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Post by Swampirella on May 14, 2017 16:52:37 GMT
I just finished his collection "Darkest Past: Haunting Tales" and was blown away. Passing Affliction The female narrator tells the reader of her experience fostering a rather odd little girl, Anna Pinter, who's developed OCD after being removed from her home. When she tries to bond with her it starts out well, but of course things start to turn bad from thereon in. The Westhoff Version The narrator, his wife Kelly, and son Joseph go to a farmhouse in the Pyrenees near Bordeaux for a week's holiday. They all have a lovely relaxing time, until invited for drinks at their nearest neighbours, the Westhoffs, at the farmhouse across the fields. Morris Westhoff invites the narrator to taste-test some bought foie gras against his own home-made kind. I'm not going to say any more than that, but this is a very creepy story. The Other One Tom writes about his family's experiences at Mortimer Lodge at Christmas time 1952. It seems to be haunted by the ghost of Joshua Mortimer, who disappeared on Christmas Eve, 1887. There were rumours that he had been killed by his father, who had a furious temper, but the body was never found. The Setting Sea The narrator finds an undiscovered original painting by Edward Yeats at an estate sale. He then has the nerve to talk the seller down from 5 pounds to 4. This could pay for the Tuscan retreat he's been longing to retire to. Due to his insistance on introducting sinister elements to his paintings, Yeats only found recognition for his works after his death in the winter of 1900. This painting "Barons Point" shows a "combination of drak, theatrical skies hanging above the ocean's imposing swell" as well as an abandoned lighthouse with a hanging man dangling from the grimy railings of the lighthouse's balcony. He makes an appointment to show the painting to a friend, Daniel Whieldon, a recognized authority on Dorset's many artists. Upon arrival at his home in the Purbecks, he's greeted with bad news. This story impressed me the most of all, and all the stories impressed me. Alderway The narrator is asked to swear to his dying wife Caroline that he'll "never go to the church at Alderway". Apparently she did some research on his ancestors and found something quite unusual. Of course he does visit it, years later after finding her hidden research papers, to his everlasting regret.  |
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