Ghost Stories

[5billionof5billion]

Does anyone know of any good ghost stories, Trek related or other wise? I'm pretty much just looking for fictional ones. I loved Melissa Crandall's book Shell Game very well. When she teams up with the other female authors under the pen name L.A. Graf, I don't feel the books are that great; but by herself, she's awesome. That book was very good and hard to put down until I had it read of course. How come she doesn't write any more Star Trek books? I know another ghost related book is The Star Ghost that's a Deep Space Nine book for younger readers. There's also Ghost Ship by Diane Carey that I've read. I haven't read The Star Ghost; but if I get a chance to get it, I will. There are a couple other writers I like really well. They didn't write ghost-related Star Trek books, but there's A.C. Crispin and Vonda MacIntyre. Is that last writer still alive? If so, then how come she doesn't write more books? I hate it when I like an author really well and they don't put out very many books. I loved The Entropy Effect. I know Vonda wrote a few movie novelizations that I don't read; but she has written two that aren't, The Entropy Effect and Enterprise: The First Adventure. A.C. Crispin only wrote four, the two about Spock having a son that involved the Guardian of Forever, Sarek, and a Next Generation that I can't remember the title of.

We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
God bless, Jason Irelan

 

[Paris]

Does anyone know of any good ghost stories, Trek related or other wise? I'm pretty much just looking for fictional ones...

They're ALL fictional dude.

 

[JD]

If you want to know what books certain authors wrote, the best way to get a quick answer is just look somewhere like Amazon, Goodreads, or Wikipedia.
A.C. Crispin's Amazon page
A.C. Crispin's Goodreads page
A.C. Crispin's Wikipedia page
Vonda McIntyre's Amazon page
Vonda McIntyre's Goodreads page
Vonda McIntyre's Wikipedia's page

 

[Kor]

They're ALL fictional dude.

Well, there are books on paranormal activity that purport to be non-fiction, rather than in a narrative/novel format...

Kor

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

You mean, like "The Ghost of the Bloody Finger" or "The Ghost with One Black Eye"?

 

[Starbreaker]

I can't think of any Star Trek related ghost stories in literature, but there are two Stephen King books directly dealing with ghosts that I like: Bag of Bones and Joyland.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Well, as far as ST novels that could in some way be considered "ghost stories," there's always Kathleen Sky's Death's Angel, and J.M. Dillard's Demons (possession) and Bloodthirst (vampires). And Barbara Hambly's Ghost Walker. And Diane Carey's Ghost Ship. And Garland & McGraw's Ghost of a Chance. And Christie Golden's Ghost Dance.

Maybe also Diane Duane's Intellivore could be considered to be somewhat in this vein.

 

[Greg Cox]

They're ALL fictional dude.

Be fair. There's a big difference between novels and short stories which are published as fiction and the sort of "non-fiction" ghost books you find in the "Occult/Paranormal" section at the bookstore. (I still remember this one clueless bookstore clerk who kept pointing me to the "Paranormal" section when I was trying to figure out where the GHOST WHISPERER tie-in novels were shelved.)

Anyway, other people have addressed STAR TREK ghost stories ("Sub Rosa," anyone?), so here are some general recommendations: GHOST STORY by Peter Straub, A STIR OF ECHOES by Richard Matheson, A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE by Peter Beagle, THE WOMAN IN BLACK by Susan Hill, THE SHINING by Stephen King, THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson, not to be confused with HELL HOUSE by Richard Matheson . . . and those are just the obvious classics.

(And, oh yeah, there were a handful of GHOST WHISPERER tie-in novels.)

Meanwhile, Vonda McIntyre is very much alive. I believe she's simply concentrating on her original work these days, as opposed to STAR TREK. Ann Crispin, alas, just passed away a few years ago.

