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Nathaniel A. Giles
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Unpleasantness: Ghost Stories for the Depressed Kindle Edition

by Nathaniel Giles (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 58 ratings
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Unpleasantness: Ghost Stories for the Depressed challenges the notion of the ghost story itself. Two deceased workers haunt an office until turnover and management decisions erase all memory of them. A woman is driven into a life she never wanted by a vision of her future self. A man sees a ghost, but just for a second, and it ruptures his already distorted worldview. A convict acquires second sight and uses it for profane purposes. A desperate young man is compelled to steal by ghosts that are everywhere and nowhere. In his debut collection, Nathaniel A. Giles retrofits the ghost story for the twenty-first century, pushes the boundaries of the genre, and questions whether this century isn’t already bad enough without ghosts.

NATHANIEL A. GILES is a wannabe mystic and writer from New Castle, Delaware. He taught writing and literature at a big state school for five years before he gave up and got a real job. In his spare time, he likes to stare at the walls and regret the past. He lives alone in the woods of Pennsylvania and cannot coherently explain why he moved there from a beautiful midwestern city. You can contact him at NathanielAGiles at gmail.com or on Twitter @NathanielAGiles
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  1. Print length
    294 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    August 16, 2020
  5. File size
    1177 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08FZYPM1X
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Blue Infinity Publishing; 1st edition (August 16, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 16, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1177 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 294 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ B08FS427QW
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 58 ratings

About the author

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Nathaniel A. Giles

Nathaniel A. Giles

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NATHANIEL A. GILES is a lifelong underachiever and author of the rarely read Unpleasantness: Ghost Stories for the Depressed, and Where the Ocean Was: Realist Horror Stories. He has two degrees that have not paid for themselves, and a corporate job that does not make use of his skills. His interests include mysticism, weird fiction, and long walks on the beach. In his spare time, he enjoys debilitating panic attacks and relentless despair.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
58 global ratings
Not Your Average Ghost Stories
5 Stars
Not Your Average Ghost Stories
This is a great book for the impending Halloween season. It is a collection of ghost stories but it isn't necessarily what you expect in the form of "traditional" spooky stories. A couple of them do follow that format, but a lot of them get close to the horror genre and are creepy and disturbing in just the right way if you enjoy that sort of thing (I do, but only when it is light out and, preferably, if I am with someone because I'm a sissy). It is well-written and surprisingly thought-provoking. Highly recommend!
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Top reviews from the United States

Nick S.
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, compelling read
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2024
Verified Purchase
This was a great read, and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys good writing, fantastic character portraits, and offbeat/unexpected stories that linger with you for weeks. Come for the ghosts, stay for the haunting meditation on the terrifying, lonely precarity of contemporary working-class American life.
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Paimonaeon
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most important horror books I’ve read in years
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2021
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Sometimes a title just grabs me. That’s what happened here. Despite being a lifelong horror fan, I usually find ghost stories to be fairly unfulfilling and just don’t really do much for me. I wouldn’t say they’re dumb, but rather, the typical ones are just wasted on me. Then I see Unpleasantness: Ghost Stories For The Depressed pop up on my recommended purchases list, give the synopsis a scan and decide to give it a try. Extremely happy I did. Nathaniel Giles has succeeded in many things here; he’s written some very different, but very effective, horror stories. He’s made me a believer in the “ghost story”, thanks to his uncanny ability to subvert my expectation of what they can be by thinking more broadly than many of the more well-established horror writers out there. Most impressively, he’s managed to write a series of stories that feel almost as if they were written for me. To elaborate too much on that would be to spoil the magic of this book, but while the stories are all very different from one another, they DO come as advertised. These are written from the jaded, nihilistic, hopeless, and, yes, depressed perspectives of some damaged people. People who have little in common with herd mentality, and, like the author, have a unique outlook on the world around them. I would love to elaborate more, but, again, I really don’t want to ruin this for anyone. Suffice to say, leave your expectations of how a ghost story should play out at the door, with this one. Whether you’re a seasoned horror fan or a dabbler, I think this is a very important book that deserves far more love and attention than it seems to be getting. It’s been so long since I was this excited about a book, and I think fans and non-fans of ghost stories will really enjoy this one. Incredibly well-written, beautifully descriptive, highly-imaginative storytelling here. I truly cannot wait to see where this author goes next.
9 people found this helpful
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Nancy Stewart
5.0 out of 5 stars The True Terror of the Mudane
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2021
Verified Purchase
I'll be honest. It took me a long time to review this book... I was entirely transfixed by it, by each story, but I was at a loss for how to situate this book amidst the literary canon. There's a splash of George Saunders with the fine detail of a Henry James. I think I still am still at a loss in this realm, but I want to review it nonetheless. There is a terrifying trope woven throughout each eminent character... one of futility, loneliness, and desperation of the endless proof that life rewards those already rewarded and punishes those already punished. You will--inevitably--find passages that resonate with you as you perhaps recall times when life felt (or just was) utterly meaningless. These stories are engrossing--the author painstakingly includes details that make the unreal real and the horrifying truly shocking. And yet, somehow, the book had me both horrified at the inevitable unfairness of life but also laughing out loud. Since the author (who I found on Twitter) is, no doubt, a much better writer than I am, I hope he doesn't mind if I end with a descriptive, laugh-inducing line from his book: "Todd didn't know what to make of the man. He was like some kind of rich person-redneck hybrid. Small business owner?"
5 people found this helpful
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Faith P.
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful writer
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2023
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There's nothing I love more than finding a new author with something real to say through his/her stories. Nathaniel A Giles did not disappoint - quite the contrary. This was an amazing book, and I'm instantly hooked! I hope to be reading this writer's stories for many years to come. Strangely enough, I'm also a writer hiding in the woods of Pennsylvania... perhaps there are many more of us than I realized. I'd say that we should start a club or something, but I'm pretty sure we're all depressed loners.
2 people found this helpful
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Colin Cranford
4.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly surprised by unpleasantness
Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2021
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Heard about the book from Muller She, Wrote and gave it a chance. I don't tend to read ghost stories or mysteries but I have been trying to expand my library. I will need to read it again just to see what I missed on my first read through.
2 people found this helpful
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Self Analyst
5.0 out of 5 stars Feed Your Monsters
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2020
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Who was it who said “sometimes you’ve got to feed the monsters deep in your brain, or they’ll come to the surface”? I want to say Stephen King, not sure, but I’ve always remembered that concept as it justified my love/hate relationship with supernatural and horror writing. I really enjoyed Unpleasantness: Ghost Stories for the Depressed by Nathaniel A. Giles. This collection of short stories certainly fed the monsters deep in my brain. The stories occur in the mundane, depressing world of everyday life, with descriptions so well written that you feel relief when they are complete. You are happy to no longer feel the intense heat of the day, or the intense pain of a blow, or see that disgusting fish. I actually learned how to use the highlighting function for my Kindle so I could save a few of the phrases that struck me. Enjoyed these stories a lot, even as they made me intensely uncomfortable.
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing stories which do indeed emphasise the unpleasantness of life.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 24, 2021
Verified Purchase
These are memorable character studies but the stories are bleak and depressing and never seen to reach a satisfactory conclusion, although that is probably the whole point of them.
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