Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror

[The Lurker In The Shadows]

Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror (2007)

"Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror" is a fantastic children's book by Chris Priestley. It's aimed at 9-11 year olds but don't let that put you off. The writing is elegant and there are genuine chills to be found inside.

The book is an anthology with a linking narrative, as young Edgar goes through the dark woods to visit his strange relative who likes to tell disturbing stories about the unusual objects that surround him in his gloomy old house, from dolls to telescopes to carved wooden boxes and sculpted demons.

The stories are influenced by (amongst others) Saki, Dead of Night, W.W. Jacobs, The Signal Man, Edward Gorey and, as you might imagine from the title character's name, M.R. James, and there are very atmospheric Gorey/Charles Addams-tinged illustrations by David Roberts.

The author shares some insights into the influences on each tale at the rather nice website; www.talesofterror.co.uk/

[PeterC]

[dem]

Christopher Priestley - Uncle Montague's Tales Of Terror (Bloomsbury, 2007)

David Roberts

You would not like it here after dark ...

Through The Woods
Climb Not
The Un-Door
The Demon Bench End
Offerings
Winter Pruning
The Gilt Frame
Jinn
A Ghost Story
The Faith
Uncle Montague

blurb:

Edgar's uncle lives in a house beyond the woods. Edgar is sure that the village children watch him from behind the trees as he passes through, but he is determined not to show his fear.
One day Edgar's uncle enthrals, him with a chilling set of o tales, and there is evidence of each one having actually happened: a tiny doll, a gilt frame, an old brass telescope ... How did Uncle Montague come by such a collection of cursed objects?

But there is no time for answers. Edgar has to make it back through those woods before dark ... or are the answers OUT THERE?

Prepare to be chilled to the bone as you discover that Uncle Montague is the subject of perhaps the most surprising and most terrifying tale of all.


With so many books at once, only a lunatic would start on another but i never claimed to be all there and, besides, Lurker's post had me intrigued. Three stories in and the influence of MR James and Amicus is very much in evidence in a good way.

Through The Woods: The scene-setter. Introduces young Edgar who regularly visits Uncle Montague at his gloomy old house-cum-museum in the woods, mainly to listen to his strange and wonderful stories. Uncle Montague lives alone save for Franz, his unseen butler, and frowns upon electric light, preferring to rely upon candles. His house is the coldest place Edgar has ever been, almost certainly haunted, but he doesn't care when there's always another spooky tale to thrill him.

Climb Not: Joseph's spaniel, Jess goes missing after sniffing around a hollow at the foot of the old Elm tree. Something in there terrified her so badly that she bolted as though a demon were after her and hasn't been seen since. Joseph grows obsessed with the tree, more so after spotting the warning 'Climb not' rudely carved in the trunk. Mr. Barlow, the ancient gardener of decidedly sinister disposition, urges him to heed the advice of those who know, but, of course, Joseph's already made his mind up. What will he find up top of the tree? And what will follow him up?

The Un-Door: An excellent variation on A Haunted Doll's House featuring the winning fraudulent medium double act Maud - the 'clairvoyant' one - and her "daughter", Harriet, who perform their art at the homes of the gullible rich. While Maud is going through her melodramatic routine, Harriet is off casing the joint, picking out whichever valuable trinkets catch her eye. But as she's about to enter an interesting-looking room in Mrs. Barnard's house, a little girl, Olivia, appears as if from nowhere and warns her against entering through the undoor. Needless to say, Harriet ignores this pesky kid. Seriously spooky and an early contender for the demonik alternative Mammoth Best New Horror selection.

[PeterC]

'The Gilt Frame'

The mother of two sisters, one nice (Agnes) and one nasty (Christine) buys a gilt frame at a charity auction. Christine sneers but when she secretly unwraps it she finds it is a portrait of a young girl. The portrait comes to life and offers her three wishes. Not having heard of the monkey's whatsit, her wishes are naturally on the selfish side and they duly bring the family much sadness. Her final wish, for 'a room of her own' rebounds rather badly, though. After all, she didn't specify where this room should be....

'The Demon Bench-End'

Thomas is a rather spoilt young chap and when he sees something he wants he doesn't like to be refused. The latest object of his desire is a demonic-looking bench-end taken, allegedly, from a church. Its owner, a rather desperate tinker, won't sell, but seems most pleased when Thomas steals the ugly thing. It's not long before the boy hears a wheedling voice urging him to get 'revenge' on everyone. Thomas starts by beheading the family cat, but the voice assures him he can do even better...

[dem]

How are you getting on with it, Peter? I've been balancing about twenty books at the moment but I've found this among the most enjoyable. I like everything about it - the writing, the occasional knowing winks at veteran ghost story readers, the Amicus-style framing device, the way David Roberts sweet illustrations compliment the stories - it's a long way from The Armada Monster Book and thank goodness for that. A big 'thank you!' to Lurker for the tip!

[PeterC]

Yes, Dem, it's a corker. I read it about a year ago and really enjoyed it. The good news is that Chris Priestley has a sequel just published:
'Tales of Terror from the Black Ship'.

[The Lurker In The Shadows]

Just finished "Tales of Terror from the Black Ship", which I was unaware of until peterc mentioned it here, so thanks peter! Some very nice, atmospheric tales, here, with a very satisfying wraparaound story. Hopefully Priestley will be adding to what looks like a series before long.

[The Lurker In The Shadows]

Hooray! It looks very much like this series is going to continue. I see that next up, though not scheduled to October, is "Tales of Terror from the Tunnel Mouth", with a series of stories being told by a mysterious lady after a steam train breaks down in a dark tunnel.

[allthingshorror]

Just bought this today and already half way through it. It's bloody sublime...

