Queer Stories in 'The Tatler' 1926-7

[dem]

Queer Stories in The Tatler

HAVE YOU HAD ANY WEIRD EXPERIENCES?

If so it may bring you a £50 Prize!
THERE are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy," says Shakespeare, and certainly the inexplicable occurs with persistent and exciting frequency. THE TATLER, interested in all that is novel and strange, invites its readers to send in an account of any curious and inexplicable episode they may have experienced or heard of at first hand which verges on the occult or abnormal, or which cannot be easily explained by ordinary laws as we understand them.
The article which is adjudged of most interest will receive a prize of £50. The second in merit will receive £20, while every such experience which we publish will be generously paid for. The identity of every subscriber will be kept strictly anonymous if required.
The articles may be from 300 to 1,000 words in length, but should be as concise as is possible without interfering with the narrative.
These articles are to be sent to the Editor, 6, Great New Street, London, E.C. 4. The adjudication will be made on March 30 next, which will allow our Colonial readers to contribute, and the decision of the Editor will be final.
Below we print a story which we have taken from Sir William Orpen's interesting book, "An Onlooker in France," followed next week by an account of an amazing ghost story taken from that wonderful book, "A Resident Magistrate in New Guinea," written by Captain C. A. W. Monckton, which will give you some idea of what we want, but you will readily understand that such experiences have a wide range, both in character and climate, so that you need not hesitate to send in your "Story" even if it is on different lines to those hitherto published.
— The Tatler, 13 October 1926.

1926

13 October
Sir William Orpen An Onlooker in France
Douglas Ainslie - Adventures Social and Literary [Extract]

20 October
Captain C. A. W. Monckton - Some Experiences of a New Guinea Resident Magistrate

24 November
Anon - What is the Explanation?
Anon - A Weird Experience

1 December
M. L. K. - The Padding Steps
Brig. General C. T. B. - A Weird Dream Story

8 December
Major F. C. O. J. - Phantom or Fancy?
Omega - The Psychic Handbag

15 December
M. B. - story of a ghostly visitant in an old house in a provincial town
C. M. G. A. - Untitled
M. S. O. - A Strange Tale of the Occult

22 December
Anon - The Devil of the Cave
? [Copy in British Newspaper Archive lacks page containing rest of instalment]

29 December
A. C. K. - A Queer Tale of the Southern Latitudes
Anon - The Unlighted Fire - A True Tale
Maureen - Two Strange Experiences

1927

5 January
M. L. S. - A Message from the Dead
J. C. A. - Pope's Ghost — A Stanton Harcourt Experience
W. G. E. - A Thought-Transference Experience

12 January
M. B. K. C. - A Super-Natural Experience
J.P. - A Queer Story of Cardiff

19 January
Anon - Physical or Metaphysical?
H. G. - A Galloping Ghost

26 January
C. H. V. B. - Crucified

2 February
Anon - Marianne

9 February
H. A. - Christmas 1897
T.L.J. - What is It?

16 February
Gentucca - A Curious Experience
I. L. G. Two Till Four A.M.

23 February
Anonymous - A Foxhunters Shade
K. H. - A Photographers Experience

March 2
G. K. M. - A Haunted House in Hammersmith
A. C. C. - The True Story of a Ghostly Wind

March 9
G. B. W. - A Psychic Warning
M. J. M. - An Unsolved Mystery
T. D. W. - Phantom Footsteps

March 16
E. A. M. - A Musical Mystery
A. A. H. B. - A Story From India
R. R. - My Most Weird Experience

March 23
L. G. E. - The Phantom Actress
M. C. - A Thing Unseen — Unheard

March 30
A. C. G. H. - Footsteps
A. E. E. E. - A Queer Story of the Coast

H.Hookway Cowles

6 April
A. B. - The Unsolved Mystery of the Phantom Car
F. N. - The Phantom Paper

13 April
A. E. - A Weird Experience
K. A. C. - Voices From The Void
J. C. R. - An Unaccountable Dream
E. F. - A Prophetic Dream

20 April
C. H. - The Grave
C. M. B - The Barnekow's Ring

27 April
B. C. W. - "Jimmy Peters"
Gerald Atherton - Fly-By-Night

4 May
Colin H. Cattey - The Cedar of Lebanon
W. P. F. - Mystery
E. M. - A Queer Coincidence

BNA have no issues post-11 May until 6 July 1927, after which the series continues sporadically through to the end of the year, resuming in the next.

