The Ghost of McCallister Mansion (and Other Stories) by Emily Red

Emily Red serves up three short and very different horror stories, ranging from hints of Victorian ghost stories to shades of Lovecraft.

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The story

The Ghost of McCallister Mansion

KellyAnne and Gertrude want nothing more than to move their catering and café business from a bland storefront to a beautiful historic home and McCallister Mansion looks like the perfect fit. That is, until they encounter Drake, the ghost who haunts the mansion on their first visit. Rather than backing away from the deal, the pair press on, determined to help Drake move on. In the process, they discover the current owner of the home might know more than she is letting on.

Clutter

Tom is looking forward to introducing his girlfriend Callie to his family. She isn’t quite so enthusiastic and has decided she’ll be breaking up with him when the trip is over. It isn’t long before she begins to wish she’d dumped a day earlier. Something is obviously off as soon as they enter the family home, a home packed with furniture and cables of various kinds, leaving only narrow pathways through the enormous main room. It isn’t long before the reader gets the feeling that this is the kind of story where Callie winds up getting eaten by her boyfriend’s psychotic family. That isn’t exactly what happens but there is something definitely not right going on.

Greensong

Something is killing the whales and if Corianna and the other scientists can’t figure out why and put a stop to it, it will spell disaster for the tribe in charge of managing the whales. They’ve just been showing up on the beach dead or dying for no apparent reason. Finally, they take their sub out to follow a pod and catch one just as it begins to die, right after a dive to catch some rising shrimp. Suspecting the issue might be poisoned shrimp, they

The characters

The characters are varied in terms of their background. There are bakers, scientists, and college kids. One thing that unites them is that they are all ordinary people. They have no truly unique skills, no abilities, and other than the scientists, no special knowledge that sets them apart from the rest of humanity. And they surely have no knowledge of the supernatural. In short, they are everyday people forced into extraordinary circumstances. For the most part, they respond as we hope we would, with courage in the face of uncertainty and even at the risk of madness.

The world

The Ghost of McCallister Mansion and Clutter could take place in nearly any small American town, albeit on different sides of the tracks. Greensong seems to take place in an alternate or future reality than our own based on a couple references to governmental bodies. However, change those to something more familiar and it could easily be taking place off the coast of Alaska. What is really interesting is the hints of the wider world in the stories, hints that make me hope Emily comes back to them at some point. Tom’s family in Clutter is clearly up to something, something that involves sapping the energy from human beings. And of course, Greensong’s villain is something that opens up an entire world of terrifying legends.

The politics

Given the nature of the stories, there isn’t much in the way of politics to point to. However, the characters that persevere and overcome the obstacles set before them are those who act on their own initiative.

Content warning

Other than some of the insanity that ensues during the deep dive in Greensong it's pretty clean, especially for horror stories.

Who is it for?

Anyone who likes good old-fashioned tales of the macabre will enjoy this. I already made allusion to the hints of Lovecraft in the story. However, given the different nature of each story, the best comparison might be The Twilight Zone or the collection Ancestral Shadows by Russell Kirk.

Why read it?

If you like sitting on the porch or in front of the fire to read for a little while, then this is perfect for you. It will take you away just enough and leave you with enough hints of mysteries that exist just off page to make sure the stories stick with you for a while.