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.

Haunted pub?

This is tonight's countdown to Halloween post. I took this picture of the pub by the train station when I was walking back home, straight off the train. I took it first because I thought it looked like a beautiful autumnal picture, then because I thought about yesterday's countdown to Halloween post. And I remembered, as I mentioned here, that I suspected that it was the setting of a ghost story of E. Nesbit. I have little evidence, almost none, that it served as the setting, but one clue in the text at least made me think it could have served as inspiration. The pub used to be the hotel station, back when trains were coming and going from and to everywhere here. Strange, as the first time I came here, I stopped at the pub and thought this would be such a great setting for a scary story. Anyway, enough teasing, as Halloween is round the corner, I would invite you to read Number 17. It is public domain in Canada, I don't know where else. Or buy this book. I have been plugging Edith Nesbit very often these days, but she is worth discovering. Anyway, is the pub haunted, like the hotel before? I don't think so. There is by the way an amusing twist about the nature of the ghost in Number 17 which makes it worth a read in itself. All the same, it is rather pleasant to imagine such a place haunted.