20 July
V. W. D. - The House of Terrors
E. M. S. - A Weird Experience of a Norwegian Girl

27 July
J. F. O'C. - Seven Years in a Haunted House
T. G. - A Television Story

10 August
K. H. C. - The Cat-Faced Man
M. D. B. - A Photographic Manifestation

24 August
G. D. W. - A Pre-enacted Tragedy
J. H. H. T. - The Spirit of the Dead

7 September
G. M. E. - Told in the Red Sea

Howard Elcock

28 September
A. L. - Three Photographs
D. G. P. C. - On the Steps of the Altar

5 October 1927
P. W. - The Ghostly Cavalier

12 October
J. B. - When Idols are Disturbed
I. S. - The Wise Woman of Ranoch

2 November
J. G. S. - A Witness from Beyond
Sangoma - My Weirdest Experience

16 November
R. M. G. - A Ghostly Bird of Ill-Omen
C. W. M. - A Galloway Ghost
V. P. E. - Resurgam

23 November
M. M. C. ff. - The Mandarin's Robe
M. E. - My Dream

7 December
V. R. S. - The Phantom of the Half Dead
M. M. C. ff. - A Meeting with the Devil
M. - "Chanson Triste"
J. M. - A Neglected Warning

14 December
Anon - Some Strange Psychic Happenings
Anon - Fore-knowledge

28 December
H. C. H. - A Haunted Indian Pool
Anon - Second-Sight

[dem]

Webster Murray, The Haunted House, The Tatler, 1 December 1922
Leonard Potts, The Idol, The Tatler, 12 December 1928

Sir William Orpen - An Onlooker in France
Douglas Ainslie - Adventures Social and Literary [Extract]
Captain C. A. W. Monckton - Some Experiences of a New Guinea Resident Magistrate
Anon - What is the Explanation?
Anon - A Weird Experience
M. L. K. - The Padding Steps
Brig. General C. T. B. - A Weird Dream Story
Major F. C. O. J. - Phantom or Fancy?
Omega - The Psychic Handbag
M. B. - story of a ghostly visitant in an old house in a provincial town
C. M. G. A. - Untitled
M. S. O. - A Strange Tale of the Occult
Anon - The Devil of the Cave
A. C. K. - A Queer Tale of the Southern Latitudes
Anon - The Unlighted Fire - A True Tale
Maureen - Two Strange Experiences


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Queer Stories 1926 - original pages

Queer Stories 1926 Text Only


1927 Jan - March

M. L. S. - A Message from the Dead
J. C. A. - Pope's Ghost — A Stanton Harcourt Experience
W. G. E. - A Thought-Transference Experience
M. B. K. C. - A Super-Natural Experience
J.P. - A Queer Story of Cardiff
Anon - Physical or Metaphysical?
H. G. - A Galloping Ghost
C. H. V. B. - Crucified
Anon - Marianne
H. A. - Christmas 1897
T.L.J. - What is It?
Gentucca - A Curious Experience
I. L. G. Two Till Four A.M.
Anonymous - A Foxhunters Shade
K. H. - A Photographers Experience
G. K. M. - A Haunted House in Hammersmith
A. C. C. - The True Story of a Ghostly Wind
G. B. W. - A Psychic Warning
M. J. M. - An Unsolved Mystery
T. D. W. - Phantom Footsteps
E. A. M. - A Musical Mystery
A. A. H. B. - A Story From India
R. R. - My Most Weird Experience
L. G. E. - The Phantom Actress
M. C. - A Thing Unseen — Unheard
A. C. G. H. - Footsteps
A. E. E. E. - A Queer Story of the Coast

Queer Stories 1927: Jan-March - original pages

Queer Stories 1927: Jan-March Text Only

[helrunar]

Beautiful art. Many thanks for these scans!

