Nothing shocked me, nothing managed to scare me at all. Besides, I was having trouble understanding the Biblical connections and citations and each time had to go look at the notes at the back of the volume I read the stories from.

i really enjoyed this graphic novel. i've seen other reviewers dislike it, but i really liked this one. i found the stories short, sweet and just really nice to read. it was well written, and well drawn. i couldn't have asked for a better book.

Ghost Stories is a short anthology with two graphic novel stories and one prose story, themed around the idea of past selves.

"Ghost" follows a girl who is granted a wish to talk to three historical figures she admires who are deceased. This was an interesting idea, but it is used as a strange segue into an examination of the main character's trauma. I thought that aspect of the story had the most substance, and would have made for a stronger story. It fit in awkwardly with the conversations the character has with Darwin and Joseph Campbell. Additionally, I felt lost reading this story because it's peppered in-between with strange dream(?) sequences that don't seem to have much bearing on the rest of the story.

"Wallpaper" is the single prose story that describes the events a young girl goes through while her family is remodeling their kitchen. This read more like stream-of-consciousness writing or poetry – it was simplistic but captured strong impressions. I wasn't sure if this was meant to be autobiographical, or purely fictional. This short story showed to me the author has real talent to write, and the illustrations in this one were the most intriguing.

"Makers" chronicles two close friends, who take different paths after leaving for college. Of all three stories, "Makers" was the most developed. The girls meet as teens and become inseparable in high school, but when they graduate and go to two different universities, they gradually draw apart. I was drawn in by the melancholic tone, and I could relate to the feeling of losing touch with someone you always thought you'd be close to.

These stories had major positives and negatives for me. On their own, they all had things I liked and disliked. As a collection… they seem random. I can sort of see how they are all themed around change, and one's past-self, but in terms of tone and storytelling style, there wasn't a real cohesiveness.

A major criticism I have with this anthology is the artwork – and this may just be my personal preference. I admired the attention to detail shown in "Wallpaper", but in the two graphic novel stories – "Makers" and "Ghost" – the artwork felt somewhat unpolished. It felt more like I was reading someone's sketchbook than a finished graphic novel.

Overall, I think the author has a real potential to be a strong storyteller – I was not a fan of the art. I think they could benefit from an editor or someone to at least critique their work. "Makers" was my favorite of the three stories – the story was interesting, and the characters were given proper development. Throughout the anthology, the problems lie primarily with plot and character development, and having a concrete direction.

More arty than enjoyable. The author is in love with their own pretensions and thinks their idea is better than it is.

A very sweet, melancholic, and thoughtful book that I've read two times so far and will probably read again because I enjoy it so much.

'Ghost Stories' by Whit Taylor is a series of 3 illustrated stories all dealing ghosts of a kind.

In the first story, the narrator is given the chance to meet three people who have died, including Charles Darwin and Thomas Campbell. In the second story, a young child relates a tragic story interspersed with different patterns of wallpaper. The third story is about a friendship of two girls who are makers and how that friendship drifts over time.

The stories are interesting. The art varies. Overall the three stories are well written and even have the feel of being personal.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Rosarium Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

This graphic novel was okay. I did like the route she took with this story but the writing and artwork wasn’t really for me. I didn’t connect with the story or enjoyed reading it.

This was not only beautiful visually, but also in terms of the stories itself. I really don't like graphic novels normally but this was amazing.

On a train to visit my boyfriend that was very fully I realised I couldn’t pick my current read up out of my bag so I was browsing my backlog of NetGalley books and found this.I didn’t remember it was a graphic novel but the fact it was made me very happy as I was able to read it all then and there on the train.

This isn’t like ooooh spoooky ghost stories to tell at sleepovers, its very much an exploration of ghosts in other ways.

For example, the ghost of past famous figures, of someone you loved, of your previous self, of friendships.

It is incredibly well done and put together. It explores some heavier subject matter in a very accessable manner.

However reading this as an ecopy was really difficult – particularly on my phone. It wouldnt let me zoom in often so a lot of the time I was squinting and guessing what some of the text said.

So my overall enjoyment was definitely hindered a bit.

This novel has three short stories, and they have different styles of drawings.

The first story, which is also the namesake of the book, was boring. I red several times over times but never completed it until today. I was happy to know that the second and third was not related. I wouldn’t have finished if they were.

