Review of “The Frontier Guards” by H. Russell Wakefield Halloween Countdown

13) “The Frontier Guards” by H. Russell Wakefield

Plot:

While playing golf, James Brinton asks his old friend William Lander about a charming little cottage they pass by.

Lander concedes that it’s charming on the outside, but it’s haunted by whole pack of ghosts who are lethal to those who rent it.

Over dinner, Lander gives his friend the particulars. The cottage, Pailton, has been rented five times in the last twelve years. Each time, someone died.

“It should be razed to the ground,” he concludes.

He has never set foot in the building.

Skeptic Brinton doesn’t believe in ghosts, but he’d like to see one. Would his old friend allow him to visit the cottage?

Lander won’t let him go alone. He’s a psychic and sees ghosts all the time. He recites a list of warnings, asking, “Still want to go?” Brinton accedes to each condition. The men agree to go after their round of golf the next day.

What could go wrong?

Thoughts:

This short tale is a set-up for two guys exploring a haunted house, where there are sure to be ghosts with bad attitudes who have killed innocent people before.

Lander gives Brinton (…and the reader) the history of the house, due warning that regular time and space don’t work there. He agrees to take his friend if only to show him ghosts are real, and then they can leave.

On the one hand, this is atmospheric with real danger for the characters. On the other, the reader is almost waiting for Brinton to take off screaming through the woods while Lander stands locking the door. “Yep. Told ya, pal.”

How serious is this? On the last page, the author pulls off an ending that lets you know. Unfortunately, it’s a little confusing. I had to read it a couple of times before it sank in. But it’s cool. It works.

audio version: via HorrorBabble: here.

Bio: H. Russell Wakefield (1888 or 1890-1964) was an English short-story writer, novelist, publisher, and civil servant chiefly remembered today for his ghost stories. He served with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in France and the Balkans during WWI. M. R. James and Algernon Blackwood influenced his supernatural work. His short story collections include Imagine a Man in a Box (1931), A Ghostly Company (1935), and Strayers from Sheol (1961). He also wrote non-fiction and a few mystery novels.

Title: “The Frontier Guards”
Author: H. Russell Wakefield (1888 or 1890-1964)
First published: November 25, 1929

Review of “The Dream-Gown of the Japanese Ambassador” by Brander Matthews Halloween Countdown

12) “The Dream-Gown of the Japanese Ambassador” by Brander Matthews

Plot:

World traveler Cosmo Waynflete has just returned to New York, having amassed a collection of curiosities from nearly every corner of the globe. Exhausted, he dons the elaborately embroidered silk robe of the title—one he bought “in a little curiosity-shop in Nuremberg”—and stares into the sunlight hitting a crystal ball he found in a shop within sight of “Fugiyama.” He believes he sees people in the crystal ball. This strikes him as perfectly natural.

He finds himself among the people, no longer Cosmo Waynflete, but a samurai, seeking vengeance for the death of his beloved master. He lies, waiting… and finds himself no longer in Japan, but in ancient Persia, pursued by a dragon. If his steadfast horse were less attentive, it would have been curtains for Cosmo.

These two are just the beginning of Cosmo’s heroic visions/dreams. None of them is resolved.

Thoughts:

Half the fun of this story is Cosmos’s adventures. What is happening? What will happen? It doesn’t have to make sense. It’s one good yarn after another. By the time a friend arrives to wake Cosmo—interrupting one dream—it’s a letdown. That friend then goes on to give routine explanations for every adventure Cosmo had.

Spoilsport.

While this one was enjoyable, the ending was disappointing. A final trick tries to redeem the spirit of the piece. While it was cute, it didn’t quite make up for the letdown.

The story can be read here.

Bio: Brander Matthews (1852-1929) was an American essayist, drama critic, novelist, and first U.S. professor of dramatic literature. He was admitted to the bar but never practiced law. He was a professor of literature at Columbia University and a critic for The New York Times. His best remember novel is A Confident Tomorrow (1899). He also wrote biographies of French playwright Molière and English playwright Shakespeare.