Oooh, I've come over all queer...

Hel.

[dem]

G Vernon Stokes (?)

"QUEER STORY" COMPETITION AWARDS

The decision for the best and second-best "Queer Story" has been delayed to allow for contributions from abroad, and we apologise to our readers for such delay. The first prize of £50 has been awarded to "L. G. E." for her story, "The Phantom Actress," which appeared in our issue of March 23, and the second prize of £20 is awarded to "A. B." for the story entitled Mystery of the Haunted Car," which appeared in our issue of April 6 last. The Editor would like it to be understood that, although the competition is ended, he will pay generously for contributions on similar lines if accepted for publication
— The Tatler, 7 September 1927

Queer Stories #3, April 6 — Sept. 7 1927

A. B. - The Unsolved Mystery of the Phantom Car
F. N. - The Phantom Paper
A. E. - A Weird Experience
K. A. C. - Voices From The Void
J. C. R. - An Unaccountable Dream
E. F. - A Prophetic Dream
C. H. - The Grave
C. M. B - The Barnekow's Ring
B. C. W. - "Jimmy Peters"
Gerald Atherton - Fly-By-Night
Colin H. Cattey - The Cedar of Lebanon
W. P. F. - Mystery
E. M. - A Queer Coincidence
V. W. D. - The House of Terrors
E. M. S. - A Weird Experience of a Norwegian Girl
J. F. O'C. - Seven Years in a Haunted House
T. G. - A Television Story
K. H. C. - The Cat-Faced Man
M. D. B. - A Photographic Manifestation
G. D. W. - A Pre-enacted Tragedy
J. H. H. T. - The Spirit of the Dead
G. M. E. - Told in the Red Sea

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[dem]

A. E. Bestall, The Ghost Story, The Tatler, 28 Nov 1930

A. L. - Three Photographs
D. G. P. C. - On the Steps of the Altar
P. W. - The Ghostly Cavalier
J. B. - When Idols are Disturbed
I. S. - The Wise Woman of Ranoch
J. G. S. - A Witness from Beyond
Sangoma - My Weirdest Experience
R. M. G. - A Ghostly Bird of Ill-Omen
C. W. M. - A Galloway Ghost
V. P. E. - Resurgum
M. M. C. ff. - The Mandarin's Robe
M. E. - My Dream
V. R. S. - The Phantom of the Half Dead
M. M. C. ff. - A Meeting with the Devil
M. - "Chanson Triste"
J. M. - A Neglected Warning
Anon - Some Strange Psychic Happenings
Anon - Fore-knowledge
H. C. H. - A Haunted Indian Pool
Anon - Second-Sight

H.Hookway Cowles (?), Witness from the Beyond, The Tatler, 2 Nov 1927

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[dem]

Christmas Ghost & Horror fiction from the Tatler

E. F. Benson - By the Sluice: (Tatler, 25 November 1927)

John Peterson - The Ouija Board: (Tatler, 30 May 1923)

M. N. Thomas - The Lanshawe Spectre: (Tatler, 12 December 1928)

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[Swampirella]

Many thanks for transcribing all the Tatler stories, Dem. I thought I'd read all of Benson's stories but this one was new to me & "delightful".

[dem]

Dec 19, 2023 15:01:53 GMT Swampirella said:

Many thanks for transcribing all the Tatler stories, Dem. I thought I'd read all of Benson's stories but this one was new to me & "delightful".

