Ghosts aren’t always scary

It’s the first Wednesday of the month again, time for a post for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OCTOBER QUESTION: Ghost stories fit right in during this month. What’s your favorite classic ghostly tale? Tell us about it and why it sends chills up your spine.

MY ANSWER: I’m not much of a reader for horror stories, so most classic ghost tales – which usually belong to the horror genre – don’t work for me. Anyway, I haven’t read many. But there is one contemporary urban fantasy series that incorporates a few ghosts, and I love that series. I’ve read and re-read it several times. Fortunately, it is not horror.

I’m taking about Sarah Wynde’s Tassamara Series. The main ghost in the series, and one of the leading characters, is a 15-year-old boy Dillon. Most of his family members have special paranormal abilities. Dillon’s father is telepathic. His uncle can find things. His aunt can see the future. But Dillon doesn’t have anything like that, and he wants to. He wants to be special.

When his friends at school mention that such an ability could be triggered by lots of drugs, he decides to try that method. He locks himself in an old family car and doses himself with prescription drugs. And overdoses. And dies. Now, he haunts the car he died in, but he wants more. He wants to live again, even as a ghost. His adventures as a ghost – a charming, curious, and compassionate personality, as full of anxiety as only a teenager could be – form a big part of this delightful series. 

I would recommend this series to anyone who likes urban fantasy. The stories are light, humorous, and fast-paced. The characterization is superb, not only of the resident ghosts, but of the living people as well. The plots are fascinating and wildly imaginative, the descriptions vivid, and the narrative top notch. The books included in the series are:

A Gift of GhostsA Gift of ThoughtA Gift of TimeA Gift of Grace        

There is also the 5th book, A Gift of Luck, but there are no ghosts in it.

What about you? Have you read this series? Do you know another ghost that doesn’t reside in a horror story?