Stories based on true hauntings: GHOSTS OF THE SILENT HILLS

Book Title: Ghosts of the silent hills

Author: Anita Krishan

My Rating ^{(* have a look at my rating scale here)}: 4.8/5

The charm of hills…

There is always something charming about the hills. The snow-clad mountains or the lush green forests, the river flowing through the valley or chirping of birds disrupting the pin drop silence. During the day, the solitude and peaceful silence are nectar to the anxious wandering minds. Particularly cozy are the winter days with warmth of the sunshine, soaking one with bliss. The setting of the sun at the horizon brings the chill of winters to the forefront. As the night falls and deepens, sitting by the fireplace one can still enjoy the silence of the hills, the silence only to be disrupted by the chirruping of crickets.

Silent hills and its Ghosts..

The ‘Ghosts of the silent hills’ – collection of the spooky short stories based on true hauntings (as the author claims)- captures this silence very well in the first part of the book. The Part I, has all the stories based at Shimla. Hill stations, be it those of Uttarakhand like Mussourie, Nainital, Almora or that of Himachal Pradesh like Shimla or Manali, have always hosted a lot of stories of horror and hauntings and folklores involving supernatural. May be its true of the folklore of hill stations of the northeast and down South as well! There is something about the hills that justifies the presence of supernatural! I found part I of the book particularly engaging and true to the title of the book ‘Ghosts of the silent hills.’

The second part, consisted of stories based outside of hill stations including Delhi, Assam in India and even Australia. These were narratives in third person and were less spooky than those in part I (May be because I am a little biased towards hills and the right atmosphere they provide for such stories!).

Overall, ‘Ghosts of the silent hills’ was an engaging read, at times scary enough to make one look back towards one’s shadows or cause those uneasy vivid dreams during siesta, if you happen to read a particularly scary part just before the afternoon nap!