William Garnett [ed.] - Horrors and Hauntings in Cornwall

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William Garnett [ed.] - Horrors and Hauntings in Cornwall (Tabb House, 1989).

William Garnett - Foreword

A. Leigh - The Ghost of Miss Lavinia Little
Walter Walkham - The Mistress of Vellandower
Walter Walkham - The Lady in Brown
Michael Goodman - The Enchantress of Castle Treen (verse)
Joan Tyack - The End of the Holidays
Grace Morgan - Our Day in Luxulyan Woods
Grace Morgan - The Coveted House
Gordon Harris-Watts - The Legend of Jan Tregeagle
Gordon Harris-Watts - The Workhouse Key

Blurb:
HORRORS AND HAUNTINGS IN CORNWALL is a collection of ghost and horror stories, many founded on local myth or local fact and all in local settings, which provides immensely varied subjects to thrill and entertain the reader. Strange cases are described, such as the dropping of a slip of paper by a ghost into the real world in ‘The Workhouse Key’, and in ‘Our Day in Luxulyan Woods’ the horror that can strike without warning in everyday life. The chilling effects of paranormal evil are revealed in several tales, from the traditional heartlessness of the seductive mermaid or siren, in Michael Goodman's verse, to the terrifying roar of the tormented soul of Jan Tregeagle, condemned to be chased across Bodmin Moor for as long as the evil chooses. A rather gentler ghost is that of Lavinia Little, whose story opens this book.

Companion volume to HORRORS AND HAUNTINGS IN DEVON

Walter Walkham - The Lady in Brown: Mrs. Blazenby, son Arnold and Todd, the lugubrious butler, arrive in Cornwall from the Midlands, to take up residence in Bostennack manor house. Arnold, nineteen, resembles a haggard, white-haired old-timer, on account of the family curse. The Blazenby's are persecuted by the ghost of a scowling woman in Victorian attire. "Whenever she's seen, the eldest son dies soon afterward."

Grace Morgan - The Coveted House: Hilda the housekeeper preys upon Cornish widowers, first marrying then evicting them from their own homes. The vengeful ghost of old Sam Agar lures her to the clay pit.

Grace Morgan - Our Day in Luxulyan Woods: A family picnic is ruined when a dog they've befriended drowns in the viaduct.

Gordon Harris-Watts - The Legend of Jan Tregeagle: Bodmin, 1865, in the wake of Monmouth's failed rebellion. To curry favour with 'Bloody' Jeffreys, Lord chief Justice of England, Tregeagle, back-stabber, snitch, and all round bad egg, denounces all manner of innocents as fledgling Regicides. So impressed is the Hanging Judge with his prodigy's lack of conscience that he introduces him to the Devil, who proposes a deal.

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A. Leigh - The Ghost of Miss Lavinia Little: When John returns to his wife and kids, a bitter Anita Jarman takes a holiday in Trewurgett to clear her head. No sooner has she moved into Jasmine Cottage than a grey faced, grey skirted woman materializes before a curtain, then vanishes quickly as she appeared. Anita learns from the kindly landlady of the 'Queen & Railway' pub (Cornish folk are famed for their welcoming way with foreigners from London/ anywhere else) that her retreat is haunted by a Victorian spinster, Miss Lavinia Little, who was jilted by a succession of fiancées. Those women she appears before three times are destined never be wed.

Joan Tyack - The End of the Holidays: Before returning home from a summer at Aunt Maud and Uncle Henry's country house, the children sneak up into the attic to discover what's left of Miss May's shameful secret after forty years ...

Walter Walkham - The Mistress of Vellandower: Roger and Betty plan to demolish the ruins of a Georgian Manor house to build their dream home. The vengeful spectre of the woman in the grey bonnet has other ideas. Dying without heir in 1895, Miss Basset insisted that the property either stay in the family, or be left to rot. Hers is not a ghost to be defied.

Decent enough stories, just not the least memorable.

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Gordon Harris-Watts - The Workhouse Key: "We'm Carnish, and proud of it." Far the longest of the stories, accounting for almost half the book. Harold and Emma King relocate from Johannesburg to Penzance, birthplace of his ancestors, to operate a first British branch of the South Africa wine company. Harry's eerie premonitions guide them to Gulwal village and their dream home, built on the site of the women's workhouse, evacuated in 1850 during a cholera epidemic. The surviving inmates, brutalised and malnourished, were transferred to Bodmin, which at least put distance between them and the sadistic matron ... or so they thought. A framed painting above the fireplace depicts an enormous door-key. It nightly opens on the miserable past as the wretched ghosts assemble before matron for roll call.

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William Garnett [ed] - Horrors And Hauntings In Devon (Tabb House, 1989).

Walter Walkham - A Castle on Dartmoor
Walter Walkham - Blue Unction
Robert A. Harward - The Well
Robert A. Harward - The Cow
Robert A. Harward - The Hare
Robert A. Harward - The Tower
William Garnett - Chellew's Whistle
Gordon Harris-Watts - Who's the Ghost?

