The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories

For today's countdown to Halloween's post, another reading suggestion: The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories. Maybe my favourite anthology, although this may be a case of first love: this was the very first anthology of ghost stories I ever bought, back in 2006, before this blog, to get myself into a Halloween mood. It made me discover so many authors: M.R. James, E. Nesbit, Edith Wharton, Algernon Blackwood, to name a few. It covers two centuries of ghost stories, so its a great book for a crash course in ghostly fiction. It has been for me anyway. Obviously, it has a great deal of classics. And since many stories are set during Christmastime (as traditionally this is when ghost stories were published), you can carry on reading it after Halloween.

The (many) ghost stories of Oliver Onions

For tonight's countdown to Halloween post, I will blog again about literature. I recently ordered The Dead of Night: the Ghost Stories of Oliver Onions because I wanted to read more of him. Like for most ghost story writers I know about, I discovered Oliver Onions in The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories. More precisely, The Cigarette Case, which I have been unable to find online. I want my horror stories collection (which is getting bigger and bigger every year) to be made of full work from these writers and not only anthologies, so I ordered this book in early October. It arrived a few days later and... And I was surprised to find that the book is 657 pages long! Usually, the books of Wordsworth Editions are between 200 and 300 pages long. I don't think I will have time to start reading it this year, I have many horror stories books to finish, but it will be on my reading list for next year. I cannot believe sometimes I am in my late thirties and it took me so long to discover all these authors.

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.

Musing on ghosts

I bought this decoration at the local sweet shop, which is not closed yet as it was supposed to. It is, however, on sale. They current owners advertised it as "a profitable business", so it might survive. This is the foreword, my post is not about the sweet shop. It is of course part of the countdown to Halloween and this ghost is perfect to accompany the post. I love his crooked teethed smile and the spiders covering his shroud (or his ectoplasm?).

I thought about ghosts recently and their place in the horror folklore and literature. I am in no way expert, but I do have some knowledge and years of studies of literature did give me some analytical skills. So about ghosts... The ghost above might not be as friendly as Casper, he still does not look very scary. At best he looks mischievous. Ghosts are not always hostile to mankind, but most are terrifying, or at least try to be. They predate the horror genre in folklore and mythology, even in tragedy they are plot devices and deus ex machina. In a time of rationalism, when even horror movies often picture psychopaths and monsters from space more often than they do supernatural beings, they still survive: alien abduction might be the modern superstition, but there are still people who believe in ghosts and even think they saw one. I don't believe in ghosts (or in alien abductions), but I do understand the appeal of ghosts: if they existed, they may not prove that souls (or God) do, but they would sure give some kind of credentials to a hypothetical life after death. I think even in the scariest, nastiest ghost story, there is an element of wish-fulfilment.

Horror stories were originally called "ghost stories", whether they had ghosts in them or not. As antagonists, ghosts pose a problem to the writer (and the reader who wants to be scared): in essence, they are exactly this, essence, they are a presence, but are immaterial, thus they do not in theory present a physical threat. They can be repulsively ugly, terrifying, they can scream, have sepulchral voices, skulls instead of heads, they still do not represent a physical threat, for all their malevolence. Of course, this is not quite true: their mere presence can lead one to madness, even suicide. Often they can hypnotise or subjugate human beings and push them to their death. And they can be, at least partially, material. Poltergeists obviously can influence their physical surroundings. Someone like me who read plenty of ghost stories know that many ghosts can take material guises, inhabit statues, the bodies they had in their human life, can take the form of an animal, haunt a tree and so on and so forth. In a way, they are maybe the most inspiring monsters of the horror genre, because they come in all shapes and forms. And I will finish this post with a quote from Robert Aickmam, which I found in The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories: "The ghost (...) reminds us that death is the one thing certain and the thing most uncertain; the bourn from which no traveller returns, except this one."

Looking for scary stories

Halloween is coming so I am trying to place myself in that state of mind. I haven't watch any horror movie so far (except this short film), which is a shame, as I usually start as early as September or even August. And I did start watching this adaptation of Dracula, which is quite faithful to the novel but still not close enough (and there are a few miscasts and some questionable decisions). But I am mainly looking for books to read, stories to make me shiver pleasantly (here are a list of suggestions, which you can find online).

I have accumulated here a stash of scary stories: among them this book in particular, which I rediscover every year, re-reading old and forgotten classics (you can find here a list of the stories I particularly enjoy from it). I also borrowed another anthology from Oxford University Press, hopefully I will find time to blog about it this year. But I want to find something new, or at least new to me, some stories I never heard or read before. However great some scary stories are, however skillfully written they are, however you love them, they can never be as terrifying when you read them a second time. So I had an idea today: this year, I would try to extend my research to more local haunting and supernatural stories.