Title: “The Dream-Gown of the Japanese Ambassador”
Author: Brander Matthews (1852-1929)
First published: Tales of Fantasy and Fact, 1896

Review of “His Unquiet Ghost” by Mary Noailles Murfree

11) “His Unquiet Ghost” by Mary Noailles Murfee

Plot:

A group of young men is hauling some, um, homemade brew packed in a “coffin-box” late at night when they happen across a party of “revenue-raiders.” The “rev-enuers” casually ask them what they’re hauling.

“What we-uns mus’ all be one day, stranger—a corpus.” They then name the deceased as one Watt Wyatt. At is happens, Watt is alive and well and one of their party. Needless to say, Watt is quite surprised.

Thoughts:

This is cute. The narration is written in standard English, but the dialogue is in dialect and takes a couple of seconds to decipher. The moonshiners play a cat-and-mouse game with some of the less discreet “rev-enuers,” while word of Watt’s “demise” spreads fast. Watt has to hide to avoid being spotted by people who know him. Even people who know him don’t seem to see him and don’t mind talking about him. The things they say are revealing to poor Watt.

He wanders to his “grave” (where his friends have buried their hooch) and sees Minta Elladine Biggs weeping by it. He didn’t realize she cared so much.

This is a cute story but not exactly profound.

The story can be read here:

Bio: Mary Noailles Murfree (1850-1922) was a descendant of Colonel Hardy Murfree, for whom Murfreesboro, TN, was named. After a fever at the age of four left her partially paralyzed—she had difficulty walking—she turned to books. While modern readers often consider her depiction of people as stereotyped, Murfree was considered one of the earliest “local color” writers.

Title: “His Unquiet Ghost”
Author: Mary Noailles Murfree (alias Charles Egbert Craddock) (1850-1922)
First published: The Raid of the Guerilla and Other Stories, May 1912

Review of “The Night Call” by Henry van Dyke Halloween Countdown

10) “The Night Call” by Henry van Dyke

Plot:

Doctor Leroy Carmichael has recently established his practice in New Jersey. The important people of town don’t quite take him seriously. One night, he receives a summons to attend a visiting “Baroness de Mortemer.” The Baron himself drives him to a house in obvious disrepair in a part of town Leroy doesn’t know.

The Baroness was once known as Jean Gordon, a local girl and an erstwhile Latin student of Leroy’s father. Leroy recalls that the elder Carmichael had fond memories of Jean, even if she didn’t finish school. She eloped…

Thoughts:

This is nice and atmospheric, with the middle of the night call to Leroy’s house, the Baron who says little about his wife’s condition, the sinister factotum who speaks only French, and the ruinous house—Jean Gordon’s legacy. The gothic air is intriguing, but I found the story ultimately unsatisfying.

The ending suggests magic in longing for home (even if one can never go back). It never ties the Baroness’ longing for home, late in life in delicate health, with Leroy, who knows her only by an inscription in a book. Certainly, she and her husband can afford better accommodations than the house they’re in now, never mind it being theirs free and clear.

The story can be read here.

Bio: Henry van Dyke (1852-1933) was an Dutch American author, poet, educator, and Presbyterian clergyman. He was a professor of English literature at Princeton from 1899 to 1923. In 1913, his friend and former classmate, Woodrow Wilson, appointed him Minister to the Netherlands and Luxemburg. He wrote about twelve books altogether, mostly on religious topics.

Title: “The Night Call”
Author: Henry van Dyke (1852-1933)
First published: The Unknown Quantity, 1912

Review of “Brickett Bottom” by Amyas Northcote Halloween Countdown

Plot:

Reverend Arthur Maydew takes a well-deserved vacation of sorts by swapping parishes with an elderly Mr. Roberts. His two daughters, Alice and Maggie, go with him.

Both girls are social and attractive. They like going for strolls in the area. On one of their walks, Alice comes upon an old-fashioned brick house with a lovely garden she hadn’t noticed before. In the poor light, near-sighted Maggie can’t be sure she sees anything. They decide to return later, but Maggie sprains her ankle and walking is out of the question for a while. Alice walks alone. She tells Maggie of meeting a friendly older woman with a lovely garden and an invitation to stop by the next day. She’ll be back at half past four at the latest.

