Ghost Writers: Us Haunting Them

To create this odd, interesting addition to the Made in Michigan Writers Series, two University of Michigan teachers asked local authors to write about ghosts. The contributors have little connection to the genre community, so their 12 stories often flutter uncertainly at the edge of the fantastic, and some take pains to insist that the "ghosts" are mere manifestations of psychological unease. Still, James Hynes's "Backseat Driver" deftly contrasts female powerlessness in daily life with revenge from beyond the grave, Anne-Marie Oomen's "Bitchathane" and Lolita Hernandez's "Making Bakes" use regional flavor effectively, and editor Kasischke's "Ghost Anecdote" neatly shifts focus from narrator to reader, memory to imagination, and mundane to fabulous. Mainstream readers will find these hauntings very accessible, and their endearing na%C3%AFvet%C3%A9 will charm horror fans. (Sept.)