Jack Adrian first revived By the Sluice for Fine Feathers & Other Stories (1994), a compilation of EFB's uncollected fiction, and, Mike Ashley included it in The Outcast & Other Dark Tales in the British Library Tales of the Weird series (2020). Not sure it's turned up anywhere else.

I hope you enjoyed the "Queer Stories" much as I have, Swampi. The earlier ones maybe tend toward the worthy but dull but things pick up considerably on Crucified after which some of the contributors really let themselves go.

It could be we're not yet done with The Tatler ...

[ripper]

I don't think I have read anything from this magazine, and am enjoying working my way through the accounts very much.

[dem]

The Phantom Colliery

The circumstances of which I relate took place when I was making a journey by car one evening in late autumn. It had been my practice when having to make a long run to start off in the afternoon and carry on till about midnight, and then looking for a quiet lane or side road, I would run the car two or three hundred yards up, and have four or five hours' sleep before proceeding on again. It was getting late, and I was on the look-out for such a place. Espying what I wanted I turned off the main road, proceeded up a short distance, stopped the engine, and got out to have a stretch.

It was a warm, fine night for the time of year, and the moon, which was nearly at the full, rode high in the heavens, showing up the countryside most distinctly. The road I was on was evidently little used, as it was grass-grown, and alongside ran an old rusty line of railway leading to an old colliery close by, whose gaunt headgear and wheels stood out stark and grim against the sky. The building, half in ruin, with the moonlight showing through the broken and dilapidated windows. An old gangway leading up to the pithead looked like the enormous vertebræ of some prehistoric animal. It was not exactly a cheery sort of place, but here at any rate I would not be disturbed, and having had a sandwich and a pull at my flask prepared to do my best to get what sleep I could. It took a long time to get comfortable, but eventually I must have dropped off into a doze.

Waking with a start, and at first wondering where I was, at length realised; but to my surprise the old colliery was lit up, and lights streamed from the old windows. Quite distinctly I saw the exhaust of the winding engines and the great black wheels spinning round. Shadows passed and repassed the lighted windows, and the greatest activity seemed to prevail. But the strange thing to me was that for all the activity and work that was going on not a sound came to my ears. But as I watched the whirling wheels they were suddenly obscured by a great cloud of smoke and dust which shot up, and when this last cleared away the great wheels were still.

A surging crowd surrounded the colliery, and amongst the crowd could be seen women and children. The women seemed distracted, and went about wringing their hands, and as I, still fascinated, watched, I saw the great wheels slowly begin to revolve again, and shortly parties of men began to force their way through the crowd. Each party was carrying a stretcher.

They advanced along the old railway line, passing close to where I sat. And as they passed the hair rose on my scalp, for I saw that those who carried and those who were being carried were not of this world. Those who carried looked straight ahead with a grim, bleak stare, while on the stretchers lay bodies partially covered with sacking. An arm showing here and a leg there, all black and blistered. Heads that looked not like heads, the hair being burnt to a woolly-looking mass of charcoal, and above all, to add to the horror, was the all-pervading stench of burnt flesh and hair. Again and again these dreadful parties passed and repassed and held me rooted to the spot. Gradually the forms began to get nebulous and indistinct, and looking round I saw that dawn was breaking, the whole countryside shrouded in mist. The gaunt pithead frame and empty broken windows showing faintly through the wreaths of fog all silent and still. With a great thankfulness in my heart I started up the engine, and getting on to the main road left that dreadful place behind.

I stopped further on at a small village and going to the inn found it just opening up for the day.

After an exceedingly good breakfast I felt more like myself again, and getting into conversation with the landlord I related to him my experience and asked if he could give me any particulars.
He looked at me for awhile and then said slowly: "It is exactly twenty years ago that I lost my father and two brothers in the explosion which killed over fifty men and wrecked completely the colliery you are speaking of. And if it had not been for my being too late that morning, I too, would probably have been amongst the dead." I thanked him for his information and departed.

