Red Skelton's Favorite Ghost Stories

by Red Skelton

In this outstanding collection of stories and poems about ghosts, spooks and spirits - some bubbling with mirth and some designed to produce cold shivers - America's best-loved comedian has selected his own favorites in the field for the enjoyment of readers of all ages between nine and ninety-nine.

Genres: Fiction, Horror

187 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

Reviews

[Scott Neumann · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books when I was a kid, I read and re-read this book so many times it eventually fell apart. my favorite story was 'To Starch a Spook' more than any of them. When 'Ghostbusters' came out I couldn't help but think Dan Akroyd was inspired by it. Wish I still had a copy.

[Sparrow .]

Is this whole book based on a bad pun – that Skelton reminds one of “skeleton”?

But middlebrow of 1961 was like the first year of Columbia University today. This has actual poems, by James Whitcomb Riley, plus one of the Tales of the Alhambra of Washington Irving, and even an Oscar Wilde story (“The Canterville Ghost”) among the Saturday Evening Post-type offerings.

Some of these phantoms are the grateful dead (the beings the band was named after): spirits who beg a favor from the living, and once it’s performed, go off happily.

Ghosts are funny, because fear is funny.

Opening at random:

"The question of phantasmic apparitions, and the development of astral bodies, was, of course, quite a different matter, and really not under his control. It was his solemn duty to appear in the corridor once a week, and to gibber from the large oriel window on the first and third Wednesday in every month, and he did not see how he could honorably escape from his obligations."

(That’s from the Oscar Wilde tale.)

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of 19th and 20th century literary ghost stories includes some real gems, ranging from Manly Wade Wellman to Oscar Wilde. Many of the stories in this collection were mostly forgotten before this anthology, and others relatively recent but not well-known.
It's a real treat, especially if you want ghost stories that are a little outside the box, whether in terms of being odd takes on the existence of a ghost, or funny ways of looking at hauntings, or just the uses of ectoplasm by the technically alive.

[Karen Kenney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who knew Red had favorite ghosts stories?

[Michael Delaware · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun collection of ghost stories. My favorites were 'To Starch a Spook', 'The Moor's Legacy', 'The Haunted Trailer' and 'The Canterville Ghost'. As with any collection, there were a few ones that were bland, but for the most part it was a very enjoyable read.

[Roger O · Rating 2 out of 5]

only a handful of these worked for me.