The Night Side of the River by Jeanette Winterson

Pre-order. Publishes 3 October 2024.
 
The genre-bending and masterful new collection of ghost stories from Jeanette Winterson

A ghost has no substance, but it has power - and presence - and it can appear in alternative forms. In the metaverse, we are all alternative forms.
 
The Dead will join us.
 
A captivating collection of ghost stories from “one of the most gifted writers working today” ( New York Times ), The Night Side of the River  is as ingeniously provocative as it is downright spooky. In this delightfully chilling collection, the iconic Jeanette Winterson turns her fearless gaze to the realm of ghosts, interspersing her own encounters with the supernatural alongside hair-raising fictions. Lifting the veil between the living and the dead, Winterson spirits us away to a haunted estate that ensnares a nomadic young couple in its own dark past, a staged immersive ghost tour gone awry, a West Village séance that threatens the bounds between AI and reality, and a vacation home in the metaverse where a widow visits an improved version of her deceased husband. Gloriously gothic and unnervingly contemporary, Winterson examines grief, revenge, and the myriad ways in which technology can disrupt the boundary between life and death. 
 
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'I loved Night Side of the River. Jeanette Winterson is one of the wittiest writers around today… I can't think of any other writer who can treat death and horror with such lightheartedness and pragmatic cheerfulness but without losing the cold-yet-cosy frisson that comes with all the best ghost stories. MR James would be very happy!' - Natasha Pulley

'Spine-chillingly good' ― i

'In these enjoyable tales Winterson has ably served the genre, while also sketching some unsettling future directions the ghost story might take' ― Literary Review

'Winterson is always passionate and provocative' ― New Statesman

'A fascinating and engrossing look at AI, science, gender fluidity and, ultimately, what it really means to be human' - Nicola Sturgeon