Dorothy K Haynes, Party Girl

[Calenture]

(Found in The 10th Pan Book of Horror Stories.)

The Cure by Dorothy K Haynes: They say that the touch of a hanged man has curative powers. Celia Weir’s neighbours have kept nagging at her to take her retarded son to the gallows, where his father’s body has been hanging for a month. ‘You owe it to your son, Missis. What’s a wee unpleasantness? He’s not too far gone…’

She doesn’t want to go, doesn’t want to take David. But if there’s a chance that he could be cured then perhaps his father will do more for the boy in death than he ever did in life. In less than 6 pages, Dorothy Haynes peoples a grim historical setting with convincing people and an ending that is likely to stick in mind a long time.

I see that Dem' has already commented on the next one, above, but perhaps the two reviews are different enough.

(Found in The 8th Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories.)

The Peculiar Case of Mrs Grimmond by Dorothy K Haynes:‘Now, at last, I am able to concentrate on Nicky,’ Mrs Grimmond begins. ‘He isn’t a novelty any more. He’s become a burden. However, he is all I’ve got left. Deil is gone, the baby is dead, and her parents will never forgive me.’

Deil is Mrs Grimmond’s cat and, like most cats, is in the habit of bringing things home. One day he brings home Nicky, a bizarre little creature. Nicky likes to suck blood from the narrator’s wrist, and Deil is jealous of him.

One day, one of the neighbours asks Mrs Grimmond to look after their baby. But the baby will not stop crying and Mrs Grimmond can’t cope. The result is tragedy, and when the neighbours burst in, Deil the cat is sitting on the baby’s corpse, and they blame him for its death. No one believes the truth, and the cat is kicked to death, leaving Mrs Grimmond in the company of the loveless Nicky, her familiar.

More to come; not actually suicidal yet...

Charles Black wrote:My favourite DKH story is one i haven't actually read: Gas, from her collection, Thou Shalt Not Suffer A Witch ...
It was an afternoon story on Radio 4.

Demonik wrote:A Pan and Fontana regular, Dorothy K. Haynes' stories usually took folklore motifs and laced them with a hefty dose of human tragedy to create some of the most gloomy, beautiful and frightening stories in horror fiction.

She is maybe at her most harrowing in "Thou Shalt Not Suffer A Witch ..." (circa 1947), which begins with the savage beating of a crone and focuses on the persection of Jinnot, a retarded and ugly child who eventually goes to the flames while the true witch gloats in triumph. "Changeling" features another 'wise woman', this one who spends much of her time perched on a gargoyle and peering in at young Moreen through her window. Eventually, she entices the terrified girl to fairyland which isn't exactly the welcoming kingdom Moreen expected ...

"The Beane Nighe" from the Pan series is similar to the above in theme and wonderfully told. This time, a curse proves impossible to defend against.

A later story, "The Peculiar Case Of Mrs. Grimmond" begins when the cat drags something in - a poodle-cum-devil that feeds on blood from the lonely widow's wrist. Needless to say, babysitting such a 'pet' isn't exactly advisable. The touch is deceptively lighter this time, but only in comparison to the morbid thrills of "Up, Like A Good Girl" which is set in an Orphanage.

I think I'd best stop before I top myself.

You get the picture. Great, but pretty grim.

[dem]

Some more:

The Head: A thief is tethered to the kirkyard wall by his neck, pelted with filth and left to bake in the sun until nightfall. One thoughtful fellow decides he might like some company - and impales the decapitated head of an Englishman on a spike directly before his line of vision. The dead head may have once belonged to an enemy, but when a fly lands on the bloodless face and begins crawling into the glazed eye, the thief is moved to compassion. Grimly effective and among my favourite of Haynes’ stories. (Scottish Terror)

A Lady In The Night: A woman on the verge of childbirth hears the click of high heels in the street below and envisions a french prostitute visiting devout church-goer Mr. MacKenzie to give him a private Can-Can. Enter his wife. A fracas ensues, ending with the tart’s body being dumped in the quarry. of course, it’s all a drug-induced hallucination, but strange how the MacKenzie’s moved away so suddenly … (Ghost 20)

The nicely dressed Orphanage girls scrub the floor and get punished in Misty fetish classic Screaming Point.

Up, Like A Good Girl: There is troweling on the misery and there is Up, Like A Good Girl, which begins with a funeral at an Orphanage (the kids look upon the occasion as though it were almost a treat) and works back through the grim series of events that led to it.

