H. R. Wakefield - They Return At Evening (Philip Allan, 1928)
R. S. Stone
That Dieth Not
Or Persons Unknown
'He Cometh And He Passeth By'
Professor Pownall's Oversight
The Third Coach
And He Shall Sing
The Seventeenth Hole At Duncaster
A Peg On Which To Hang
An Echo. Published too early to be considered one of the
Creeps, this was nevertheless mercilessly plundered by Birkin for the series, only
A Peg On Which To Hang and
An Echo were overlooked. His other two contributions,
A Fishing Story and
Death Of A Poacher came from
A Ghostly Company, (Jonathan Cape, 1935)
The Red Lodge: The narrator, his wife Mary and son Tim move into the old Queen Anne house of the title, rented from an unscrupulous estate agent, Wilkes, who turns a blind eye to the numerous tragic deaths associated with the property. Before long the new residents are subjected to all manner of supernatural manifestations, beginning with the slime trodden into the carpets of many of the rooms by persons unseen and the recurrent apparition of a 'green monkey' sprinting toward the pond. Legend has it that, back in the early eighteenth century, the then owner brided his servants to terrify his wife to death. They succeeded all too well, and one night she ran from the house and drowned herself. Her husband wasted no time in installing a harem at the lodge, but one by one his lovers followed her example. And so it has continued to the present day.
The Third Coach: The life and crimes of Rev. Wellington Scott, a con-merchant exposed 74 times by Truth magazine, written in his own hand from his cell at the Royal Portwick Lunatic Asylum. The 'supernatural' element is small but significant. Scott witnesses a train crash in which the third carriage is destroyed. Running off to inform the newspapers and claim his £20 for the scoop (no-one does sardonic quite like Wakefield), he suddenly realises there was something very odd about the tragedy: it took place in complete silence. When he looks back over the hill, all is as it should be. In time the premonition serves him well when he wishes to dispense with the services of Charity, his treacherous partner.
Dr. Langton confides to the narrator, Martin Trout, that this confession, which Scott compulsively rewrites with nary a word out of place, is all nonsense. Rev. Scott has been under the delusion that he is an infamous conman ever since he received a head injury in the Panthem rail disaster when he was thrown from the third coach.
Or Persons Unknown: How Sir Roger Wallington met his dreadful end after taking on the Gypsy poachers on his magnificent property, Elin Court. Having gotten himself royally pissed at his club, Wallington is driving home by the woods near Ollen when he spies his nemesis, Black Jack and his faithful hound, Scottie, standing in the road. Sir Roger swings the car at Black Jack, misses, and mows down the dog instead. "I was rather fond of Scottie, and knew all his tricks ... He's got some funny tricks too. Don't be too sure you've done with him!" warns the poacher, shoving the dogs mangled face into Wallington's.
'He Cometh And He Passeth By': A clever reworking of M. R. James'
Casting The Runes. London, in and around Shaftsbury Avenue and Museum Street. Oscar Clinton (a thinly veiled Aleister Crowley) is a master Satanist, incorrigible sponger, ruiner of women and patron of the Chorazin Club. Philip, fearful that Clinton will abuse his friends' good nature as he has his own, veto's his application to join 'Ye Ancient Mysteries' - "it meets once a month and discusses famous mysteries of the past - the
Marie Celeste, the 'MacLachlan case', and so on with a flippant but scholarly zeal" - and, when the black magician learns of this, he sics a demon on him via a curious paper doll he sends him in the post. Philip's friend, Edward Bellamy is unable to save him from the huge, shadowy form so instead vows to destroy Clinton.
The Seventeenth Hole At Duncaster: A golf club on the Norfolk coast. The course has recently been extended at the expense of a strip of woodland, but members complain the hole is unplayable and a particularly foul stench periodically emanates from the vicinity. The secretary, Mr. Baxter, suffers nightmares in which he is gloatingly informed of who will be next to die at the 17th, and the voices are never wrong. After a woman is stripped and murdered by persons unknown at the blighted spot, he wisely obtains a transfer to London, where he later learns that 'Blood Wood' - as it is known locally - was once the haunt of Druids.
A Peg On Which To Hang: James Partridge's terrible experiences at the Beach Hotel, Littleford in a room when an embezzler hung himself 25 years earlier as the police closed in.
"And He Shall Sing ...": "A foul and deadly stench filled the room ... he saw that that Something was naked, livid, and that blood was streaming jerkily from its rotting lips."
Mr. Kato approaches Mr. Cheltenham with a book of Japanese verse which he is desperate to see published. Cheltenham realises he has a masterpiece on his hands, but can it really be the work of the semi-literate Kato and, if not, what's happened to the man who really wrote it? Come to that, why is he always seeing a small black figure out of the corner of his eye these days?
Buried underneath Wakefield's usual sarcasm, a truly grim story surreptitiously claws its way to the surface.
That Dieth Not: "... and there were the steps at Paradown, and Ethel came out, and I behind her, and down she went, and then her crushed and bleeding face grew and grew and thrust itself into mine."
Two documents. In the first, Sir Arthur Paradown outlines how and why he came to murder his abominable first wife, Ethel. The second is his suicide note, relating how Ethel has haunted him with crushing relentlessness since her death, the final straw being when she slips into bed with him after ruining his night out at the cinema with second wife Margaret. At one point in the drama, Ethel's mutilated face invades a Charlie Chaplin movie!
Professor Pownall's Oversight: "Morrison and you are the most brilliant undergraduates who have been at Oxford in my time. I am not quite sure why, but I am convinced of two things; firstly, that he will always above you, and secondly, that you have the better brain."
So it proves, save for at games of chess, Pownall showing himself to be the greatest player in Britain ... until a slip up at Bournemouth in the Masters final - versus Morrison - decides him to murder his life-long rival. Pownall goes on to represent his country at the World Championship in Budapesth, but Morrison's ghost is waiting for him, guiding the pieces of his bewildered opponents. Exasperated, the Professor can only see one way out.
*****
CalentureThere seem to be 4 or 5 stories I don't have among these. It took me a few moments to notice the "Philip Allan, 1928" bit at the top (OK, I took a long, long time to spot it and almost posted asking if it was new. )
Regrettably the most recent reprint seems to have been one from Ashtree Press at £28. Ouch. Looks as if I'll be hunting around for free downloads of "And he shall sing..." unless it turns up in one of those massive old hardback anthologies. It certainly looks tasty.
*****
demonik I don't have a copy either, but fortunately wily old Charles Birkin recycled everything bar
A Peg On Which To Hang and
An Echo over the first three
Creeps anthologies, so if you have
The Creeps Omnibus, you're laughing. Likewise,
A Ghostly Company is virtually the same book, and I'd say he's a prime candidate for the Wordsworth Classics treatment.
