Ken Liu. Liu also translated Xia Jia’s story “A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight” for Clarkesworld, and then reprinted it in the anthology of Chinese science fiction Invisible Planets.

Xia describes Ghost Street as a long, narrow ribbon of a street and the home to numerous ghosts as well as one living person. The ghosts, which are departed souls residing in mechanical bodies, represent all ages of China’s history and living in an almost carnival like atmosphere. They also have a need to interact with living humans, which is where Ning, the living narrator comes in.

Ning has a relationship with most of the ghosts, but most especially Xiao Qian, who was mother to several children in her previous life and who have provided him with everything he has needed since he was orphaned. At the same time, Ning allows the daily pageantry of Ghost Street to take place.

However, Ning isn’t quite normal. Although he needs to eat and is clearly different from the ghosts, he stopped aging when he hit seven years old, living in a perpetual childhood. Yan Chixia, who discovered Ning is concerned about his not aging and what that actually means, although he is unable to make Xiao Qian understand that Ning’s perpetual childhood is an aberration which may be cause for concern. Yan Chixia suspects that Ning is as much a construct as any of the ghosts.

Ghost Street is clearly a manufactured setting and Ning is as much a part of it as any of the ghosts. Despite his plan to leave the street, he never acts on it, instead remaining on the street with the ghosts and ultimately helping to preserve them. The story carries implied questions regarding the streets creators and the purpose, along with why they might decide the street has served that purpose, Xia never full explores any answers to those questions, which leaves a philosophical opening at the end of the story even if narratively the story comes to a satisfying conclusion.

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Steven H Silver is a twenty-time Hugo Award nominee and was the publisher of the Hugo-nominated fanzine Argentus as well as the editor and publisher of ISFiC Press for eight years. He has also edited books for DAW, NESFA Press, and ZNB. His most recent anthology is Alternate Peace and his novel After Hastings was published in 2020. Steven has chaired the first Midwest Construction, Windycon three times, and the SFWA Nebula Conference six times. He was programming chair for Chicon 2000 and Vice Chair of Chicon 7.