On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave by Candace Fleming

 I was, once again, at loose ends. My podcast queue was nearing to nothing* and On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave by Candace Fleming was available to listen to as an audiobook immediately, so I snagged it.  Last week was grey, cloudy, and misty and this book fit the mood.  I'm not listing out the audiobook narrators because the book is read as an audio drama, so there are about a dozen narrators.

In this book, Mike is driving too fast along an empty road when he encounters a ghost. He follows her trail to a cemetery where he meets ten teenaged ghosts, each of whom has a story to tell.  All of the stories are set in the Chicagoland area, many stories tie to historical events and people, like the 1893 Chicago's World Fair, Al Capone, and the local sanitarium. 

I thought this was a pretty okay book. Like with a lot of short story collections, some stories are stronger than others. There was a super sad story about a child with mental illness who was sent away to live by himself in a cabin in Wisconsin that was all about how mental illness was stigmatized in the past that really struck a chord with me. There was also a story about a girl who was sent to live with an aunt after her mother went to jail and the whole issue of what to do with juveniles who do not have family support seemed really important.

This was a perfectly acceptable read.  If you like short stories, horror, or stories with a Chicago background, this might tickle your fancy.

3.5/5 stars

*I may or may not have complained about this before, but I'm struggling to find podcasts to fill my time. I've recently fallen out of favor with many of my old standbys and now I need more. Unfortunately, I'm really a brat about what I'll listen to, so it's hard to find new shows to listen to.