Penguin Book of Ghost Stories - Cuddon

[jonathan122]

The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories - ed. J. A. Cuddon (Penguin 1984)

Steve Crisp

Introduction
The Beggarwoman of Locarno - Heinrich von Kleist
The Entail - E. T. A. Hoffmann
Wandering Willie's Tale - Walter Scott
The Queen of Spades - Alexander Pushkin
The Old Nurse's Story - Elizabeth Gaskell
The Open Door - Margaret Oliphant
Mr. Justice Harbottle - J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Le Horla - Guy de Maupassant (the long version)
Sir Edmund Orme - Henry James
Angeline, or the Haunted House - Emile Zola
The Moonlit Road - Ambrose Bierce
A Haunted Island - Algernon Blackwood
The Rose Garden - M. R. James
The Return of Imray - Rudyard Kipling
My Adventure in Norfolk - A. J. Alan
The Inexperienced Ghost - H. G. Wells
The Room in the Tower - E. F. Benson
One Who Saw - A. M. Burrage
Afterward - Edith Wharton
The Wardrobe - Thomas Mann
The Buick Saloon - Ann Bridge
The Tower - Margharita Laski
Footsteps in the Snow - Mario Soldati
The Wind - Ray Bradbury
Exorcizing Baldassare - Edward Hyams
The Leaf-Sweeper - Muriel Spark
"Dear Ghost..." - Fielden Hughes
Sonata for Harp and Bicycle - Joan Aiken
Come and Get Me - Elizabeth Walter
Andrina - George Mackay Brown
The Axe - Penelope Fitzgerald
The Game of Dice - Alain Danielou
The July Ghost - A. S. Byatt

Who is the third who walks always beside you?
When I count there are only you and I together
But when I look ahead up the white road
There is always another one walking beside you
Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded
I do not know whether a man or a woman
But who is that on the other side of you?

- T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land

[cauldronbrewer]

I had some strong likes and dislikes about J. A. Cuddon's Penguin Book of Ghost Stories, beginning with the editor's introduction. Cuddon comes at the topic from a lit-crit perspective, which yields some interesting observations along with lines such as, "[M. R.] James's best effects are achieved by meiosis and the quiet tone." He likes Henry James and Edith Wharton, whereas he dislikes Poe and Lovecraft (he does like Bierce, however!). He dismisses most stories from 1950 onward as "hack work."

I find some of his claims questionable. For example, is Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" truly a ghost story (Cuddon claims to be a stickler about the use of the term, which is one point on which we agree)? Is Washington Irving's "The Spectre Bridegroom" really "sinister," or is it a spoof? And is Walter Scott's use of dialect in "Wandering Willie's Tale" really "masterful, or is it tiresome (OK, maybe I'm biased against dialect stories).

Cuddon also describes Kingsley Amis's The Green Man as "the most sustained 'imitation' of M. R. James." Having never read the novel, I'm curious to hear whether anyone agrees with that characterization.

In terms of contents, Cuddon avoids some obvious choices (by design) while often leaning toward "high" literature (so, we get Thomas Mann and A. S. Byatt, but nothing you'd be likely to find in a pulp magazine). I found some of the selections boring, particularly the stories by Soldati, Bridge, and Mann (though, to my surprise, not the one by Hoffmann). On the other hand, I greatly enjoyed the stories by Oliphant ("The Open Door"), Burrage ("One Who Saw"), and Laski ("The Tower"), all of which were new to me (I've read other Burrage stories, but none by the other two authors).

[ripper]

This was one of the first anthologies I purchased when my interest in ghost stories was re-awakened after quite a few years. At the time I thought that it was for the most part enjoyable and many of the stories and authors were unfamiliar to me. It is, though, a volume that I don't often re-visit nowadays. I like Burrage and reading One who Saw inspired me to seek out more of his work. I haven't read The Green Man, so not sure how Jamesian it is.

[Dr Strange]

I've read Amis' The Green Man (a long time ago), and also vaguely remember the TV adaptation. In terms of plot, I'd say it's Jamesian in a very general and superficial way - there's an object dug up from the grave of someone who had dabbled in the occult in olden days, and it brings unpleasant experiences to the man who dug it up. But I wouldn't say it is at all Jamesian in style - there's a lot of sex in it for a start.

[cauldronbrewer]

Thanks for the commentary on The Green Man, Dr. S. It's one of those books I'm always telling myself I should get around to reading.

[dem bones]

I'm not sure I'd agree with Dr S on this occasion. For the most part, The Green Man struck me as very Jamesian in tone and style, but, rather than attempt a slavish copy, Amis introduces material MRJ and his early disciples would almost certainly have left well alone (the three-in-a-bed episode, cameo appearance by God, etc).

[ripper]

The Green Man is a book that I have always intended to read but never quite gotten around to actually doing.