[The Lurker In The Shadows]

Just discovered that Uncle Montague has a rather entertaining blog;
unclemontague.blogspot.com/

[The Lurker In The Shadows]

Chris Priestley - Tales of Terror from the Tunnel's Mouth (Bloomsbury, 2009)

David Roberts

Just finished "Tales of Terror from the Tunnel's Mouth", and it's an absolutely splendid addition to this wonderful series.

Young Robert Harper finds himself in a train carriage with a Woman in White (Robert has read Wilkie Collins), who passes the time while the train is at a standstill at the mouth of a dark tunnel by telling him tales of unusual plant specimens and sinister puppet shows, ancient barrows concealing bizarre bones, vindictive nuns, standing stones, and more unpleasant delights.

Really top notch stuff, and I'm delighted to see that Chris Priestley has a novel, "The Dead of Winter" planned for later in the year - hopefully with more of David Roberts' striking illustrations.

[dem]

i tried to persuade the bride to review Uncle Montague ... as she loved it, but no go and now it's back at the idea store, or the library as we used to call it when it actually favoured books over DVD's, aerobics classes and snack bars. Just been scanning his blogs, Chris Priestly and the rather wonderful Uncle Montague's Nether Regions. like the use of vintage photo's (check out the young woman reading Halloween & Spook Stories on Nether regions) and any "childrens author" who can enthuse "have just been enjoying the massive wall of feedback that opens Anthrax by the Gang of Four. Excellent" is fine by me. i didn't realise he's also written some non-fiction aimed at the younger audience: Witch Hunt: The Chilling True Story Of The Salem Witches (Hodder, 2003) should be worth a look.

[ripper]

I picked up Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror from my local library a few days ago. I have to say that I have not enjoyed a book quite so much in a very long time. I thought that all of the stories worked extremely well, including the framing story involving Uncle Montague and Edgar. I agree with other posters about the Amicus "feeling" of the book and many of the stories would not have seemed out of place in an amicus production, nor, in fact, in anthologies aimed at an adult readership. I particularly liked The Un-door, a variant of MRJ's A Haunted Dolls House. I am looking forward to reading Chris Priestley's other two volumes of macabre tales and I recommend Uncle Montague to anyone who likes well-crafted stories that send a shiver down your spine.

[Jojo Lapin X]

I thought the stories in the first volume were somewhat . . . rudimentary, shall we say. But they improve in the subsequent books. I have no idea what children would make of these tales. Thanks for alerting me to their existence.

[dem]

Christopher Priestly - Tales Of Terror From The Black Ship (Bloomsbury, 2008)

David Roberts

The Storm
Piroska
Pitch
Irezumi
The Boy In The Boat
Nature
Mud
The Monkey
The Scrimshaw Imp
The Black Ship
Wolfsbane

Blurb
The Old Inn clings precariously to a cliff top above a storm-lashed ocean. Ethan and Cathy are sick. Their father has left them to fetch a doctor ... but they are not alone for long. A visitor comes begging for shelter, and so the children, who have an unnatural appetite for stories of a macabre persuasion, sit out the throes of the storm in the company of a sailor with more than enough grisly tales to satisfy them.

But something about the man puts Ethan on edge, and he is anxious for the storm to blow over, their father to return and the long night to come to an end.

Steel yourself against the blood-curdling terror that lies ahead as you realise that whatever horrors the stormy night can conjure, they are nothing compared with the heart-stopping revelation of the new dawn.

The Storm: When his wife dies giving birth to the child that would have been their third, Matthews changes with a flick of a switch from cheerful, universally popular landlord of The Black Ship Inn to drunk and embittered misanthrope. His ungovernable temper see off the Inn's regulars until trade evaporates altogether. He neglects his loving children, Ethan and Cathy. He is, in short, the very man we need to breath new death into the moribund 'world's worst pub landlord' thread, but strangely, we are not really very pleased by this. But three pages in and already an unflinching depiction of the crippling misery of bereavement. Perhaps we are going soft in our dotage, but this is not quite what we've come to expect of a book whose target audience is ten and over.

Three days into a ferocious gale, and the children are struck down by a mystery ailment of such magnitude that their father, fearing they will die, finally comes to his senses. Wrapping them up in his bed he sets off out into the tempest to fetch a doctor, leaving thirteen year old Ethan instructions not to open the door to anyone but him. Once he's left them, the kids move downstairs to the bar to sit before the fire. Ethan reads aloud from Edgar Allan Poe to raise Cathy's spirits.

A persistent knocking at the door. It is a young midshipman, Jonah Thackery, seeking shelter from the storm which is now raging so terribly that Ethan can't find it in him to turn the fellow away. As he sets himself down with a bottle of gin, Thackery spots the Poe collection on the bar (The Tell-Tale Heart is his pick of the bunch. "very amusing - wonderfully gruesome"). Perhaps, to pass the time till their father arrives home, the children might like to hear some Cornish sea-faring yarns. He should warn Miss Cathy that they might be a shade bloodthirsty, but provided she has no objection?

And so we're off on another Amicus-style set of cautionary tales, beginning with what Thackery euphemistically describes as "a romance of sorts"

Piroska: Fifteen year old Richard Stiles falls in love with a flame haired beauty among the Dolphin's human freight of Eastern Europeans on their way to start a new life in America. The ship set out in a carnival atmosphere, but once they hit choppy waters mid-Atlantic, a strange lethargy settles over the emigrants and fasts spreads to the crew. It is against the regulations for personnel to fraternise with the cargo, but the young sailor has his heart set, true love will always find a way and, besides, but for himself and the vivacious Piroska, everyone else aboard the Dolphin is so dreary and broken down they might as well be the living dead ....