Review of “Up Under the Roof” by Manly Wade Wellman: Halloween Countdown

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For October 27:

Plot:

The narrator looks back to being a twelve-year-old boy in a house full of adults who didn’t pay much attention to him.

The boy has trouble sleeping in the summer heat. His upstairs room is under a gable, and the sun hits the sloping roof with little insulation. He hears every rustle of the cottonwood trees outside. Other noises start coming from under the roof and above the ceiling.

Can’t be rats. Rats run. This just moves. Years later, he would see an amoeba under a microscope. It moves like a huge amoeba.

It soon comes every night and then during the day.

The boy knows there’s no sense in talking to the adults in the house about the noises. They won’t believe him, nor do they care. They once stood without lifting a finger to help while a fifteen-year-old neighbor boy gave him a thorough thrashing. Only when the older boy grew tired did he go home. The narrator received no sympathy but a scolding.

His one attempt to ask if anyone heard something in the night earns him a reprimand for interrupting a discussion about local politics.

One day, when he’s home alone, the boy goes into the attic to find what’s making the noises.

Thoughts:

This short tale is crafted with its aim toward the final encounter. The main character is isolated and without resources. He’s terrified and left without anywhere to turn. He finally decides to confront his demon himself.

It reads almost like a memoir. Is it all in the boy’s imagination? Is there some malign presence up under the roof trying to scare the bejesus out of him? He is without adult help or guidance. He does the only thing left to him.

The tale is nicely atmospheric and suspenseful rather than bloody. It will not appeal to everyone, but I liked it.

Bio: Manly Wade Wellman (1903-1986) was born in a village named Kamundongo, near the city of Silva Porto (now Cuíto) in Portuguese West Africa (now Angola), where his father was stationed as a medical officer. The family came to the United States when Wellman was a small child. Wellman wrote mostly fantasy works and some sci-fi with a few Westerns and crime dramas. One of his most well-known works was the John the Balladeer series.


The story can be read here (p. 179 after downloading pdf):viewer doesn’t always load.

The story can be listened to here:(12:05)


Title: “Up Under the Roof”
Author: Manly Wade Wellman (1903-1986)
First Published: Weird Tales, October 1938
Length: short story

Review of “The Sumach” by Ulric Daubeny: Halloween Countdown

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For October 26

Plot:

Mrs. Irene Barton and her friend Mrs. May Watcombe discuss the unusual appearance of the sumach (more commonly spelled sumac) tree in the garden of Irene’s new house. The leaves have turned red early in August.

Irene is sad. Her husband is away in London. Only two days earlier, she lost her dog Spot. She shows her friend the dog’s little grave under the sumach. They find a dead thrush.

Mrs. Watcombe says she hasn’t seen the leaves this red since Geraldine was ill with acute anemia.

Irene tells her it’s only the summer heat turning the leaves.

Later, because of the heat, Irene can’t sleep. She gets up, goes outside, and walks to the tree. Its trunk and branches are bent as if making a little couch. She sits, drowses, and dreams of welcoming her husband, Hilary, back from London. The dream becomes a nightmare. His embrace is rough, and his kisses painful.

Thoughts:

While not what one would call great literature, this tale has a certain penny-dreadful charm. Poor Irene! Her husband/protector is away. She’s just lost her dog. There’s only nosey Mrs. Watcombe around in her new house, which belonged to her cousin, Geraldine. And Geraldine succumbed to anemia about as quickly as any human can. No wonder Mrs. Watcombe panics when she sees Irene looking pale and wan!

Mrs. Watcombe does not like the sumach tree. Something is wrong with it. Maybe Snidley Whiplash lurks behind its prematurely red leaves?

Cue the player piano.

It’s another story where the reader wants to grab some of the characters, shake them, and say, “Stop doing that! It’s not good for you!”

The end is not a surprise, and the explanation is… goofy. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this lightweight little yarn.

Bio: Ulric Daubeny (1888-1922) I could find little about this British author. He seems to have written one book of speculative fiction, The Elemental: Tales of the Supernormal and the Inexplicable (1919), a book on Cotswold churches, and another on the history of musical instruments. What wide-ranging tastes.


