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Post by dem bones on Mar 4, 2013 20:29:36 GMT
Thanks for that, Rob. Have yet to complete The Room In The Tower but recently finished Visible & Invisible and agree that is the stronger collection. Really, only Macheon lets the side down. The Outcast and (the very lovely) Roderick's story surely count as two of EFB's most under-rated stories. I don't find your casting of Nigella 'Marilyn' Lawson as Mrs. Amsworth the least weird, by the way. it may well be her true calling in life. "Now do go on with your ghost story, Mr. Urcombe, while I work my magic on this rather enormous cucumber ...."
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rob4
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 104
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Post by rob4 on Mar 12, 2013 17:10:14 GMT
not getting very far with Spook Stories at the minute
Reconciliation is a cyclical story about a family regaining their birthright by way of a haunting by the family's last occupant of Garth Place. it's unusual in that the conflicting families are reconciled (hence the title) by a marriage between them. the problem with this is that it is telegraphed early on so there is no real tension generated.
Ok so this is a step beyond. The Face is really really a great ghost story. I'm not surprised it's a favourite of yours dem! It reads a bit like a stream of consciousness but not in the first person and it's one of those where Benson really gets down to the atmosphere of an isolated place... his strongest suit imo. Also i can't help feeling that this must have been a major influence on Ramsay Campbell in the way it isolates an individual and sends them to what in hindsight has to be an inevitable conclusion.
I really don't know what to make of Spinach. I can't tell if if is meant to be humorous or deadly serious? A brother and sister psychic partnership investigate ghostly and murderous happenings at an isolated cottage and thereby increase their business. Benson doesn't really go for isolated atmosphere with this one though but concentrates on the brother and sister interaction. i can't help feeling this was an attempt to launch a series of stories featuring the same 'heroes'... for something like Weird Tales maybe? As a story it was ok but not terribly memorable.
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Post by dem bones on Mar 12, 2013 18:44:02 GMT
I'm about to revisit Spook Stories for the first time in a decade or more, am wondering if it will be better than I remember it because, truth is, The Face apart, the collection was a disappointment to then-me. Could be a simple case of speed-reading. When I get around to it, you just know I'll start on Spinach, don't you? Alexis Lykiard (ed) - The Horror Horn (Panther, 1974) Bruce Pennington As an aside, revisiting Benson has made me appreciate how difficult it would be to compile a slimline 'greatest hits' package from his supernatural fiction. The two I know of - Alexis Lykiard's The Horror Horn (Panther, 1974: 13 stories) and Cynthia Reavell's The Tale Of An Empty House (Black Swan, 1986: 14 stories) - appeared before Jack Adrian resurrected a further 15 of EFB's uncollected supernatural tales as The Flint Knife, then three more in Fine Feathers, making the overall total 72. As their titles imply, Lykiard favours the all-out macabre work, Reavell inclines toward the ghost stories, be they horrific or gentle. Their respective collections have six stories in common. The Face Caterpillars The Room In The Tower Mrs. Amworth And No Birds Sing The SanctuaryTo which, Mr. Lykiard adds ... Gavon’s Eve The Thing In The Hall The House With The Brick Kiln The Horror Horn Negotium Perambulans The Bed By The Window Monkeys... and Cynthia Reavell goes with; Expiation The Tale Of An Empty House The Bus-Conductor How Fear Departed From The Long Gallery The Other Bed Mr. Tilly's Seance Home, Sweet Home PiratesCynthia Reavell (ed.) - E. F. Benson: The Tale Of An Empty House (Black Swan, 1986) Julek Heller
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Post by doomovertheworld on Mar 13, 2013 6:23:32 GMT
I love that book cover
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Post by dem bones on Mar 13, 2013 10:13:13 GMT
It's a beauty for sure, but I can't help wondering what Benson would have made of it! Horror Horn edtor Alexis Lykiard reproduces five Benson essays/ book reviews on his website as The Weirdness of E F Benson, alongside an appraisal of Vernon Lee's Hauntings. Mr. Lykiard recently contributed an afterword to Richards Dalby's John Metcalfe selection Nightmare Jack & Other Stories (Ash Tree, 2012). He also wrote the novelisation of the women in borstal flick, Scrubbers. Alexis Lykiard - Scrubbers (Star, 1982) Blurb: Annetta and Carol - when they broke out of Borstal they were friends. But now they're caught, back inside, sent to the tough, closed Borstal - it's different. Annetta thinks Carol's betrayed her - and she's going to get her brutal revenge. SCRUBBERS is a glimpse into a closed world - the violence, the hopelessness, the uneasy alliances between the inmates, built on love and lust and fear.
