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Post by dem on Oct 18, 2016 6:08:08 GMT
Peter Haining (ed.) - The Mammoth Book of 20th Century Ghost Stories (Robinson, 1998)  Gordon Crabbe
I. The Golden Era
Henry James – The Third Person
H. G. Wells – The Presence by the Fire
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – How It Happened
Jack London – A Ghostly Duel
Theodore Dreiser – The Hand
Edgar Wallace – The Ghost of Down Hill
P. G. Wodehouse – Honeysuckle Cottage
J. B. Priestley – The Old Dark House (extract from Beknighted, 1929)
E. M. Delafield – Sophy Mason Comes Back
Agatha Christie – In a Glass Darkly
II. The Phantom Army
Arthur Machen – The Bowmen
Stella Gibbons – The Other Side of the Medal
A. Merritt – Three Lines of Old French
Alfred Noyes – The Lusitania Waits
Algernon Blackwood – Vengeance is Mine
Henry Kuttner – We Are The Dead
Daphne du Maurier – The Escort
John Steinbeck – The Elf In Algiers
James Hadley Chase – The Mirror in Room 22
Stevie Smith – Is There a Life Beyond the Gravy?
III. The Modern Tradition
Pamela Hansford Johnson – Sloane Square
Muriel Spark – The Leaf Sweeper
Winston Graham – At The Chalet Lartrec
William Trevor – The Love of a Good Woman
Ruth Rendell – The Haunting of Shawley Rectory
Mary Higgins Clark – Voice in the Coalbin
Fay Weldon – A Good Sound Marriage
Julian Barnes – A Self-Possessed Woman
John Mortimer – A Programmed Christmas Carol
Peter Haining – A Figment in TimeBlurb: One hundred years ago the most famous literary ghost story, The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James, was published and has become an enduring best-seller. In the intervening century a great many other distinguished writers have tried their hand at this most popular genre of storytelling - a number of them basing their fictional tales on actual supernatural occurrences they had experienced.
In this wide-ranging collection divided into three sections - The Golden Era, The Phantom Army, and The Modern Tradition - Peter Haining has assembled an outstanding selection of the best of these literary twentieth-century ghost stories, by writers as diverse as Jack London and P. G. Wodehouse; Daphne du Maurier and John Steinbeck; Winston Graham and John Mortimer ... and many more.
All the writers in this collection have made uniquely chilling contributions to supernatural fiction, so ...
you have been warned!I love Peter Haining's other contributions to the 'Mammoth' series - Haunted House Stories, Modern Ghost Stories, True Hauntings - but could never quite work up the same level of enthusiasm for 20th Century Ghost Stories. Even as a would-be eventual Haining completest, this was very much a case of "will probably get it at one day" as opposed to the "must-have" excitement engendered by the masterly ... Haunted Houses. It's the emphasis on "literature" worries me. "Literature"? That's like Robert Phillips' Omnibus of 20th Century Ghost Stories from the same publisher (Via Carroll & Graf). Does my bum look anti-intellectual in this if I say that, just because a story is well written/ technically perfect/ whatever, doesn't necessarily follow that it is the tiniest bit interesting, let alone "uniquely chilling" (citation very needed), certainly not to cheap thrill seekers like self. But then I read and fell in love with P. G. Wodehouse's Honeysuckle Cottage in Louise Welsh's Ghosts: 100 Stories (beware: more proper lit.) and, well, suddenly 20th Century Ghost Stories seemed a more attractive proposition, if only for the one story, though, Haining opting to include so many populist authors, am confident he will spring a few pleasant surprises. And of course, there's the little matter of Gordon Crabbe's magnificent cover painting. Henry Kuttner - We Are The Dead: ( Weird Tales, April, 1937). Arlington Cemetery, Memorial Day. Senator Kennicott, who has designs toward the Presidency, is prevailed upon by his warmongering advisor, Hobson , to pass a controversial bill which may ultimately lead to war. Hobson opposes the bill - "it's very aggressive ... we don't want the hatred of other countries" - but self-interest threatens to get the better of his conscience until a few words with a very young soldier persuades him back to the righteous path. A furious Hobson threatens to ruin him unless he reconsiders. Pamela Hansford Johnson - Sloane Square: ( Jeremy Scott [ed.], At Close Of Eve, 1947). Inexplicably strange and frightening adventure of Philip, a mentally exhausted young soldier trying to get from Sloane Square to Royal Oak by rail. Is the deserted platform at West Brompton the end of life and time? Has the journey no end? Will he never be free of the unsettling reverend and his entourage? What is real and what is illusion? And so on. In The Guide To Supernatural Fiction, E. F. Bleiler comes down very heavy on the At Close Of Eve anthology - "Mostly mandarin fiction [what's that?], needlessly obscure, over-written and pretentious" - although he absolves Sloane Square (and Dorothy K. Haynes' .. Thou Shalt Not Suffer A Witch) from blame.
