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Post by noose on Jul 30, 2010 21:35:08 GMT
Alexy Pendle CONTENTSANCIENT EVILSSaloozy - Margery Lawrence Herodes Redivivus - A.B.L Munby The First Sheaf - H.R. Wakefield VENGEFUL SPIRITSHow Fear Departed From The Long Galley - E.F Benson The Old Nurses Story - Mrs. Gaskell Lost Hearts - M.R. James QUIET VISITORSA Little Ghost - Hugh Walpole Playmates - A.M Burrage Playful Jenny Dove - Eleanor Farjeon |
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Post by cw67q on Aug 1, 2010 8:22:04 GMT
Anceint Evils:
The Munby tale IIRC is a surprisingly nasty piece concerning a bookseller with an unwholesome attraction to children. It sticks out like a sore thumb in Munby's "the Alabaster Hand" (an enjoyable Jamesain collection). In some ways it feels like a forerunner to (though not necessarily an influence on) Ramsey Campbell's well known story Cold Print.
First Sheaf is an enjoyable pseudo-pagan harvest time tale from Wakefield.
Vengeful Spirits:
contains three well known, but effective tales
Quiet Visitors:
The Walpole Tale is bettre than the name suggests and sentimental it maybe, but the Burrage is a winner.
All in all this looks like a nice collection.
- chris
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Post by lemming13 on Aug 16, 2010 13:42:18 GMT
I read this so very long ago, and had completely forgotten it. But I did get some very unsettling dreams after reading the Munby story - the man who ran my favourite second-hand bookshop (long defunct, sadly) was just too reminiscent of the main character.
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Post by helrunar on Sept 2, 2022 15:51:18 GMT
A friend gave me a copy of this book as an early birthday present, and I'm finally reading through it. My thoughts thus far:
Margery Lawrence - "Saloozy" --- This cantrip, which figures at one point in this tale, is endearing; to be said over a saucepan brewed with various herbs, gathered perhaps at the dark of the moon:
Some to cure and some to kill
Some to make your brainbox ill
Some to bend you to my will...
Miles Pennoyer, famed occult detective of Queer Street, recounts to his friend Jerome a tale of his younger years. Pennoyer takes a month's holiday to visit widowed sister Clare (whose late husband bore the name Naunton--I think this name has completely died out now in the UK, but perhaps I misspeak) in her new home at Wichart's Farm. All is going swimmingly until little Mike, the elder of Clare's two kids, begins behaving very oddly, with talk of his invisible friend "Saloozy" and a sudden tendency towards sly secretiveness and previously unknown magical powers. What on Earth could be going on?
It seems to take the practiced student of magical arts forever to figure out what seems plainly obvious quite early on in this novella-length story. But for this reader, Lawrence's breezy style, redolent of the "slick" periodicals so popular in the London in the 1930s, carries things along agreeably enough. Even through the climactic events of the story, the tone remains one of comfortable introspection rather than nail-biting suspense.
A. N. L. Munby - "Herodes Redivus" --- The contrast between Margery Lawrence and Munby is that between the skilled storyteller and the adept in skin-crawling, discomfiting suspense. A very creepy little yarn. Note to self: avoid bookshops kept by grotesque, pallidly grey-skinned, flabby individuals bearing the surname Race.
H.
