Anon [ed.] - Spooky Tales

[cauldronbrewer]

I thought this book deserved its own thread on the current board. I've cut and pasted jamesdoig's contents list from this thread:

vaultofevil.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=davispagewagner&action=display&thread=855

Spooky Tales, no editor given but evidently it was Mary Danby (Octopus, 1984)

Walter R. Brooks, Jimmy Takes Vanishing Lessons
Philippa Pearce, The Shadow-Cage
Robert Arthur, The Haunted Trailer
Pamela Vincent, Let's Play Ghost
David Campton, Now You See It
F. Marion Crawford, The Doll's Ghost
Ruth Ainsworth, Through the Door
Pamela Hansford Johnson, The Empty Schoolroom
Jean Stubbs, The Unquiet Spirit
W.W. Jacobs, The Well
Kenneth Ireland, Children on the Bridge
Catherine Gleason, The Woodseaves Ghost
E. Nesbit, The Violet Car
Joyce Marsh, The Woman in the Green Dress
Lance Salway, Such a Sweet Little Girl
Sir Arthur T. Quiller-Couch, A Pair of Hands
Agatha Christie, The Lamp

A few comments from the old board:

victoria
Some real frightners here, especially the Ireland and the Marsh. Most have been reprinted many times, but among the more unusual the Salway and the Pearce stand out for me. I may come back to this with a few summaries at some point...

demonik
This selection looks like some thought went into it - I've not got Spooky Tales but have a number of the stories in other collections. The Woman In The Green Dress, The Empty Schoolroom and The Well are thoroughly horrible.

Jacobs could really turn out a nasty story when he put his mind to it. I'm not sure if his horrors have ever been collected? Could be that he only wrote half a dozen or so, but those I've read are great.

I'm two-thirds of the way through it, and so far it's another fine selection by Danby. The stories range widely in terms of mood and style. I'd already read Brooks' Jimmy Takes Vanishing Lessons (in Alfred Hitchcock's Haunted Houseful) and Arthur's The Haunted Trailer (in his collection, Ghosts and More Ghosts); both are light pieces, and in each case the title pretty much says it all.

Campton's Now You See It is also on the lighter side (particularly compared to "At the Bottom of the Garden"), but with more pathos and less goofiness than the previous two.

Vincent's Let's Play Ghosts! kept me guessing whether it would end on a light note or a darker one. Extra points for a double-twist ending.

A couple of the stories seem to use supernatural themes as vehicles for other ends. Ainsworth's Through the Door is an informative ghost story about priest holes and the persecution of Catholics under Queen Elizabeth I. Stubbs' The Unquiet Spirit uses its ghost as a plot engine for a delicately told coming-of-age story about a 13-year old girl who is jealous regarding her brother's impending engagement (not my usual reading material, but I really liked this one).

Danby also included The Woodseaves Ghosts in The Green Ghost and Other Stories; both dem and I commented on it in that book's thread:

vaultofevil.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=fearfullyfrightening&action=display&thread=702&page=1

For me, the highlight so far has been Johnson's The Empty Schoolroom, an old-school ghost story set in a boarding school. The youthful protagonist encounters a vividly drawn apparition:

At the piano sat a terribly ugly, thin young girl in a dunce's cap. She was half turned towards me, and I saw her pig-like profile, the protruding teeth, the spurt of sandy eyelash. She wore a holland dress in the fashion of twenty years ago, and lean yellow streamers of hair fell down over her back from beneath the paper cone. Her hands, still resting on the fouled keyboard, were meshed about with the spider's web . . .

The plot revolves around this pathetic ghost's vengeance.

[Jojo Lapin X]

Jun 5, 2012 12:03:22 GMT cauldronbrewer said:

Jacobs could really turn out a nasty story when he put his mind to it. I'm not sure if his horrors have ever been collected?

To be sure.

[cauldronbrewer]

To echo the earlier comments, Marsh's The Woman in the Green Dress is nightmarish stuff for a children's collection. A woman looks out the window one morning at the passing train. She's shocked to see a passenger sticking her head out the window and crying for help. She's shocked for a second time when the police find no evidence that anything happened. The next morning, she sees the same scene play out again. And the next morning. And the next.

