Ghost Humor

Three thousand years ago, King David wrote The Book of Psalms—hymns in praise of God that became famous worldwide. Now, with humanity on the verge of a self-generated catastrophe, God (with the help of another David) has decided to return, and reverse, the favor. God has collected a cornucopia of insults of the human race in the form of prose, poetry, and parody. From topics as diverse as COVID-19, Trump, racism, abortion, meth, math, and on a lighter note, the platypus, God provides a 21st-century spin on life’s many problems. And he’s not alone.

Maurice Allington has reached middle age and is haunted by death. As he says, “I honestly can’t see why everybody who isn’t a child, everybody who’s theoretically old enough to have understood what death means, doesn’t spend all his time thinking about it. It’s a pretty arresting thought.” He also happens to own and run a country inn that is haunted. The Green Man opens as Maurice’s father drops dead (had he seen something in the room?) and continues as friends and family convene for the funeral.

The house on Curmudgeon Avenue should be happy now—the nincompoop residents have all met their sorry ends. But they haven't quite left...now that a new family move in, can the house find peace? Or are the ghosts of Curmudgeon Avenue going to interfere with the goings-on, romance, and dramas that new residents bring? Gordon and Zandra Bennett, along with their lovelorn daughter, Krystina, move all the way from London to Curmudgeon Avenue. Zandra has her heart set on renovating the four-story Victorian terrace and hires Harry to rip out the old and bring in the new.

It’s 2005. Nick Farmer is a 35-year-old bond trader with Bear Stearns clearing seven figures a year. The novelty of a work-related nightlife centering on liquor, hookers, and cocaine has long since worn thin, though Nick remains keenly addicted to his annual bonus. But the lifestyle is taking a toll on his marriage and on him.

A cottage on the coast on a windy evening. Under a pool of yellow light, two figures face each other across a kitchen table. A man and a cat. The story about to be related is so unusual yet so terrifyingly plausible that it demands to be told in a single sitting. The man clears his throat, and leans forward, expectant. 'Shall we begin?' says the cat….

With their fearless crime-fighting, good manners, and manly fashion sense, the Hardly boys are the pride of Feyport, Illinois. In A Ghost in the Closet, dark-haired, muscular Frank and his lovable kid brother, Joe, return from a gay trip to Europe to find that their parents - world-famous detective Fennel P. Hardly and his wife, Mrs. Hardly - have been kidnapped! Even worse, so have six poodles from the Lake Merrimen Dog Show! Pals Nancy Clue, Cherry Aimless, R.N., and Police Detective Jackie Jones help the Hardly boys track down the criminals.

A hellacious thunderstorm rages over the small tin mining town of Bleddington, waking reclusive teenager, Willard Jennings, from his sleep. As the fleeting flashes of light illuminate the room, he sees brief and taunting glimpses of a broken figure standing at the foot of his bed.

This book makes fun of the ridiculous people who haunt our lives like politicians, businessmen and bent lawyers who get their just deserts. Sometimes a bit sexy but not lurid, these humorous tales told by ghosts are about how they got revenge on the people who deserved it; well, most of the time.

Sandi Webster, Los Angeles P.I., has a new case. When a drunken bum is found dead in her client's basement, she has to figure out who might have had a motive for murder other than a young, single mother. In the process of investigating the crime, Sandi uncovers secrets she'd rather not know. Sandi's partner, Pete, is searching for a killer in Nevada, leaving her to fend for herself, something she does with finesse. In the meantime, a huge dog named Bubba adopts Sandi and moves in, but shows signs of cowardice when eerie sounds are heard coming from the attic.

Frank Barnes, a former professor and senator from West Virginia, is running for president of the United States. Tired of the corruption and illegal acts perpetrated by the current president, he’s determined to make a difference. Behind in the polls, Frank hasn’t a ghost of a chance of winning, until a real ghost - the ghost of Theodore Roosevelt makes a startling appearance. A book bought for Frank’s birthday, Alice in Wonderland, came from Teddy’s personal library and his ghost is attached to that book.

Gertie Enchanter was a great and powerful beauty and still is, hundreds of years later. Gertie escaped certain death at the hands of the great evil and landed in the United States. Learn how she met the love of her life and why she left Enchanted to be with him and raise her daughter, Ophelia, as a mortal. This is the fifth book in the Ghost series, although they are all written to be enjoyed individually as stand-alone stories as well.

