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The subtitle of Ray Newman's collection �� “Thirteen Ghost Stories�� �� is somewhat misleading insofar as it suggests a traditional collection of ghostly tales. There are some spectres which behave as one would expect them to �� the story Protected by Occupation, for instance, which is also probably one of the scariest in the volume, relies on some fairly standard “haunted house�� tropes. But Newman’s gritty, urban Gothic creations are generally much stranger and play around not just with narrative but also with form.

A case in point is Modern Buildings in Wessex, a fictitious monograph about modernist architecture, with a particular emphasis on buildings designed by one Hälmar Pölzig. At first there seems to be nothing wrong with this pastiche architectural study. However, the narrator’s comments become increasingly ominous, suggestive of a disturbing obsession. Similarly, An Oral History of the Greater London Exorcism Authority presents a creepy account of poltergeist activity clothed in the formal style of an official report.

What is particularly surprising is the streak of dark humour which runs through the collection, starting from the opener �� The Curse Follows the Seed. This is not “horror for laughs�� in the style of the Scream franchise. It’s genuine, atmospheric horror fiction which manages to contemporaneously elicit a smile and a shudder. And a nightmare or two.