# The Wrong Turning: Encounters with Ghosts - Hardcover

by **Stephen Johnson** (Editor), **Stephen Johnson** (Introduction by)

**Introduced and edited by broadcaster Stephen Johnson, a curated selection of chilling ghost stories from world literature.**

Why do people love ghost stories, even if they don't believe (or _say_ they don't believe) in ghosts? Is it simply the adrenaline rush that comes from being mesmerized and terrified by a great storyteller, or do these tales yield deeper meanings--telling us things about our own inner shadows?

Stephen Johnson brings together some of the most memorable encounters with ghosts in world literature, from Europe, Russia, the United States, and China. Recurring themes and imagery are noted, interpretations suggested--but only suggested, since ambiguity and resistance to rational interpretation are key elements in the best ghost stories.

As the writer Robert Aickman observed, often the decisive moment comes when someone, somehow, makes a "wrong turning"--literally, perhaps, but at the same time psychologically, even morally--and some mysterious nemesis takes over.

Old favorites by M. R. James, Ambrose Bierce, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman are interlaced with extracts from longer works by Emily Brontë, Henry James, and Alexander Pushkin, along with slightly left-field apparitions from Tove Jansson and Flann O'Brien.

With such expert guides, who knows what we will be led to encounter in the haunted chambers of our minds?

### Author Biography

**Stephen Johnson** has taken part in several hundred radio programs and documentaries, including Radio 3's weekly series _Discovering Music_. He is also a presenter on the Classic Arts podcast series _Archive Classics_. Johnson has made numerous appearances on TV, contributing as a guest on BBC4's coverage of _The Proms_, ITV's _The South Bank Show_, and BBC1's _The One Show_. He is the author of several books, including _The Eighth: Mahler and the World in 1910_ and the Notting Hill Editions title _How Shostakovich Changed My Mind_.

**Number of Pages:** 192

**Dimensions:** 0.8 x 7.4 x 4.5 IN

**Publication Date:** October 19, 2021

## Details

- **Price:** 19.95 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 19.95 USD | In stock |

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- The Wrong Turning: Encounters with Ghosts - Hardcover

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