Bier-Balk and Corpse-Gate

 One of the traditions during my countdown to Halloween is the reading of  Edith Nesbit's Man-Size in Marble, a ghost story set on Halloween night. Since I first read it in The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories back in 2006 (I know, a long time ago), I have been fascinated by it. Now, I have at least four books with the story in it, most of them anthologies. And I have also been reading a good deal of critical analysis of the story. Recently, I watched its adaptation on BBC, stupidly retitled Woman of Stone, which was absolutely rubbish (no but seriously, it was bad and they just didn't get it). But I digress. From Man-Size in Marble, I also learned two terms that should be in the vocabulary of every fan of Halloween and Gothic horror: bier-balk and corpse-gate. A bier-balk or bierbalk is a path across a road to a church, sometimes across a field, taken by the funeral march. A corpse-gate, or lychgate (which is a way cooler and sinister sounding term) is the roof under which you put a corpse before the arrival of the clergyman. I often see lychgates near churches here in England. I will see them in a different light from now on, and will try to find bierbalks nearby too. And I hope one day to visit in a sort of Halloween pilgrimage the village of Brenzett, which inspired Edith Nesbit to write this most excellent ghost story and where the real ghostly statues are. Be that as it may, bier-balk and corpse-gate are your words of the day.

Brenzett (a ghostly pilgrimage)

As you probably know, if you read this blog for long enough, I love the stories of E. Nesbit, especially her ghost stories, and most of all Man-Size in Marble, one of the very first horror stories ever set on Halloween. It is the perfect scary story for the spooky season. Well, I discovered last year, during the official countdown to Halloween, that the village of Brenzett was not invented by Nesbit, but really exists, in Kent. So it's now on my list of places to visit in the UK. From the pictures Ihave seen, it looks beautifully eerie. I will blog again about the story in the following weeks (well of course), but until then, if some of my readers have visited Brenzett, or even live there (you never know), please let me know in the comments.

Man-Size in Marble for Halloween

I know I have suggested this ghost story by E. Nesbit before and more than once, but Man-Size in Marble is for me the story to experience on Halloween night and I read it at least once during the season. Here it is in one of the few audio versions I found on YouTube, not the perfect one, but I thought it was all right. I hope you enjoy it.

The Power of Darkness: Tales of Terror

As tonight's countdown to Halloween's post, I want to promote the work of E. Nesbit, one of my favourite ghost story  writers. She was more famous for children fiction, but she wrote a few great supernatural stories, which is how I first discovered her. The first story I ever read of her was Man-size in marble, which I blogged about here. It is set on Halloween night. So I was hooked. So I bought a few years later The Power of Darkness: Tales of Terror. There are a good deal of tales of terror in them, but the title is not completely accurate: some stories could just as well be labelled scifi (albeit with a good dose of fear), in some the ghostly manifestation is explained rationally, but not before giving the reader a few chills until the reveal.

You will find her ghost stories in many anthologies, nevertheless I would recommend that you get your hand on this book so you do not miss any treasure. The first story in the book is Man-size in marble, so it is ideal to start your Halloween season. Unlike the other Edith (Wharton), whom I blogged about recently, Nesbit displays evil far more concretely. The ghost is far more openly menacing, and she does not shy away from blood and gore when the story requires it. Apart from Man-size, I particularly enjoyed Number 17, which I mentioned here, The Haunted House (Nesbit's take on the vampire myth),  In the Dark and The Pavilion. They are going to make your skin crawl, give you a chill, whatever cliché you can think about. I truly love this author.

More Halloween stories

For my countdown to Halloween post, I am plugging another book of Halloween stories. Like Halloween: Magic, Mystery and the Macabre, it is edited by Paula Guran. In fact, this one, simply called Halloween, is its older brother, or its prototype. It is also an anthology of many traditional horror stories set around Halloween, although there are also more modern authors. You will find among the classics Man-Size in Marble by Edith Nesbit, which I have recently blogged about. This is partially what convinced me to purchase it, even though I already have the short story in two different books. I just thought, if the rest is as good as Nesbit, it is worth a purchase. And I am making myself a nice little collection of horror stories. Its front cover, with the although spooky and beautiful Jack O'Lantern, is not as nice as the second book, but it still looks nice. And there are of course the stories. This is one of the books I am reading at the moment anyway. And I will finish this countdown to Halloween post by a teaser: I am writing a scary story myself for this blog, which I should post soon. So watch this space.

Man-Size in Marble (a horror story)

Tonight for my countdown to Halloween post, I want to recommend one of my favourite scary stories, a classic Gothic ghost story by Edith Nesbit. It is called Man-Size in Marble and it is available online here. Why this ghost story more than any other? Because this one is set on Halloween night, which of course makes it very topical. But this is not the only reason. Nesbit is a crafty writer and her scary stories are too little known. Without giving too much away, Man-Size in Marble is as much a tragedy as it is a scary story, just like many of her stories. I first read it in The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories, an anthology I plugged here. I loved the story so much that years later I purchased The Power of Darkness: Tales of Terror, which contains all (I think) her ghost stories. I now have the short story in at least three different books including these two. I recommend that you read all the ghost stories of Edith Nesbit, but start with this one. Take the time to read it at the above link, then tell me what you thought of it in the comments.

Happy Birthday E. Nesbit

Ah, the things you learn when you open your browser on Google sometimes. Like today, first thing in the morning, I see a Google Doodle, and I discover it is celebrating the birthday of Edith Nesbit, or E. Nesbit. She was the author of children's books, such as The Railway Children, which was the one illustrated in the Doodle. It is maybe a lesser known fact nowadays that she was also the author of a good deal of horror/ghost stories, including Man-size in marble. I know nothing about her children stories, ironically enough. But I read Man-size in marble in this anthology. It is a really good chill, a classic ghost story, set fittingly on Halloween night. As it is my favourite holiday, I found the story very fitting for a read in the time leading to the season.

The short story had a strong enough impression on me to make me want to truly discover Nesbit, so as I mentioned on this post I bought a book of her horror stories, The Power of Darkness: Tales of Terror (and by the way what brilliant covers Wordsworth Mystero books have). I will read them eagerly soon, in the upcoming weeks leading to Halloween (I usually start shortly before September). One could find strange that a famous (or once famous) author of children fiction also wrote horror, but to me it did not surprise me at all. Children have a wild imagination and often a sinister one and childhood fears and nightmares feed one's psyche for a lifetime. If one can channel them, they can write magnificent tales of terror. I am looking forward to explore the dark side of Edith Nesbit.