What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

Please What's the Name of That Book???, you're my only hope. I first read this collection of ghost stories in the mid-80s; I was living in the UK although it could have been sent by Canadian relatives.

I can't remember much about the physical book itself except I'd swear it had a generic scary title (ghosts? haunted?) and I can't recall any cover art or illustrations (so: *not* Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark).

What has stuck with me for decades was the opening tale: a family is beset by a poltergeist who terrifies the teenage kids in particular. Eventually the family is forced to flee and starts to live a normal life in a new town, only for the doorbell to ring one day. Opening the door, no one is there, but they smell a foul odor and hear mocking laughter and know the poltergeist has followed them.

I can vaguely recall other stories in the collection focusing on something to do with a haunted stair of a staircase, and possibly voodoo dolls, but I'd think the poltergeist one would be the real memory-jogger. Can you please help me? I've been search for years...

The poltergeist story you describe sounds like a modern rendition of the boggart story from The Thing at the Foot of the Bed by Maria Leach. However, there's nothing in that collection about voodoo or a haunted stair.

You said no illustrations. Can you remember nothing about the size of the book? Hardcover/softcover? Marvin Kaye compiled a bunch of excellent horror short stories in several books like Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural. He also had one simply called Ghosts: A Treasury of Chilling Tales Old & New, but as I haven't read it yet, I can't tell you if your other recollections match it.