Ghost Humor

On June 1, 2017, six people were killed at a Burger City franchise off I-80 near Jonny, Iowa. It was the bizarre and gruesome conclusion to nine months of alleged paranormal activity at the fast-food joint—events popularly known as “the Burger City Poltergeist.” The story inspired Facebook memes, Twitter hashtags, Buzzfeed listicles, Saturday Night Live sketches, and more. But the case was never much more than a punchline…until bestselling writer Daniel Kraus (The Shape of Water, The Living Dead) decided to head to Iowa to dig up what really happened.

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.

Following the success of the last party which was recorded in the much acclaimed book, Ghosts Screaming With Laughter, it was time for another one.

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.

Jane is trying. She's been trying for a baby, with increasing desperation as her 30s sail by. Now, she's trying to make a new start back home with her overprotective, charades-obsessed parents—having left her career and cheating fiancé behind in London. With an increasing load on her plate, friends and family who think she'll have a perfect life if she only listens to them, and a brain which questions every decision she's ever made, can Jane conquer her demons and step forward on her own?

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.

The deathly silence is about to be broken. She disliked the company of others and death did little to warm her spirit. She had led an independent life and she faced death in much the same way. She was finally alone, finally free from the mindless babble of others, at least that's what she thought. May Elizabeth Trump was the rarest of spirits and she was none too happy about it either. She was a dead medium, a ghost who can speak with the living, and her services were to become in great demand.

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.

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.

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.

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.

For Sabrina Monroe, moving back home to the Wisconsin Dells - the self-described Waterpark Capital of the World - means returning to the Monroe family curse: The women in her family can see spirits who come to them for help with unfinished business. But Sabrina's always redirected the needy spirits to her mom, who's much better suited for the job. The one exception has always been Molly, a bubbly rom-com loving ghost, who stuck by Sabrina's side all through her lonely childhood.

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.

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.

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.

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.