Anne Doyle swaps news reading for ghost stories with launch of ghoulish new book

The Wexford woman lends her voice in commentary to Gill Books new ‘Tales of the Otherworld, a frightful collection of Irish Ghost Stories,’ due in book stores shortly.

“Reincarnated as the mistress of macabre, Ireland’s best-loved newsreader delights in presenting Tales of the Otherworld, a fabulously frightful anthology of Irish ghost stories that have thrilled, unnerved and, for better or worse, stayed with her over the years,” a statement from Gill Books read.

It seems living in an old Georgian mansion has rubbed off on the Wexford woman, who has a serious passion for spooky tales.

“Discover the very best of Irish ghost writing, from national treasures such as W.B. Yeats and Bram Stoker to contemporary work from Deirdre Sullivan and Roisín O’Donnell, each accompanied by charming, witty commentary from Anne herself.

“Reading this collection is like having an ice cube plucked straight from Anne’s vodka soda and dropped down the back of your neck,” the statement concludes.

Anne recently gave a look inside that Georgian home which she shares with her partner of 15 years, Dan McGrattan.

Anne and the famed publican have lived in a four storey townhouse in the south of the city for the majority of their romance.

The pair live in the heart of Georgian Dublin, just a stroll away from St. Stephen's Green and the Grand Canal.

Although Anne lives in a massive house, her favourite room in the house is actually the smallest, and the one where she spends the most amount of time.

"I originally decided that it would be the ladies reading room," she said on a previous appearance of Keys to my Life. "But to tell you the truth, it has become the ladies drinking room.

"The odd vodka has been known to be taken here. It is my favourite room."

Back in 2021, Anne revealed the ghost of an old woman that lived in her basement for a few weeks.

“We actually did have a ghost,” she said.

“But she either liked us very much and decided to leave, or she didn’t like us at all and decided to leave but she was there when we moved in.

“I don’t know what that says about her or about us she was there for I would say four or five weeks. I saw her twice.

"A couple of people saw her, it wasn’t just me. There were independent teetotal witnesses that saw her.

“She was a very tiny lady with grey hair in a bun and wearing a kind of wrap-around kind overall and she was in the basement... It would have been quite old-fashioned like a crossover apron.

“There were rumours she was seen elsewhere but I only ever met her in the basement.

“She wasn’t scary, she didn’t engage, thank god, I wouldn’t have fancied that. She was just moving around, she was very busy. She was flitting around.

“I was just as glad when she left. For a long time, I was kind of apprehensive going down to the basement,” Anne added.