A deliciously dark collection of stories set in the same world. I enjoyed each story as much as the previous one. The author has a brilliant mind that will transport you into a magical world of books with quirky and dangerous powers.
Would highly recommended!

Four terrifying tales based around ghostly, powerful books. Guaranteed to have you feeling goosebumps the full way through, questioning the smallest noises. Brilliant creepy book!

I will read anything that Malfi writes. He is an amazing horror author.
I loved that all four of the novellas have a subtle connection. They all could be read as a stand-alone, but I loved reading them in order.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Titan Books, & Ronald Malfi for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Ronald Malfi has long been one of my favorite horror writers. In this collection of four novellas, the reader gets a glimpse of haunted books, haunted writers, and the power of the written word. The magic of books is summoned by the writer and is imbued for the reader to discover. Doesn’t that make the writer a sort of evil magician?

The first story you read Skin of Her Teeth: the reader becomes immersed in a world where you have to contemplate what what happens when an author pens a book? Does that give the book a soul? What happens when your dying mother refuses to die until she hears the end of your story? More so, what if that mother is an evil monster in her ending days? My suggestion… don’t change a word!

Then you are jettisoned into The Dark Brothers Last Ride. We the Dark Brothers are given a task of delivering a book, the instructions were clear. Don’t open the briefcase, don’t touch the book, and if anyone asks you to see the book or touch it, ignore them. Simple, right? Unless you’re the Dark brothers. Showcasing books and their amazing power, what happens when you make just one little mistake? Ohhh… the trouble you find behind the veil.

Your next stop… This Book Belongs to Olo. This could be my favorite story of all. Told in 3 parts (oh he could have made one spooky novel out of this creepy tale) you’ll meet Olo. A strange little boy turning 10. A strange little boy compelled to make his own book and story … complete with a replica of the creepy mansion he lives in. All this little devil of a child wants is a birthday party and new friends to put in his story. Is that so wrong? Think Twilight Zone meets House meets your worst nightmares.

And finally your journey concludes with The Story. What happens when a choose your own adventure story, chooses you. Two choices. One right, one wrong … and the consequences can be deadly.

I loved how Malfi incorporated his characters throughout the stories, along with characters from his other novels. It’s like finding old friends, much like a Stephen King novel does. All I can say is these tales are each unique, but all four novellas can also be read as a novel! Kudos to Malfi! A treat to read and a treat I’ll be sharing once published to all lovers and readers of horror books!

Four novellas interlinked and every single one is absolutely brilliant. Oft horrifying but brilliant.

From the first story to the final one the imagination is fabulous. Oft horrifying but fabulous.

The fact that this particular horror quartet is all about books only elevates it. I can't say I've ever looked at the novels I read with suspicion before but I might well now.

Creepy, terrifying, disturbing pitch perfect horror. Bring it on.

Recommended

I'm big on novellas and horror and when i saw this on Netgalley i couldn't resist, also due to the fact that I've heard so much good about this author and really wanted to read him, i thought a collection of 4 novellas would be a great idea!

I know they don't start the collection with the best ones first, but tbh that's a mistake! I didn't want to continue reading after the first novella "the skin of her teeth", and it was hard going through it even, idk it was just a bit too predictable for me. Saw the reviews praising the last one "the story" and thought to give it a try. So glad i did because i LOVED the crazy feel of it, and i just had to read it in one go.

I didn't care for the other 2 novellas, idky. I understand that all these deal with heavy emotions but they just couldn't hold my attention. Maybe this author is like an acquired taste and i should read some of his popular works 🤔

Thanks to Netgalley, author, and publishers for the eARC. All opinions are my own :)

A terrific collection of novellas from Malfi that all involve books or stories that cause some very odd happenings for those involved. Each one brings characters from another one into the story, so it feels like this is one big universe and we're seeing parts of it at a time. Malfi saves the best for last with "The Story", a bizarre tale of an interactive story line from the dark web that...well, you'll just have to find out for yourself. Another winner from Malfi, who is definitely on a roll. 4-4.5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ronald Malfi has become one of my favorite authors, and once again, he hits a home run with Ghostwritten, a collection of four novellas tied by the common theme of books gone bad, whether they be haunted or malevolent.

