The Eighth Ghost Book (Pan Books, 1974)
Frederick Bradnum - The Feet of Clay
George Mackay Brown - The Interrogator
John Burke - The Loiterers
John Elliot - The Family
L.P. Hartley - Mrs G. G
Dorothy K. Haynes - The Man Who Went Too Far
John Hynam - A Legion Marching By
Kit Pedler - Terence and the Unholy Father
Maggie Ross - The Search for Carloff
Richard Selmer - The Terrible Stone of Chalcombe Manor
Jean Stubbs - Someone Dear to Me
Rosemary Timperley - Walk on the Water
William Trevor - The Love of a Good Woman
James Turner - An Ordered Sequence of Events
Denys Val Baker - The Visitation
Angus Wolfe Murray - The Homecoming
Another one just arrived, so here goes:
1. Frederick Bradnum - The Feet of Clay
Actress Martita Moult encounters something supernatural in her Suffolk cottage. Ghostly feet, in all sorts of footwear...
2. George Mackay Brown - The Interrogator
A young woman, Vera Peterson has disappeared on Orkney so the narrator is sent to investigate. Various persons concerned give their testimony regarding the last time they saw her. To give any more details would be to include spoilers so I won't. The third story by this author that I've read and the best so far.
3. John Burke - The Loiterers - Mutual friends introduce Bernard to Elizabeth. Almost against his will, he's drawn to her.
4. John Elliott - The Family
The unnamed narrator writes a letter to a legal professional who apparently was unable to prevent his being convicted and jailed for what seems to be burglary. Out of prison for 18 months, shy and quiet, he comes across a young woman near his home and invites her to spend the night in the spare room, promising she has nothing to worry about. But of course good intentions can and often do go awry and they become better acquainted. The best story so far, for me.
5. L. P. Hartley - Mrs. G. G.
LPH seriously disappoints me here. Lewis Constant writes his social engagements in a diary, then annoys friends by forgetting about them. He notices an dinner invitation to a Mrs. G.G. but can't remember anything about her. The ending is a confusing let-down.
6. Dorothy K. Haynes - The Man Who Went Too Far
Harry Boland owns a few "picture-houses" at a small sea-side town. He foolishly decides to open an amusement arcade with another picture-house. Things don't go very well and Harry ends up cutting his throat in the billiard room. Some years (decades?) after this, shy young Edward Britt comes to town. Lonely and friendless, he finds a refuge in the less-than-popular screenings of old comedies at "The Boland" cinema.
7. John Hynam - A Legion Marching By
Two schoolboys witness a ghostly Roman legion marching by on a Roman country road as it's said to do every thirty years. Even after he's grown up and married, one of them can't forget what he saw.
8. Kit Pedler - Terence And The Unholy Father
Quite a good story. Young Terence takes a break from building model airplanes during the summer holidays and decides to sneak into church and try to see what, if anything, makes the holy wafers holy. Never mind scary Father Damon who was dead anyhow....
9. Maggie Ross - The Search for Carloff
The unnamed female main character struggles to find her way to Villa Carloff near St.Tropez. Whichever way she drives, it turns out to be the wrong way. For me, this story had no point and no pay-off whatsoever.
10. Richard Selmer - The Terrible Stone of Chalcombe Manor
Not a manor but No. 17 Chalcombe Manor Road in the seaside resort of Chalcombe. Stephen Pagnell narrates the story of his brother-in-law Ronald Hampden's purchase of this derelict two-storey detached house with the intention of fixing it up (he is a builder). Stephen and wife Betty pay them a visit once some of the place has been renovated only to find all is not well. The builders won't stay late, birds avoid the place and then Stephen discovered an old chalice while digging over the garden. You just know things will get worse from this point on. A stone slab in the kitchen with "Oculus Asmodei" inscribed on it, horrible tales of the manor house that once stood on the site, this is the kind of story I buy these books for!
11. Jean Stubbs - Someone Dear To Me
Unmarried teacher Alison Morris is in her forties and seemingly content. Why, then, does she start seeing "a gentleman from a bygone age" in her living room armchair?
12. Rosemary Timperley - Walk On The Water
A little girl exchanges "hello's" with a kind looking man while playing on the beach. At the age of 17, she sees him again on an underground platform with her fiancee. Then just before and after her wedding, then numerous times over the years.
13. William Trevor - The Love Of A Good Woman
Henry Rideout puts his first wife over the side of the boat on a supposed mackerel-fishing trip. She can't swim. He feels he's doing her a favour as she loves him so much and he no longer loves her but is enamoured of the new pub landlady, Emily Troop.
14. James Turner - An Ordered Sequence of Events
"James Adamson attended the winter lecture course on "The Nature of Time" purely, as he thought, by chance."..."The lecturer, Dr. Smythe was an eminent and wise clergyman from Truro who knew far more of his subject than he was able, in the short time of an hour and a half each month, to impart to his listeners". During the third lecture, which takes place at a rectory on the edge of Bodmin Moor, he finds himself looking at a younger Dr. Smythe, from his days in Africa before he entered the clergy. Quite a thought-provoking story.
15. Denys Val Baker - The Visitation
A mysterious white car drives through a small village every afternoon. It holds a strange fascination for a young romantic girl named Tilly Pascoe, who has an unfortunate hare-lip.
16. Angus Wolfe Murray - The Homecoming
The wealthy narrator and his future wife Sarah visit a house in Scotland she came across when her car broke down. She hopes to live there and he finds it oddly familiar. They come to an agreement with the absentee owner to lease the house for 30 years and move in. Happily getting the place fixed up, one day while returning from the village he sees a shocking apparition...