I have read a lot of ghost stories, and always enjoy reading them at Christmas, so I was hoping that "Ghosts of Christmas Past" would make it to my annual holiday reading list. Unfortunately, it isn't going to make it. I do not expect to love every story in any short story collection, but there are more swings and misses than hits in this collection. One or two good ones (Kelly Link, Robert Aickman), a few that are okay, and the rest that I didn't care for at all and I wonder how they even made it into this collection. I will say that it did have some authors that I didn't know well, and they were Christmas themed, unlike other supposed collections of Christmas ghosts collections... ( )

''And what a long night it is, out there beyond the warm rooms and the firelight. Don't worry about the noises. Ignore the moving shapes. It's time to step out. Turn the page. Oh, and happy Christmas. If you come back.''
Tim Martin

Α grotesque dream is merged with reality. The spirit of an abusive husband refuses to leave his wife in peace even in death. A shadow seeks revenge. A tragedy haunts the son of a happy family. The injustice done to a poor family creates the ghostly steps of the Erinyes in a tale of which Dickens would be proud. A strange man appears in an elevator and is seen only by a young boy. A famous actress initiates a peculiar game of fate. A ghostly young man becomes a faithful companion to a girl.

These and other stories are included in this collection of eerie, melancholic tales. From Muriel Spark to Robert Aickman, from Louis de Bernieres to Jenn Ashworth, this volume is compulsory reading for those eerie, silent winter nights.

Beautiful Introduction by Tim Martin.

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/ ( )

I have been dying to read this for over a year, but my anticipation and expectation did not match the reality. I love ghost stories, especially set at Christmas time or even during winter in general when the wind is howling and the snow is drifting higher.
I mostly bought this book because of M.R. James and Neil Gaiman but as it turned out the Gaiman "story" didn't fill an entire page even though they left a ton of blank space to stretch it to the other side. The M. R. James story was written as a series of letters to someone's brother concerning their missing uncle. I may have dozed off during that one.
Dinner For One by Jenn Ashworth was the only tale I somewhat enjoyed. It was predictable as all get out but compared to the rest of this book it was the one high note. There was really nothing scary or spine tingly even in the one story that I enjoyed although it was well written. This is definitely not what I was hoping for. You might enjoy it more than I did provided you aren't looking for a scare or anything on par with Dickens. ( )

The collection begins with a below-par story by M.R. James; and if you read the introduction to the book first, then the premise behind Jenn Ashworth's tale will be given away. That aside, this is a better-than-average compilation of ghost stories, some of which are most unusual. I won't say more than that for fear of giving the game away, but I particularly enjoyed This Beautiful House by Louis de Bernières and The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link; while certain elements of E. Nesbit's The Shadow and E.F. Benson's The Step lodged in my mind after I had read them. An ideal book for a bedtime read. ( )