GHOSTS & SCHOLARS 10 (1988)
Editor - Rosemary Pardoe
Assistant Editors - David Rowlands (Fiction) & Maureen Porter (Reviews)
A Haunted Library Publication
CONTENTS –
“Againbite” by Ron Weighell
Archeological excavations at Welchester Cathedral uncover a series of Anglo-Saxon tombs and, amongst the bones of long-dead bishops, is found a skull from which a circle of bone has been cut to make an amulet. When a further tomb, containing the curiously preserved remains of a Pagan Chieftain, is opened, it may be a mistake to remove the circle of bone from between the dead man’s teeth.
“The Melodrama” by Roger Johnson
A series of letters from Lucy Underwood to her friend, Alice, reveal how the popular tale of Maria Marten’s Murder in the Red Barn may not be quite as the legend tells it. And, when a travelling theatrical company’s production of “The Murder of Maria Marten” visits the location of the crime, there may just be more players on the stage than the script calls for and other crimes may be awaiting punishment.
“Sported Oak” by Alan W. Lear
Dr Tulliver is asked by the College Bursar to keep a watchful eye on Professor Meyrick, the Medieval Historian, who is spending far more time than is considered healthy behind closed doors with an undergraduate named Brome. While the college may be wary of scandal if such a dalliance continues, Tulliver’s encounters with a white beast that flops along the ground and wind-blown newspapers that wrap around a person’s face and grow fingers and mouths suggest that “Enough is most decidedly enough.”
"Jamesian Notes & Queries"
Schalken the Panting: by Rosemary Pardoe, on the location of the painting referred to in Le Fanu’s story.
“Writers In The James Tradition No.7 – M.P. Dare" by Geoffrey K. Nelson
Marcus Paul Dare (1902-62), wrote “Unholy Relics”, a collection of thirteen tales. A genuine student of the occult, Dare’s life appears to have been a puzzle, as certain claims about his education and career were as fictional as his ghosts, while he was sent to prison repeatedly for stealing from churches, bookshops and libraries.
Notes: “Lost Hearts”
The 1987 World’s Classics collection “Casting The Runes And Other Ghost Stories” featured 21 of MRJ’s tales with extensive notes by Michael Cox. The remaining 12 stories are the subject of this new series, with notes compiled by Rosemary Pardoe, David Rowlands, John Alfred Taylor and Ron Weighell.
"A Warning To The Curious, Part Three" by David Rowlands
Focussing on works by H. Russell Wakefield, Arthur Gray, Roger Pater (whose ecclesiastical ghost stories are an acknowledged influence on Rowlands’ tales of Father O’Connor) and Sir T.G. Jackson.
Reviews -
”Ghosts & Scholars”, edited by Richard Dalby and Rosemary Pardoe
“Suffolk And Norfolk” by M.R. James
“Masters Of Fantasy 3: M.R. James” edited by Richard Dalby and produced by David Sutton
“White Chappell – Scarlet Tracings” by Iain Sinclair
“Chatterton” by Peter Ackroyd
“The Virago Book Of Ghost Stories” edited by Richard Dalby, introduction by Jennifer Uglow
“A Demon On The Stairs” by Leslie Halliwell
“The Third Book Of After Midnight Stories” edited by Amy Myers
“Dracula’s Brood” edited by Richard Dalby
“George MacDonald” by William Raeper
(Brief Notes on “The Ghost Stories of M.R. James” (Brompton Books) and “A Warning To The Curious”, selected by Ruth Rendell.)
ILLUSTRATIONS-
Alan Hunter (Front cover)
Allen Koszowski
Ros Calverley
Nick Maloret
Stella Hender
Jim Pitts
Nick Blinko
