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  • Published: 1 October 2026
  • ISBN: 9781405988490
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 144

A Ghostly Little Book

Five Frightening Tales from Five Essential Writers




A landmark collection of newly written ghost stories from five of the world's greatest writers

'I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly’ Charles Dickens, from the preface to A Christmas Carol

From Edgar Allen Poe to Charles Dickens, from Shirley Jackson to Toni Morrison, the greatest writers have, in some way or other, always been drawn to that ancient, mysterious thing: the haunting. A Ghostly Little Book is a slim, beautiful testament to the enduring appeal of the spook, a landmark collection of especially composed modern ghost stories from five of the most acclaimed and exciting authors at work today. Elif Shafak, Roddy Doyle, Eliza Clark, Tom Crewe and Helen Oyeyemi are some of the most original and arresting writers on the planet, and their tales are map of all of the many twists and turns the ghost story might take; at turns strange, unsettling, heartwarming, hilarious and, of course, blood-chilling.

  • Published: 1 October 2026
  • ISBN: 9781405988490
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 144

About the authors

Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish novelist, whose work has been translated into fifty-seven languages. The author of twenty books, fourteen of which are novels, she is a bestselling author in many countries around the world. Shafak's previous novel, THERE ARE RIVERS IN THE SKY, was the UK’s bestselling literary hardback novel of 2025, selling over 500,000 copies. Her work has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the RSL Ondaatje Prize and the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, amongst others, and she is currently nominated for ‘Author of the Year’ at the British Book Awards. Elif Shafak was appointed President of the Royal Society of Literature in 2025. Her books have sold several million copies worldwide.

Roddy Doyle

Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958. He is the author of twelve acclaimed novels including The Commitments, The Snapper, The Van and Smile, two collections of short stories, and Rory & Ita, a memoir about his parents. He won the Booker Prize in 1993 for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

Tom Crewe

TOM CREWE was born in Middlesbrough in 1989. He has a PhD in nineteenth century British history from the University of Cambridge. Since 2015, he has been an editor at the London Review of Books, to which he contributes essays on politics, art, history and fiction. The New Life is his first novel. Crewe says: 'This is the book I knew I wanted to write long before I actually wrote it. I hope it reveals to readers an unfamiliar Victorian England that will surprise and provoke, inhabited by a generation in the process of discovering the nature and limits of personal freedom, struggling to create a better world as the twentieth century comes into view.'