Robert Aickman - Fontana Ghost 6

[jonathan122]

The 6th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories (Fontana 1970)

Clarimonde - Theophile Gautier
The Grey Ones - J. B. Priestley
The Door in the Wall - H. G. Wells
Priscilla and Emily Lofft - George Moore
Sorworth Place - Russell Kirk
Where Their Fire is Not Quenched - May Sinclair
Oke of Okehurst - Vernon Lee
The Lips - Henry S. Whitehead

A slightly underwhelming anthology. The absence of either a story or introduction by Aickman is sorely felt, and, with only eight stories, a lot rests on your reaction to "Oke of Okehurst", and personally I just didn't think the actual story was interesting enough to sustain 50 pages, although, as usual with Lee, the actual prose is exemplary.

The stand-out of the rest in terms of quality is probably Sinclair's piece, one of a handful of excellent ghost stories from this fine writer, although if we're talking sheer outright weirdness, then the prize has to go to Whitehead's exuberantly gruesome "The Lips". God knows what it's actually doing in this series, but it definitely wakes you up.

[dem bones]

I'm sure I read somewhere that there was a reason why he dropped the editorial and omitted a story of his own from #6, only to bring both back in # 7, but i can't for the life of me .....

I share your admiration for The Lips and the way things are going in the Wordsworth polls, a new audience will soon have the opportunity to enjoy his wonderful voodoo tales of which this, The Chadbourne Episode and the pirate novella, Seven Turns Of A Hangman's Rope are my favourites. The George Moore story. A ghost appears to her sister to enlist her help in destroying the one erotic novel she ever read in her life, or am i hallucinating? It's been a while, which is why I won't commit about Clarimonde or Oke Of Okehurst, both of which I adored 15 years ago, but tastes change and i've no idea what i'd make of either now.

[The Lurker In The Shadows]

Feb 27, 2009 17:55:27 GMT dem bones said:

I'm sure I read somewhere that there was a reason why he dropped the editorial and omitted a story of his own from #6, only to bring both back in # 7, but i can't for the life of me .....

I'm pretty sure he says in the editorial for No. 7 that he had been accused of being somewhat big-headed in including his own stories in the collections of "Great" ghost stories, so had decided against including himself in No.6. But public response was overwhelmingly in favour of him returning, hence his inclusion in 7.

[David A. Riley]

I'm pretty sure he says in the editorial for No. 7 that he had been accused of being somewhat big-headed in including his own stories in the collections of "Great" ghost stories.

A certain RCH didn't suffer from that problem, judging by how often he included his own stories in whatever volumes he edited.

David

[cw67q]

This was my first exposure to the Aickman Fontana's and I retain a soft spot for this volume.

"Oke of Okehurst" was the first time I'd encountered Vernon Lee and I was amazed by it, for me it is one of the finest ghost stories ever written and manages to do everything atributed to Henry James' "the Turn of the Screw" far more successfully and in fewer pages. This is also my prefered title for the piece, I dislike the alternative which biases a reqading of the story and provides potential spoilers. I think Vernon Lee's best 6 or 8 stories can stand against anything else written in the ghostly wing of horror.

"Clarimonde" was my introduction to Gautier and remains by some distance my favourite story by this author. It is included under the title of "the priest" in the New York Review of Books pm "My Fantoms" (yes, with an "f") which is currently in print. Another superlative tale that I guarantee will have you screaming "noooo! you fool!" before the end. Oddly this tale alos suffers from multiple title syndrome, and Aickman's choice is again the best (although at least the NYRB choice also avoids spoilers unlike other options used in the past).

The May Sinclair is, as pointed out, a fine tale not to be missed, dealing with lsins of the flesh and guilt. In fact the three stand out stories I've mentioned could all fall under Aickman's own title of "Tales of Love and Death".

The Whitehead while fun is really rather similar to Edward Lucas White's most famous tale, and pales next to that story. (Although it has been pointed out elsewhere that the White does also bear a certain similarity to an earlier tale: HG Well's "Pollock & the Porroh Man" was it?).

I thought the Russell Kirk a poor choice for an author who wrote a number of fine ghost stories.

- chris

[Johnlprobert]

Clarimonde - What a beautifully written extreme love story! I can see how the Victorians would have reacted to this as being horror, but I thought it was just lovely, and very, very sad. While I love the 'coffins full of blood and implied lesbianism' fun that can be found in Sheridan Le Fanu's 'Carmilla' as much as anyone this is an entirely different kind of vampire tale. It's also the sort of story that's best read out loud to a girl even more beautiful than Clarimonde herself . I can't wait to read more of M Gautier's work now.

[cw67q]

May 12, 2010 9:49:23 GMT Johnlprobert said:

Clarimonde - What a beautifully written extreme love story! I can see how the Victorians would have reacted to this as being horror, but I thought it was just lovely, and very, very sad. While I love the 'coffins full of blood and implied lesbianism' fun that can be found in Sheridan Le Fanu's 'Carmilla' as much as anyone this is an entirely different kind of vampire tale. It's also the sort of story that's best read out loud to a girl even more beautiful than Clarimonde herself . I can't wait to read more of M Gautier's work now.

Glad to see you like it John (though I'd have been amazed if you hadn't).

Has anyone evre read this tale and thought that the priest amde the right decision?

- chris

[Johnlprobert]

The Lips - Thought I'd crack on with this volume in amongst everything else. I must confess when I think of the Fontana Ghost series I think 'subtle' and this is anything but - hooray! I see above that there might be a Henry S Whitehead collection coming out from someone / sometime?