But SCRUBBERS also captures the unique affinity that exists between the prisoners, the rough, bawdy humour that helps them endure the desperate life behind prison bars.
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rob4
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 104
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Post by rob4 on Mar 26, 2013 13:30:14 GMT
Bagnell Terrace is a little confusing. The narrator wants to possess a property in his street that is owned by a weird man who is mysterious and rarely seen. The narrator goes to Egypt and returns with a cat idol. Then the property comes on the market and he achieves his ambition of owning it. Then the weird stuff starts to happen… but is the weird stuff caused by the original owner or the cat idol? Help?
A Tale of an Empty House starts pretty well with another well described isolated location and the business with the house and the lame man is nicely delineated. However, the ghostly attack is a bit clumsy and the wrap up a tad trite and contrived.
Naboth’s Vineyard is a very solid story based on the Biblical Story of Ahab who acquires the eponymous vineyard unfairly to God’s ire. (Lol sounds like I’m quite well educated doesn’t it? But no alas, the internet is great to check these references). The story is transposed to a seaside town where a ‘win at any cost’ retired lawyer forces the sale of a house he wants from a man he once represented… of course it all ends badly.
The next is also a very solid story. Expiation’s set up has similarities to A Tale of an Empty House but Benson sets up a better story and atmosphere. Build up is measured and the pay-off is not as clumsy if a little easy to guess. Also the wrap ‘explanation’ is not as laboured as the previous story.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 19, 2013 12:18:23 GMT
Finally got around to revisiting the Spook Stories, which, as mentioned, for the most part, didn't quite click with me first time around. I really don't know what to make of Spinach. I can't tell if if is meant to be humorous or deadly serious? A brother and sister psychic partnership investigate ghostly and murderous happenings at an isolated cottage and thereby increase their business. Benson doesn't really go for isolated atmosphere with this one though but concentrates on the brother and sister interaction. i can't help feeling this was an attempt to launch a series of stories featuring the same 'heroes'... for something like Weird Tales maybe? As a story it was ok but not terribly memorable. Spinach: ( Hutchinson’s, May 1924). Ludovic and Sylvia Byron (once plain old Thomas and Caroline Carrot) are a brother & sister medium team, whose séances are popular with London's fashionably gullible widows. Byron is looking to add spirit photography to their repertoire and the opportunity arises when Mrs. Sampson grants them free use of her holiday cottage at Rye. Much to their initial delight, the Byron's get a lovely snapshot of Thomas Spinach, one week dead, who was struck by lightening while disposing of his detested uncle's body. Spinach can't recall what he did with the corpse, which has now taken to haunting him in the afterlife. My guess would be that Benson intended Spinach as another of the comedy items ( Mr. Tilley's Seance, How Fear Departed From The Long Garden, etc.) and he carries it off extremely well imo. Far as I can recall, this particular pair of dodgy (but not altogether fraudulent) mediums make no further appearances which is a bit of a shame as they'd be good for at least another adventure or two. Fans of R. Chetwynd-Hayes' Francis St. Clare & Fredericka 'Fred' Masters will surely appreciate them? Expiation: ( Hutchinson’s, Nov. 1923). EFB and fellow middle-aged bachelor, Philip Stuart, nerve specialist, set off on yet another holiday, this one a swimming and sunbathing excursion in Cornwall. For once, golf is off the menu, they settle on Polwithy specifically because it's yet to be ruined by a course though at back of their rented cottage there is rather a decrepit tennis court. The place belongs to Mrs. Hearne whose rotten husband, George, hung himself two years ago and is buried in the local churchyard. Mr. Stephen, the vicar, doesn't like to talk about it, what with the anniversary only two days away, but fear not: Phil and Fred are treated to a spectral re-enactment