Plot: Forty-four-year-old novelist Paul Oleron rents the first floor of a house to finish his novel, Romilly Bishop. He has fifteen chapters. He needs a quiet, pleasant place to concentrate. The house needs a bit of sprucing up. He hires people to paint and then moves in some furniture he has in storage that hisContinue reading “Review of “The Beckoning Fair One” by Oliver Onions Halloween Countdown”
Category Archives: Halloween Countdown
Review of “The Ash-Tree” by M. R. James Halloween Countdown
2) “The Ash-Tree” by M. R. James In describing the country estate of Castringham Hall in Suffolk, the narrator remarks, “The one feature that marked out the house from a score of others is gone. As you looked at it from the park, you saw [in times past] on the right a great old ash-treeContinue reading “Review of “The Ash-Tree” by M. R. James Halloween Countdown”
Review of “The Ambitious Guest” by Nathaniel Hawthorne: Halloween Countdown
This is the first of what I thirty-one reviews of horror/ghost short stories I have planned for October as a Halloween countdown. Enjoy and wish me luck. 1) “The Ambitious Guest” by Nathaniel Hawthorne A family runs an inn in a remote area of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. They are happy. Because theirContinue reading “Review of “The Ambitious Guest” by Nathaniel Hawthorne: Halloween Countdown”
Review of “John Granger” by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Susy Lorton has just turned down John Granger’s marriage proposal. She hopes they can remain friends. John’s heart is broken. His lease on the old farm of Friarsgate is up. He’d planned to renew it and make her mistress of the place—oh. There’s someone else, he realizes. She admits as much. Robert Ashley. Well, JohnContinue reading “Review of “John Granger” by Mary Elizabeth Braddon”
Review of “Basilissa” by John Buchan: Halloween Countdown
The orphan Vernon dreams, upsetting his nurse, Mrs. Ganthony. He tells no one what the dreams contain, for even he understands little. He only senses a Fear, a Something several rooms away. When he is fifteen, he realizes the dream comes on the night of the first Monday in April. He also realizes the SomethingContinue reading “Review of “Basilissa” by John Buchan: Halloween Countdown”
Review of “No. 252 Rue M. le Prince” by Ralph Adams Cram
Upon finding himself in Paris in May 1886, the narrator of this story wishes to impose himself on an old friend, Eugene Marie d’Ardeche. D’Ardeche deserted Boston after learning that an aunt had died and willed him property in Paris. This puzzled his old friend since he and he aunt were not on good terms.Continue reading “Review of “No. 252 Rue M. le Prince” by Ralph Adams Cram”
Review of “The Shell of Sense” by Olivia Howard Dunbar: Halloween Countdown
Frances has just passed away, but she can’t pass over—not quite yet. She returns home to find it “intolerably unchanged” at least at first. She notices the closed windows. She liked a cool house, but her sister, Theresa, liked warm rooms. She sees the disarray in her work basket. Why did so small a thingContinue reading “Review of “The Shell of Sense” by Olivia Howard Dunbar: Halloween Countdown”
Review of “Kerfol” by Edith Wharton: Halloween Countdown Day 3
A friend takes the unnamed narrator of this story to see a house he assures him will suit him perfectly. The owners, in some financial straits, are willing to sell for a song. The isolated house, known as Kerfol, is the most romantic house in Brittany and a perfect fit for a “solitary-minded devil” likeContinue reading “Review of “Kerfol” by Edith Wharton: Halloween Countdown Day 3″
Review of “The Feather Pillow” by Horacio Quiroga: Halloween Countdown
Alicia and Jordan return from their three-month honeymoon deeply in love, but Alicia never feels at home in the new house. She is young, “angelic” and timid. She loves her husband who loves her in return. He just never shows it. She never complains about the house or the white patio with its friezes, columnsContinue reading “Review of “The Feather Pillow” by Horacio Quiroga: Halloween Countdown”
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 