In any case, reading synopses is not interesting and I think these could have been reduced.Ī unique book about haunted locations and literature, by an author who is himself haunted by the past. The only criticism I have is that the parts which are more like literary essays are not so gripping when you haven’t read the texts or seen the films. I think it’s a very sophisticated book and beautifully written. I almost didn’t want to read on, as I knew there was bereavement ahead. There are hints of family tragedies which he slowly introduces into the text. Woven into Parnell’s explorations is a meditation on grief. 1970s TV and film – particularly adaptations of books – is also an important theme. Writers featured include M R James, L P Hartley, William Hope Hodgson, Alan Garner, Susan Cooper, W G Sebald and Arthur Machen.

The author travels to places which have resonance for him personally and which are also linked to his taste in literature (mainly traditional ghost stories and folk horror). These really enhance the atmosphere of the book.Įach chapter explores a different location in the British Isles and has an intriguing, evocative title, such as ‘Dark Waters’, ‘Goblin City’ and ‘Lonelier Than Ruin’. One of the best elements is the inclusion of many photographs – at least one every few pages – some of them taken by the author. It is a unique and elegiac meditation on grief, memory and longing, and of the redemptive power of stories and nature. This is a stunning, haunting memoir blended with nature writing and literary criticism. In Ghostland, Parnell goes in search of the sequestered places of the British Isles, our lonely moors, our moss-covered cemeteries, our stark shores and. Ghostland is Parnells moving exploration of what has haunted our writers and artists - and what is haunting him. In his late thirties, Edward Parnell found himself trapped in the recurring nightmare of a family tragedy.

Ghostland parnell