Ever since I have always given that district a wide berth, and not for all the gold in the world would I ever go near that place again. — R. H. F.

***

— The Tatler, 10 October 1928

[dem]

1928

As of January 1928, 'Queer Stories' became 'Weird Stories' and stayed that way into the following year by which time the series was a thing of fits and starts.

4. January
C. G. K. - A Ghost Friend
A. M. S. - Two Dreams
A. G. - A Ghostly "Thos. Cook"!

11. January
M. H. R. - A Ghost that was heard and not seen
K. B. - The House of the Hand

18. January
A South African Teacher - The Odd Room
E. M. - The Curse

1 February
G. R. B. M. - Told in an Indian Bungalow
F - "Tower Bridge"

15. February
Eric Hampton - The Laughing Coolie
Robert Darrell - The Call from Beyond

29. February
J. F. - The Mystic Guardian
M. G. - A Bishop's Warning

Howard Elcock

4. April
Mimosa - The Feather
Anon - The Mortuary
A. J. M. - Two Teacup Fortunes which came True

25. April
A. J. B. - The Ghostly Navigator
V. L. - The Gates
S. M. B. - The Mystic Basin

2 May
Miss Nell Wood St. John Montague - The Dragging Feet

G Vernon Stokes (?)

9 May
C. S. D. - The Mystery still remains
M. de S. P. - The Wedding Ring
Anon - A Weird and Startling Dream — that came true

G Vernon Stokes (?)

16 May
C. - In the Tiller Flat
Songib - The Vine

***
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[dem]

1928 (Cont.)

Howard Elcock

The series limped on into the following year, by which time Illustrated Newspapers Ltd had published a Weird Stories anthology compiling sixty-plus items from the previous two years.

27 June
G. A. W. - Verbal Instructions
F. H. L. T. - November 13

Dudley Tennant (?)

4 July
D. F. D. - The Lady in White: A Vision of an Auto Accident to be
Anon - A Prophecy of War

Ernest Baker (?)

18 July
Lionel Leslie - Mysterious Methods
W. S. M. - The Stylus
P. G. - The Music on the Mountain

1 August
R. E. B. - A Ghostly Company
P. C. - Back From Beyond

12 September
T. L. J. - A Weird Experience

H.Hookway Cowles(?)

26 September
L. B. - Elder Flowers
T. M. M. G. - A Story of the Mutiny

3 October
Baron Spook - The Red Hand
H. M. - A Tale of Nelson's Days

10 October
R. H. F. - The Phantom Colliery

Dudley Tennant

12 December
Kynmon - The Woman Who Came Back
"Bettina." - A Curious Haunting
R. E. B. - What was It? Or, The Dark Lady

***
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[dem]

Dying embers of what has been, for me, a consistently rewarding series. Of these I particularly like Mynd, haunted bench miniature The Vacant Seat, the ghoulish The War Drum, All Hallows E'en and The Organist. Not so keen on the closing A Weird Story.

The Tatler would continue to publish supernatural and horror fiction through the new decade, so we may yet add some of the more interesting examples to this thread.

1929

Reginald Cleaver

23 January
W. Crampton - The War Drum

22 May
M. B. - All Hallows E'en
N. E. F. - "Yutoi"

10 July
Martin Gilkes - Mynd

4 September
H. D. C. - The Vacant Seat
E. G. P. - The Dog
S. H. - The Face in the Photograph

13 November
F. M. - The Banshee
A. B. C. - The Coach and Four

1930

26 February
S. R. - An Uncanny Experiece
H. M. D. - A Warning Dream

23 April
David Bealey - The Organist

13 August
A. D. - The Loughborough Ghost

1931

7 January
G. D. B. - A Weird Story

Dudley Tennant (?)

