Gaberlunzie Joe's Pure Ghosters (Edited by Matthew Fitt)

Pure Ghosters is a themed, linked short story collection that contains a mixture of horror, supernatural and humorous stories all presented by the same thirteen-year old character, Gaberlunzie Joe. Its twelve riveting stories come from the pens of some of Scotland's leading contemporary writers in Scots. Joe travels all around Scotland with his mother, a portrait painter who likes to paint people with what she calls "interesting faces". They're interesting because there is usually a story behind each one, and Joe - when he is not doing his homework, or finding ways to avoid doing it - hears some astonishing things as he listens to men and women from Shetland, Aberdeen, Galloway, Dundee, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, the Borders and Fife. Joe is fascinated by the new accents and words he hears. Even more, he is intrigued by these ghostly, horrific, inexplicable and just downright bizarre tales. A challenging journey into the dark and scary places and also into the richness of Scots dialects across the country, Pure Ghosters is a pure brilliant read.