While, to me, the stories here aren’t quite up to par with books such as Come With Me or Bone White, they are still of high quality and extremely enjoyable. I loved that certain characters from one story showed up in another tale.

Well done and recommended.

My thanks to Titan Books and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of Ghostwritten.

Thank you to NetGalley, Titan Books, and Ronald Malfi for the advanced copy of Ghostwritten in exchange for my honest review.

I *loved* this collection of novellas. Books being the theme of horror stories is quite literally RIGHT up my alley. Here is my ranking of the stories:

1. This Book Belongs to Olo (appears third): 5 stars. A story about a creepy kid who likes wearing a clown mask? Sign me right up.
2. The Skin of Her Teeth (appears first): 5 stars. The book is the villain, super creepy and unique. Loved it.
3. The Story (appears fourth): 4 stars. This choose your own adventure story is to die for (literally).
4. The Dark Brothers' Last Ride (appears second): 3.5 stars. I didn't connect with this one quite as much as I did with the other three but it was still incredibly well-written. Also there is a reference to my home state of North Dakota, which is always pretty exciting to see in a book! (Small state probs)

One other element I loved about these novellas is that they were subtly connected. Malfi has once again proven he is a force to be reckoned with in the horror world. I will read absolutely anything he writes.

Ghostwritten will be on bookshelves October 4!

Ok I think I'm becoming a little Ronald Malfi obsessed. His books are just so good!

Ghostwritten is a collection of 4 horror novellas all based around creepy books or authors! Overall this was a brilliant read that had me glued to the pages. I loved that the stories were genuinely quite scary and all had little links to each other making the whole book flow really well. Here are my thoughts on each one separately:

The Skin Of Her Teeth - a brilliantly creepy story to kick the book off. It's about a screenwriter who runs into a few problems adapting a very popular book to screen. I loved it. This was a real page turner and got me excited for the book as a whole.

The Dark Brother's Last Ride - this was my least favourite as I found it dragged on a bit. I loved the concept but didn't really like the 2 main characters for which a lot of this story focuses heavily on.

This Book Belongs to Olo - creepy kid, creepy house, absolutely loved it! I think this was the scariest one for me.

The Story - I thought this story was really clever along with being a bit scary! It focuses on an online choose your adventure type story and I loved how well the plot was mapped out along with the strong characterisation. Unique and brilliant.

If you're looking for something to add to your October tbr to creep you put this is definitely the one! Now off to hunt down Ronald Malfi's backlist!

Ronald Malfi has done it again, these 5* reviews must be getting really boring for him now!

A collection of four novellas, which are perfect standalone stories, though when read together the link is clearly there. References to other Malfi books are also woven in, the trick is to spot them!

I really enjoyed this gathering of tales, a real treat and so good. As soon as I started reading, I was drawn in and, as with all Malfi’s works, it’s hard to put down.

Of the four, I think This Book Belongs to Olo is my favourite, because who doesn’t love a disturbed kid and a haunted house, though, in my opinion, The Story is the scariest as we have all become used to the Click Here scenario and game culture.

A great read, loved it!

Thank you NetGalley.

A wonderful collection of four novella, all concerning spooky or possessed books. The first two book have a couple of crossover (minor) characters, and the author in his afterword points other connections to other stories. I have only recently started to read Malfi (Black Mouth), but will be looking out for the earlier works.

Four memorable horror stories involving books that have characters (and readers) questioning what is real. The first, "The Skin of Her Teeth," about a writer driven mad by a book that refuses to be turned into a screenplay, serves as a nice appetizer for the truly terrifying tales that follow. "The Dark Brothers' Last Ride" follows two men who deliver a unusual book to another dimension of reality. In "This Book Belongs to Olo" an intelligent but lonely boy makes a pop-up book model of the mansion he lives in that can trap people he wants to be friends with. "The Story" finds a journalist investigating the suicide of a woman he used to co-host a podcast with. He comes upon something on the internet called The Story, a real-life Choose Your Own Adventure that both reflects reality and creates it, These eerie stories are easy to devour in a sitting.

I enjoyed this. It wasn't anything I would reread but it was well written and each story was interesting in its own way

In these four novellas Ronald Malfi uses the linking theme of books and there are some characters that reappear, a touch I really like.

