Padma trudged up the stairs to the first-floor bathroom where the machine stood. It was spinning. Her mouth went dry. Who had switched it on? Head throbbing, she looked closer. She stopped the machine and opened it to inspect the clothes inside. Her blood froze. Tangled amidst the clothes was Aniket’s face, staring right at her.
Sriramana Muliya’s Frankly Spooking sends chills down your spine. A compilation of ghost stories, this book makes for a light read.
Muliya’s writing is tight. Equipped with good language skills, he manages to keep the stories juicy and thrilling.
Devoid of cliches that normally find their way in ghost fables, the stories are set in unique situations.
The author doesn’t wait for moonless nights, empty corridors, deserted houses or old monuments for the incidents to happen.
The most unusual places like brightly lit homes, swanky offices, crowded malls or even bus stops are used to create horrific tales. Also, his ghosts are more believable. He has done away with women in white sarees, distorted faces, watchmen with no features and the walking dead. His ghosts sometimes crack jokes, sometimes evoke emotions in the reader and are sometimes not aware that they are dead.
The best part of the book is the length of the stories. In the beginning, the story looks like a normal narrative, with no indication of the supernatural. It is the climax that will give you sleepless nights.
Muliya delves deep into your wildest thoughts and brings to life your scariest nightmares. The person sleeping next to you is not who you think he is, your colleague is a cannibal and your mother is not the woman who is cooking in the kitchen.
Muliya has managed to write colorable fiction. The kind of stories you can pass off as your own incident in slumber parties.
Pick this one up if you have a brave heart. You could become popular at parties for relating the scariest stories ever.