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Post by humgoo on Sept 2, 2022 17:28:02 GMT
The contrast between Margery Lawrence and Munby is that between the skilled storyteller and the adept in skin-crawling, discomfiting suspense. Wonderful summaries! Both are excellent tales and your friend certainly did you a favour! I'm surprised that the Munby story is so seldom anthologised. |
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Post by Michael Connolly on Sept 2, 2022 17:32:53 GMT
A friend gave me a copy of this book as an early birthday present, and I'm finally reading through it. My thoughts thus far: Margery Lawrence - "Saloozy" --- This cantrip, which figures at one point in this tale, is endearing; to be said over a saucepan brewed with various herbs, gathered perhaps at the dark of the moon: Some to cure and some to killSome to make your brainbox illSome to bend you to my will...Miles Pennoyer, famed occult detective of Queer Street, recounts to his friend Jerome a tale of his younger years. Pennoyer takes a month's holiday to visit widowed sister Clare (whose late husband bore the name Naunton--I think this name has completely died out now in the UK, but perhaps I misspeak) in her new home at Wichart's Farm. All is going swimmingly until little Mike, the elder of Clare's two kids, begins behaving very oddly, with talk of his invisible friend "Saloozy" and a sudden tendency towards sly secretiveness and previously unknown magical powers. What on Earth could be going on? It seems to take the practiced student of magical arts forever to figure out what seems plainly obviously quite early on in this novella-length story. But for this reader, Lawrence's breezy style, redolent of the "slick" periodicals so popular in the London in the 1930s, carries things along agreeably enough. Even through the climactic events of the story, the tone remains one of comfortable introspection rather than nail-biting suspense. A. N. L. Munby - "Herodes Redivus" --- The contrast between Margery Lawrence and Munby is that between the skilled storyteller and the adept in skin-crawling, discomfiting suspense. A very creepy little yarn. Note to self: avoid bookshops kept by grotesque, pallidly grey-skinned, flabby individuals bearing the surname Race. H. The best story in Small Shadows Creep is "The First Sheaf" by H.R. Wakefield. His own best story by far, it has a hell of a climax. The illiterate can listen to it here: youtu.be/7n8yP6qk21E |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Sept 2, 2022 17:50:44 GMT
Alas! your helpful note will mean nothing to the illiterate. |
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Post by Michael Connolly on Sept 2, 2022 18:10:59 GMT
Alas! your helpful note will mean nothing to the illiterate. Oh. |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Sept 2, 2022 18:26:23 GMT
Alas! your helpful note will mean nothing to the illiterate. Oh. Literally. |
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Post by helrunar on Sept 3, 2022 3:44:55 GMT
Wow! H. R. Wakefield's "The First Sheaf" is an extraordinary masterpiece of shocking Pagan ritual horror, and told with a brilliantly understated degree of flair.
It's always a treat to discover such a gem at a stage in my life when so little seems all that exciting any longer.
Thus far, Small Shadows Creep is proving to be a much more entertainingly artful exploration of the "child ghost" (or children and ghosts) theme than the rather limp offerings in that volume of the Asquith Ghost Book that seemed dedicated to this type of tale.
H.
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Post by helrunar on Sept 3, 2022 3:48:19 GMT
Michael, I'm sure there are residents--perhaps of the lurking shadowed clan--who will appreciate that youtube link. I've lost track of how many people have told me in recent years that they now prefer audiobooks or "audibles" to reading. In my infrequent ventures into this terrain, I'm all too often distracted by oddities of phrase, accent, breath control and diction to be able to enjoy the story. Because I am a fussy old thing when it comes to language.
H.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Sept 3, 2022 6:21:41 GMT
Wow! H. R. Wakefield's "The First Sheaf" is an extraordinary masterpiece of shocking Pagan ritual horror, and told with a brilliantly understated degree of flair. It's always a treat to discover such a gem at a stage in my life when so little seems all that exciting any longer. Thus far, Small Shadows Creep is proving to be a much more entertainingly artful exploration of the "child ghost" (or children and ghosts) theme than the rather limp offerings in that volume of the Asquith Ghost Book that seemed dedicated to this type of tale. H. "The First Sheaf": I told you so. Its climax is nasty. Then it gets worse - twice. Audio readings: I never listen to them. |
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Post by humgoo on Sept 3, 2022 6:32:32 GMT
Thus far, Small Shadows Creep is proving to be a much more entertainingly artful exploration of the "child ghost" (or children and ghosts) theme than the rather limp offerings in that volume of the Asquith Ghost Book that seemed dedicated to this type of tale. I also like the Walpole and Burrage a lot, but others may consider them sentimental. Would love to see more of your summaries. |
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Post by weirdmonger on Sept 3, 2022 8:53:06 GMT
Wow! H. R. Wakefield's "The First Sheaf" is an extraordinary masterpiece of shocking Pagan ritual horror, and told with a brilliantly understated degree of flair. It's always a treat to discover such a gem at a stage in my life when so little seems all that exciting any longer. H. I wholeheartedly agree! A Folk Horror classic! Thanks to you I just read it and reviewed it! |
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Post by helrunar on Sept 3, 2022 15:35:23 GMT
I'm in the midst of "The Old Nurse's Story" by Mrs Gaskell, which was published as a ghost story for Xmas in a magazine called Household Words back in '52. I discovered that there was a follow-up story, "The Squire's Story," the next year: "The Squire's Story" victorian-studies.net/EG-Squire.htmlDickens was the editor and claimed to find Mrs Gaskell's prose trying to his nerves, though to her face he flattered her as "my dear Scheherazade." H. |
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