Cold Ghost

Geier, Chester S., 1921-1990Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.4

Word count: 27K words
Chapters: 3

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Cold Ghost by Chester S. GeierAuthor: Geier, Chester S., 1921-1990,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jun 4, 2010

Editor's review

Cold Ghost is a short work by the American writer Chester S. Geier, published in the mid-twentieth century. It is a public-domain ebook in the Project Gutenberg collection, classified under American and Canadian literature. Geier was active in the pulp magazine era, and his work often carries suspense and fantasy elements; the "cold" and "ghost" of the title suggest a tense, eerie atmosphere. As a short story, its value lies in letting readers experience the narrative pace and imaginative style of the era's popular fiction at low cost in time, and it serves as a sample of genre fiction from the magazine age. Don't expect heavy character development; focus on atmosphere and plot twists. For genre-fiction fans, short-story readers, and students of popular literary history. The English original is short enough to read in one sitting and then revisit key passages.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Short-story readers who enjoy suspense and fantasy
Literature fans curious about popular fiction from the magazine era
English learners seeking short extensive-reading material
Readers studying American popular genre literature

Not a good fit for

Heavy novel readers who prefer long, epic narratives
Readers uninterested in old-fashioned popular literary style
Readers seeking profound social realism

Reading tips

Read the story in one sitting, then revisit the opening's atmospheric setup and foreshadowing.
Note period diction and narrative tone to appreciate the magazine-fiction style.
After reading, compare with other genre shorts of the same era to see similarities and differences in conventions.
Skip unfamiliar English words when they don't affect the main thread, to keep the reading rhythm.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What kind of work is Cold Ghost?

It is a short work by Chester S. Geier, a public-domain Project Gutenberg ebook classified under American and Canadian literature. Judging from the title and the author's usual pulp style, it carries suspense and fantasy elements; consult the original for the specific plot.

Is it long? When is a good time to read it?

As a short story, it is limited in length and suits a commute or a single evening. Reading it in one sitting captures the atmosphere and twists better; revisiting the opening afterward makes the setup clearer.

Can I understand it without knowing the author?

Yes. The work stands alone and doesn't depend on the author's other works. For historical context, a brief look at mid-twentieth-century American pulp magazine publishing helps, but it isn't a prerequisite.

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About the author

Geier, Chester S., 1921-1990 Author · American · 1921–1990

Chester S. Geier (1921–1990) was an American science fiction writer. Public information about him is limited: few details of his life have been recorded, and his body of work is not extensive. According to available sources, he wrote mainly short science fiction, much of it published in science fiction magazines in the mid-twentieth century, making him one of the authors active in the popular science fiction periodicals of that era. His representative works include The Sphere of Sleep and Cold Ghost. Judging from their titles and places of publication, these stories tend toward science fiction with fantasy and supernatural touches, compact in length and attentive to atmosphere and suspense. Two of his works are held in this collection. Although Geier was not a central figure of the golden age of science fiction, his short stories remain a useful sample for studying the popular science fiction magazine culture of mid-twentieth-century America.