 

[DrCorby]

Anyway, other people have addressed STAR TREK ghost stories ("Sub Rosa," anyone?), so here are some general recommendations: GHOST STORY by Peter Straub, A STIR OF ECHOES by Richard Matheson, A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE by Peter Beagle, THE WOMAN IN BLACK by Susan Hill, THE SHINING by Stephen King, THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson, not to be confused with HELL HOUSE by Richard Matheson . . . and those are just the obvious classics.

I loved A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE by Peter Beagle! I need to reread that... I'd also recommend THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman. Chock full of ghosts.

Meanwhile, Vonda McIntyre is very much alive. I believe she's simply concentrating on her original work these days, as opposed to STAR TREK. Ann Crispin, alas, just passed away a few years ago.

So sorry to hear about Ann Crispin. I really enjoyed her Star Trek novels (especially the early Bantam ones with Zar), as well as a couple of her V adaptations/novels and a Witch World novel she wrote with Andre Norton.

 

[5billionof5billion]

Be fair. There's a big difference between novels and short stories which are published as fiction and the sort of "non-fiction" ghost books you find in the "Occult/Paranormal" section at the bookstore. (I still remember this one clueless bookstore clerk who kept pointing me to the "Paranormal" section when I was trying to figure out where the GHOST WHISPERER tie-in novels were shelved.)

Anyway, other people have addressed STAR TREK ghost stories ("Sub Rosa," anyone?), so here are some general recommendations: GHOST STORY by Peter Straub, A STIR OF ECHOES by Richard Matheson, A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE by Peter Beagle, THE WOMAN IN BLACK by Susan Hill, THE SHINING by Stephen King, THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson, not to be confused with HELL HOUSE by Richard Matheson . . . and those are just the obvious classics.

(And, oh yeah, there were a handful of GHOST WHISPERER tie-in novels.)

Meanwhile, Vonda McIntyre is very much alive. I believe she's simply concentrating on her original work these days, as opposed to STAR TREK. Ann Crispin, alas, just passed away a few years ago.

That sucks. I guess she's the only one who has a good reason for not writing any. Stephen King books are out for me. It's hard to find one that doesn't have f bombs.

We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
God bless, Jason Irelan

 

[5billionof5billion]

Well, as far as ST novels that could in some way be considered "ghost stories," there's always Kathleen Sky's Death's Angel, and J.M. Dillard's Demons (possession) and Bloodthirst (vampires). And Barbara Hambly's Ghost Walker. And Diane Carey's Ghost Ship. And Garland & McGraw's Ghost of a Chance. And Christie Golden's Ghost Dance.

Maybe also Diane Duane's Intellivore could be considered to be somewhat in this vein.

I remembered Ghost Walker by Barbara Hambly later after I posted. I also remember the Voyager novel Ghost of a Chance. Death's Angel was put out by Bantam books, and I thought that one had to do with the angel of death itself who according to Touched by an Angel is Andrew. J.M. Dillard's Demons is a book I remember pretty well, but I thought that was about demon-like aliens. I don't remember Ghost Dance. Were they planning to do a movie with Ghost Walker where Chuck Norris reprises his role as Cordell Walker, and he plays his ghost? LOL What's Intellivore about?

We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
God bless, Jason Irelan

 

[Greg Cox]

That sucks. I guess she's the only one who has a good reason for not writing any.

Recall that Vonda McIntyre wrote her books thirty years ago. That was a long time ago. Not everybody wants to write the same kind of book--or have the same goals--for their entire lives. Can't really blame her for moving on at some point.

(And "L.A. Graf" was not a real person, btw. It was a pseudonym for a couple of authors collaborating under a pen name.)

But, yes, it sucks that Ann Crispin is no longer with us. I believe her last published book was an epic Pirates of the Caribbean novel about Captain Jack Sparrow.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Death's Angel is about a diplomatic run by the Enterprise, ferrying Sarek and a bunch of mostly-non-humanoid ambassadors to a conference involving detente with the Klingon Romulan Empire. And the delegates opposed to detente suddenly start dropping like flies, and fence-sitters start reporting terrifying visitations from an "Angel of Death" (matching theiri individual cultures' concepts thereof) who wants them to vote in favor of the detente.