In the first one, agents Jack Baer and Gloria Grossman meet to discuss screenplay writer Davis McElroy who is MIA and also missing his deadline for “The Skin of her Teeth“. This is a really good novella to “digest“ and one of my favourites in the collection. I really enjoy the touches of humour, the colourful characterisation and the creativity of the concept. I think the end is excellent though it sends a shiver down my spine. I really enjoy that this gives the feeling of an old black-and-white 40s/50s horror movie as it makes you laugh but is as creepy as all hell by the same token!

The second novella is The Dark Brothers Last Ride which centres on Danny and Tommy Drake who have a very strange mission to deliver a package to The Mesa Motel on the Oklahoma/Arkansas border. They have a map to follow and must not deviate from the route they are given. This one really contrasts with the first as it feels otherworldly, dream like, creepy and nightmarish. There are some very strange images and illusions a bit like I imagine an acid trip might be! It’s also darkly humorous which is a relief from the malevolence and the bizarre. The brothers last ride goes from odd to a bit weird to seriously weird to totally messed up.
It’s an old mixture but strangely works and I doubt I’ll forget some of the more creative aspects of it. How does Ronald Malfi actually get you to buying some of his ideas??

In the third one BEWARE accepting an INVITATION from young Bartholomew (Olo) Tiptree! In particular, refuse an invitation to play hide and seek in his home Helix House as you may live to regret it. Olo has made a book but it’s not just any book, it’s a book of his house. If you’re British you may remember the TV programme ‘Changing Rooms’. Let’s just say it’s a very unique version of that!

This is another clever but strange story, it also has a hallucinatory feel as in the last novella and it’s most certainly claustrophobic but it’s way more disturbing than that. This gives a whole new meaning to a haunted house. There is a lot to digest in this one especially on the mask that Olo chooses to wear.

The fourth one is called The Story and is my least favourite although it is extremely clever and true horror. This centres on a choose your own adventure story which has very dire consequences which the participants may or may not live to regret. This one spins my head in a multitude of directions so in my dizziness I’m not entirely convinced I totally understand it!

Overall, if you’re a fan of the horror genre these are clever novellas with each one focusing on a unique book you should definitely NOT read if you want to stay alive!

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Titan Books for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Post to GR and Twitter on 1/10 and retail sites on 4/10.

There's a reason why Ronald Malfi is one of my favorite horror authors. After the stunning Come With Me and the terrifying Black Mouth, he's giving us these four novellas that are every bit as good as his novels.

Any of these could have been a standalone novella but, together, they weave into each other in the creepiest way possible. Recurring themes, characters, and even phrases appear in each one. These can certainly be read individually and enjoyed but the tapestry he creates when all four are read in order is nothing short of frightening genius.

I can't recommend this book enough. Pre-order it now so you don't miss out.

Ghostwritten is a collection of four novellas that each have the common thread of a haunted book in them. They are all creepy in their own way but very different. My favorite of the four was This Book Belongs to Olo. This is the perfect book to read for spooky season and it will be released on October 4, 2022.

Loved this book! Malfi present four short stories (novellas) that are loosely connected in a shared universe . This made for fun cameos between stories. As a bibliophile, I also loved that each story centered around a literary trope or object. The work is decidedly more in the 'horror' camp, rather than 'suspense', though Malfi frequently blends both with aplomb. I agree with others how have suggested that if you are a fan of Joe Hill and Paul Tremblay, you will love this book.

I really enjoyed Ronald Malfi's "Black Mouth", with its' King's "It"-like qualities and its dark, malevolent atmosphere. I decided to give another book of his a shot and I'm SO glad I did.

This book of 4 interwoven short stories was so cool and so well-written. My favorite story by far was "The Last Ride of the Dark Brothers". I love how the stories all had an interconnected thread. The last story "The Story" was sad and creepy and a bit disturbing.

Anyone who likes creepy books about books will enjoy this. Thanks to Netgalley, Ronald Malfi and Titan Books for allowing me the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

5 stars
Really, is there anything Ronald Malfi can’t write? This was such a great collection of novellas. The premise was very unique and fun. He writes in such a way that you are easily drawn in, and fully engaged through the entirety of the story. It’s dark, it’s creepy, it’s tense in all the fright ways!