A Manhattan Ghost Story

Something, we are assured, waits just outside our five senses and intellectual capabilities, something outside nature or logic, like a shadow skipping by the eye on a dark night in your living room, with all the dark miracles of Hades waiting only inches from your grasp: Wright's predilection is for scathingly intimate characterization and evocative atmosphere. His novels are often less about plot than mood, holding the power and effect -- the dream logic -- of a nightmare.

This is certainly the case in A Manhattan Ghost Story , wherein a man who discovers he can communicate with the dead who populate our world although both they and we may not recognize them or, often, ourselves. Wright is as concerned with the universal and quite terrifying quest for love as he is with 'supernatural' shades. In Cray's struggle to come to terms with his ability, himself, and a world whose borders are shattered, the dead seeping through like murky water, is the even greater quest to face -- and attempt understanding of -- love.

A quest that is futile, pitiable, and manic. A quest doomed to failure. Wright's haunting world of pain and loss, redemption and heartache, is as steeped in the banality of the everyday as it is electrically charged with the dead. His characters, and the world visited, is neither one nor the other, but both. Wright's Manhattan is full of dead folk who don't realize it, and members of the living who may as well be dead; many are already dead emotionally and spiritually if not physically.

Love-- that central theme in Wright's work -- is shown with the same terrifying honesty as a cemetery plot, honestly; love is as much a funeral shroud and beast as it is ecstasy, obsessive and destructive, hungry and fulfilling. Capable of cutting into the soul no less harsh than a razor splitting skin. Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. Read reviews that mention ghost story manhattan ghost stephen king abner cray wright apart from others work ghost stories ever read recommend this book read this book ghosts ending boring strange dead page horror slow woman apartment confusing.

Showing of 43 reviews. Top Reviews Most recent Top Reviews. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. I was motivated to purchase and read this book by the positive reviews, and for about half the book, I thought it was going to live up to the commendations, but as I moved through the book it was like I was moving through molasses that got thicker and thicker as one bit of unexplained banal weirdness was piled on another, until my "willing suspension of disbelief function" broke down in annoyance. The story is about Abner W. Abner is a photographer who comes to New York to work on a big book of New York photographs.

Barber, who claims to be able to see dead people. Apparently, this kicks off Abner's sensitivity toward ghosts - or maybe it doesn't because midway through the book we discover that he had seen a ghost when he was a teenager. If you've filed away Barbara W.

Barber - and the author T. Wright did seem to like alliterative names and "W" as a middle name - forget her; her subplot disappears after chapter 1. Abner's book editor, Serena Hitchcock, likes his work and has just had a brother murdered in a mugging. Don't worry about that last fact, because it doesn't go anywhere - except maybe to make her a sympathetic ear for one scene until she gets annoyed with Abner and tosses him out.

The editor subplot goes nowhere. The book subplot goes nowhere. The fact that Abner is a photographer goes nowhere. Abner starts out staying in a cheap hotel, but he suddenly gets to move into the apartment of his friend Art, who is in Nice, which allows for a stupid joke. Abner discovers a beautiful black woman, named Phyllis Pellaprat, in Art's apartment, who is Art's girlfriend. This is the early s so, of course, Abner starts having a torrid sexual affair with her and decides he loves her after one mind blowing night of the best sex he's ever had.

Some of us might say that doesn't reflect well on Abner's ethics or common sense, but remember, it's the early s, when, apparently, this kind of casual backstabbing was considered de rigeur. Maybe it's ok, though, because Art stole Abner's cousin Stacy - with whom Abner was having an incestuous relationship - from Abner back in high school, which really doesn't reflect well on Abner or Stacy.

Although Stacy and Stacy's mother pop in for a few scenes. Phyllis bring her parents to dinner and they are weird and offer cryptic statements and really, really like calling Abner "Abner Doubleday" because, you know, "Abner W. Cray" is his full name. Phyllis and Abner go through some terrifying moments to visit her parents.

The parent subplot goes nowhere. However, Phyllis does drop hints that Art beat her up and maybe she died. Then we learn that there is a cop after Art named "Kennedy" or maybe "Kenny" depending on the page of the book. We learn that Phyllis has been killed and Abner has been sleeping with a ghost! But that doesn't matter to Abner. He loves, really loves, Phyllis because of the really good sex he's been having with her post-mortal corpse and goes in search of her because she basically drops out of the book.

Art emerges and is seen by Abner being kidnapped by the same three ghosts in various parts of Manhattan, but what happens and why, who knows? The Art subplot goes nowhere.

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Also the detective subplot goes nowhere. Somehow Abner gets kidnapped by a ghost cabby, who kills someone in a hit and run accident - was the victim a ghost or a real person? Forget it, it's not important - who takes Abner to see a woman with a ghost child dying of cat-scratch fever. Again, this is the early '80s, so it might be an homage to Ted Nugent She is initially cryptic, but in the second scene with her is angry for his "interfering" with the ghosts and making them unhappy.