The text can be read here:(p. 28)

The story can be listened to here: (23:59)


Title: “The Sumach”
Author: Ulric Daubeny (1888-1922)
First Published: The Elemental: Tales of the Supernormal and the Inexplicable, 1919
Length: short story

Review of “The Spider” by Hanns Heinz Ewers: Halloween Countdown

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For October 25

Plot:

Medical student Richard Bracquemont tells the police inspector he has a plan to help solve the mystery of three recent suicides. He’ll move into the room where they occurred, #7 of the Hotel Stevens, Rue Alfred Stevens (Paris 6). Against his better judgment, the inspector accepts. He has a phone installed and calls twice daily, morning and evening. He’s especially eager to have this business solved. The last man who died was one of their own who had volunteered. He was a marine sergeant who chased sea pirates in places like Tonkin and Annam (Vietnam).

Bracquemont has no plan. He doesn’t even have a plan for a plan—but he figures this will give him a chance to do some studying.

One day, he sees her in a window in the building across the way from his room. She’s beautiful. He’s surprised that she’s spinning on a spindle. Do people still use spindles? They exchange nods. And smiles. He knows without being told that her name is Clarimonda.

His books stop being so important.

When the inspector calls, Bracquemont tells him he’s found a clue he won’t discuss just yet. He’s looking out the window, smiling and exchanging gestures with Clarimonda…

Thoughts:

This story is gothic in atmosphere. Most of the narrative is told in diary entries by Bracquemont with heavy foreshadowing. Early in the story, Bracquemont watches two spiders mate, after which the female spider pursues and consumes the male spider.

“Well for me that I am not a spider,” he writes.

Uh-huh.

The name “Clarimonda” hearkens back to an 1836 story by Théophile Gautier, “La Morte Amoureuse” (“The Dead Lover”). English translations are titled “Clarimonde” and “The Dead Leman,” among others. In Gautier’s story, a priest lives a second life at night with a dream vampire lover named Clarimonde.

Both Gautier and Ewers’ stories speak of the femme fatale, those naughty women who seduce men to destruction.

Bracquemont knows precisely what he’s gotten himself into. At several points, he explains that he could extricate himself—if he wanted to. He writes of attraction and love, coupled with fear and revulsion.

This is a creepy story, but it is also suffused with black humor. Its weak point is the ending, which is predictable. Nevertheless, I liked it, though I was screaming, “Get you derrière out of there, you âne!” for most of the read.

Bio: Hanns Heinz Ewers (1871-1943) was a German writer, filmmaker, traveler, cabaret artist, and actor. Many of his works remain untranslated from German. In the English-speaking world, he’s most closely associated with horror. He was involved with the Nazi Party in its early days, but apparently they didn’t take to his kind. He liked to date guys, for one thing. His most well-known novels are the Frank Braun series, which are not for the kiddies and involve witchcraft, sadism, and other gruesome stuff.


The story can be read here. (p. 237 Internet Archive. Must be logged in)

This story can be listened to here:(42:45)


Title: “The Spider” (Original German “Die Spinne” (1908))
Author: Hanns Heinz Ewers (1871-1943)
First published in English: The International, December 1915
Length: novelette

Review of “Seaton’s Aunt” by Walter de la Mare: Halloween Countdown

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For October 24

Plot:

In exchange for a lavish treat, the narrator, Withers, agrees to spend a holiday with an unpopular boy, Arthur Seaton. Seaton appears “yellow” in color, with “slow chocolate-coloured eyes, and lean weak figure.” Because of his appearance, “most… true-blue Englishmen” treat him with condescension, hostility, or contempt.

A day or two before the holiday, Seaton reminds his reluctant houseguest of his promise to stay with him. “My aunt expects you. She’s sure to be quite decent to you.”

When they arrive at Arthur’s home, Miss Seaton greets them and tells Withers (whose name she often mistakes), “Come in, Mr. Withers, and bring him [that is, Arthur] along with you.”

She serves them an extravagant lunch, asking questions about her nephew, such as, “And is Arthur a good boy at school, Mr. Wither [sic]?”

Arthur eats mostly almonds and raisins.

That night, Withers is awakened by a terrified Arthur, warning him about the watchers and that his aunt knows everything he does. Withers dismisses these tales. Arthur insists his aunt barely sleeps. She’s in league with the devil.

To humor him, Withers agrees to sneak with Arthur into his aunt’s bedroom. The room is empty, but before they can leave, they hear her coming and quickly hide in the closet. After she falls asleep, they crawl back to bed. Arthur is beside himself.

They return to school the next day and never speak of the incident. Arthur leaves the school not much later.

