Description
This is my first collection of short stories, now produced in its 2nd edition, containing twelve stories of ghosts and strange encounters. It concludes with an extensive essay describing many of my own strange experiences over a lifetime, ranging from ghosts to premonitions and meaningful coincidences.
REVIEWS
The renowned writer and philosopher, Colin Wilson, described this volume as “Beautifully written and most fascinating.”
The celebrated English artist, Coral Guest, writes: “Strange Tales is a portal into another reality. Each of these stories offers us an entry point into something ‘other’ and mirrors a particular awareness that we all possess in the depth of our psyche. Richard Howard is a unique talent who has the power to invoke this particular frequency. He is a spiritual writer, one of rare integrity, and each story is a testimony to his own insight. A book of rare truth and all-encompassing mystery.”
The eminent composer, Alan Hovhaness, writes: “I greatly admire Richard Howard as a very fine and original writer. I cannot praise highly enough Tower Song. This I think is one of the great stories of all time and certainly should be published throughout the world. The Messenger has a quiet mysterious power and great depth. I know the difficulty to arrive at the spiritual and mental harmony which allows such poetry to flower in naturalness and spontaneous singing quality. The Temple of Lior held my attention from beginning to end. It is compelling and its symbols are of profound wisdom. Moon Prophecy is wonderful. The forces of terror and beauty are controlled. This story with its message haunts me. Mass consciousness dangers are warnings from ancient times into modern times.”
Reader comment:
The Temple of Lior and Stars and Crystals are both very striking and, together with The Messenger, give these stories what I would consider a mythic dimension. I thought the same about Storm Child. Echoes is a frighteningly vivid evocation of brutality and oppression yet with a sense of ultimate hope.
Amazon reviews:
Engaging * Haunting * Magical 29 Mar 2007 Reviewer: Ear for Talent “All Ears” (London)
A highly enjoyable and diverse collection of short stories, each drawing on a different aspect of otherworldly or supernatural phenomena. There are some truly chilling moments throughout – the author masterfully builds pace and expectation. From the magical atmosphere of Stars and Crystals, to the dark currents underpinning Last Rites, each story is beautifully written, some of them packing quite an emotional punch with their deeper message.
Howard’s style of writing doesn’t waffle around with excess padding. A few of the stories are bite-sized (a mere couple of pages is all he needs) but even the longer ones admirably cut to the action very quickly.
The near-believability of some of these `otherworldly’ stories is noteworthy … Howard’s own experiences have possibly spilled over into them. A clever touch (which I’ve not seen elsewhere) is that the book concludes with his own intriguing reminiscences of unusual experiences from childhood up to the present. Perhaps we should all pay more attention to `mere’ coincidence, or things seen and immediately dismissed?
All in all, glad to have got this book – highly recommended!
Timeless Collection, 22 Mar 2007 Reviewer: M. Dunn “mikethebiketoo” (U.K.)
This is a brilliant collection of stories that I would recommend to anyone. The tales delve into the collective unconscious as any good yarn should, and leave one with a lingering sense of the spiritual. Many, such as The Prisoner or The Messenger, have an allegorical element that can be related to the life of the reader. The writing style is timeless and I predict that people will still be reading them many years from now.
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