[dem bones]

Jun 5, 2012 12:03:22 GMT cauldronbrewer said:

For me, the highlight so far has been Johnson's The Empty Schoolroom, an old-school ghost story set in a boarding school. The youthful protagonist encounters a vividly drawn apparition:

At the piano sat a terribly ugly, thin young girl in a dunce's cap. She was half turned towards me, and I saw her pig-like profile, the protruding teeth, the spurt of sandy eyelash. She wore a holland dress in the fashion of twenty years ago, and lean yellow streamers of hair fell down over her back from beneath the paper cone. Her hands, still resting on the fouled keyboard, were meshed about with the spider's web . . .

The plot revolves around this pathetic ghost's vengeance.

The Empty Schoolroom and The Woman In The Green Dress have haunted me since first i read them. Another Pamela Hansford Johnson story once popular with compilers of ghost story anthologies for younger readers is the far lighter but deadly effective Ghost Of Honour: Mrs St. Pancreas and her husband are showing prospective buyers the Robertson around the old manor house and think it only fair to mention their ghost, Jeremiah 'Beefy' Dunblow, an Elizabethan actor who specialised in farce and crude comic songs. Jeremiah choked to death on a fish bone, but not before uttering his intention to haunt the property until it fell to dust. His only concession: no living soul would ever behold his ghastly face. That night Mr. Robertson is surprised by a phantom gatecrasher .... The Swan (reprinted in 16th Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories) is an altogether more solemn affair. Phil returns to the coastal village of Siddle after spending 29 abroad following the break-up of his relationship with childhood sweetheart, Gladys. Gladys, who is not best pleased to see him, has since married the manager of a tin works with whom she's had a daughter, Essie. When Phil walks in on a cute little girl admiring a fragile ornament in the shape of a swan, he naturally assumes that this must be Essie. Glady's has yet to tell him that, shortly after his departure, she gave birth to their child, Margaret, raised in secret by she and her cantankerous mother to avoid a scandal. The girl ran away and fell to her death off the treacherous cliff-face after denting Gran's most precious heirloom.

Jun 5, 2012 13:47:22 GMT Jojo Lapin X said:

Jun 5, 2012 12:03:22 GMT cauldronbrewer said:

Jacobs could really turn out a nasty story when he put his mind to it. I'm not sure if his horrors have ever been collected?

To be sure.

Thanks JoJo, had no idea this existed and am quite surprised to learn Jacobs' macabre work ran to eighteen stories (or is Gary Hoppenstand stretching it a little: Eight of the first nine are familiar from a number of anthologies, but the rest ....?). For the record:

The Monkey's Paw
The Well
The Three Sisters
The Toll-house
Jerry Bundler
His Brother's Keeper
The Interruption
In the Library
Captain Rogers
The Lost Ship
Three At Table
The Brown Man's Servant
Over The Side
The Vigil
Sam's Ghost
In Mid-Atlantic
Twin Spirits
The Castaway

[Dr Strange]

Jun 11, 2012 11:46:38 GMT dem bones said:

had no idea this existed and am quite surprised to learn Jacobs' macabre work ran to eighteen stories (or is Gary Hoppenstand stretching it a little: Eight of the first nine are familiar from a number of anthologies, but the rest ....?).

There is an article by Hoppenstand in the Journal of Popular Culture (1998) with the title "British noir: The Crime Fiction of W.W. Jacobs" where he summarises and discusses some of the lesser-known stories.

Some spoilers coming up -

He says “Sam’s Ghost” and “The Vigil” combine horror and humour.
“In The Library”, “His Brother’s Keeper”, “The Interruption”, and “Captain Rogers”, are noir stories involving murder and its consequences.
“The Lost Ship” is described as “a sombre joke, grimly told”.
“Three At Table” is a suspenseful story about being lost in fog in the English countryside.
“The Brown Man’s Servant” involves a stolen diamond and a snake.
“Over The Side” tells of a bizarre, possibly supernatural, occurrence on board a ship.

Don't want to get on the wrong side of the copyright polis - but I've got a pdf of the article if you want it and can't get hold of it yourself.