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Post by ripper on Oct 18, 2016 18:35:03 GMT
Some real heavyweights lurking in the table of contents, but as you say, Dem, just because they are literary masters doesn't necessarily mean they can write a good ghost story. I love Wodehouse's 'Jeeves and Wooster stories' but it's a jolt to see him in this type of collection. Is his contribution a serious ghost story? Also, I am intrigued by Peter Haining himself having a piece in this one, and I see he hasn't forgotten to include an extract.  |
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Post by dem on Oct 18, 2016 19:34:02 GMT
Some real heavyweights lurking in the table of contents, but as you say, Dem, just because they are literary masters doesn't necessarily mean they can write a good ghost story. I love Wodehouse's 'Jeeves and Wooster stories' but it's a jolt to see him in this type of collection. Is his contribution a serious ghost story? Also, I am intrigued by Peter Haining himself having a piece in this one, and I see he hasn't forgotten to include an extract. Have put 20th Century Ghostson the back burner until I've made a dent in 100 Ghastly Little Ghost Stories which looks the better bet of the two, though might give PH's contribution a go later. As you might expect, the Wodehouse story is light comedy, very enjoyable on it's own terms, and, best of all, the ghost is the genuine article. And, yes, Peter's trademark extract is suitably annoying. Scanning the contents I first took The Old Dark House for a stand-alone short, but no such bloody luck. |
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Post by dem on Oct 18, 2016 20:45:22 GMT
So ... Peter Haining - A Figment In Time: Bloomsbury, present day. A veteran ghost-hunter exchanges verbal communication with a pair of spectres in an alley next door to the British Museum. On the strength of this 3½ pager, The Beefsteak Room, and The Shortest Ghost Story In The World, it's tempting to suggest that Mr. Haining reserved his best fiction for the 'factual' studies of Spring-Heel'd Jack, Sweeney Todd, The Croglin Grange Vampire & Co |
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Post by ripper on Oct 19, 2016 8:37:28 GMT
So ... Peter Haining - A Figment In Time: Bloomsbury, present day. A veteran ghost-hunter exchanges verbal communication with a pair of spectres in an alley next door to the British Museum. On the strength of this 3½ pager, The Beefsteak Room, and The Shortest Ghost Story In The World, it's tempting to suggest that Mr. Haining reserved his best fiction for the 'factual' studies of Spring-Heel'd Jack, Sweeney Todd, The Croglin Grange Vampire & Co lol Nice one, Dem. With all due respect to PH, seeing his name among such well-known and respected authors is very odd. If seeing P.G. Wodehouse there is a jolt, then seeing PH is like being struck by lightning. Speaking of PGW, I am pleased to hear that his is at least a genuine ghost, even if the tale itself is light-hearted. |
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Post by dem on Oct 22, 2016 4:48:29 GMT
WWII was a non-stop jolly up if this pair are to be believed. And they should be. The second is vouched for by several respectable gentlemen of the press.
James Hadley Chase - The Mirror In Room 22: (Slipstream: A Royal Air Force Anthology, Eyre & Sottiswoode, 1946). The gloomy old country house is already getting the men down even before the visiting Wing Commander chimes in with with the tragic history of messy razor suicides connected with the haunted chamber.
John Steinbeck - The Elf In Algiers: (Pause to Wonder, 1944). Charley Lytle, leprechaun, does his bit for the war effort. The British Consul and a riotous assembly of war correspondents are the grateful benefactors of his benign magic.
It's probably just me, and there's no "bad" story among the above, but this anthology has yet to really take off.
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