It’s 100 short stories. You’re going to love some, loathe some, and find most acceptable. I definitely feel like the hood out weighs the bad in this short story collection. Obviously “ghost” takes on a variety of meanings and the author deftly handles each. I gravitated towards the stories of ghosts in nature, finding plots where nature takes it revenge satisfying. Overall it’s a solid read.

I love Brockmeiers writing. He always writes new and interesting ideas into his stories. Ghost stories are right up my alley

*Many thanks to Kevin Brockmeier, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
A great idea: very short stories with a twist, each dealing with a ghost. The stories are enjoyable regardless of whether you belive in ghosts or not.

This book is great! I really enjoyed it. It captures your attention and continually grasps it and doesn't let go until you've read the whole book. It definitely keeps you wanting more.

I wanted to like this more than I did. It is set up as 100 pieces of very short fiction telling various stories about ghosts. I enjoyed the concept but found none of the stories stood out to me. They were just too short which is a taste thing I suppose. I don't feel like I can get invested in flash fiction so those stories never give me enough to fully enjoy them.

I received an e-arc of this from the publisher through NetGalley.

I don't believe in ghosts, which is a shame because I love reading about them. I just assume I would've seen one by now, you know... I do believe in a place being haunted, however. It can be haunted in our minds by its history, by the people who lived and died there. You will walk into a graveyard and feel the countless of people who have come there either to rest forever or to mourn. So of course The Ghost Variations, with its one hundred stories, would be the thing for me. Thanks to Pantheon, Knopf Doubleday and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Like I said above, I don't really believe in ghosts. While The Ghost Variations didn't necessarily change my mind on this question of whether they exist or not, they did make me reassess what we consider under the term ghosts. Like I said, I'm superstitious/suspicious enough that I should have seen a ghost in the traditional sense now. No one has come knocking over glasses and stacking chairs, however. I have visited "haunted" places, though, in which history is palpable. I have also had déjà vus and have had what I can only describe as odd moments in which I wasn't quite sure what I was seeing. So going into The Ghost Variations I was wondering what Brockmeier would add to my understanding of ghosts. This collection contains a deeply human set of stories, stories that assess what is ghostly by describing what is human. And so we have stories about ghosts not being able to let certain conversations or moments go, ghosts who hold grudges, ghosts who are lonely and ghosts who want to be alone. If anything, The Ghost Variations re-affirmed my adoration for the weirdness that is humanity.

Each of the stories is short, most shorter than two pages, and yet each packs a punch. The stories feel less like fully-fledged "stories" and more like impressions, memories, or folk tales. Whether it is about the ghost haunting the mountain, the woman wondering who is haunting whom, or the child convinced his neighbour's ghost might be his friend as well, each of these stories has a warm touch, accompanied by a sneaky chill down the spine. The Ghost Variations is not straightforward scary stuff, you won't turn from pages of twists to pages of turns, but much like Black Mirror episodes, each story will contain a warning or question that will stick with you. What makes up a life? What is freedom and what does it mean to "be yourself"? Are we alone or is there more out there? What makes a human? These questions are repeated themes throughout the collection and each story puts a new spin on them.

This was my first experience with Kevin Brockmeier and I greatly enjoyed it. I loved how human his stories were, the little details that elevated the overall picture, the way he played with language. Each story is clearly different from the next, which is quite something considering there are a hundred stories here. As they are so short, it is easy to dip in and out of the collection and really savour the experience. For some the shortness of the stories might be a downfall, however, as it could be hard to connect to each story fully. The collection is also broken into different sections, such as 'Ghosts and Memory' or 'Ghosts and Numbers', which gives some organization to what would otherwise be an insurmountable mountain of stories. The little illustrations you see on the cover are also present within the book. Each story is accompanied by a little illustration, which was a nice touch. Overall, I was wholly on board with The Ghost Variations and Brockmeier.

The Ghost Variations is a delightful collection of a hundred ghost stories, each with its own twist. While not all are scary and not all will be a hit with the reader equally, there is something for most readers in here. If you like ghosts, it's a definite yes!

“The Ghost Variations One Hundred Stories” is exactly as advertised: One hundred truly short, usually 2–3-page, ghost stories. These are not scary ghost stories by any means. A few are a bit creepy, and several are ominous and unsettling, but nothing is truly terrifying. It is more existential dread and less slasher movie. The writing is stellar, and the stories are clever and thoughtful. Some are sad, some are comical, some are incomprehensible, but they all make you think even if it is just to figure out what the underlying message was intended to be.