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[dem]

One I missed;

Howard Elcock

23 May 1928
Anon - The House of the Evil Deed
M. B. - The Ill-Wisher

The House of the Evil Deed would soon resurface in the Illustrated Newspapers anthology Weird Stories

Attachments:

House of the Evil Deed.pdf (61.92 KB)

[dem]

A pre- and post- 'Queer/ Weird stories' selection.

Dudley Tennant: The Haunted Roundabout, The Tatler, 13 March 1929

George Thursby - The Haunted Bungalow: (15 Oct. 1902). The Plantation owner and wife land their dream summer home. The landlord offers suspiciously reasonable terms on account of it's haunted by "something that walks sometimes" from the ruined churchyard next door.

Tom Gallon - The Ghost of Philip Quirk: (23 March 1904). Dying confession of a gold prospector haunted to madness by the ghost of the treacherous friend he dropped over a ravine.

Lewis Court - Haunted: A Ghostly Story: (30 Nov. 1904). Gorlin, Co. Cork. Ghost of a Cavalier killed fighting in the Civil War. When the phantom organist plays a funeral march, a death in the Connor family is imminent.

Amy F. Cackett - The Grey Lady of the West Wing: (21 Dec. 1904). A Christmas ghost hunt at the ancestral hall brings Miss Pim and guests face to ghastly face with the tragic haunter of closed rooms.

Barry Pain - After the Séance: (8 Nov. 1905). Mr. Popper, Spiritualist, reports on a productive wet November afternoon's session, memorable for a special guest appearance from 'Marie Antoinette.'

Leo Trevor - Two Family Ghost Stories: (27 Nov. 1907). A depressed guardsman at Albany Barracks, Regents Park, and his lover, a stage actress of repute, conduct a tryst on the astral; Uncle Frank's premonition of his brother's death down a lift-shaft in Norway.

Elliott O'Donnell - The Ghost of Carnaquilla: (30 Nov. 1910). Eventful Christmas Eve for Godfrey, waylaid by Cymolige, a beautiful phantom Druidess, during a late night trek across the moors and lured deep within a subterranean labyrinth. He is spared sacrifice on the stone altar thanks to the sprig of mistletoe his god-daughter pinned to his hat before he set out. Godfrey and Cymolige are wed, but their union is brief.

Georgiana Countess of Dudley - The Haunted Room: (19 Nov. 1913). The Countess sleeps overnight in the family ghost's room at a friend's Kentish Manor House. She's awakened by the drawing aside of a curtain by unseen hand and a heavy weight pressing down upon her ...

'Sabretache' - The Warning: A Christmas Tale of the East: (27 Nov. 1918). Calcutta. A curse dating from Christmas 1780 when councillor Sir Rowland Hobhouse caught his young trophy wife in the arms of ensign Gus Williamson, whom she'd loved all along. Hobhouse first throttled his rival, then threw his bride from the roof onto the stone slabs below. The murderer's evil spirit lingers and No.—, Elysium Row remains lethal to members of the Williamson family.

'Simplex' - The Haunted Roundabout: (13 March 1929). A phantom corpse haunts a fairground attraction.

M. N. Thomas - Sold: (17 Dec. 1930). Prospective buyers invariably think twice once the caretaker explains why a certain room must always remain locked.

Adrian Berge - Doomed: (27 April 1938). Macassar. When a young English pianist delicately rejects the advances of a local youth, he retaliates with black magic. Dora is stricken with leprosy. A kindly witch-doctor intervenes on her behalf, but can he lift the curse?

***

I've rejigged the running order for both PDFs (whatever its dubious merits, The Haunted Bungalow doesn't make for the strongest of openers). The Haunted Room, Two Family Ghost Stories and closer Doomed read like refugees from the Queer/Weird stories. Personal picks would be The Haunted Roundabout, Doomed, The Warning, Haunted, The Ghost of Carnaquilla and The Ghost of Philip Quirk. Should you download the original pages version, look out for a special guest appearance from social butterfly/deaths head moth, Charles Birkin.

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