Angela-Marie is ostracised by the other girls on account of her nightly bed-wetting, so when the consumptive Barbara arrives she corrals her into being her “best friend.” But Barbara proves to be of inquisitive disposition - why does she allow Ma’am to strap her every morning? Why does she accept her daily dose of castor oil without a fight? - until Angela is completely unnerved by her. When Barbara is admitted to the infirmary, her friend rather wishes she’d die. When this doesn’t look likely, she speeds up the process. But it doesn’t end there … (Gaslight Terror)

Barleyriggs: Yet another desirable residence going at a give-away price. If House-hunters read more ghost stories they could save themselves plenty of heartache. In the present instance, “Barleyriggs” is haunted by the ghost of an old girl who gassed herself. The children (and the dog) are the first to see her. Their parents have to wait until the anniversary of her death. (Ghost 12)

The Boorees: Angry, bat-like little demons who live in chimney stacks and come to life during the winter months. They particularly have it in for spoilt, middle-class children who provoke them, as the odious Dennis learns to his cost. Narrated by the nanny who discovers his scorched remains. (Horror 14)

Mrs. Jones: Fat Mrs. Jones wins all the local cookery competitions with ease. One day a crone asks for one of her yummy biscuits but Mrs. Jones rebuffs her with “I don’t bake for the likes of you” …. whereupon she’s spirited away to the fairy kitchen at the Cove to do just that for eternity. (Welsh Terror)

Great stories these (esp Up Like A Good Girl, Thou Shalt Not Suffer A Witch ... and Changeling, IMO - I've not read or heard Charles' recommendation). Most of them read like horrored-up folklore.

[jonathan122]

Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch - Dorothy K. Haynes; illustrated by Mervyn Peake (1949; B&W 1996)

The Head
The Gay Goshawk
Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch...
The "Bean-Nighe"
The Cure*
Three Times Round*
Paying Guests
Changeling
Gas
Delirium
Music in the Memory
Such a Beautiful Life
Class
Pentecost - A Flashback
Tinker's Child
Miss Vestal Visits
The Memory
Good Bairns
Whuppittie Scoorie
The Nest
Up, Like a Good Girl*
Thirst
Dorothy Dean*
The Trap
Miss Poplar
Double Summer Time
It Was in the Month of January*
Windfall
The Peculiar Case of Mrs. Grimmond*
Fully Integrated*
No Cakes and Honey
Vocation*
The Return of the Ritchies
The Sewing Machine*
To Give an Illustration*
A Story at Bedtime

* story added to 1996 edition

"Dear Miss Haynes,

How long I've been in answering your letter which I was so happy to get. I am most glad that you liked the drawings which I made for your book and I wish I could have done the cover for your Robin Ritchie - if its anything like your other stories in the intensity of its atmosphere. Is it published yet?

I wish I could come and see you in Scotland, but how can I get up there? What excuse can I make? We're no longer in Sark - as you can see. But do you ever come to London because DO let us know and come and see us.

I'm having a sequel (horrid word) of Titus Groan published in June called "Gormenghast" - I would love you to read it and to know if you liked it."

- Extract from a letter from Mervyn Peake to Dorothy K. Haynes, included in the 1996 edition of Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch.

[carolinec]

Jul 29, 2009 13:23:45 GMT jonathan122 said:

.. illustrated by Mervyn Peake ..

Oh how I'd love to see those illustrations!

Fascinating extract from the letter. Not sure if I've posted it here (or anyone else has for that matter), but Mervyn Peake's son, Sebastian, has been booked to give his illustrated talk on his father's life and career at FantasyCon in Nottingham in September. I saw him give that talk at a literature festival a few years ago, and it's fascinating.

[cauldronbrewer]

Two days ago I started reading the 1996 edition of Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch (which, fortunately, includes the original Peake illustrations). The stories I've read so far include "The Head," "The 'Bean-Nighe,'" "The Cure," and the title story, each of which is discussed above. They're all excellent, as are "Paying Guests" and "Changeling" (both unpleasant variations on the "little people" theme). I'm finding that I can only read one or two of her stories at a time, however, because every single one of them is so damned bleak. Not exactly the sort of reading to cheer you up when you're stuck at home with a cold.

I await "Up, Like a Good Girl" with a mixture of anticipation and dread.

[dem]

Jan 17, 2013 2:29:24 GMT cauldronbrewer said:

I await "Up, Like a Good Girl" with a mixture of anticipation and dread.

