I have always enjoyed the style of writings which conveniently group together as "tall stories". I include in this Ghost Stories, Shaggy Dog stories, Folklore and Science Fiction.

Sitting somewhere in here is Terry Pratchett's work - although not an ardent fan, the greatest appeal to me in his work are the excruciating puns (which might be themselves seen as Shaggy Dog Stories interspersed within his narrative text) scattered throughout his work.

So you get one or two pages of descriptive text seemingly off at a tangent from the main body of narrative, culminating in the joke itself - I was hooked from the moment I read the early pages of "Colour of Magic" which described what might happen when the Great Turtle A-Tuin meets with another turtle of the opposite sex as it swims through space with the diskworld (and its four supporting elephants) carried on his back.

But you'll have to read it yourself to learn what the pun is!

Until then, you'll have to make do with some stories which I can tell you....

A few days before Christmas some years ago (when I was about 20 years old) I was invited with my parents for some pre-Christmas drinks at the home of some friends. There was another family present, and we had a pleasant time. For some reason the conversation got round to ghosts, and it turned out that each of the three families had personal experience of a mysterious event. From this one gathering I collected the four stories below - and they're all true!

The Tangible Smell Unusual as a mystery story, as the victims of this rather unpleasant visitor were the first occupants of a brand new home.

The Driverless Car A story from another friend of a rather scary event.

Poltergeist This presence really did throw things!

All of these stories are copyright. I have no objections to them being recounted in amateur or semi-professional performances. Let me know if you do.  

Anyone seeking to recount these stories in a professional capacity,  record or broadcast them, or reproduce them in any form other than orally, should ask permission from me first.