A Beckoning of Shadows is a collection of 16 short stories. The introduction, by Jason Brannon, tells us to consider the book a circus starring shadow performers. The collection is started and finished by two halves of the same story, where shadows interrupt the sleep of a man on the run to tell him their stories... and so the collection is introduced.

Grover's writing is certainly effective in creating an atmosphere; indeed, some of the stories in this collection struck me as being reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe in tone and style. There are stories of haunted houses, ghosts, murder, aliens - a fair range of the usual suspects are covered; and that's one aspect that I felt let down the collection. Aside from a couple of the stories, there's very little that felt original in there. There are 'famous five'-type stories of friends entering haunted buildings together that could come directly from any slasher film. There are several premonition stories that feel very familiar, and the possessed object idea is an old stereotype most people would recognise immediately. Other stories are insubstantial, lacking a satisfying ending, or are wound up just a little too quickly: the good guys overcome the challenges too easily for my taste.

Having said that, the stories that do contain more original ideas are good. The man with a puddle phobia, lesbianism among the Puritans, and a school for children who personify natural disasters all showcase the sort of creativity that the author is capable of.

So while most of this collection comprises fairly standard, perfectly readable stereotype stories that I imagine would strike the majority of seasoned horror readers as resulting from tried and tested formulae, there are some stories capable of more that will provoke real interest. More of these, please, Mr Grover!

A Beckoning of Shadows is available from Lulu, plus check out John Grover's website Shadow Tales.