She isn’t.

Thoughts:

Alice is twenty-six and Maggie twenty-four. Alice is described as “inclined to be absent-minded and emotional and to devote more of her thoughts and time to speculations of an abstract nature than her sister.” She later dreams of the cottage. Maggie wonders if she isn’t going a little crazy.

Maggie cautions her sister against accepting invitations from strangers. If the couple were “desirable or attractive neighbours,” Mr. Roberts would have told them.

This is a warning about defying social conventions. It concludes with stories of other young women (…no young men…) who have gone astray—some happily recovered, others never to be heard from again.

Nothing Alice does is evil or ill-intentioned, but she is unwary. At the same time, she is new to the area and doesn’t have all the information. The moral of the story is that she should have behaved better or at least heeded the advice of her sister.

Well, this was depressing all around.

The story can be read here:

An audio version can be heard here: (approximately 45 minutes)

Bio: Amyas Northcote (1864-1923) was a British writer, justice of the peace, and for a time, small businessman in Chicago. He came from an aristocratic family. His only known writing was collection of ghost stories, In Ghostly Company, published in 1921 shortly before his death.

Title: “Brickett Bottom”
Author: Amyas Northcote (1864-1923)
First published: In Ghostly Company, 1921

Review of “Three Spanish Ladies” by Walter E. Marconette Halloween Countdown

8) “Three Spanish Ladies” by Walter E. Marconette

Plot:

Finding himself at the Pearly Gates, a loyalist Spanish soldier, deceased during the Spanish Civil War, * explains how he left the land of the living in the presence of the three women he loved. Hey, being with one woman is bad enough, but three? The lethal shot solved his problems. He’d discover which woman loved him most by turning and seeing the one who came to him.

Oh, is he in for a surprise.

Thoughts:

This is what would be called a short-short now, barely more than a page long. It is cute, lightweight fare. Then again, if one is looking, one might find a gay joke (albeit a homophobic one), but a gay joke in a story from 1938—you know, before anyone acknowledged gay people existed in polite society? Or maybe it was intended with the idea that it would just fly over the heads of those who didn’t see it.

Or, I could be wrong.

This was a fun little piece.

The story can be read here.

Bio: Walter E. Marconette (1919-1988) was an editor, science fiction fan, and artist. He was a member of FAPA (Fantasy Amateur Press Association) and the SFL (Science Fiction League).

*The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was fought between—broadly speaking— the left-leaning Republican (“loyalists”) and the right-leaning Nationalists (“rebels”). The Nationalists prevailed, and the Nationalist leader Francisco Franco ruled Spain as dictator until his death in 1975.

Title: “Three Spanish Ladies”
Author: Walter E. Marconette (1919-1988)
First published: Spaceways #1 November 1938

Review of “The Four-Fifteen Express” by Amelia B. Edwards Halloween Countdown

7) “The Four-Fifteen Express” by Amelia B. Edwards

Plot:

On his way to visit his friend Jonathan Jelf for Christmas, narrator William Langford is surprised to find a gentleman letting himself into what he expected to be his private rail car with a key. Langford declines to make a fuss because he recognizes the interloper as Mr. Dwerrihouse, a cousin of his host’s wife. Dwerrihouse is a railroad director. The two haven’t seen each other in three years. Langford gets the impression those three years have not been kind to his companion.

Dwerrihouse says he won’t be joining the Jelf household for the holidays. He has business to attend to and is carrying £ 75,000. Dwerrihouse disembarks, leaving his monogrammed cigar case behind. Langford chases after him to return it but loses sight of him.

When the train whistle blows, he must board or be left behind.

Over dinner at the Jelfs’, he mentions to Mrs. Jelf that he rode on the train with her cousin. A sudden silence falls over the room. When he asks if he said something wrong, another guest, Captain Prendergast, tells him without preamble that John Dwerrihouse absconded three months earlier with £ 75,000. There has been no word of him since then.

Thoughts:

This oft-anthologized tale is a classic ghost story. A wronged ghost comes back seeking justice, albeit the poor shade is a bit confused. Much of the tale deals with Langford’s investigation, undertaken to show he’s not nuts. A lot of material is repeated by talking to several servants, who are worth their salt and behave properly toward their betters.

