History Literature / TwentiethCenturyGhosts

In late 2021, the collection was re-published under the title ''The Black Phone'', to serve as a lead-in for [[Film/TheBlackPhone the release of the film adaptation of the titular story]] in summer 2022.

* "The Black Phone": A young boy is kidnapped by a child murderer and held in a basement with a mysterious black phone hanging on the wall. At night, the phone rings. Has been adapted into [[Film/TheBlackPhone a feature film]] released in June 2022.

* BittersweetEnding: In "Pop Art," the narrator helps Art [[spoiler: commit suicide after Art is left disabled and suffering after a dog attack. The narrator is left traumatized and grief-stricken for years, and his life gets much worse.]] Eventually, however, the narrator is able to leave his abusive father and go to college on a scholarship, where he meets and falls in love with an inflatable woman- the first inflatable person he's seen since Art. They marry and the narrator is finally able to find peace.

* NuclearNasty: It's implied in "You Will Hear the Locust Sing" that Francis' transformation has something to do with living near an atomic test site.

* TheLostWoods: The forest near the lake house in "My Father's Mask." Children are known to disappear there if they don't stay on the paths, and adults can't even see the paths.

* MindScrew: "My Father's Mask" is a story about a family haunted by "playing-card people" visiting a lake house with TheLostWoods out back, a CreepyChild in an angel costume riding a bicycle, and a bunch of masks that visitors have to wear. Have fun figuring out what it all means.

* "The Cape": A young boy discovers that he can fly with the use of a cape, until he and his brother suffer severe injuries using it. Years later, as a literal BasementDweller living with his mother, he finds the cape again.

* "Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead": Two ex-lovers meet each while working as extras on the set of Creator/GeorgeARomero's ''Film/DawnOfTheDead1978''.

* SurrealHorror: Many but particularly "My Father's Mask".

* "The Black Phone": A young boy is kidnapped by a child murderer and held in a basement with a mysterious black phone hanging on the wall. At night, the phone rings. Is being adapted into [[Film/TheBlackPhone a feature film]].

* CreepyChild: "My Father's Mask" features a strange boy in an angel costume from whom the narrator instinctively hides.

* AccidentalHero: The reason Finney survives long enough to hear the phone ring is due to Al's brother being in the same house, preventing Al from killing him.

* "Scheherazade's Typewriter": A daughter discovers that her dead father's typewriter is still writing stories...

* "Abraham's Boys": A father tries to teach his sons about vampires.
* "Better Than Home": About a troubled boy whose father manages a baseball team.

* "The Cape": A young boy discovers that he can fly with the use of a cape.

* "The Black Phone": A young boy is kidnapped by a child murderer and held in a basement with a mysterious black phone hanging on the wall. At night, the phone rings.

** "You Will Hear the Locust Sing" is a open riff on Creator/FranzKafka's story ''Literature/{{Metamorphosis}}.'' It also mentions '50s giant-monster movies such as ''Film/{{Them}}'', its other obvious inspiration.

** "20th Century Ghost" contains a number of shout-outs to classic films, including a lengthy description of ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'' that never actually mentions its name.

* BittersweetEnding: In "Pop Art," the narrator helps Art [[spoiler: commit suicide after Art is left disabled and suffering after a dog attack. The narrator is left traumatized and grief-stricken for years, and his life gets much worse.]] Eventually, however, the narrator is able to leave his abusive father and go to college on a scholarship, where he meets and falls in love with an inflatable woman- the first inflatable person he's since since Art. They marry and the narrator is finally able to find peace.

* {{Jerkass}}: The narrator's father in "Pop Art." He abuses his son and lays around all day doing nothing. When his son befriends an inflatable boy named Art, he instantly dislikes him, to the point of getting a vicious pit bull who immediately almost kills Art. When the dog ends up being poorly-trained and a hassle, he locks her in a small cage outside where she wallows in her own excrement. All of this is just the buildup to the climax of the story, where he intentionally lets the dog loose when Art comes over and the narrator isn't there to protect him.

* KitschCollection: The short story "The Last Breath" features of collection of famous people's last breaths.