Despite this being a short book, it felt like it took me forever to read. I found myself pausing and reflecting after each story. In some cases, I just couldn’t figure out the point. Maybe there wasn’t always one. Rather than chilling I thought these ghost stories to be almost comforting. There is little fear of ghosts or of dying. The afterlife isn’t always ideal but at least it usually exists. While you won’t find many chills or thrills here you will find plenty to think about, from the nature of life and death to the afterlife. There is a plethora of substance to chew on. If you want philosophy and deep thought this book will be right up your alley!

Thank you to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and Pantheon or providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for review.

Fantastic stories that, quite literally, will haunt a reader's mind long after reading. Especially, I believe, due to the brevity and economy of length here. I wish there were more such collections that straddled the line between the horror and literary genres.

This was such a refreshing read. I really looked forward to picking this up whenever I had a free minute to read a short story. The stories are really short, so it's one of those books that's really fun to come back to and get lost in it for a moment. If you love ghost stories or stories about what it means to be human, you will love this book. It will leave you tearful and joyful in all the best ways possible.

<I>Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review.</I>

I have to say I was incredibly impressed by this collection. Short stories are hard enough to do well, and micro-fiction infinitely more so, but Brockmeier manages to present one <I>hundred</I> two-page stories where every single one was interesting to read. Every. Single. One manged to be a complete story in two pages or less.

Given their length, I can't say that most of the stories were overly memorable, but the pure fact that each one was so deeply distinctive that you never thought you were reading the same story twice easily showcases what a unique talent Kevin Brockmeier is.

You won't read anything else like this all year.

I've heard wonderful things about this book, but the stories were all far too short for me to get into. They succeeded at having a resonance and even a slight unsettling nature, but they weren't long enough to be thought provoking or truly eerie. If you love flash fiction, this could be a good one for you, though.

I've enjoyed Brockmeier in the past, but the format of this one just didn't lend itself to keeping my attention span. While it's a quick read, I don't know who I would recommend it to.

GHOSTS. What do ghosts really represent? Are they a form of afterlife? Are they part of nature? Or are they a “living” form like us; humans?

The Ghost Variations by Kevin Brockmeir is a brilliant collection of stories that are equally thoughtful, exciting and chilling. They provide a new untouched version of afterlife!! This collection has 100 stories with concordance of themes from something as simple as colours to the wide unknown Cosmos.

AMAZING is the one word I’d use to describe these stories. I must be honest here, some stories were different and dense to understand, but overall it turns out that I really love literary + horror genre.

I chose to voluntarily leave this review after reading the arc from Netgalley & Pantheon Books.

I like most of the stories, some were not very good but I enjoyed most and recommend to lovers of short stories.

First of all, Mr. Brockmeier's writing is gorgeous. What we have with The Ghost Variations are 100 very short stories (two to three pages each) that are both literary and about ghosts. It's nice to see two genres blend together--paranormal + literary.

They are mainly sad, though, yet beautiful. Many of the living seek fulfilment they'll never find. Often, the ghosts seek the same thinisg and never find what they're looking for. Why do we need stories of quiet desperation? The characters' longing makes me want to get up and do something with my life before it's too late.

All of the stories are highly imaginative. I feel like I'm a creative person, but while reading these 100 tales I so often thought, "How did he think of this?" For instance, in one story a man dies two ways at one time--he has a heart attack at the same time he's chomped by an alligator. He becomes two half ghosts instead of one whole ghost, both with different ideas of what to do in the afterlife. Almost all have some sort of surprise.

By the way, even if the tales are sad and a little scary, the illustrations are darling.

Thanks to Netgalley and Pantheon Books for a copy of this ebook in return for an honest review.

I received this book for an honest review.

Spooky cool fun! Best spot was fun read great for people like me who are spooky all year round or for people who read around Halloween time these spooky books. Loved
#NetGalley

Thanks to NetGalley and Pantheon Books for an ARC of this title

This is one hundred short (like, short-short, flash-fiction level short) stories, some recurring vignettes, others that are standalone, about ghosts. There are lots of different ways something can be a ghost, or how ghosts affect their environment, or what causes a ghost. I think with any collection this broad, there's going to be some stories that work for you and others that don't, but luckily these are short ones.

100 stories! All ghost stories! Plan to read this in bits and pieces (that's always the best way to approach short story collections in my opinion). Brockmeier has separated the tales into categories, which allows you to dip in and out knowing what cant the stories will take. Each is only a few pages but each carries with it something you might smile about or shiver at. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Short story fans should add this to their collections.

What seems like a writer’s experiment to push themselves into a novel length work by comprising a wealth of flash fiction gains more momentum and meaning as the pages pass.
A volume dedicated to deaths and the traces left behind is essentially a wealth of wisdoms and witticisms of how we live our lives.
I cannot wait to share this book with others. The ultimate transit collection, easily digested in small doses, encouraging the reader to slow down and take each instance to dream past the last word of each tiny chapter.

There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.