In typical ghoulish Victorian fashion, the story ends by informing the reader the history of the crime can be found in the pages of the newspapers. Furthermore, a wax likeness of the bad’un stands in Madame Tussaud’s, wearing the clothing from the day he committed his crime and holding the item he used to commit it.

Nevertheless, this is an engaging, if sad, read.

YouTube audio:

text:

Bio: Amelia B. Edwards (1831-1892) showed early promise in art and music but concentrated on writing. Her 1864 novel, Barbara’s History, cemented her reputation. The book dealt with bigamy, a favorite Victorian forbidden topic. Edwards also wrote some ghost stories, such as the one reviewed above and 1864’s “The Phantom Coach.”

Following a journey to Egypt, she wrote and illustrated A Thousand Miles up the Nile (1877), which began a lifelong fascination with Egypt. With Reginal Stuart Pool, she co-founded what is now known as the Egypt Exploration Society.

Edwards never married but lived with another woman for about thirty years and was buried next to her. She also appears to have formed close relationships with several other women throughout her life.

Title: “The Four-Fifteen Express
Author: Amelia B. Edwards (1831-1892)
First published: 1866 in Routledge’s Christmas Annual, 1867

Review of “The Dunwich Horror” by H. P. Lovecraft

6) “The Dunwich Horror” by H. P. Lovecraft

Plot:

Dunwich, Massachusetts, is a backwoods town settled by refugees from the Salem witch trials. Most people dislike it and avoid it now, though they couldn’t tell you why.

Lavinia Whateley, the deformed and emotionally stunted daughter of Old Whateley, becomes pregnant and gives birth to Wilbur Whateley. The townspeople gossip; who could the father be? At about the same time, Old Whateley begins to buy cows from his neighbors and make renovations on his farmhouse, paying for everything in gold. His herd neither grows nor diminishes in size, however.

The child matures with unnatural rapidity. He reads his grandfather’s occult books and understands them. After his grandfather dies of old age, Lavinia disappears. Wilbur, at only fifteen, appears to be a full-grown adult. He approaches the librarian at Miskatonic University asking for a copy of the Necronomicon, a book with spells he can use to summon the Old Ones because—why not? The librarians deny his request. His attempts at theft don’t go well.

Shortly afterward come reports of something or someone destroying crops and stealing cattle back home in Dunwich. A trio of learned men at Miskatonic see this and wonder what can be done.

Thoughts:

This is an atmospheric piece, telling of a neglected, decayed area and a “decayed” family. Old Whateley was something of a wizard back in the day. His family had some dealings with the Old Ones up on Sentinel Hill. How much does Old Whateley remember? Lavinia has little to do with the important dealings of her menfolk.

That Wilbur isn’t entirely human is indicated by his rapid maturity and a foul odor that’s often around him. Dogs don’t like him, as if he were an intruder. The reader realizes something is wrong with this child, but what?

Additional tragedies occur. How to combat them? How to understand them?

While Lovecraft’s writing often focused on cosmic horror—that is, a horror too great for human comprehension—this is a bit more down-to-earth. People lose their lives and their farms. Livestock is attacked. Crops are damaged by something they don’t understand how to fight. Mild-mannered academics arrive to go to battle with the horror.

The writing is often heavy. Lovecraft looooves exposition. It takes a while to get through this. The last paragraphs are something of a punchline. It’s not my favorite Lovecraft tale, but many disagree with me.

Radio play here.

The story can be read here.

Audio book on Librivox here.

Bio: H.P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft (1890-1937) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. He is best known as the creator of the Cthulhu myths, involving “cosmic horror,” that is, horror that arises from forbidden knowledge. Those who seek such knowledge are often driven insane or die.

Lovecraft originally wanted to be a professional astronomer. He maintained a voluminous correspondence, particularly with other writers. Though his work is now revered as seminal in horror and dark fantasy, he died in poverty at the age of 46 of cancer of the small intestine at his birthplace, Providence, Rhode Island.

Lovecraft was an early contributor to Weird Tales magazine in the 1920s. Among his best-known works are “The Dunwich Horror,” “Dagon,” and “The Call of Cthulhu.”