They meet twice again as adults, the last time when Arthur is engaged

Thoughts:

This is a strange, sad little story. De la Mare weaves an air of menace around the aunt. At the same time, it’s easy to dismiss—as Withers does—that it was all schoolboy nonsense. At one point, Arthur says that his aunt “as good as killed” his mother. Is there any truth to that? The reader doesn’t know. By the end of the story, it’s credible, but no evidence is ever offered.

Miss Seaton offers sardonic comments, calling Withers “Mr.” when it’s unwarranted and seeking his evaluation of her nephew as if he were an adult. Later, she plays sentimental music for the engaged couple but with a sarcastic tinge.

The horror here is subtle, making the reader uncomfortable, as if things are off-kilter. The aunt’s hatred and abuse of her nephew are real but intangible. No one sees the harm, so it’s easy to disbelieve what Arthur says. After all, he’s not hurting for pocket money, is he?

Some details are not given at the end of the story, but they were never the point. The point, IMseldomHO, had to deal with Withers’ actions or inaction.

To the 21st-century reader, it might appear to meander, but it is nicely told.

Bio: Walter de la Mare (1873-1956) was a prolific UK poet and writer. He wrote hundreds of poems and more than 100 short stories. He wrote sophisticated fantasy and fairy tales for children and ghost and horror stories for adults. H. P. Lovecraft admired his writing. Notable among his works are the novel The Return and the short story collection Eight Tales.


This story can be read here:

This story can be listened to here: (1:19:04)


Title: “Seaton’s Aunt”
Author: Walter de la Mare (1873-1956)
First published: The London Mercury, April 1922
Length: novelette

Review of “The Screaming Skull” by F. Marion Crawford: Halloween Countdown

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Plot:

Retired Captain Braddock has come to live in his late cousin Luke Pratt’s house. Cousin Luke was a doctor. His wife pre-deceased him. Their son was killed (in the Boer War?) in South Africa.

Braddock isn’t nervous—so he keeps telling his unnamed houseguest, who is also an old sailor. He’s heard the skull scream often. Hear it now? A noise never hurt anyone.

While Luke and his wife were still alive, Braddock had dinner with them. They were joking, and he told them a story about a gruesome form of murder he’d heard about.

Mrs. Pratt died soon after.

Braddock was saddened when he heard about Mrs. Pratt’s passing. He never meant her any harm. She was a charming, friendly woman. Yet he doesn’t examine the matter too closely. Mrs. Pratt had a heart attack, right? Heart attacks are common enough.

The skull comes into his possession after his cousin’s death. It wants to stay in the best bedroom, in a particular bandbox. Is it Mrs. Pratt’s? Braddock is not positive. After all, the skull might be one Luke came across in his student days… right?

Thoughts:

Crawford borrows a device from Poe: the first-person narrator, who is not at all nervous or guilty about the nefarious goings-on, tells his story. He speaks to a friend, recalling their days on the sea. Braddock admits to his part in the tragedies, though he never bore anyone ill will. What’s the sense in examining the matter too closely? The skull hates him, and he knows it.

This is quite effective. The reader is taken into Braddock’s confidence—and creeped out. Is your cousin’s house that nice that you want to stay in it with a skull that screams? And uh, nunthin’ on yer conscience, is there?

The weirdness of the story builds. Without electricity, lamps go out at bad times and candles refuse to light.

I rather liked this gruesome little tale of vengeance biting one on the hind end.

An apparently forgettable movie by the same name came out loosely based on this story. From what little I’ve seen of it, one might surmise that Crawford didn’t come back from the grave and shriek himself is proof that the dead don’t come back.

Bio: F. (Francis) Marion Crawford (1854-1909) was an American novelist and short story writer who spent much of his adult life in his birthplace of Italy. He also lived in India and learned Sanskrit. His father, a sculptor, died while the writer was young. His family boasted of several writers, including his aunt, the abolitionist Julia Ward Howe. On his mother’s side, he descended from Revolutionary War officer Francis Marion, also called the Swamp Fox. Crawford’s writing was renowned for its vivid settings and characterizations. Though his novels are seldom read now, his supernatural and ghost short stories are still often anthologized


The story can be read here:

This story can be listened to here: (1:12:04)


Title: “The Screaming Skull”
Author: F. Marion Crawford (1854-1909)
First Published: Collier’s (serialized), July 1908
Length: novelette

Review of “Schalken the Painter” by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: Halloween Countdown

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For October 22

Plot:

The painting by the artist Godfrey Schalken is a family heirloom. A woman in a white dress, part of which forms a veil. She holds a lamp, lighting her features, an effect at which its creator excelled. It shows her “arch smile,” as if she’s pulled off some prank. Behind her, in shadow by the red light of the embers of a dying fire, stands a man dressed in old Flemish style, his hand ready to draw his sword.

