# Aruna Chakravarti anthology explores occult in 13 stories 2026-08-20T12:45:43+00:00 | Entertainment | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Aruna Chakravarti's new anthology "Creeping Shadows" features 13 stories delving into ghosts, possession, demonic forces, clairvoyance, and other supernatural phenomena. The author, who has written extensively on historical fiction, said she wanted a break from that genre to write stories based purely on imagination rather than research. Chakravarti draws on Bangla ghost fiction and colonial English ghost story conventions but crafts original narratives. The stories are set across diverse socio-historical contexts, from 19th-century Calcutta to contemporary Delhi, and a tea house in 1820s China. They begin with familiar tropes before plunging readers into inexplicable forces and disorienting endings. The collection includes a feminist slant, notably in "Grandmother's Bundle," where female ghosts are portrayed not as harmful but as victims of societal neglect. Another story, "One Winter Night" set in 1957 Purnea, turns from a harvest festival celebration into a chilling encounter with ghosts of ati shudras attacking a doctor. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Chakravarti's work joins a long line of Bengali supernatural literature, from Mukundaram Chakravarty to Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar's "Thakurmar Jhuli" (1907). The anthology's feminist reframing of petni and shankhchunni ghosts as malnourished women denied food in life offers a subtle critique of patriarchal controls. Readers interested in the evolution of Indian ghost fiction will find this collection a fresh departure from standard horror tropes. The book is currently available for purchase. ## Coverage - millenniumpost.in Describes the anthology and author's background without taking sides or sensationalizing. This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Aruna Chakravarti, Bangla literature, Creeping Shadows Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/aruna-chakravarti-anthology-explores-occult-in-13-stories/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/aruna-chakravarti-anthology-explores-occult-in-13-stories/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/