Title: The Dunwich Horror
Author: H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937)
First published: Weird Tales, April 1929

Review of “The Double Admiral” by John Metcalfe Halloween Countdown

5) “The Double Admiral” by John Metcalfe

Plot:

Bishop John Charles receives a letter from an old friend, a retired admiral named Hood, inviting him up to spend a weekend at his seaside bungalow in Hampshire. John Charles hasn’t seen Hood for a while, but he’s heard rumors about him. He also knows he is in failing health and thinks he detected some hints of something more urgent than a simple request for company.

The bishop accepts the invitation. When Hood meets him, he appears none too well. John Charles hides his disappointment at finding that a man called Beverly, whom he despises as an “ineffective psychologist,” is also visiting.

Hood has asked the two men to come because an amorphous something, like the brownish island glimpsed on the horizon, is slowly draining the life from him.

Thoughts:

The island that is sometimes there and sometimes not got me thinking of the Fata Morgana phenomena, a product of the refraction of light. It has to do with distant objects—ships, islands, other items—appearing inverted and above water or flat land.

One school of thought is that this may be the origin of the legend of the Flying Dutchman—a ship doomed to sail forever and kidnap the unwary, like those skipping church. I don’t know if this is what author Metcalfe had in mind, but it rang a few bells. Aside wandering down that rabbit hole, this is a creepy story.

The bishop pooh-poohs the admiral’s fears but can’t deny his friend is doing poorly. He and (that quack!) psychologist try to do their best for him.

The surprise at the end is dreadful, but not without its cuteness. I might have had a little trouble buying into the premise, but I liked the ending.

YouTube (with obnoxious introduction): here

Bio: William John Metcalfe (1891-1965) was born in the UK. He is best known for horror and weird stories. He earned a degree in philosophy from the University of London and taught in Paris until the outbreak of WWI, then served in the British Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Corps. After the war, he taught in the UK and began writing. After publishing his first short story collection, The Smoking Leg and Other Stories, he wrote full-time. He taught in the UK and the US after WWII. He married American novelist Evelyn Scott.

Title: “The Double Admiral”
Author: John Metcalfe (1891-1965)
First published: The Smoking Leg and Other Stories 1925

Review of “Caterpillars” by E. F. Benson

4) “Caterpillars” by E. F. Benson

The nameless narrator recounts how he sensed something was wrong the moment he set foot in the Villa Cascana—although it was a delightful house. When he saw letters on the table waiting for him, he thought perhaps there was some terrible news, but this was not so.

The hostess has left one room unoccupied. The narrator is assigned rooms at the top of the house. Though he seldom has trouble sleeping, that night he tosses and turns. In his dreams—if they are dreams—he dresses and descends the stairs. In the unoccupied room, he sees a writhing mass of what appears to be overgrown caterpillar-like beasts. They differ from caterpillars in some notable respects—their feet have claws, for one. When they approach him, apparently aware of him, he slams the door shut and flees.

Thoughts:

This is the stuff of nightmares. Is he dreaming? Are similar sequences, when he sees danger but can only stand on the staircase landing, unable to prevent it or even call out, a description of sleep paralysis? This is executed nicely and is terrifyingly told.

All this is undercut, however, by the story’s opening lines, which tell the reader that the Villa Cascana is being torn down. Whatever the narrator once saw it’s gone. And that other casualty (or maybe two), well, those poor souls. The news of the tragedy arrives via an innocent third party, who does so without understanding the narrator’s experience, adding to the horror.

This is a very short piece and can easily be read in a single sitting.

The story can be read here.

Audiobook available here Librivox.

Bio.: E. F. (Edward Frederick) Benson (1867-1940) was a British writer now known for his ghost and supernatural stories. He also wrote non-supernatural novels, including the popular Dodo (1893), satirizing composer and suffragist Ethel Smyth. Later in life, he wrote the Mapp and Lucia series, also non-supernatural.

Title: “Caterpillars”
Author: E. F. (Edward Frederick) Benson (1867-1940)
First published: The Room in the Tower and Other Stories (Collection), 1912