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Forget about her; she's not important. We see Abner interacting with ghosts who seem to be going through the same behaviors. I thought maybe this is where the "Sixth Sense" came from, Abner gets sucked further and further into the ghost reality - including a gratuitous visit to a ghost biker bar, which is ultimately irrelevant - until eventually he seems to be there permanently, sitting in his cheap hotel room and ignoring Phyllis' knocks on the door. A fiction book involves a contract. The reader agrees to suspend disbelief and the writer agrees not to deliver the goods, which involves a pay-off for the clues and something that makes sense.

If the author is going to troll an incest subplot or a detective subplot, it ought to have some connection to the resolution of the story and not just be filler. This is the "Chekhov's Gun" rule: If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there.

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Ultimately, there were too many guns hanging all over the place for me to uncritically suspend my disbelief. Aug 28, Tressa rated it really liked it Shelves: The cover of the paperback I have is so misleading. The cover shows a variety of menacing "ghosts" coming out of a sewer grate. This story is much more literary than that, and includes some beautiful passages about dead loved ones and how much we miss them and how they move from different states of being.

I didn't encounter any of the menacing dead people I saw on the cover. This is an odd story but one I enjoyed very much. I will definitely seek out more of T. I thought this book was fabulous. An understated creepiness of tone was pervasive throughout the book.

A Manhattan Ghost Story (Manhattan Ghost, book 1) by T M Wright

It was mysterious and innovative. Someone probably needs to check the copyright laws as pertains to this book in relation to the movie, The Sixth Sense. The idea in this book obviously existed well before the movie and was much more well done. Wright at his best. The key word to describing T. Wright's fiction is strange. Or odd is you prefer that. His books mostly read like really strange trippy dreams, almost nightmares, and you definitely have to be in the mood for them, but if you like that sort of thing and you are in the mood for it, it's really quite excellent.

The main thing is that Wright is just a very good writer with that very special talent of a natural storyteller that Paul Auster has, though, of course, apples and oran The key word to describing T. The main thing is that Wright is just a very good writer with that very special talent of a natural storyteller that Paul Auster has, though, of course, apples and oranges there.

This book is a fine example of Wright's trademark strangeness, slow, subtle, unsettling story of one man's descent into madness that is New York City which one would think would be nightmarish enough , but this NYC is populated by ghosts, which makes it infinitely more dangerous and eerie. Again, not for everyone, if you like more plot driven action packed stories, this may not be the right fit, but a fan of strange fiction or quiet horror might enjoy this.

May 11, Peter rated it it was amazing. Abner Cray was coming to Manhattan to begin working on his new illustrated book about the city. Abner friend Art, also lives in the city. Abner is going to stay at Art's place while he is out of the country. Abner goes to Art's apartment and finds this beautiful young lady name Phyllis Pellapart living there. Abner is instantly attracted to Phyllis. He falls head over heels for this woman.

It turns out that Art is wanted for the murder of Phyllis Pellaprat.

T. M. Wright

How could this be! If Phyllis is dead, Abner Cray was coming to Manhattan to begin working on his new illustrated book about the city. If Phyllis is dead, how can she be with Abner at the same time? If you like ghosts stories, give this one a try. This classic novel was published over 25 years ago. This novel has stood the test of time. One of the best ghosts stories that I have read this year. Wright is a good writer and an excellent storyteller.

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View all 4 comments. Feb 05, Michael rated it did not like it. I really disliked this book. It was nothing but a series of conversations with people that invariably started pleasantly then rude angry and confrontational.

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Other reviews I have read talk about a love story personally I did not see it. The people in love didn't really have much of a relationship. The author makes it clear that the protagonist is interacting with the dead in the last quarter of the story like we didn't already know that.

Dec 17, Rebecca rated it it was ok. I'd recommend this story to someone who didn't care about a well crafted ending. The book seemed to be going somewhere, but at the very end it dragged on past when the story should have ended. The last half an hour or so I partook of the audio version is useless, as the narrative meanders away from an edgy finale into a murky, confused finish. I wasn't turned off by the cousin-incest, but some people might be. My problem with this story was that the ending fizzled out, lost its edge, quit being I'd recommend this story to someone who didn't care about a well crafted ending.

My problem with this story was that the ending fizzled out, lost its edge, quit being interesting, and ruined the whole thing for me. It wasn't necessarily bad, but the story lost the momentum it had built. May 24, Robert rated it really liked it Shelves: Despite several flaws, chief among them a central love story that remains far too abstract, and a subplot or two that never amount to much, this surreal, psychologically-minded ghost story casts an eerie, uncanny spell.

Chalk it all up to yet another fascinating novel by T. Mar 20, Courtney rated it really liked it Shelves: Great literary horror - spooky ghost story Aug 13, Stephen rated it really liked it. A chilling read with smooth prose and haunting characters. Wright goes for raising the hair on the back of your neck with subtle prose and great character driven plots.

No blood and guts, just haunts your mind with atmospheric horror, being on another plane of ghosts. Jul 16, Felecia rated it liked it. Great hook, great characters, great writing. But whatever hold Wright had on me during the first half of this adventure, the latter half felt I get it - it's paranormal. It's supposed to have that eerie, slanted feel. But the feelings of change weren't due to elevated plot or uncomfortable enlightenment.