The summer of 1816 was unseasonably wet and miserable. A near bankrupt, scandal-plagued Lord Byron had fled England and was staying at a villa near Lake Geneva with his personal physician, John, and their new friends Percy and Mary. The relentless deluge kept them indoors, so they passed the time reading ghost stories to each other from a collection of magazines that came with the house. When those ran out, Byron suggested they have a competition to each write a ghost story.
John wrote “The Vampyre”, the first modern vampire tale that went on to inspire Bram Stoker and spawn countless toothy progeny across the following centuries. For her contribution to the game, the 18 year old Mary Godwin crafted a tale that proved to be one of the most imaginative psychological ghost stories ever written, and in the process single-handedly invented Science Fiction. Before it was published, Mary and Percy got married and she changed her last name to Shelley…
Over 200 years later, following a re-animation ceremony involving precise constellational alignment, sacred incantations, pentagrams and a bottle of ketchup, a bunch of writers all across the planet resurrected Byron’s challenge and wrote an original ghost story each.
This collection is the result.