ONE THOUSAND AND ONE GHOSTS; TRANS. BY ANDREW BROWN.

I bought this on a whim. I have loved Alexandre Dumas since I first read [b:The Three Musketeers|7190|Les Trois Mousquetaires The Three Musketeers (The D'Artagnan Romances, #1)|Alexandre Dumas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1630475503l/7190.SX50.jpg|1263212] in junior high. This is NOTHING like that. It's actually something of an oddity - a very gothic collection of ghost stories told by a small group of people, one of whom happens to be Dumas himself. These are not ghost stories like those written by M R James, Peter Straub, Shirley Jackson, or Stephen Jackson. They have a strange, gothic feel to them. I'm reminded of [b:Castle Eppstein|195821|Castle Eppstein|Alexandre Dumas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347120927l/195821.SY75.jpg|189388], one of Dumas' known works that has the same eerie atmosphere. The book is only 156 pages long, so there aren't a thousand and one stories here. I think the reference is more to "A Thousand and One Nights."

The framing story is about Jacquemin, a quarryman who confesses to brutally murdering his wife. Dumas is walking down the road when he first sees Jacquemin:

"...I saw coming towards me, from the direction of the church, a man who looked so strange that I came to a halt, and instinctively cocked both barrels of my rifle, impelled by a mere sense of self-preservation.

But the man - pale, his hair sticking up, his eyes popping out, his clothes in disarray and his hands spattered with blood - passed by me without seeing me. His stare was both fixed and lifeless. He was rushing ahead with the unstoppable momentum of a body bouncing uncontrollably down the steep sides of a mountain, and yet his breathless panting indicated more panic than fatigue."

It turns out that Jacquemin has reason to be afraid - and it has nothing to do with the fact that he will pay for his crime with his life.

There is a discussion about whether Jacquemin's story can be true or not, which leads to each person present telling their own tale of the supernatural - a lost love, a dead man wanting absolution, a judge haunted by the man he condemned to die, the revenge of a long-dead king, the undying love of a husband and wife, and finally, an undead monster preying on the woman he supposedly loved when he was alive.

As I have gotten older, I've gotten less tolerant with poor writing, especially in horror and suspense novels. Too many writers take the easy way out and use a lot of blood and gore in an attempt to scare, only to fail completely. Then there's "horror" that's nothing but romance with a few poorly done supernatural touches ("Twilight" anyone?) Dumas never does that. You can always be assured of superb writing and a good story with him and "One Thousand and One Ghosts" is no exception. The book is set in 1831, but was actually published in 1849.

If you're looking for traditional ghost stories, look somewhere else. However, if you're looking for an interesting, unusual read by a master, then try "One Thousand and One Ghosts."