Ghostwritten

By: Ronald Malfi

Narrated by: Joe Hempel

Four brand-new horror novellas from "a modern-day Algernon Blackwood" all about books, stories, manuscripts—the written word has never had sharper teeth . . .

BOOKS CAN BE DEADLY

In The Skin of Her Teeth, a cursed novel drives people to their deaths.

A delivery job turns deadly in The Dark Brothers' Last Ride.

In This Book Belongs to Olo, a lonely child has dangerous control over an usual pop-up book.

A choose-your-own adventure game spirals into an uncanny reality in The Story.

Full of creepy suspense, these collected novellas are perfect for fans of Paul Tremblay, Stephen King, and Joe Hill.

©2022 Ronald Malfi (P)2022 Tantor

Every story drew me in

Right from the beginning. Malfi’s prose is vivid and creative. Characters are believable and well fleshed out. One of my favorite “newish” authors!

Favorite author

I will spend my credit on him every time. He is the best. Every story I have read this far has been captivating.

Olo is like Yolo

I was particularly fond of the Olo short but also confused. The last two stories in the anthology were mercurial in their nature's and ends. Olo being more vague and The Story on a literal cliff hanger as to that whole world's book. The grit of them is what drew me in, while the Dark Brothers was just annoying. I can't place as to why but it annoyed me. The Skin of Her Teeth was cute.

While the shorts bleed into eachother leaving some device from the prior and future in their shelters, I would love to know what happened to Olo. I feel sorry for that kid.

All in all, I appreciate the accidental purchase of this book. I wouldn't necessarily call it "horror" but more of a "thriller." Then again, I'm numb to most propostions of the genre. I'm also glad the selling point of this book was not sex as most authors tend to use to grab reader's attention. I'm not a prude, it's a pet peeve of mine that if all that your story has going for it is sex, then it's trash unless that is it's intended audience. If I wanted erotica, I would read erotica. Splashes of it are normal. The author dribbles it but does not go into great detail in The Story which would have taken away from it if he had.

Hopefully I can find more of his work to enjoy. I'm picky, needless to say.

Great stories

The audio is subpar hard to hear!!! Other than that it’s a 5 star!!! Wish there were more story’s man oh man so good!!!

My new favorite author of horror

This is a series of 4 separate horror stories. I love a good horror story that unwinds as the story goes along then the end comes and you’re left feeling like you just woke up from a nightmare. This author has a great imagination. I’m a new fan.

Amazing and unique stories..

Couldn’t put this down. Mr Malfi is an incredible writer. Narration wasn’t the best, as it’s difficult to tell who’s talking with this narrator. But the 4 stories were amazing! Highly recommend!

Interesting

The reader was very good, the writing was very good, the stories were very odd. I will try another book and see if it's just this selection.

The third Story is my favourite! I normally can’t stand kids as the main character in horror but this one is phenomenal.

The voice: Not bad but not great! I like the narrator voice but it’s typical!

First time with this Author

What a treat. I love Audible suggesting new authors and titles and this did not disappoint! Great book!

A Sophisticated Collection of Horror

This is my first Ronald Malfi book. Recommended by a friend, I decided to give him a whirl. I must say, this was different from the horror I typically read/listen to. I felt this storytelling had a "sophisticated" vibe. The stories were less about "shock and awe" and more about building a solid plot rich with psychological conflict and terror, sprinkled with a healthy dose of impending dread, and topped off with a layer of vile predators.

In the four stories, Mr. Malfi stretches his brilliant writing style into 4 different psychological thrillers that don't just lead you into a mental frenzy, but those thrillers tendril into sheer menacing horror as the stories twist elegantly into tales of heart pumping fear.

I enjoyed this book at a deeper level. Paired with a very good reading performance (I listened to this on Audible), this book is a great offering for more thought provoking horror. I recommend this to those ready to cross into thrillers and horror or anyone looking for a break from slasher, monster, and extreme horror books.