[cw67q]

Hi John,

Ash-tree press are reprintingW hiehead over several volumes. Volume 1 came out in 2007, see here:

www.ash-tree.bc.ca/atp129passingofagod.htm

- chris

[Johnlprobert]

Aha! I knew someone was going to bring it out! I must have missed that one. Thanks Chris - I may get that and the ATP Vernon Lee at the same time.

[dem bones]

You might also like to look out for the two Mayflower paperbacks:

Henry S. Whitehead – The Black Beast And Other Voodoo Tales (Mayflower, 1976)

The Black Beast
Seven Turns In A Hangman’s Rope
Mrs. Lorriquer
The Projection Of Armand Dubois
The Lips
The Fireplace

Blurb:
The West Indies. Tropical islands steeped in native beliefs and superstition. Home of the dreaded jumbee. Birthplace of a thousand unfathomable mysteries. The mysteries of voodoo.

Let Henry S. Whitehead take you into this macabre world where beasts invade the minds of men.

Where executed buccaneers still twitch on the hangman’s rope. Where the lives of the living are racked by the spirits of the dead. Where the curses of the great Guinea-Snake can freeze the blood in your veins and melt the iron in your soul!

Rev. Whitehead's contributions to Weird Tales, Strange Tales et al were collected in the posthumous Jumbee, and Other Uncanny Tales (Arkham House, 1944), later published in the UK by Neville Spearman (1974). Mayflower recycled the contents over two paperbacks, The Black Beast And Other Voodoo Tales and Jumbee and Other Voodoo Tales (both 1976). i don't have a copy of the latter, but perhaps someone can post the details? to the best of my knowledge, the contents are as follows.

Jumbee
Cassius
Black Tancrède
The Shadows
Sweet Grass
The Tree-Man
Passing of a God
Hill Drums

i believe Wordsworth are also planning a Whitehead collection, though they've yet to announce a publication date.

[Johnlprobert]

Thanks Mr D - that's some more to keep me busy! In the meantime...

Oke of Okehurst - I've just read this and have to say I was blown away by it. Absolutely marvellous stuff - beautifully written, engaging, sensitive, beautifully observed and deliciously ambiguous. A classic.

[cw67q]

May 17, 2010 15:18:46 GMT Johnlprobert said:

Thanks Mr D - that's some more to keep me busy! In the meantime...

Oke of Okehurst - I've just read this and have to say I was blown away by it. Absolutely marvellous stuff - beautifully written, engaging, sensitive, beautifully observed and deliciously ambiguous. A classic.

It is wonderful isn't it. The first tale of Lee's that i read and perhaps still my favourite. I think her best 8 or so stories stand up against anything else in the ghost story tradition.

Have you read her "Marsyas in Flanders"? Or the other tales from "Hauntings" (the collection that included OoO, a great ackronym that fro a ghost story btw "Amore Dure", "Dionea" and "A Wicked Voice"? they are all excellent although I prefer the earlier version of AWV ("Winthorpe's Adventure").

Also look out for "Madam Krasinska" and "Sister Benventura and the Christ Child".

There have been a few pb collections of vernon lee in recent years, most of which overlap. The ATP is very comprehensive though. It was the second volume I bought from Ash-tree Press, it would have been the first but I'd heard that the Bernard Capes was going OOP (panic panic!)

- chris

[cw67q]

What I meant to say about Oke was that for me it does everything that Henry James' famous tale is supposed to do but without making me jump through hoops to get there.

Whenever someone synopsises or enthuses about "the Screw" I feel I must surely enjoy it *this time* but I've never been able to finish it. Can't see the story for HJ standing in front of the text waving his hands and singing:

"Look at me I'm Henry Jee,
Never a One as clever as me"

in a poor attempt to keep to the tune of "Sandra Dee" from Greece.

Made a good film though, Henry's tale, more than once too

- chris

[Johnlprobert]

May 18, 2010 10:26:25 GMT cw67q said:

May 17, 2010 15:18:46 GMT Johnlprobert said:

Thanks Mr D - that's some more to keep me busy! In the meantime...

Oke of Okehurst - I've just read this and have to say I was blown away by it. Absolutely marvellous stuff - beautifully written, engaging, sensitive, beautifully observed and deliciously ambiguous. A classic.

It is wonderful isn't it. The first tale of Lee's that I read and perhaps still my favourite. I think her best 8 or so stories stand up against anything else in the ghost story tradition.

Have you read her "Marsyas in Flanders"? Or the other tales from "Hauntings" (the collection that included OoO, a great ackronym that fro a ghost story btw "Amore Dure", "Dionea" and "A Wicked Voice"? they are all excellent although I prefer the earlier version of AWV ("Winthorpe's Adventure").

Also look out for "Madam Krasinska" and "Sister Benventura and the Christ Child".

There have been a few pb collections of vernon lee in recent years, most of which overlap. The ATP is very comprehensive though. It was the second volume I bought from Ash-tree Press, it would have been the first but I'd heard that the Bernard Capes was going OOP (panic panic!)

- chris

I've not got Hauntings yet but it's on my To Buy list.

It's a long time since I read Turn of the Screw but I'll readily agree that I found this tale more accessible yet with the same feel of ambiguity. I have the (deep breath) Tartarus Press Henry James but I have about a hundred other books I need to read before I get to that!