, writing credits, booksellers, publishers, critics etc. Of course it's not necessary to validate your identity, but my spider sense is tingling, and without seeing some form of independent proof, I am inclined to suspect that you may be a stalker feigning genre knowledge just to stir up trouble.

Elsewhere two people have been criticised on a general media forum for having stalked me into a horror forum. They admitted doing so and justified their actions while ridiculing ghost stories in general as childish and irrelevant. One of them then went on to post a link to the TLO board, proving that he was an avid reader of this forum, for no other purpose than stalking me.

The TLO is a very positive and pleasant forum. If your intentions are indeed sincere and honourable then you should cough up some evidence to prove that you are not a troublemaker because your story (stories) don't quite make sense, and it would be both irresponsible and cruel to hoodwink the other members, regardless of any animosity you may feel for me personally.

JK
aka Christopher Barker

	TLO THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE

Quote Originally Posted by Dr Voke.

Well,ive been reading ghost stories for over 35 years and I can tell you they are excellent editions to the genre. Some of the stories have never appeared in anthologies before.

Which ones specifically?

[Dr Voke.]

Actualy quite a few.
Some rare stories that havent seen the light of day for decades.
Off hand,no idea.
Do a search.
For £2.99 you can"t go wrong even if you have specialist collectors editions that are valuable, these make excellent field copies.
Nice atmospheric covers,too.
http://www.wordsworth-editions.com/j...key=384&pnum=1
I particularly like this selection.
Thanks.

[Evans]

Did Wordsworth ever get round to doing a Wakefield collection? I seem to recall there being some talk of it.

I doubt they would do it because of the royalties business but I wish some widescale publisher would reprint A N L Munby's Alabaster Hand collection.

[Dr Voke.]

Julian,I think you have some sort of personal problem.
If you don"t like my post, don"t respond.
Most of my reading is of fantasy from weird tales era, EF Russell, Manly Wade Wellman,Bradbury, CA Smith.
etc.
Although for past 15 years most of my reading has been of magic literature {not black magic,but entertainers magic}
Magic + horror i.e. Stephen Minch,now there is a writer.

[Dr Voke.]

A far as I know,no,not yet.

Quote Originally Posted by Dr Voke.

Actualy quite a few. Some rare stories that havent seen the light of day for decades. Off hand,no idea. Do a search. For £2.99 you can"t go wrong even if you have specialist collectors editions that are valuable, these make excellent field copies. Nice atmospheric covers,too. http://www.wordsworth-editions.com/j...key=384&pnum=1 I particularly like this selection. Thanks.

You confidently quoted 35 years experience of reading ghost stories whilst claiming that several stories in the new Wordsworth range had never before been anthologised.

Now you are unable to quote a single example far less the several you orginally referred to. Furthermore you have sidestepped my request for some evidence about this dubious '35 years experience of reading ghost stories' claim of yours.

And how is that you suddenly tumble into the TLO instead of the various other fora devoted to weird fiction, with no track record of having posted elsewhere? If you google the words 'ghost story' along with writers names like Benson and Wakefield, the TLO is not returned. Indeed, the TLO is very much a specialist forum that people knowledgeable in the genre eventually gravitate towards. The only plausible exception to that are fans of Thomas Ligotti himself, and you've barely mentioned him, far less discussed his work in any convincing detail.

Dr Bantham, I think we have a mole in the forum. I'm happy to thwack him on the head with a spade if he tries to dig holes in an otherwise pleasingly verdant lawn, but if you think I am trespassing on your patch, or that I should give "Dr Voke" the benefit of the doubt, then all you need do is tip me a wink, and I shall happily defer to your wiser judgement.

JK

PS. You could always ask "Dr Voke" to send you an email from his primary email address. This would give you an IP address and posting trail which could be analysed in greater detail.

	TLO THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE

Quote Originally Posted by Evans

Did Wordsworth ever get round to doing a Wakefield collection? I seem to recall there being some talk of it. I doubt they would do it because of the royalties business but I wish some widescale publisher would reprint A N L Munby's Alabaster Hand collection.

I can let you have a gratis copy of the Tandem paperback edition when I send you the other book. I have a spare. It's scruffy but perfectly serviceable.

As you probably know, Munby wrote three of the tales whilst in a POW camp during WW2. The editor of the prison camp magazine ['Touchstone'] was an Edward Viney. I have a bound collection of Touchstone featuring all three of the Munby tales (two are illustrated) that has Viney's bookplate and personal inscription in the front i.e. it was his own file copy.

About 200 copies of each edition of Touchstone were produced. It's quite rare. One of the issues features a short story involving the sexual escapades of the narrator. It's title? 'A Warning To The Curious'.......

[G. S. Carnivals]

Quote Originally Posted by Julian Karswell

Dr Bantham, I think we have a mole in the forum. I'm happy to thwack him on the head with a spade if he tries to dig holes in an otherwise pleasingly verdant lawn, but if you think I am trespassing on your patch, or that I should give "Dr Voke" the benefit of the doubt, then all you need do is tip me a wink, and I shall happily defer to your wiser judgement. JK PS. You could always ask "Dr Voke" to send you an email from his primary email address. This would give you an IP address and posting trail which could be analysed in greater detail.

As Dr. Bantham's deputy and a Moderator at TLO, I feel such thwacking serves no useful purpose. The ONLY thing ANY TLO member should be expected to provide is a modicum of respect and integrity. Period.

	TLO THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE

[Evans]

Quote Originally Posted by Julian Karswell

Quote Originally Posted by Evans Did Wordsworth ever get round to doing a Wakefield collection? I seem to recall there being some talk of it. I doubt they would do it because of the royalties business but I wish some widescale publisher would reprint A N L Munby's Alabaster Hand collection. I can let you have a gratis copy of the Tandem paperback edition when I send you the other book. I have a spare. It's scruffy but perfectly serviceable. As you probably know, Munby wrote three of the tales whilst in a POW camp during WW2. The editor of the prison camp magazine ['Touchstone'] was an Edward Viney. I have a bound collection of Touchstone featuring all three of the Munby tales (two are illustrated) that has Viney's bookplate and personal inscription in the front i.e. it was his own file copy. About 200 copies of each edition of Touchstone were produced. It's quite rare. One of the issues features a short story involving the sexual escapades of the narrator. It's title? 'A Warning To The Curious'.......

Thank you very much, that's very kind of you. I would love a copy.

I did know the condition in which some of Munby's stories were written though I hadn't heard anything much else about the contents of the magazine. Recently while sharking about on AbeBooks it amused me to learn how its still much easier to get hold of the 1949 edition of The Alabaster Hand than either of the two Ash-Tree printings.

Incidentally did the cheque I sent you for Vittorini arrive ok? I only ask because the postal unpleasantness seems to have stopped a few of my letters bound north of the Thames from reaching their destinations this month.