Interesting takes on the traditional ghost story, and I enjoyed that this book gave more comfort than spooks. Between stories, there are meditations on the function and context of ghost stories as a whole, and I found this book questioning the very concept of ghosts. What about ghost stories frighten us? What about a life in the beyond comforts us? What keeps a soul tethered to existence? The first few chapters that also introduced the technology and devices component were most compelling to me, and I could see them being made into Black Mirror episodes. I also very much enjoyed the story of the wedding - a bit of queer cosmic justice.

Thank you so much to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for sending me this advanced readers' copy!

A very spooky book of short stories, on subjects ranging from the ‘traditional’ hauntings to high tech paranormal stories.
I must admit the first story about a phone app was very creepy indeed which I was pleasantly surprised about.
Only a talent such as Jeanette Winterson could pull off such a variety of successful ghostly stories.

A fascinating set of stories that spring from traditional settings to more modern and seemingly innocuous innovations in technology, this book covers a wide range of voices and experiences. Some are particularly successful. I loved the first, 'Apparition,' about a woman haunted by her husband through a phone app, which was fresh, witty and genuinely chilling, setting a high bar for the rest of the collection. I found some of the more conventional avenues, like in a seance or a haunted house, less absorbing, but all were equally well-observed and tightly written, with some reflections on the history of ghostly tales thrown in. Most of all I was impressed by the variety of perspectives and styles to keep the reader interested and guessing the next 'embodiment', and the subtle manipulation of emotions from amusement to surprise and even tear-jerking sorrow. A bewitching read for chilly autumnal and wintry nights.

The tales within these pages will embrace you like a shroud, drawing you into their darkly enchanting embrace. It's a reading experience that leaves you spellbound, and each turn of the page unveils a fresh revelation, a twist that will keep you guessing until the very end.

Yaaaaaasssss! I have enjoyed everything I’ve read by Jeanette Winterson and this short story collection did not disappoint. A perfect read for the spooky season.

Jeanette Winterson's Night Side of the River is short story collection that delves into all types of ghosts and hauntings. Divided into four sections and interspersed with Winterson's own ghostly experiences, the stories presented here explore hauntings through Devices, Places, People, and Visitations.

I picked up Night Side of the River hoping for a book of frightening stories to enhance my Spooky Season reading, but I have to say that very few stories in this collection are scary. The stories are emotional, amusing, thought-provoking, and occasionally eerie, but not really scary.

Winterson returns frequently to themes of death (obviously) but also offers lots of poignant insights into the grief and the healing process. The paired stories "No Ghost Ghost Story" and "The Undiscovered Country" are two of the strongest stories in the collection and they delve into these topics so movingly. The first story is from the perspective of a man grieving the loss of his husband, with the second story narrated by the deceased husband himself.

My other two favorites in the collection are also a paired set, "A Fur Coat" and "Boots," in which a young couple move to an isolated country estate for the winter and are terrorized by an unseen force that seeks to separate them. "A Fur Coat" is the only story in the collection that truly unsettled me, and the stories are steeped in eerie Gothic atmosphere. I only wished for a more macabre ending.

The weakest section for me was the Devices section, in which Winterson explores "ghosts in the machine." These stories are very reminiscent of Black Mirror, not really bringing anything new to the field of AI/technology hauntings. In fact, that applies to the stories in all of the sections: They feel like very standard ghost stories and don't really offer anything new or different to the genre. Some of them feel a bit rushed, a bit lacking in atmosphere, a bit messy. For example, the tense regularly shifts in the stories from present to past tense. I haven't read anything by Winterson before so this may just be a trademark of her prose, but I found the constant shifts jarring.

If you're looking for a not-too-scary collection of classic ghost stories, Night Side of the River might be a good choice for your seasonal reading. Thank you to Atlantic Monthly Press and NetGalley for the early reading opportunity.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars, rounded up

With a seasoned name like Jeanette Winterson attached to it, I have to admit I went into this collection with high expectations. Winterson’s beautiful prose and keen eye for detail, combined with a take on one of my favourite tropes (literary ghost-stories!) was bound to be a hit. Unfortunately, this didn’t quite live up to my self-imposed hype. A scatter-brained introduction set the tone for what felt like somewhat of an inconsistent collection that lacked coherence beyond the theme of “ghosts”.

