Gaya – Assorted Paranormal Stories from the Ancient Indian City | Book Review

Gaya – Assorted Paranormal Stories from the Ancient Indian City by Payal Sinha

In my childhood, whenever I visited my hometown, one of my aunt used to tell us ghost stories about our small village. Wondering if the ghost would come for us, we used to intentionally wander the horror zones mentioned in the stories. Then as we grew up there used to be various failed planchette attempts to meet those ghosts. Those were the days! And it so happens, this book Gaya – Assorted Paranormal Stories from the Ancient Indian City by Payal took me to a similar journey, reming me of those forgotten days. My childhood.

As title suggests ‘Gaya – Assorted Paranormal Stories from the Ancient Indian City by Payal Sinha’ this book is a collection of short supernatural tales taken from ancient pilgrimage of Indian city Gaya. Gaya is regarded as The Hindus’ fifth dham. This city is named after a demon “Gayasur”. We also get to read about this demon in this book.

‘Thus, with centuries of life and deaths, and with infinite pind daans on a yearly basis, Gaya abounds with many ghost stories.’

This short story book has seven mystical stories.

1.     Waiting

2.     The Secret Desire

3.     The Headache

4.     The Bangle Seller

5.     The Genie who bought the tilkut shop

6.     The secrets of Mud doll House

7.     The unknown lady on the Terrace

8.     The Well

My favourite story is The Headache which was based on superstitions and unsatisfied spirits. That story had literally blown my mind with an interesting plot.

But as author said this book is meant for children also; so obviously, horror and thrill factor are in minuscule amount. I liked the book Gaya – Assorted Paranormal Stories from the Ancient Indian City by Payal Sinha for it reminded me of my childhood. But a few of these stories seemed kind of unfinished. There should have been more. That’s what I felt. And a few stories had a beautiful narrative that kept me totally engrossed. The only regret was that were too short. short to linger in minds afterwards. I guess these short stories can qualify for audio book as that will give more impact with voiceover.

Do I recommend this book?

This book is definitely a one time read. And would be enjoyed more by kids and youngsters.

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