Now don't get me wrong: I do not believe in the supernatural, ghosts and creepy critters. Just like Lovecraft, so it's not an unknown trait among horror aficionados.That said, I have always been fascinated by folklore, and by local legends. I find it often just as scary, even more so, than what came from the imagination of famous writers. Of course, local legends often became the source material of great modern stories (I know something about it: as my francophone readers know, my cousin wrote his first book and bestseller based on local legends from the town where he grew up). Where I now live, there are plenty of small villages, local pubs, sinister looking places. There must be stories linked to them, stories that will give me shiver. I don't know if I can turn them into fiction like my cousin did, I don't know if I have the discipline or the patience, even though I have been thinking about it for quite a while now. But in any case, I will hopefully find something to make me shiver.

Spooky reads

It is that time of the year, when Halloween is coming and the weather looks naturally spooky. It is a perfect time to read horror stories. So here is a little list of books/reading I recommend:

-Anything you can find by M.R. James. I now consider him the master of horror, over any modern or ancient author. he is brilliant in depicting the supernatural emerging from mundane life. I particularly recommend Canon Alberic's Scrapbook, Count Magnus and Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad.
-The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories. Again, you will find great reads there. I blogged about it before. It has a few famous and less famous authors, and lesser known works from famous authors. If like me you suffer from musophobia, I recommend The Judge's House by Bram Stoker, which also shows what I think is a prototype of Dracula. And there are many other great stories, like The Phantom Coach, The Upper Berth, Man-Size in Marble (which is actually set on Halloween night). The Red Room (H.G. Wells wrote this one, proving that he did not only master sci-fi), A Story of Don Juan (not the scariest, but a fascinating twist on the mythical character) and so many others.
-This book. If you can read French, read it. It can accompany you all year round.
-The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories. Pretty complete anthology. It has some old classics (bits of Varney, the complete Carmilla) and some forgotten little gems, like School for the Unspeakable.

The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories

I have been blogging recently about attics and very often about monsters, ghosts and superstitions. I might as well blog about more about such topics. In 2006, before starting my job at Liverpool and waiting for my working permit to be granted, I bought, to read something different than my usual crime fiction and to read something that puts you in the mood for Halloween, I bought The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories. It's a great collection, there are some hidden gems in it and many classics. It made me rediscover Walter Scott, H.G. Wells and Bram Stoker and made me discover M.R. James, E. Nesbit, F. Marion Crawford and many others, among them an important number of women writers (the introduction said many ghost story writers were female because they could find freedom in writing they couldn't find in society, but I suspect it is because they found every day environment hostile in its familiarity). But more than anything else, it gave me some fascinating stories to read.

I love horror stories since I got too old for my parents to forbid me to read them. I don't particularly like modern authors, I much prefer classic ones. As autumn is starting again, I will get back to it.

Plaisirs terrifiants de l'automne

J'ai déjà cité Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, cette citation en fait, mais elle vaut la peine d'être réutilisée en guise d'introduction pour ce billet:

"Des moyens très simples créent la terreur: une porte qui s'ouvre, un jardin sous la lune... On ne voit pas le diable mais son oeuvre..."

Il fait depuis notre retour en Angleterre un temps d'automne un peu sinistre, avec de la pluie et du vent. Cela dit, je ne m'en plains pas car j'aime l'automne. Les arbres ont déjà commencé à prendre des couleurs. L'automne est aussi le compte à rebours pour l'Halloween, ce qui, dans mon cas, veut dire lire des histoires d'horreur ou des livres sur le folklore et les légendes. Il n'y a pas de plaisir plus délicieux (et cathartique) que de lire une histoire effrayante dans le confort de son salon, quand il fait un sale temps dehors et que la nature prend des allures sinistres avant l'hiver. Je n'ai hélas pas ce bouquin sous la main, étant donné qu'il est stationné à Montréal (ou à Chicoutimi?). Cela dit, j'ai encore à terminer La Légende de la Mort d'Anatole Le Braz. J'ai hélas terminé la section sur l'Ankou, mais je peux y revenir bien sûr. Et il me reste tout le chapitre sur les morts malfaisants. J'ai aussi sous la main The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories que je recommande fortement. Déjà lu, mais je peux toujours relire mes histoires préférées. cela dit, il me faudra faire l'acquisition d'autres livres.

Il y a aussi les films d'horreur que j'essaie de voir en marathon. Halloween bien sûr, l'un de mes préférés, un petit bijou d'efficacité, mais également Nosferatu et les films d'horreur de la Hammer. Comme vous pouvez le constater, je préfère les vieux classiques.