[Dr Strange]

Jan 17, 2013 9:09:18 GMT dem bones said:

I'm not sure I'd agree with Dr S on this occasion. For the most part, The Green Man struck me as very Jamesian in tone and style, but, rather than attempt a slavish copy, Amis introduces material MRJ and his early disciples would almost certainly have left well alone (the three-in-a-bed episode, cameo appearance by God, etc).

You're probably right - I think my memory is probably mostly of the TV version, and it seemed to me to be very much a product of it's times (was it really as long ago as 1990?), with lots of boozing, sex, and general depraved hedonism (and also that very peculiar 'theology'). All of which are fine with me, by the way, but not sure what dear old Monty would have made of it!

[dem bones]

Jan 17, 2013 11:57:42 GMT Dr Strange said:

You're probably right - I think my memory is probably mostly of the TV version, and it seemed to me to be very much a product of it's times (was it really as long ago as 1990?), with lots of boozing, sex, and general depraved hedonism (and also that very peculiar 'theology'). All of which are fine with me, by the way, but not sure what dear old Monty would have made of it!

I loved the TV adaptation at the time but, from memory, like the cover of the second Panther edition, it played the Ménage à trois sub-plot for everything it was worth while staying relatively faithful to the supernatural stuff (or at least, there was plenty of it). Saw The Ferryman quite recently, adapted from Amis' sequel, which really horrors up his original ending. They're all very well worth reading/ watching.

[cauldronbrewer]

I've read "The Ferryman" (a.k.a.. "Who or What Was It?"), but I have a feeling it would have done more for me if I had read The Green Men.

[dem bones]

Yes, i think you need to read The Green Man first to get the full benefit.

Burrage's One Who Saw is one of those very few stories I've sworn never to read again for fear it won't, can't be as great as I remember it. I'm not sure it frightened me so much as articulated the way I felt at the time but anyway, the effect on my late teenage self was such that it began a love affair with supernatural and macabre fiction which looks like staying with me to the grave. Not bad for hack work (albeit, conscientious hack work), which, whatever Cuddon chooses to believe, is what Burrage and E. F. Benson were about. What did you make of Elizabeth Walters' Come And Get Me?

[cauldronbrewer]

I liked "Come and Get Me," especially the face-at-the-window bit in the beginning. The ending was conventional, but at least the story took a twisty path to get there.

I can't think of a Burrage story I've read that did more for me than "One Who Saw," not even the much-praised "Smee." For me, the ending hit just the right balance of how much to include and how much to leave to the reader's imagination.

[ripper]

I also enjoyed the Walters' story, as I did most of the tales in the collection, and reading it introduced me to writers that I would probably not come across otherwise.

I like Smee by Burrage very much. There's just something about that rambling old country house and playing games in the dark in unfamiliar surroundings with someone who really shouldn't be there that always makes my flesh creep. One who Saw is similarly enjoyable. What exactly he sees is not really made explicit, so your imagination takes over and fills in the gaps. Beyond Midnight, the South African horror anthology radio show from the late 1960s, produced creditable dramatisations of both stories.

[cauldronbrewer]

By happenstance, I borrowed Meddling with Ghosts from the library today and saw that both Ramsey Campbell and Rosemary Pardoe cite The Green Man as being one of the best Jamesian novels.

[dem bones]

Struck lucky with an as-new copy of the hard-cover (Bloomsbury, 1991) in dust-jacket for 25p from my trusty back-of-the-van-man, and it's been so long since I read it, a leisurely rematch with those stories long forgotten won't hurt.

The following pair, and Fielden Hughes' Dear Ghost ..., are exhumed from James Hale's Fourth Ghost Book.

Edward Hyams - Exorcizing Baldassare: The Robbie-Blackthornes, James and Bernice, land their dream property in Sussex. It's haunted of course, but they needn't be expecting a discount on that score, as, the estate owner assures them, he could quite easily offload it ten times over. The spectre is that of a late eighteenth century Italian, Count Baldassare Baldassar, lynched by a gang of plasterers for molesting Sir Henry Waterperry's daughter. His severed nose and ears are incorporated in the ornamental ceiling.

At least, that's what they're told. In fact, the resident ghost is provided by Manifestations, Inc. of Clerkenwell who perform a similar service for all the best stately homes. Bernice, who is unaware her phantom is fake, doesn't much care for the shrieks of Baldassare's victim. Narrated by the Robbie-Blackthornes' mutual friend, Edward, who fancies Berenice something rotten.

Alain Danielou - The Game of Dice: The biggest regret of Jay Prakash's life is that, back in student days, he bullied his friend Lalit into playing dice for money. Lalit lost heavily and, unable to bear the shame of his inability to clear the debt, vanished in the wilderness, leaving behind a note explaining all and a distraught young wife. Now an old man, Jay Prakash embarks on a pilgrimage to the temple of his Goddess, Ganga, to pay final homage before his death. In the frozen wastes he encounters a hermit who provides shelter. The holy man produces a pair of dice.