Leah, a young woman who has found herself 'ambitioned' out of London, is now aimlessly adrift in Paris. Tired of odd jobs in cafés and teaching English to unresponsive social media influencers, her heart skips a beat when she spots an advert for a writer seeking an assistant. Michael was once the bright young star of the London literary scene, now a washed-up author with writer's block. He doesn't place much hope in the advert, but after meeting Leah is filled with an inspiration he hasn't felt in years.

Senior snoop, Agnes Barton, has taken up residence in a Winnebago at a campground in East Tawas, Michigan. It's not the ideal place for a woman of 72 to live, but she's making do. She had planned to start a detective agency with partner in crime, Eleanor Mason, but a snag with the license has them free-wheeling it, not that it matters because they are the ones folks call when dead bodies turn up.

Louie Hake is 43 and teaches architectural history at a third-rate college in Michigan. His second marriage is collapsing, and he's facing a potentially disastrous medical diagnosis. In an attempt to fend off what has become a soul-crushing existential crisis, he decides to treat himself to a tour of the world's most breathtaking architectural sites. Perhaps not surprisingly, Louie gets waylaid on his very first stop in Rome - ludicrously, spectacularly so - and fails to reach most of his other destinations.

Kif Kehlmann, a young, penniless writer, thinks he’s finally caught a break when he’s offered $10,000 to ghostwrite the memoir of Siegfried “Ziggy” Heidl, the notorious con man and corporate criminal. Ziggy is about to go to trial for defrauding banks for $700 million; they have six weeks to write the book. But Ziggy swiftly proves almost impossible to work with, and worse, Kif finds himself being pulled into an odd, hypnotic, and ever-closer orbit of all things Ziggy.

Erst denken die Baumanns, das ganz große Los gezogen zu haben - denn da ahnt die Familie noch nicht, dass es in ihrer soeben bezogenen, verdächtig günstigen Traumvilla spukt: Seit Gustaf vor fast 400 Jahren versehentlich im rheinischen Rotthoven verstarb, wartet der schwedische Schwerenöter und Trunkenbold darauf, endlich nach Herzenslust seine Qualitäten als Hausgeist unter Beweis stellen zu können! Innerhalb kürzester Zeit wirbelt er das Leben von Saskia, ihrem Mann und den beiden Kindern gründlich durcheinander.

Here is a meeting with George and Marion Kerby, a couple of free-wheeling ghosts, who meet up with respectable banker Cosmo Topper. This was noted by the New York Times, claiming: “Thorne Smith created the modern American ghost story, ghosts with style and wit; ghosts that haunt us still.” Others pointed out, “Smith was a master of urbane wit and sophisticated repartee.” The overall mood has a touch of silliness, but it provides lighthearted reading and listening, a matter of nonsensical escapism. For Topper it meant relief from a nagging wife with ongoing indigestion.

What if, after you die, your life just continues in exactly the same manner as when you were alive? In this riveting and often humorous novel by Robert Rahula, an American expat wakes up dead in Toledo, Spain, and discovers that nothing has changed, except that he is dead. He continues to interact with all his old friends, and they with him. Only he alone knows that he’s dead. In his journey through this afterlife, he ponders the choices he made during his life, the nature of consciousness, the nonexistence of free will, the flow of time, and existence of multiple universes.

The ghost of Ambrose Bierce, American writer and civil war Union soldier, has been displaced from the home he had been haunting. Enlisting the aid of a "haunting agent," he finds a new residence that has the requisite dark history and terrible secret that makes it appropriate for haunting. Here, he meets new spirits who reside in this version of the afterlife, a middle place between life and the ultimate destination. Against his intentions, Bierce becomes caught up in the unsolved mystery of his new haunt, and in the matters of still-living people.

Maura Quarrels doesn't realize she's dead until her first college roommate (deceased) shows up and invites her to join the Dead Mothers' Club. Maura is excited - what better way to maintain control over her teenagers and husband! Unfortunately, it's not that simple. The DMC has strict rules and they don't suit Maura. Will she obey or risk banishment to hell? And where is her own mother, who died when Maura was young? Doesn't she care enough to be here to see her only daughter?