The collection opens with an opening word, in which Winterson explains her inspiration for this collection, and mentions many classics of the genre, without going into depth on any of it. To me, the introduction read like a first draft, namedropping some of its influences as if to make sure the reader will pick up on the references later, without adding any real new insight to them.
What follows are 13 ghoststories (in the loose sense of the word), clustered into 4 categories. Devices features Black-Mirror-esque stories about “ghosts in the machine” and the way technology has changed the meaning in which we can interact with a person after their passing. In Places, we visit the classic Haunted Houses and locations harbouring memories and restless souls, whereas in People it’s the people inside the walls carrying their hauntings, rather than the walls themselves. Finally in Visitations we follow journeys to significant places and events, mostly from the authors own life, where she came close to “haunting” encounters.
In between each section, there’s another personal essay or anecdote from Winterson life, the addition of which I probably liked the most. My biggest problem is that, outside these personal anecdotes, everything about this collection felt very familiar and “done before”. The many references to classics only emphasized that there was nothing new to be gained here for veterans of the gerne. I also missed the strong narrative voice that carried Winterson’s previous novels for me.
The two most memorable stories of the collection for me were No Ghost Ghost Story and The Undiscovered Country. Otherwise, this felt very middle-of-the-road. For a debut author, this would’ve been a promising start, but for a literary veteran like Winterson, I have to say that it was less than I expected.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Altantic Grove for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Perfect for the spooky season, this collection of supernatural stories ranging from haunted houses to AI gone terribly wrong, is a must have for readers of literate horror.

I'm a huge fan of Winterson's writing, but she has such a stylistic range that I never know what I'm getting until I begin reading. I'm almost always pleased with what I find. Winterson's Night Side of the River is a collection of "horror" stories. I put the quotation marks there because rather than having a goal of creating terror, Winterson uses the genre to explore ideas: for example, the way AI is changing the meaning of death or the different ways the living and the dead may perceive the end of a life. There were some good chills along the way, but I most appreciated this collection because it made me think about my own ephemerality in a way that went beyond the usual concerns about one's own mortality.

If you like horror and/or you like Winterson, you'll find this book provides unexpected delights. I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

I do so love gothic tales and nobody does them as well as Jeanette Winterson. A fabulous collection of tales, some unexpected very modern twists on the traditional ghost stories. An absolute delight for the darker nights.

An unusual mashup of short ghost stories and the author's own paranormal experiences that's quite entertaining. The book is separated by Winterson's recollections, which some might scoff at but which add to the atmospherics. Most of these stories tale place in the usual creepy settings but the first sees a dead spouse talking through an app (the sort of thing that's actually worth thinking about given AI and so on). This is one to read a story at a time (perhaps not before bed) and it's great to see it released right before Halloween. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Night Side of the River presented a great range of stories. some were spooky or supernatural, but they dealt with heavier themes as well. I appreciated Winterson's insights into her own "ghost" stories.

Very compelling modern ghost stories! Most of these are, to me, good but not excellent, but there are some that are outstanding, particularly the ones that have more emotional depth. There are 13 stories here so there’s bound to be some repetition, but overall each is distinct. Not my favourite Winterson but still good!

I’ve heard a lot about Jeanette Winterson, but actually never had the chance to read any of her books before that one. I’m always on the lookout for short stories collections on Netgalley, and I love ghost stories in general, so I felt so lucky! It’s difficult to make a sweeping judgment for a collection of very different styles, but I had a great time.

Many of those stories are rather classic, shall I say Gothic, and those that venture into SF territory (and metaverse) I didn’t like as much. A spooky house, a séance that doesn’t turn out quite as expected, a wedding in a castle where a love story was once doomed, … these are themes that are rather familiar to the ghost story reader, but I enjoyed the atmosphere and the attention to the places and history.