of his final moments. This one's been anthologised a few times and is generally well regarded; would likely have enjoyed it more if had I not read so many of his traditional ghost stories as by now a sameness has crept in. " … And No Bird Sings": ( Woman, Dec. 1926). Have always been a massive fan of this one. Hugh Granger and his wife - Daisy, this time: wasn't she Margaret in The Gardener? - inherit a Queen Anne manor house on the Surrey ridge. The house stands on the verge of a patch of woodland wherein something terrible lurks. “It has to be kept alive by nourishment and that explains why every day since I have been here I’ve found on that knell we went up some half dozen dead rabbits.” Benson suggests stoats or weasels might be responsible but Hugh sets him straight on that: “These rabbits have not been eaten, they’ve been drunk .....” Needless to say, the unpleasant atmosphere surrounding the woods is enough to put a man off his golf and newspapers, so the chums embark on an investigation that very nearly costs them their lives. I don't wish to be disgusting, but it can't only be me who wonders at the impact of that huge, hairy, evil-stinking "tube-like protrudence" on the gentle readers of Woman?
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Post by dem bones on Apr 22, 2013 8:17:53 GMT
The Corner House: ( Woman, May 1926). "It was an awful thought that behind those dingy curtains in the bare room there were the pair of them, the little terrified man, and that greater monster of a woman, yelling and bawling at him." Firham-By-Sea, Norfolk, a tiny village with a rubbish nine hole golf course. EFB and fellow middle-aged bachelor Jim Purley take a room at The Fisherman's Arms which looks directly upon the back garden of the corner house, home to Mr & Mrs Labson. Some years ago, Labson played the stock market and lost, and his wife has determined that he'll pay for it over and over in misery. People rarely see Mrs. Labson, but they hear her screaming at him around the clock. His only escape is the golf links where he shuns the pavilion and, indeed, all human contact. From his vantage point, Fred catches the occasional glimpse of the Firham horror, essentially a bloated, corpse-pale sister in arms of Frederick Cowles' Terrible Mrs. Green and Amyas Northcote's The Late Mrs. Fowke. It all ends horribly, I'm happy to say. Benson sure seems to have enjoyed putting the willies up Women readers and Mr. Labson ranks among his least sympathetic female characters, , a vindictive mountain of blubber who devotes all her energies to making her husband's life a misery. Bagnell Terrace: ( Hutchinson’s, July 1925). After the full-on horrors of "And No Birds Sing" and The Corner House, a quiet interlude. Benson and friend Hugh (a different one) cast covetous eyes on their neighbours house, but the Egyptian cultist isn't about to relinquish his property even though he's dead. The phantom footsteps episode is effective, but I'm not so sure this one will linger in the memory. Corstophine: ( Hutchinson’s, Sept. 1924). During a chess match with his pal Arthur Temple, Fred Bennet has a premonition of disaster regarding a railway journey to a desolate station which culminates in his clearing the weeds from his own grave. Arthur invites him to stay at his new place on the Yorkshire Moors, but Fred cries off at the last moment when he learns that he'll be obliged to change at Corstophine. One for Shrinkproof's Railways - the end of the line thread.
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rob4
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 104
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Post by rob4 on Apr 26, 2013 14:16:05 GMT
it looks like we are reading some of these simultaneously dem. I agree with your summaries so no need for me to add much.
Home, Sweet Home is a fairly standard spook takes revenge on the perpetrator of a past wrong story, that incorporates a phantom piano and another seaside setting. it is a effective in places but I found it rather dragged, and some of Benson's explanatory wrap ups are tending to be a bit repetitive now.
have to agree that 'And No Birds Sang' is a highlight in this collection. you can't knock a story with a half worm half slug thing dwelling in the woods. great descriptions of the arboreal setting and the hunt for the thing is suitably tense.
