The Ghost Quartet

Kaye’s anthology of four new ghost novellas is a mixed bag at best. Brian Lumley builds suspense in the first half of “A Place of No Ending,” but in the end, a garrulous ghost nearly talks the protagonist to death. Orson Scott Card, in “Hamlet’s Father,” recasts Shakespeare’s tragedy as a gothic ghost thriller, but hobbles it with an anachronistic and absurd revisionist ending. Kaye (The Fair Folk ) represents himself with “The Haunted Single Malt,” a story that perhaps unwisely references ghost story master M.R. James while never rising to James’s level. Only Tanith Lee, in “Strindberg’s Ghost,” strikes the balance of atmosphere and romance crucial for the effective telling of her tale of betrayal and sacrifice. Though each story has its merits, readers will find them mostly dispiriting. (Oct.)