THE VISITORS BOOK
In this small but perfectly formed collection of supernatural short stories, Sophie Hannah takes the comforting scenes of everyday life and imbues them with a frisson of fear, then a gust of terror.
Why is a young woman so unnerved by the presence of a visitors book in her boyfriend’s inner-city home? And whose spidery handwriting is it that fills the pages? Who is the strangely courteous boy still lingering at a child’s tenth birthday party when all the parents have gathered their children and left? And why does the presence of a perfectly ordinary woman in a post office queue leave another customer pallid and sweating with fear?
Beware what you open this Christmas!
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READER REVIEWS
“This is a collection of four short (really short) stories.
In “The Visitors Book” our narrator has a philosophical argument with her boyfriend about the pretentiousness of his visitors book. But why is it so important to him?
In “The Last Boy to Leave” Jen and Greg host a birthday party for their son in their family home. But after all the guests have left, one boy remains. Where are his parents?
In “Justified True Belief” Suzie suffers from bad neck pain and thinks she’s seen a ghost. Are the two related?
In “All the Dead Mothers of My Daughter’s Friends” Mel has an unusual encounter with Lisa outside their daughters’ school. Do you know the difference between a daytime ghost and a nighttime ghost? You’ll find out here.
All of the stories have a common thread, though I can’t say what it is for fear of giving too much away. They are all eerie, suspenseful, and give you a feeling of dread as you read them. They will also keep you guessing until the very end.
My only complaint: I just wish this collection was a little longer.”
Lynda Dickson
“This was a great collection of short stories. Each one had a bit of a supernatural twist. I won’t review each individual story, because that would involve spoiling them as they are short stories. But with the long winter months coming up, this is a great book to read by the warm fire. Each one details a specific character’s story and their being thrust into the world of ghosts. The stories are well developed and kept my attention. If I had one thing negative to say it might be that at times, I wasn’t sure if it was from the viewpoint of a dead person, or a living person looking into the world of the dead. Overall though, a great set of stories and a very enjoyable book. If you like ghost stories, then be sure to pick this up.”
R Rhodes