I liked The Corner House too. the woman in the story is truly hideous, but at the same time it's a good lesson to be careful with someone else's money!!
And the collection ends with Corstophine - a premonition story that because of it's warning of impending disaster on the railway theme brings to mind the The Signalman. It's not as good as that mind you but fairly good story to end on.
Overall some very solid stories here with a couple of standouts. ok, on to More Spook Stories
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Apr 26, 2013 16:28:20 GMT
it looks like we are reading some of these simultaneously dem. I agree with your summaries so no need for me to add much. Home, Sweet Home is a fairly standard spook takes revenge on the perpetrator of a past wrong story, that incorporates a phantom piano and another seaside setting. it is a effective in places but I found it rather dragged, and some of Benson's explanatory wrap ups are tending to be a bit repetitive now. have to agree that 'And No Birds Sang' is a highlight in this collection. you can't knock a story with a half worm half slug thing dwelling in the woods. great descriptions of the arboreal setting and the hunt for the thing is suitably tense. I liked The Corner House too. the woman in the story is truly hideous, but at the same time it's a good lesson to be careful with someone else's money!! And the collection ends with Corstophine - a premonition story that because of it's warning of impending disaster on the railway theme brings to mind the The Signalman. It's not as good as that mind you but fairly good story to end on. Overall some very solid stories here with a couple of standouts. ok, on to More Spook StoriesDem is always difficult to follow which is why I bowed out.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Apr 26, 2013 16:31:21 GMT
I meant 'difficult to follow' as in amusing, clever, erudite and all that...as in difficult act to follow...
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rob4
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 104
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Post by rob4 on Apr 29, 2013 12:23:55 GMT
it looks like we are reading some of these simultaneously dem. I agree with your summaries so no need for me to add much. Home, Sweet Home is a fairly standard spook takes revenge on the perpetrator of a past wrong story, that incorporates a phantom piano and another seaside setting. it is a effective in places but I found it rather dragged, and some of Benson's explanatory wrap ups are tending to be a bit repetitive now. have to agree that 'And No Birds Sang' is a highlight in this collection. you can't knock a story with a half worm half slug thing dwelling in the woods. great descriptions of the arboreal setting and the hunt for the thing is suitably tense. I liked The Corner House too. the woman in the story is truly hideous, but at the same time it's a good lesson to be careful with someone else's money!! And the collection ends with Corstophine - a premonition story that because of it's warning of impending disaster on the railway theme brings to mind the The Signalman. It's not as good as that mind you but fairly good story to end on. Overall some very solid stories here with a couple of standouts. ok, on to More Spook Storieswhoops! I forgot about The Temple, which is actually the last story in the collection. we're off to cornwall to investigate a stone circle which turns into a search for the eponymous structure where the druid sacrifices took place. the heroes decide to take rental of a property close to the stones for a convenient location to base themselves. they quickly realise that the property has been built over the actual sacrificial stone of the temple...
