The Winter Spirits: Ghostly Tales for Frosty Nights is a collection of twelve new ghost stories written by popular authors of historical and Gothic fiction, all with a Christmas or Advent theme. It’s a follow-up to The Haunting Season, which I haven’t read but which includes eight of the same authors. This is the perfect time of year for ghost stories, so maybe I’ll look for the previous book next winter.
Back to The Winter Spirits and most of the stories are set in the 19th or early 20th centuries, giving them a traditional feel. More variety would have been nice – not just in the time periods, but also in the geographical settings, as the majority take place in Britain, with one or two in America or elsewhere in Europe – but otherwise I really enjoyed this collection. I’ve previously read full-length novels by most of the featured authors, but three of them were new to me: Andrew Michael Hurley, Catriona Ward and Susan Stokes-Chapman. I felt that Hurley’s The Old Play and Stokes-Chapman’s Widow’s Walk were two of the weaker stories, but looking at other reviews, some readers have singled them out as favourites, so I think it’s just a case of different stories appealing to different people! Ward’s contribution, Jenkin, was completely bizarre but added some diversity as it felt quite unlike any of the others.
The biggest surprise, for me, was Natasha Pulley’s The Salt Miracles; I really didn’t get on with her writing style in her novel The Bedlam Stacks, so I wasn’t expecting too much from this tale of disappearing pilgrims on a remote Scottish island (based on St Kilda). However, I ended up loving it – it’s such an unusual and chilling story! Inferno by Laura Shepherd-Robinson, one of my current favourite historical fiction authors, is another I particularly enjoyed – a wonderfully eerie story set in 18th century Italy, where a man is forced to confront his sins. Even better than both of these is Stuart Turton’s creepy and imaginative The Master of the House, in which a young boy who is being neglected by his father makes a deal with the devil. This one feels almost like a very dark fairytale and is one of the highlights of the book.
Of the twelve authors, Laura Purcell is probably the most well established as a writer of horror fiction and she doesn’t disappoint here with Carol of the Bells and Chains, in which a governess trying to deal with two unruly children tells them the story of the Krampus, with unintended consequences. Imogen Hermes Gowar’s A Double Thread, where a woman gets her comeuppance after badly treating her hardworking seamstress, is another I really enjoyed – it made me long for another novel by Gowar, as it’s been a few years since The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock!
The remaining stories are by Elizabeth Macneal, Bridget Collins, Jess Kidd and Kiran Millwood Hargrave. With a range of different styles and subjects, unless you just don’t like ghost stories I think this collection should contain something to please almost every reader.
Thanks to Sphere for providing a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.
She Reads Novels 
This sounds like a great collection! I tend to read classic scary stuff as opposed to more modern writers, but if this one happens to come my way I’ll definitely give it a try!
I think the Victorian/early 20th century settings make them feel like traditional ghost stories and not too ‘modern’, so definitely worth giving this collection a try if you come across it.
I’m not really a ghost stories fan, but with Andrew Michael Hurley, Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Imogen Hermes Gowar (all those long names!) represented, I should give it a go. I might give the Stuart Turton a miss, I’m out step by having been unable to finish his ‘The Seven Deaths …’
The supernatural elements are quite subtle in some of the stories, so I think even if you’re not a fan of ghost stories you might still enjoy them. I’ve read full-length novels by both Hargrave and Gowar, but somehow hadn’t come across Hurley before!
Hurley? Recommended!
Both these collectios sound great. I’ll look out for them.
This one is excellent, so I’ll definitely try to read the other one as well.
Having really enjoyed The Haunting Season, this book is on my wishlist. One of my favorite stories in the earlier book was the one by Natasha Pulley, so I look forward to reading the one in this collection.
I didn’t like the Natasha Pulley novel I read very much at all and had decided she wasn’t for me, but after enjoying this short story so much I think I’ll have to reconsider!
So this is a modern collection of ghost stories. Interesting! I’m so much more used to them being 19th century ones, or early 20th. I’ll have to check it out.
Yes, I’m used to reading older ghost stories too, so it was interesting to read some by current authors.
I’ve been skeptical of this book, thinking that it’s going to be too modern. But if it’s set and styled in 19th or early 20th century, then I think I will probably like it. Am keeping this in mind for next year!
Yes, the historical settings make the stories feel much older. This is a great collection!
I’ve bought this as a Christmas present based purely on the cover. Hoping the recipient likes it!
Yes, that cover is beautiful! I hope they enjoy it.
We’re on the same page here! I also thought this collection was too samey, but agree that the Pulley was an absolute standout, and I also really liked the Turton and Purcell contributions. (I don’t get on with Purcell’s novels but she writes a great old-fashioned horror story – I liked her story in The Haunting Season a lot as well). And I’ve never enjoyed anything I’ve read by Hurley, just not my cup of tea.
I’ve only read two of Purcell’s novels – loved one and not the other – but I thought this short story was one of the highlights of the book. I’ll look forward to reading the one in The Haunting Season, when I eventually get round to that collection. As for Hurley, I’ve never read any of his novels but have looked them up and I’m not sure if they would be my cup of tea either.
I am always up for a good ghost story. I like the setting, and I would like to read more contemporary authors, so this seems like a good fit for me. Maybe in January!
I think this collection would be a good opportunity to try out some contemporary authors and see if you like their style. I hope you have a chance to read it!
As you say, something for everyone, so very tempting! For now I’ll make do with Christianna Brand’s London Particular with its fog-bound metropolitan setting. 🙂
Sounds very atmospheric! I haven’t read anything by Brand yet but am hoping to get round to one of her books soon.
I do love a good ghost story! 😀
Me too, particularly in the winter.
I’ve been trying to avoid acquiring new horror anthologies this year, but this sounds very appealing! I might try to fit it in over Christmas – ’tis the season to be terrified!
I don’t read many horror anthologies, so this was something a bit different for me. There were one or two stories that didn’t really work, but otherwise I thought it was quite a solid collection.