Review of Urban Ghost Stories By Oindrila Ghosal
I have never written horror before. In fact, this is the first time I have dabbled with the genre, though all my previous works feature tropes from paranormal writing. Thanks to Chrysanthemum Chronicles and Monalisa Joshi ma'am for providing the platform that has helped me push boundaries. Of course, the first story won't have the finesse that comes with experience, but nonetheless, I believe avenues in that regard are slowly unravelling - perhaps I am fancying writing more in the domain. Now coming back to the anthology, Urban Ghost Stories, ma'am has curated a truly commendable anthology. Be it historical horror, feminist horror, domestic horror or post colonial horror - you name it and you will find a breathtaking story. And I am truly grateful that my maiden attempt found a home in the pages.
The Wife and the Ghost. It reads like a modern fairy tale, like a piece of folklore, and I love that. In fact, anyone who loves historical fiction will resonate with your prose. The feminist echo is equally commendable. Reading it felt like an SLB directorial.
Each story lends a unique flavour. Amazing! Amazing! Amazing! Loved them all! Revenant (Jaya Pillai), Echoes of Nine ( Manjusha Dutta), When It Rained Blood (Hanadi Falki), Secrets of the Dark (Debjani Mukherjee), Holloway House (Vidyuth Balaji) and The Wife and the Ghost (Monalisa Joshi) stayed with me longer even after closing the book
Oindrila Ghosal is presently a doctoral student at the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education of Cancer, Navi Mumbai. The author finds her muse in words (from crystalline, matter-of-fact tone of research articles to the free-flowing narrative of fiction) to weave her own tangle of jargon to fall back on and for anyone who resonates with the same. The formative years in Sikkim have seeded the hyperactive imagination entwining the bibliophilia. Early adulthood in Kolkata and Hyderabad as an undergraduate and postgraduate student of Zoology and Animal Biology and Biotechnology, respectively, has kindled in her to be impressed by and appreciate historical and speculative fiction even more. So far, Kitaab has published three of her short prose pieces – “The Harlot’s Veena” (15.08.22), “The Asylum” (31.10.22) and “The Jungle within Me” (12.03.23).
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