India’s Most Haunted-K. Hari Kumar

Book: India’s Most Haunted: Tales of Terrifying Places
Author: K. Hari Kumar
Publisher: HarperCollins India

Have you ever had any scary encounter?

In India’s Most Haunted, K. Hari Kumar brings you the terrifying tales of some of India's most haunted places -- including Bhangarh Fort, Malabar Hill's Tower of Silence and Jammu and Kashmir's notorious Khooni Nala. Spanning the length and breadth of the country, the stories explore not just the paranormal, but also the fact that the living can be sometimes be more scary than the dead. Whether you read them at night or in daylight, these stories will remain with you long after you've turned the last page.

The book was a very different experience than the other books in the genre I have read. There are no ghosts appearing out of the blue or the classic late night sounds. Each of the story is told in a crisp manner and the storytelling is tightly focused on the narrative. While the stories would give goosebumps as it takes a turn, but the chills are measured and as a reader one begins to understand the other point of view. What I loved about the book is that the author has sourced the stories from across the country and they focus on events rather than the hauntings. Being short stories, it can act as a leisure read, to be read as a paced book, or for people who eat books (looks at self), the book is a one long journey across the country as we experience the events. Another aspect that Hari brings to light is that while we think that the paranormal beings are scary, sometimes humans can be scarier, and this is precisely the point he focuses on in a few stories. The climax of the stories is something that is extremely well crafted. The manner in which the feelings, emotions and imagination bind together is something quite surreal.

The characters in the stories seem drawn from real life, and are people like you and me. The characters are not the usual ones one thinks of finding in this genre. There are no damsels in distress or knights in shining armor, but local people that believe the local legends and how it influences them. Another thing I loved was the visual descriptions of the places where the stories are set and almost are a part of the stories as an independent character, which I feel is the true essence in this genre. Creaking doors and howling winds are described so intricately that one is transported into the scene.

Overall, a definite recommendation if you love to have chills run down your spine many times over. The book gets 4.75 spooks out of 5.

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