Blurb:

HORRORS AND HAUNTINGS IN DEVON recounts a variety of ghost and horror stories, many based on local legend, in which is to be found much strange displacement of the normal. It reveals that animals can appear as ghosts and ghosts themselves be haunted, and that the dimension of space can slip as disturbingly as that of time. Walter Walkham's tales show that in the twentieth century creatures such as pixies can still be seen while the prevalence of witches, even today, is apparent in 'The Hare'.
The authors of this anthology are - all but the editor - local, and write with knowledge of their county and its paranormal ways. Amongst them, Walter Walkham and Robin Harward have both previously published short stories and William Garnett has published several children's books.
Companion volume to HORRORS AND HAUNTINGS IN CORNWALL

Walter Walkham - A Castle on Dartmoor: Moorgate farm, Tavistock. Ten-year-old Sylve Honeywill is adamant that nine-inch pixies and fairies meet at Castle Rock on Halloween and May Day. Her 12-year-old brother and his friend don't want to believe her, but when Mr. Holeywill's pony is let loose and rolled in mud, they suspect it's because they've caused offence to the little folk. To make amends, the kids build them a small castle from wood, cement and scrap metal and a bridge across Lankworthy Brook for October 31. The fairies repay the kindness by leading the kids onto the treacherous bog, though, it pains me to report, ultimately no harm done.

Walter Walkham - Blue Unction: Christmas fox-hunt at Maddeford Churchtown. Young Hannah's pony is injured in a gallop uphill. A meddlesome phantom farmer helps her free Paint's trapped fetlock from between boulders and tells her what she need rub on it. So far it's been a case of Horror & Hauntings in Devon picking up where the Cornish volume left off, which makes inclusion of the next up both unexpected, and so very welcome ...

TBC ...

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Robert A. Harward - The Well: "They came again. I watched them. It was like having one's own strip-joint or perhaps a blue film or whatever."

Newly-wed Fiona and Peter arrange to view their dream home, Bowleigh House, a five-bed Elizabethan property near Crediton. At first glimpse of Fiona, the owner, recently bereaved of his wife, pulls a horrified expression, insisting the house is no longer for sale, and most certainly not to her! A third party, Fiona's unrequited love, intervenes on their behalf, and the widower explains why he turned them away. The grounds are haunted by the ghosts of an amorous young couple romping naked in the grounds until the girl slips, falls down the well and breaks her phantom neck. She bears an uncanny resemblance to Fiona.

Gordon Harris-Watts - Who's the Ghost?: Travelling toward Plymouth by train during the summer of 1978, the narrator disembarks at Wrangaton on a whim and makes for the nearest village. Asking directions proves no use as the few rural types he meets look straight through him. He never met rude people! And how comes everyone's dressed for some Victorian costume drama? He stops at the village inn where the landlord, who blanks him, informs one of his regular that Garge Downing reckons he saw a ghost on the road not half an hour ago. The way Garge tells it, the phantom wore the most peculiar togs, must be one of them Londoners or summat with their funny ways. Narrator finds discarded newspaper on a table and checks the date ...

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Robert A. Harward - The Cow: Narrator and his old schoolmaster, Mr. Amstruther - an authority on Devonion folklore and ghosts - team up to investigate the alleged haunting of a modern bungalow in Bickleigh Tiverton. 'Jenny's Bottom' was built for a retiring cowman who didn't live to enjoy it - he was found hanging upside down from a barbed-wire fence. The coroner's verdict, hypothermia, was doubtless correct, but failed to account for the expression of terror on the dead man's face. The ghost-hunter's discover that it's not a man haunts the property, but a phantom Friesian which nightly sinks through the carpet as though drowning in a bog.

Robert A. Harward - The Tower: The wing-commander has an overwhelming urge to climb a Victorian folly in the Devon Hills. Some hours into the ascent, he can no longer tell if he's moving up or down ...

No longer sure if these books belong in this section. Harvard's stories - The Well in particular - don't read as though they were written with children in mind.

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Robert A. Harward - The Hare: "Thou be better hadst thou never met with me." A farmer has cause to bitterly regret selling a cottage to Mrs. Trevisard at grossly inflated price. The newcomer, an extremely handsome woman, is given to strange habits, like gardening naked, gathering strange herbs and flowers in the night. She also knows her way around the law, and the farmer is ordered to lay a water pipe to the cottage - through his own land - at huge expense! She even has the gall to report him to the RSPCA for neglecting his livestock! By now it is obvious to him that his nemesis is not only a witch but a were-hare and can only be destroyed with a silver bullet.

William Garnett - Chellew's Whistle: Karla the au pair is forever finding an excuse to take the Toulmin children to Plymouth central park so she can spend time with boyfriend, Pig-face. Little Janet and brother Brendan befriend an old vagrant, Sam Chellow, whose talent is for locating lost items and returning them to their rightful owner — by whistling. Now Janet has lost Maizy, her favourite straw doll. Mr. Chellow is on the case. Meanwhile, someone breaks into Mr. Toumin's safe.

Strange selection. The Walkham, Garnett and Harris-Watts stories look to have been written for young children, but I'm not sure the same can be said for Robert A. Harward's contribution. His stories, most notably The Well and The Hare, would be personal highlights of the two slim books. I also like the cover painting for the Cornwall book.