Thirteen Chairs by Dave Shelton

Someone said the house was haunted.  He was walking by when he saw flickering light in the window.  He checked the doors and found one open in back.  When he goes to the room with the flickering light, they invite him in...

David Fickling Books and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published July 28th, so you can grab a copy then.

Entering the room, he sees twelve people sitting at a table with candles in front of each person.  One of them gets another chair and they make room for him at the table and light a candle for him.  He finds that one man "chairs" the meeting and controls who talks when.  He asks them each to tell their story, then blow their candle out and scoot back from the table.

The stories are horror stories.  Some are more scary than others but they all make you feel a bit uncomfortable.  Most all of the participants are adults but there are two children besides him.  As he listens to them tell their tales, he wonders what story he can tell.  He really doesn't know any.  However, as the last man tells his tale and informs him it's his turn, he does have something to say.

I enjoy anthologies, so I liked how this story was presented.  It's eerie without being too graphic and it's one of those books you read and think "Did the author mean it that way?"  I think I understood the ending but it could have more than one conclusion.  What did you think the ending meant?