This book was not very easy to read in the format it was supplied in. The text and pages rarely lined up appropriately. the low-quality artwork was cartoony and felt like a grade school art project for the initial section. the follow-up section about wallpaper was interesting but confusing. overall presentation.

Cool ideas, but not a pleasant read.

A BIG Thank You to NetGalley and Rosarium Publishing for providing me a copy of “Ghost Stories” by Whit Taylor in exchange for my review. This book was a big disappointment! I had to force myself to finish reading this book repeatedly.

To begin with, the title is misleading and hardly has anything to do with ghosts. When I picked up the book, I expected to read some spooky tales about haunting and apparitions. I guess the “ghosts” interpret the traces of our personalities and who we used to be before we changed over time with experiences.

The first story started off slightly interesting in which the author talks about evolution and gets philosophical in human behavior. However, it quickly lost my interest when it got too preachy about Darwin’s theory and suddenly shifted focus to the protagonist’s mental illness. The pacing was just all over the place and I didn’t understand what was going on. The only part I enjoyed was the short story in between about the old woman waiting for her ‘Sweet William’.

The second story about wallpapers was just confusing. I didn’t understand the plot or the point of this tale. On a side note, the illustrations are better in this one because they have a consistent theme and are mostly symmetrical.

The third story was decent because it held my interest over Tessa and Hope. It’s a story that almost anyone can relate to because we have experienced being phased out by a friend. Unfortunately, this story ended in a very abrupt manner leaving me frustrated.

In addition to all this, the illustrations are drawn in a very crude manner that didn’t really appeal to me. While I appreciate the author for attempting this project single handed, I wish she had spent more time on details. It is clear that she has not given attention to details in the artwork of the first and third story (where there is content) but has given a lot of detail in the second story that hardly has any content. Although it had potential, the story execution was poor due to the artistic style. Perhaps if the author had released it as three separate books with better illustrations, I would have enjoyed it.

Overall, I felt this was a very ‘artsy’ book with simple illustrations that wasn’t my cup of tea. I give it 2/5 stars for the effort and the concept over the book.

This was not at all what I was expecting and I found it hard to follow as I wasn't at all engaged.

I don’t know what to think of this… It just wasn’t for me. I was just in WTF mode the entire time…

I really didn’t like the drawings and the stories made little sense to me.

It was a real miss for me but it might not be with others, I guess...

Loved this title. It was real while still being a viable fantasy.

I received an E-ARC of this book via Netgalley for an honest review.

These graphic novel features 3 individuals stories. The first 2 stories I really didn't enjoy and I did contemplate just not finishing as I was growing bored. But I do think the 3rd story was engaging enough to catch my attention again.

The stories are not ghost stories as the name suggests but rather a small collection of stories focusing on different aspects of loss in my opinion.

I didn't particularly like the art style in this graphic novel either.

Ghost Stories is a well writing and engaging graphic novel.
Split up into bite size chunks, it was very enjoyable to inhale each chunk in little pieces over one day.
Tackling issues such as body image, sexual assault, friendship and family history, I felt a learned a lot about the author illustrator in this semi-autobiographic tale.
I enjoyed the first story most of all when the main character gets to choose three people that have died to spend a day with. She chooses Charles Darwin, Joseph Campbell and Marilyn Monroe. She learns and reinforces her own beliefs with the first two, but when Marilyn does not appear but it's actually herself that appears before her on the third day - she has to face the way she feels about herself.
Topical and a good way to approach self-image to a YA audience.

Nice hand drawn art style but the first story was a bit all over the place for me. I'd read more from this author but this book wasn't for me. I preferred the middle story the most out of the three.

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I went into this with high hopes and was thoroughly disappointed. The idea of a short story collection in graphic novel form sounded like something I would really enjoy but unfortunately this was not executed well at all in my opinion. 

The illustration style itself wasn't the kind of art that I am particularly drawn to. It was the kind of drawing that I feel I could have done, which would have been fine if the story had stepped it up but it didn't. I found that some tough topics were introduced but never went anywhere and the writing itself was clunky in places. 

I wouldn't recommend this at all to be honest and I'm sad that the art style didn't match the cover.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read "Ghost Stories" by Whit Taylor. A quirky graphic novel that took my mind on an unexpected journey. I love the art that this graphic novel has. I was a little disappointed when I found out that it wasn't about ghosts in a literal sense. "Ghost Stories" made me think about my life in different ways. I was a little confused at times but overall, a peculiar read for people looking for something different in the form of a graphic novel.