Most of the ambassadors' names are puns on their species, e.g., a mermaid named Sirenia, a sentient lamprey named Agnatha (a reference to the superclass containing lampreys and hagfish), a felinoid quadruped named Neko (Japanese for "cat"), a crustacean named Telson (a part of the anatomy of many crustaceans), and a living pyramid with limited shape-shifting capabilities named Hotep (whose first line, introducing himself, is "I'm Hotep," an obvious reference to Imhotep).

I strongly suspect that alleged "were-kolala" Stephen Goldin (author of Trek to Madworld, and Ms. Sky's husband at the time) came up with a lot of the comic relief. It seems like his sense of humor.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I believe her last published book was an epic Pirates of the Caribbean novel about Captain Jack Sparrow.

It's unfortunate that the planned Zar trilogy never came to pass. Book one was apparently even completed.

 

[5billionof5billion]

Recall that Vonda McIntyre wrote her books thirty years ago. That was a long time ago. Not everybody wants to write the same kind of book--or have the same goals--for their entire lives. Can't really blame her for moving on at some point.

(And "L.A. Graf" was not a real person, btw. It was a pseudonym for a couple of authors collaborating under a pen name.)

I know L.A. Graf was a pseudonym for a few female authors. I believe I mentioned that when I first made mention of Melissa Crandall. In any event, she's my favorite writer right now; and I wish she'd write more Star Trek novels by herself.

Too bad Crispin's last book wasn't a Star Trek novel. Unless someone knows something I don't, her last Star Trek novel was Sarek.

It's okay for Vonda to move on, but it wouldn't hurt for her to go back to her old hunting grounds.

Peter David's pretty good, and so are you. I still wish David would write more than just New Frontier novels. It wouldn't be so bad if one of his own characters was a shapeshifter. He could come up with one from a race that he thought of himself if he wanted to, and that would make me want to read the books more. Are you the only writer on this board? You're the only one who I see posting?

We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
God bless, Jason Irelan

 

[5billionof5billion]

It's unfortunate that the planned Zar trilogy never came to pass. Book one was apparently even completed.

Is Zar the one she said was Spock's son? I don't have those books anymore, so I don't know. Did she have any kids who could pick up her work?

We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
God bless, Jason Irelan

 

[Jinn]

Are you the only writer on this board? You're the only one who I see posting?

There are also Christopher L. Bennett, Kirsten Beyer, David Mack, Dayton Ward, David A. McIntee, Bernd Perplies and I'm pretty sure to have seen James Swallow and Michael A. Martin but I'm not sure, and there are probably others that I failed to add to this list.

Is Zar the one she said was Spock's son? I don't have those books anymore, so I don't know. Did she have any kids who could pick up her work?

Yes that was Spocks son from The Yesterday Saga

IDid she have any kids who could pick up her work?

According to her website she has a son, Jason Paul Crispin but I don't know if he is an author.

 

[Greg Cox]

There are also Christopher L. Bennett, Kirsten Beyer, David Mack, Dayton Ward, David A. McIntee, Bernd Perplies and I'm pretty sure to have seen James Swallow and Michael A. Martin but I'm not sure, and there are probably others that I failed to add to this list.

Margaret Bonnano pops up occasionally, too, and David McIntee.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Is Zar the one she said was Spock's son? I don't have those books anymore, so I don't know.

As Jinn already mentioned, yes. There was a new trilogy planned, but it ended up getting cancelled. More info here.

Did she have any kids who could pick up her work?

I'm not sure it works like that...

Margaret Bonnano pops up occasionally, too, and David McIntee.

And Keith R. A. DeCandido and William Leisner, too.

 

[Csalem]

John Jackson Miller also posts here. We do quite well with all the authors who post here. Always nice to read a book and come here to see the authors directly engaging with the readers. Sort of makes the books a little more special, or at least it does for me.