After last year's successful events, Phantoms at the Phil will once again be putting a chill in the bones of Tynesiders, with two evenings of new ghost stories at the Lit & Phil. Literature North East speaks to author and organiser Chaz Brenchley.

For those who didn't attend last year, what should we expect from Phantoms at The Phil?
Classic storytelling in a classic setting; eerie music wafting down from the gallery; all the sweet, sharp, warming flavours of Xmas in a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie or two.

Seriously, it's about recapturing two great Victorian traditions: ghost stories in winter, and simply being read to. I love both sides of that, as reader and as listener. There aren't enough live readings, especially of complete stories; I wanted to promote that, to give people the chance just to sit and hear fiction as we do music, as a collective experience. And the English ghost story is a tradition in itself, that needs supporting; and it suits the occasion and the environment so well, it could be a marriage made in hell, with clanking chains and rustling shrouds and all, except that we really don't need the special effects. Just words. And there are so many writers falling over each other to be involved, I'm overwhelmed.

How did those particular writers become involved?
Ah. It's not what you know, it's who you know; or, in this case, who I know, which is most of the writers in the region. It started with a conversation, Sean O'Brien and myself talking about ghost stories and wouldn't it be fun to do a gig at Xmas; the third of that original triumvirate, Gail-Nina Anderson, has specialist interests in the genre but no published fiction and that's half the point, I want to encourage writers from other genres and other forms, to see what they can bring to the ghost story that perhaps we haven't heard before. This year, we three are appearing again with new stories, just because we didn't want to give it up; but we have a second event with three new writers. And yes, they're all friends of mine, but the more significant factor is that they're a crime writer, a children's writer and a playwright, and none of them has published a ghost story. And yet they're all amazingly keen, and I could have filled three more evenings without trying. I think that's really interesting.

Was the choice of venue important?
I think it's crucial. I love the Lit & Phil, but this is more than personal fondness. It means we can recreate this Victorian tradition in a Victorian setting, with atmosphere by the bucketload trickling down the walls; it means we can cross-fertilise, offering the Lit & Phil members an event they haven't had before, while at the same time we bring people in who've never been to the library before. Last year we scheduled one evening, and it booked out in days; so we added a second date, and that filled up too. We could have filled a third. In no small part, that's thanks to the venue, but it also speaks to the abiding popularity of the genre. Which leads to the unavoidable question: if ghost stories are this popular with writers, and this popular with audiences, why are there not more ghost stories being written, being read, being published?

So why do publishers have such a problem with ghost stories?
If I may borrow a charming phrase from the military, I think it's collateral damage. Short stories as a form have been in trouble for a generation now, at least in the marketplace. Bookshops find collections hard to sell and so don't stock them, which means that publishers can't or won't publish them; at the same time, there are fewer and fewer magazines that will accept short stories. It's a double whammy which actively discourages writers. We are doing what we can; the Arts Council's Save Our Short Story' campaign is useful, and so is the BBC's new competition. Long-term, all will be well; like poetry, the short story has taken refuge in the small press, and will be found there safe and well once the mainstream world realises what it's missing.

Ghost stories have always worked best in the short form, and so they've suffered along with all the rest. There's a network of small presses and magazines out there, organisations like the Ghost Story Society, that have been working to keep the genre healthy; it's not exactly in intensive care, but it does need all the help it can get. Hence `Phantoms at the Phil'. The frustrating thing is that the success of `Phantoms...' proves that the demand is there, if we can only tap into it. New events like this grab the attention, book out rapidly and feel wonderful; I'd be happier to walk into Waterstone's and see half a dozen anthologies of new ghost stories on a table by the door.

We are also taking what small steps we can to improve the situation, by publishing last year's stories in a slim hardback volume with a CD attached, a recording of the event; that will be on sale at this year's events, and subsequently through my website, www.chazbrenchley.co.uk...

Phantoms at the Phil: 19, 21 December
19 Dec: Sean O'Brien, Gail-Nina Anderson and Chaz Brenchley
21 Dec: Ann Cleeves, Carol McGuigan and Simon Morden

The events are free, but ticket-only and are expected to book rapidly; if you want to come, telephone the library now.

The Literary and Philosophical
Society of Newcastle upon Tyne
23 Westgate Road
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 1SE
Tel: 0191 232 0192
Email: library@litandphil.org.uk
www.litandphil.org.uk