[Jojo Lapin X]

Jun 11, 2012 11:46:38 GMT dem bones said:

is Gary Hoppenstand stretching it a little

Oh, absolutely. But that means this volume does have everything even remotely resembling a macabre story that Jacobs ever produced.

[dem bones]

Jun 11, 2012 13:19:12 GMT Dr Strange said:

[

Don't want to get on the wrong side of the copyright polis - but I've got a pdf of the article if you want it and can't get hold of it yourself.

Thank you for the kind offer, Dr. Strange, but you've already included the information i was after in your post!

[dem bones]

Anon [Mary Danby] [ed.] - Spooky Tales (Marylebone. 1986: Octopus, 1984)

Gavin Rowe

Walter R. Brooks - Jimmy Takes Vanishing Lessons
Philippa Pearce - The Shadow-Cage
Robert Arthur - The Haunted Trailer
Pamela Vincent - Let's Play Ghosts
David Campton - Now You See It
F. Marion Crawford - The Doll's Ghost
Ruth Ainsworth - Through the Door
Pamela Hansford Johnson - The Empty Schoolroom
Jean Stubbs - The Unquiet Spirit
W. W. Jacobs - The Well
Kenneth Ireland - Children on the Bridge
Catherine Gleason - The Woodseaves Ghost
E. Nesbit - The Violet Car
Joyce Marsh - The Woman in the Green Dress
Lance Salway - Such a Sweet Little Girl
Sir Arthur T. Quiller-Couch - A Pair of Hands
Agatha Christie - The Lamp

Blurb:
A blood-curdling collection of tales from the macabre world of spirits, spooks and spectres, featuring the very best of ghost story writers including Agatha Christie and E. Nesbit. Each story is uncannily chilling and hauntingly illustrated with specially commissioned drawings,

Found at market on Sunday gone, another of those lovely illustrated Octopus editions once a fixture of high street department stores. Editor unaccredited, but I'm sure this was Mary Danby's work. Most stories familiar from earlier anthologies, and several would resurface in Dennis Pepper's Oxford books.

Gavin Rowe, The Empty Schoolroom

[cauldronbrewer]

Aug 10, 2021 10:30:39 GMT dem bones said:

Anon [Mary Danby] [ed.] - Spooky Tales (Marylebone. 1986: Octopus, 1984)

Gavin Rowe

I have a different edition of this, with a different cover but the same illustrations by Gavin Rowe. The editor is uncredited, but the cover is credited to Dave Eastbury. The cover lists the publisher as St Michael, but the copyright page lists Octopus Books, 1984 (was St Michael an imprint?) with "arrangement and illustrations copyrighted by Hennerwood Publications." Kind of complicated.

[samdawson]

St Michael was the own brand for M&S until abandoned in 1999, and they used it for a limited number of books. Mostly cookery books but I also remember around Xmas you'd see largish hardback volumes: collected Sherlock Holmes, stories for boys, stories for girls, golf tales (I think, but can't swear to that one). Rather untrendy and the kind of thing grandparents would buy. It would make sense that they were repackages of existing Octopus editions.

[dem bones]

Aug 10, 2021 12:05:46 GMT samdawson said:

St Michael was the own brand for M&S until abandoned in 1999, and they used it for a limited number of books. Mostly cookery books but I also remember around Xmas you'd see largish hardback volumes: collected Sherlock Holmes, stories for boys, stories for girls, golf tales (I think, but can't swear to that one). Rather untrendy and the kind of thing grandparents would buy. It would make sense that they were repackages of existing Octopus editions.

Mary Danby's 65 Tales of the Supernatural was among M&S's finer moments. ASDA were another who sold Octopus (or whatever they chose to call themselves that week) anthologies.

[dem bones]

Jean Stubbs - The Unquiet Spirit: (James Turner [ed.], The Fourth Ghost Book, 1965). Caroline Mackie, 13, has always adored big brother Robert, 23, a Cambridge archaeology student now returned home for Christmas. But what's this? Horror of horrors, he's brought with him a glam girlfriend, Venetia ("bet that's not her real name"). Venetia is a sceptic in matters supernatural, so Rev Cyril Mackie relates the history of the family ghost. The storeroom is haunted by the cry of a baby girl who died back in 1863. When next they hear it, Caroline, resigned to losing her brother, opts to keep the sad little one company. Typical Ghost Book 'Proper literature,' worthy and so monumentally dull.

