As you will realize if you read my last post, which was a review of the great urban fantasy/ghost story Sparrow Hill Road, I am interested in the road and all that comes with it – the excitement, energy, anxiety, and danger inherent in travel.
In my day job I work in the auto insurance industry; I know, as does anyone who drives a car, that intersections – crossroads – are inherently dangerous. But there are also Crossroads with a capital C, where many paths converge and then separate again, and where the Devil makes deals and greedy humans lose their souls.
While researching the Crossroads, I came upon a free Christmas ghost story called “The Ghost of the Cross-Roads,” written by Frederick Manley in the 19th century. It’s free; give it a read.
You can find more stories like this in one of the several volumes of The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories. Stay tuned for more holiday reading suggestions – many of them obscure – between now and Christmas. Many, if not all, of the stories will come from the Valancourt book, which is a compilation of ghost stories that originally appeared in Victorian-era periodicals. (Update! I recently subscribed to Scribd, and I just found Volumes 1, 2 and 3 of the Valancourt Book in their catalog, so I can read for free. Iam not an affiliate of Scribd and don’t get any compensation for mentioning this, but I wanted to pass it on.)