Format: eBook.

Price: $19 AUS

Reviewer: Peter A. Worthy.


I first learned of the talented Rick Kennett from Stephen Jones. He was mentioned in the introduction to the anthology, Dark Detectives where he mentioned Rick's creation, the motorcycle-riding Ernie Pine. This character can be checked up in 'The Roads of Donnington' - The 20th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories - and further in the chapbook, The Reluctant Ghost-Hunter. While I have so far been unable to source these, I did find some of his highly commendable work in Ash-Tree Press' No.472 Cheyne Walk with A. F. Kidd, an expansion of the original chapbook from the Ghost Story Society. I will be reviewing that dazzling continuation of William Hope Hodgson's Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder at a future date.

13 contains - as the title implies - thirteen ghost stories. People familiar with the site will remember that I actively encourage reading outside the Cthulhu Mythos in an effort to prevent HPL's brainchild from stagnating. This eBook is one of the items I highly recommend to the horror/supernatural reader; I hope to see more from Kennett in the future.

Most of the tales are set in Kennett’s native Australia, four are set in the future, and three concern the unwilling ghost hunter Ernie Pine. I was impressed with the range of backgrounds that were used, not the usual you’d expect from ghost stories but so well worked that there is no need to force the suspension of disbelief. One of the most powerful tales in the whole book is "Out of the Storm" which focuses on an Australian Navy mine-sweeper corvette.

Kennett weaves a beguiling atmosphere throughout that holds the attention unerringly until the culmination of the tale. He has a knack for environment and ambience that he brings to bear in each and every story in 13. He also maintains a consistency in character in tales set in the same fictive universe; his tales "The Battle of Leila the Dog", "The Road to Utopia Plain" and "The View from Stickney Crater" are illustrative of this and bring something fresh to the supernatural genre – striking dead prophecies of the death of the ghost story in the modern and future setting.

I also found the undercurrent of humour well balanced in "Kindred Spirits"; a tale wherein a chunk of Australia is "borrowed" by passing aliens to help sort out their own ecological problems and accidentally bringing two humans along for the ride – and that’s just the back story.

Kennett really did impress me with his output in No. 472 Cheyne Walk and has reinforced this high regard of his work with the tales collected in 13. He has proved he can be original in a genre which has been mined well before his advent, bringing a sparkle back to it and an urge to find more to read.

Ramsey Campbell started off from a love of the ghost tale, I hope to see Rick Kennett attain the same heights. He deserves it.