The Second Book of After Midnight Stories (William Kimber, 1986)
(cover: Ionicus)
Frances Stephens - Doctor Gabriel
Alma Priestley - The Old Elm
Ramsey Campbell - Seeing the World
Derek Stanford - Ancient Lights
Kelvin I. Jones - Rebecca
Brian Lumley - Necros
J.C. Trewin - Night Ferry
Patricia Daly - Hesperios
Margaret Chilvers Cooper - Napoleon to Josephine
Patrick Biggie - French Lessons
Rosalind Wade - Skimmer’s Leap
Lanyon Jones - A Dickensian Christmas
The 2nd Book is so far as good as the first:
Frances Stephens - Doctor Gabriel - Nurse Susan Lovell returns to the area she grew up in to keep an eye on an elderly aunt and work at Grimside Edge mental hospital. The place terrified her as a child and she finds it not much different now. Only the presence of attractive Dr. David Armstrong makes things bearable. Enjoyable, but not what I'd call a ghost story.
Alma Priestly - The Old Elm - Farm worker Matt Whitson can't sleep during the night of the big storm in March 1916. He believes the fall of the Old Elm tree has predicted the death of his friend Ned stationed in France. A fine story with great atmosphere.
Ramsey Campbell - Seeing the World - I have very faint but horrible childhood memories of having to sit and watch slides of relatives holiday trips projected onto their living room wall. Angela and Richard have it even worse, thanks to their obnoxious and quite scary neighbours the Hodges'.
Derek Stanford - Ancient Lights - Literary journalist and author Julian Henry becomes captivated by Rosemary Cottage, "a detached late-Victorian or Edwardian villa" The title of the story is painted above one side window. The name Maurice Hughes and the image of Julian's 1890s literary creation appears to him in a dream, standing underneath a yew in the garden of Rosemary Cottage. Maurice almost takes on a life of his own. A sweet and gentle story.
Kelvin I. Jones - Rebecca - Young Rebecca has to move to York when her father accepts the position of assistant curator at York City Museum. Her mother, sister and brother have been dead for two years, how is not explained. Exploring her new garden, she finds an old pendant with the Hebrew word for "Life" on it. Then a strange boy give her a message to meet "David" at the castle museum gardens. Could this be her late brother? It's all connected to the Clifford's Tower Massacre of 1190.
Brian Lumley - Necros - Peter Collins is vacationing in Italy and meets Adrienne, a young and very attractive woman and her much older, less attractive husband Nichos. He's been told the legend of Necros, a vampiric creature that sucks the youth from his/her host. This couldn't be an example of that, could it? I knew I'd read it before, but it's worth re-reading.
J. C. Trewin - Night Ferry - Anna travels from North Norfolk to "an odd, cold house by a Cornish river" to spend time with her fiance and his mother. One night they go to see a play and catch a ferry home. But who is the ferryman? It's not hard to guess, at least for us "Vaulters".
Patricia Daly - Hesperios - Pregnant Laura Page feels a strange connection to the about-to-be-demolished old house called "Hesperios".
Margaret Chilvers Cooper - Napoleon to Josephine. It's about time for an unnamed (teenage) female narrator. She and her mom live on Cape Cod, and her Aunt Josephine has just died. If you're looking for scares, you won't find them here. But the writing is good, so read it anyway.
Patrick Biggie - French Lessons - A 17 year old is sent to Paris to learn French. Mlle Dubois looks ancient but is an excellent tutor.
One day, an attractive young woman appears in her place.
Rosalind Wade - Skimmer's Leap - Cue 2nd unnnamed female narrator, who agrees to convalesce at the home of a fellow patient after their operations. (Sooner her than me) The home is Lys Praze house in Cornwall. It's home to the Barettis, a noble family, and the ghost of their ancestor, Sir Gervase Baretti, who drowned in Skimmer's Cove in 1926. To top it off, there's a family curse that the heir will die on an anniversary of Gervase's drowning.
Lanyon Jones - A Dickensian Christmas - Elderly Miss Siddlesham drives through bad weather to spend New Years at Doods Edge Hall. They provide a very Dickensian atmosphere, seeming to focus on Miss Havisham, who lies in a glass coffin in the family vault below.