Livelier by far is:

Pamela Vincent - Let's Play Ghosts: (Mary Danby [ed.], 4th Armada Ghost Book, 1972). Hugh, who is spending the summer at his best pal, Perry Baxter's place, avoids the dining room. Hugh is sensitive to ghosts, and, as he explains to Perry, little Charlotte, and their cousins, the room is dangerously haunted by the ghost of a murdered girl desperate for company. "It was like fighting my way out of something clammy and clinging that I couldn't see, and all the time she was begging me not to leave her ..."

[dem bones]

* Mr. Brewer. Apologies, I'd not realised you already had a thread for Spooky Tales. Have now merged both. *

Agatha Christie - The Lamp: (The Hound of Death and Other Stories, 1933). Mr. Winburn, his widowed daughter, and Geoffrey, her son, move to Weyminster and a house which has stood vacant for several years on account of its reputation. As the estate agent grudgingly concedes, number 19 is said to be haunted by a boy who starved to death when his father was imprisoned on a visit to London. Soon Mr. Winburn and Geoffrey are aware of the sobbing ghost, ever dragging its phantom feet downstairs. As is so often the case, the dead boy seeks a playmate.

David Campton - Now You See It: (Richard Davis [ed.], Animal Ghosts, 1980). Throughout his long life, 'Uncle' — that's him on the cover — has been a great friend to the local wildlife. Bedridden following a stroke, a grasping niece, who has shown no interest in his welfare in four decades, moves in uninvited and takes over as "carer." Play her cards right, and the house is good as hers when the old fool snuffs it! 'The Vulture Lady,' as she's referred to by the family who've looked after Uncle all these years, looks set to get her way until the ghosts of his loyal friends — namely, a fox, a toad, a blindworm and an owl — intervene.

[dem bones]

Catherine Gleason - The Woodeaves Ghost: (Armada Ghost 8, 1976). Exactly 150 years to the night of their murder by wicked stepmother, Lucretia and Comus return to the library room at Woodeaves Hall, determined to persuade young David and Sally Mitchell to exchange places. As with Let's Play Ghosts!, it's been some time since last I read it, and both stories hold up well. As does this next, a horrid little sister take on Thus I Refute Beelzy.

Lance Salway - Such a Sweet Little Girl: (A Nasty Piece of Work & other Ghost Stories, 1983). Much to the annoyance of her elder brother, Julie Bennett, seven, is fawned over and worshipped as such a sweet little girl, unlike surly, fatso Edward who everyone hates. Julie's latest, infuriating attention-seeking pronouncement, "There's a ghost in my bedroom," pushes the poor lad way over the edge. She's making it all up! Everyone knows there's no such thing as ghosts, certainly not ghosts with "sharp, horrible claws." It's time for the hateful brat to put up or shut up!

[dem bones]

Jun 5, 2012 12:03:22 GMT cauldronbrewer said:

A couple of the stories seem to use supernatural themes as vehicles for other ends. Ainsworth's Through the Door is an informative ghost story about priest holes and the persecution of Catholics under Queen Elizabeth I. Stubbs' The Unquiet Spirit uses its ghost as a plot engine for a delicately told coming-of-age story about a 13-year old girl who is jealous regarding her brother's impending engagement (not my usual reading material, but I really liked this one).

Ruth Ainsworth - Through The Door: (The Haunted Roundabout & other Ghostly Tales, 1977). Maria, distraught that next door neighbours, the Copes, have moved to East Anglia, brightens considerably when, true to her word, best friend Clare invites her to stay for the holidays. Clare has an exciting surprise. Not only is there a secret compartment in the chimney above the attic room they share, but this part of the house is very comprehensively haunted. During the Catholic persecutions of Elizabeth I, the locals would discreetly assemble to hear mass in Clare's room. The panel offered shelter to Father Simon should the Queen's men raid the premises, though it seems eventually, he and the other 'heretics' were betrayed.

Agree with CB that it's an interesting story, my only criticism being I found the ghosts infinitely more believable than Maria, Mr & Mrs. Cope and their brood, every one of whom is nicer even than baby Jesus.