The Phantom's Howl: Classic Tales of Ghosts and Hauntings From Bengal

Stories of bhoots are omnipresent in Bengali literature. Written for adultsand children by some of the best writers in the language, these stories haveentertained generations of readers since they first appeared.Intrigue and horror abound in the pages of this collection where masters ofBengali literature present a series of spine-chilling-and often bizarre-encounters with the other-worldly. A half-burnt shadow dances on the walls;a vain-glorious skeleton reminisces about her past beauty; the lonely spirit ofa young girl forever rows its boat in the marshes; and a proud English ghostcreates trouble on a train from Kolkata to Kashi. There is the cursed bed of aChinese man; the possessed pair of boots of a hunter; a Mughal-era house thatwants to suck the soul of its inhabitants; and an innocuous black cloth thatspells danger for all who wave it.Comprising stories from legendary authors such as Rabindranath Tagore,Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay and Hemendra Kumar Roy, to lesser-known but equally marvellous writers like Jogeshchandra Bandyopadhyay,Niradchandra Majumdar and Amarendranath Munshi, The Phantom's Howlis a quintessential representation of Bengal and its fascination with its manybhoots and their tales. Arundhati Nath's pitch-perfect translations bring thesehousehold favourites to a new generation of readers.