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rob4
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 104
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Post by rob4 on Jul 16, 2013 11:51:40 GMT
Well I’ve finally come to the end of E. F. Benson. Must admit that I’ve only being reading these last few sporadically as I was a bit Benson’d out. So here’s a few closing thoughts, not in any detail, as of course Dem has done that in the ‘More Spook Stories’ thread. I liked The Step a lot. I’m a sucker for EC type tales and this guy Cresswell is such a down and dirty rotter of a property developer you find yourself eagerly awaiting his well-deserved fate. The spectre is also suitably disconcerting. The Bed by the Window dragged for me a little. I think I must have been tired when I read it. I do remember being impressed by the particularly well observed descriptions of house, countryside and people but not being completely engaged with the story which was about the premonition of murder. It was livened up by a particularly brutal murder scene. Next up was James Lamp. A story of murder and vengeance in the servant class. It’s presented as a mystery story surrounding the disappearance of Mrs Lamp and whether or not her hubby ‘did fer her’. Of course, we always know he did – I don’t think that’s a spoiler. The fun of the story is how he is going to get his comeuppance. The Dance features probably Benson’s most manipulative bastard ever committed to paper in the character of Philip Hope who sympathises with spiders as they are more cunning than their prey. He manipulates a closer relationship between his wife and his secretary for the pleasure of destroying the latter’s career and hopes. He then falls off a cliff and the secretary doesn’t try to save him. The secretary is then haunted to a particularly undeserved cyclical fate… perhaps I’m reading this with eyes that are too 21st century? The Hanging of Alfred Wadham is one of those priest has confessional dilemma situations. Of course the priests in these stories never give up what has been confessed and innocent men die. A story full of unsavoury characters and one that again was a little unsatisfying imo. The next story Pirates I found difficult to read. I think I’m getting to that stage in life, with a child of my own, that nostalgic childhood stories seem to resonate quite starkly and bring out an emotional response that I hadn’t thought existed up until recently. The story is steeped in the poignancy of lost childhood and the desire to return to simpler times. I’ll not give any plot points away as this one is a must read. The Wishing Well is a story of warring witchcraft utilising the eponymous water shaft. It’s very entertaining with twists and turns and an excellent nasty climax. Recommended. The Bath-Chair is a story of sibling hate. The sister hates the brother and conjures up her dead father… or something like that, to haunt him. To be honest I can’t remember what the motive was except an extreme dislike of his success and the fact that he is truly despicable. But she is no better. Hard to relate to anyone and I ended up not caring. The only way to describe Monkeys is nasty nasty nasty. It’s a variation on the Egyptian curse for disturbing the tomb of the dead theme with vivisection thrown into the melting pot for good measure. A surgeon noted for his cruel animal experimentation visits his friend in Egypt. He is excavating tombs but is always careful to return the dead to their resting place. On discovery of an ancient spinal surgical procedure the surgeon violates this procedure to gain possession of the medical knowledge. Of course this is all going to go tits up as the monkeys seek to return the artefact. Christopher Comes Back begs the question why are women in unhappy relationships not allowed (in Benson stories) to escape these and live happily ever after? It seems devoted female drudgery cannot be rewarded in Benson’s world. Ok so she performed a mercy killing – Christopher deserved worse! Not one that I’m fond of. The Sanctuary is a much more satisfying story of Satanism, featuring dodgy priests, hidden rooms, sacrificial altars and deadly swarms of flies. Can’t help feeling that Dennis Wheatley might have read this one? Finally the collection ends with two comic stories – Thursday Evenings and The Psychical Mallards. I’m not too enamoured of these and my memory is already dispensed with them to a large degree so I’ll leave it here. Well that’s it for Benson. Here’s farewell to the world of bachelors, seaside locations, golf, picquet and people who are able to afford… servants. I’m off to sample the delights of Gertrude Atherton next.
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Post by helrunar on Jun 5, 2016 3:12:28 GMT
I'm not one for lists, but if pressed to name the ten most chilling horror stories in English, The Room in the Tower would be at or near the top of such a list. (The problem with such lists is that they really don't work for something as subjective, and subject to the vagaries of aesthetics, taste, and mood as quality in art--or what makes a yarn something that sticks in the craw of remembrance over the long span of a life.)
Odd trivia note: I think that The Room in the Tower was most likely the inspiration of the "Dream Curse" scenario on the 1960s cult US TV series, Dark Shadows. I thought it was a cool storyline but it was done on video in a very stagey manner with very cheap FX, shot live on tape, and some can't get past the cheapness and fake look.
I've always enjoyed the tales of EF Benson but from what I recall (it's been awhile), many of the stories are marred by a somewhat unduly "cozy" tone in the literary style. This was emphatically not the case with The Room in the Tower.
H.
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Post by helrunar on Jun 5, 2016 3:14:07 GMT
Will add that I read "And no bird sings" in a vampire collection sometime in the early 70s and recall it as quite unsettling... I should revisit that one.
H.
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