I look forward to your comments on Up, Like A Good Girl in a similar state of trepidation: it's the Slaves of War Orphan Farm of the Tales of Terror series! "Thou Shalt Not Suffer A Witch ..." terrified me as a teen on account of its sheer lack of humour, and Changeling still strikes me as particularly bleak even by DKH standards. It's the world's loss that Dorothy and Charles Birkin never got to collaborate on a story - what a bundle of laughs that would've been.

[cauldronbrewer]

OK, now that I've made it further into the collection it turns out that not every Haynes story is completely grim. Some border on being wry.

[cauldronbrewer]

Jan 17, 2013 20:13:13 GMT dem said:

I look forward to your comments on Up, Like A Good Girl in a similar state of trepidation: it's the Slaves of War Orphan Farm of the Tales of Terror series!

I finally read "Up, Like a Good Girl," and it did not disappoint. It's my favorite in the book so far. The story may be bleak but it's brilliantly written, and I love the way it combines mundane and supernatural horrors. The ending is both creepy and devastating.

I've found all of DKH's orphanage stories ("Up, Like a Good Girl," "Tinker's Child," and "The Memory" are the ones I've read so far) fascinating because of the subject matter and her personal history with it. "Tinker's Child" and "The Memory" both seem ambivalent about orphanage life; "Up, Like a Good Girl," on the other hand, paints a darker picture. All three include the theme of the orphanage girls, not all of whom are actual orphans, trying to one-up each other with stories of how they came to be there; that must be a detail that comes from her own experience.

[dem]

Jan 19, 2013 20:28:45 GMT cauldronbrewer said:

I finally read "Up, Like a Good Girl," and it did not disappoint. It's my favorite in the book so far. The story may be bleak but it's brilliantly written, and I love the way it combines mundane and supernatural horrors. The ending is both creepy and devastating.

Am so glad you ... survived it. Think i've read around twenty-twenty five of her stories in all (only eight of which are included in Thou Shalt Not Suffer A Witch ..." so, clearly a prolific writer as well as an outrageously gifted one), and Up, Like A Good Girl is my pick of the lot, which is not to say the rest are shabby. Very much enjoying your commentary, Mr. B.

[jayaprakash]

I've read a few of these - most recently 'A Lady In The Night' which is wonderfully strange and creepy. I have the impression that Haynes was a very versatile writer, able to be both subtle and brutal as the story at hand occasioned. The collection with Peake's illustrations must be quite a treat - I hope I unearth a copy some day.

[cauldronbrewer]

Dorothy K Haynes - Peacocks and Pagodas and the Best of Dorothy K Haynes (Paul Harris, 1981)

Mervyn Peake

Introduction - Trevor Royle

Peacocks and Pagodas**
Fully Integrated
The Head
It Was in the Month of January*
Kinship*
The Sewing Machine*
The Derelict Track**
Dorothy Dean*
Double Summer Time
A Horizon of Obelisks**
The Peculiar Case of Mrs. Grimmond*
The Wink**
Three Times Round*
My Daughter Lena**
A Man Goes Riding By**
The Flower Bunchers**
The Cure*
King of the Fair**
On Tintock Tap**


* Not included in the original edition of Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch
** Not included in either edition of Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch

I loved Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch enough to track down this collection--and when I ordered it, I wasn't even aware that it would come with a cover by Peake. It was published with assistance from the Scottish Arts Council, so good for them. Of the stories not included in the later (1996) edition of TSNSAW, my favorites are the carnival-themed horror of "King of the Fair" and the proudly Scottish fantasy of "On Tintock Tap." And then there's "Kinship," which includes neither horror nor fantasy but is a brilliant little tearjerker.

[Johnlprobert]

Interesting - my copy of Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch has that Peake illustration on the flyleaf!

[franklinmarsh]

Just read Those Lights And Violins from the old M&S 65 Great Tales Of The Supernatural. Great little story about an odd hotel on a rock that you can only reach by boat. Very suspenseful with great characters.

[Shrink Proof]

BBC Radio 4 have just had a series of readings of five of the tales from "Thou Shalt Not Suffer A Witch". They're each 15 minutes long and still available on the iPlayer - link right here - but you've only got between 12 and 16 days left to hear them...

[helrunar]

I had never heard of Dorothy K. Haynes, but having read the tales by her in the Welsh and Scottish Tales of Terror, I need to track down more by her.  Fascinating about the Mervyn Peake connection.

Great thread!

H.