A Town of Ghosts

A Town of Ghosts is a collection of 19 original illustrated ghost stories set in the Buckinghamshire town of Stony Stratford in Milton Keynes. The stories are loosely inspired by the history, characters and landscape of the town; most have an element of dark humour, though several nod towards the cryptic, brooding tales of the great ghost story writer MR James. You will meet a host of bizarre and macabre characters such as the resentful decomposing corpse of Thomas Farrar residing at the bottom of ancient well in a coffee shop. Look out for Death rebranded and pushing a dust cart around the streets, gathering souls and finally meeting his match! As a compliment to the film Bladerunner there's even a futuristic tale of malicious robots plotting the downfall of their creators. The final story is a tongue-in-cheek attempt to present the author and illustrator as two decrepit characters seeking to complete an unfinished literary work! As a former archaeologist the author tries to weave an archaeological perspective into some of the stories, suggesting that change is not always progressive. Spooky but fun!

Having graduated from University with a degree in Environmental Sciences author Gary Marshall worked as an archaeologist for a major heritage-related charity for 34 years. His failure during that time to discover a single burial - a commonplace achievement for most archaeologists - may part explain his obsession with death, decay and the afterlife expressed in A Town of Ghosts! Gary is currently self-employed as a gardener and has been a resident of Stony Stratford - the setting for A Town of Ghosts - for 27 years. Inspired by the writings of MR James, Charles Dickens and Susan Hill amongst others Gary is keen to explore new perspectives on the genre of the ghost story and has used the town of Stony Stratford for their setting.