In between stories Winterson gives some personal context and it felt like a nice touch as she explains some moments in her life where she may have brushed against something supernatural.

The No ghost ghost story is a moving tale of grief. The title story is pretty horrific and reminded me of a business event I had once on the river Seine, nothing happened but in retrospect I’m spooked! My favorite stories are The Door for its queer perspective, The Spare Room because it wasn’t in your face at all. I’m not sure which stories are more representative of Jeanette Winterson as they are so different from one another, but what’s for sure is that Winterson has a wide palette of skills!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book for review consideration.

Was there any question on what Jeanette Winterson could do with a collection of short stories, especially ghostly ones? I mean.....come on! Next to Alice Monroe, who else do we have?

There's a little Black Mirror, a little Poe-esque, and 100% Winterson. It's perfection.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Jeanette Winterson Is an interesting person and her Memoir, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? adds depth to the appreciation of her books. This is particularly true of Night Side of the River which is idiosyncratic and not the usual set of stories. Not a starting place for this author but excellent for those who already appreciate her work.

Overall Rating: 2.5

Devices
•App-arition- 4.5/5
•The Old House at Home- 3/5
•Ghost in the Machine- 2/5

•JW1: Strange Meetings- 3/5

Places
•The Spare Room- 3/5
•A Fur Coat- 2.5/5
•Boots- 2/5
•The Door- 2/5

•JW2: Unexplained- 3/5

People
•No Ghost Ghost Story- 2.5/5
•The Undiscovered Country- 2/5
•Canterville and Cock- 2/5

JW3: All the Ghosts We Cannot See- 2.5/5

After a brief history of ghost and the paranormal and a bunch of great historical spooky recommendations we get to read ghost stories from different categories such as haunted items haunted houses and haunted people some of the stories were really good there was one I didn’t care for that much but I won’t mention it because others might like it and I don’t want to influence negative feelings for the most part this is a superb collection of stories especially the one where she buries her husband and her sister tries to help by downloading the Dan app … Talk about a twist! I also like the one where the couple went to that stone cottage that totally reminded me of the shining but these are just two stories out of the teal and although there was one as I said I didn’t like it was still entertaining as far as the rest of the really superb stories that I highly recommend I found this book interesting from the history to the short spooky stories it’s all so worth reading. I thoroughly enjoyed this bookn highly recommend it. I want to thank Grove Atlantic and Met Galley for my free Ark copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review

Night Side Of The River is a collection of ghost stories that provides food for thought for the readers as well as terrify them with otherworldly tales of hauntings.

Night Side of The River is a collection of ghost stories split into the categories Devices, Places, People, and Visitations, with three or four stories in each category, and interspersed with first person interludes from the author.

Due to be released just in time for Halloween on October 24th, this collection may satisfy a spooky craving but it’s not genre-defining; the stories are rather derivative and unoriginal. The first story App-arition, about ghosts and avatars, reads like an episode of Black Mirror (not in itself a negative); and A Fur Coat, with it’s connected follow-up Boots, reminded me of recent Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor – themselves both adaptations of classic ghost stories.

I enjoyed No Ghost Ghost Story, which was a kind of inversion of a typical ghost story when a man grieving his partner becomes ghost-like. I also liked Canterville and Cock, the story of a man who sets up ‘hauntings’ at old houses for people to enjoy and ends up summoning a real ghost, which was a point of levity in an otherwise serious collection.

I found the author’s interludes to be quite strange. The introduction is a rambling history of ghosts and hauntings, and the final part seemed to return to the topic of the first story. It made the book feel disjointed and interrupted the flow of the stories. I would have preferred all four parts and the introduction to be merged into a more coherent essay, preferably as an afterword.

In summary, rather plain and simple ghost stories that you may enjoy but you won’t find any surprises or much of anything fresh.

Thanks, NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for this ARC.