The painting comes with a story.

The woman in the painting is Rose Velderkaust, a niece of Schalken’s master Gerard Douw—and Schalken’s first love. As the story goes, the painter did not have the wherewithal to marry but had to work hard and save. Neither Rose nor Schalken spoke to Douw about their plans.

One day, a Minheer Vanderhausen came to call on Gerard Douw. He demonstrated his wealth and made a generous offer for Rose. Douw accepted without making further inquiry. He didn’t tell Rose immediately, not because he expected her to object, but because, after thinking about it, he couldn’t remember Vanderhausen’s face.

Rose came flying home after she and Minheer Vanderhausen are married, starving and begging not to be left alone. Douw put her to bed in his own room. Unthinking, he crossed the threshold to find a candle after the one he held blew out. The door slammed shut, and even with both Douw and Schalken trying to open it, it stayed fast.

Screaming came from the far side of the door, followed by silence.

No trace of Rose was ever found, but years later, when Godfrey attends the funeral for his father, he falls asleep and has a dream.

Thoughts:

This is a sad horror tale, heavy with foreshadowing. Douw loves his niece, but he’s too greedy to turn down the money the stranger offers.

The narrative is wordy in the 19th-century style. The villain is apparent to the reader when he first enters the story, doing everything but twirling his mustache.

Things go badly for poor Rose, but she—adjusts. She has not forgotten how to smile.

I liked this little gothic story, sad as it was.

Dutch painter Godfried Schalcken did indeed exist. He was, as Le Fanu writes, famous for his effects with light. He studied under a painter named Gerard Dou, who, in turn, studied under Rembrandt.

Bio: Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873) was an Irish writer of Huguenot descent. His early writings include a group of short stories, initially published anonymously in The Dublin University Magazine in the guise of the literary remains of one (fictional) Father Frances Purcell (The Purcell Papers 1838-1850). These range from the creepy (“Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter”) to the silly (“The Quare Gander”).

Le Fanu’s writings include many ghost stories and supernatural pieces. His works influenced such writers as M. R. James and may have inspired portions of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847). His vampire tale, “Carmilla” (1872), influenced Bram Stoker’s Dracula. “Carmilla” has been adapted for film several times with varying degrees of success.

In 1858, his wife died after what was described as a fit of hysteria. Le Fanu ceased writing for years and became a recluse, taking to his bed.


The story can be read here:

The story can be listened to here:(1:21:55)


Title: “Schalken the Painter”
Author: Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873)
First published: Dublin University Magazine, May 1839
Length: novelette

Review of “The Repairer of Reputations” by Robert W. Chambers: Halloween Countdown

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For October 21

Plot:

As envisioned from 1895, the year 1920 looks good. The tariff and labor questions have been settled. New architecture replaces old. The war with Germany, occasioned by the latter’s seizure of the Samoan Islands, has left no visible mark on the republic. And we won’t mention the ridiculous plight of General Von Gartenlaube’s forces in New Jersey.

The Government Lethal Chamber opened in April 1920 for those who consider their lives no longer worth living.

Hildred Castaigne tells the reader that four years earlier, he fell from his horse and was carried unconscious to Dr. John Archer. The good doctor concluded that Hildred’s brain had been affected and sent him to an asylum. Hildred claims the fall left him with no “evil results.”

“On the contrary it had changed my whole character for the better. From a lazy young man about town, I had become active, energetic, temperate, and above all—oh, and above all—ambitious. There was only one thing that troubled me, I laughed at my own uneasiness, and yet it troubled me.

“During my convalescence I had bought and read for the first time, The King in Yellow.”

Hildred, now free, meets with Mr. Wild, the repairer of reputations, who lives above the shop where Hawberk the armorer lives with his daughter, Constance. Hildred is in love with Constance. Unfortunately, Constance loves Hildred’s cousin, Louis.

Hildred understands mysteries gleaned from The King in Yellow, and although his cousin is the heir, according to the Imperial History of America, Hildred wants to be king. He even has a crown that he tries on for size now and again. He forbids Louis to marry.

Thoughts:

This is the first story in a collection titled The King in Yellow. The stories are loosely connected and move backward and forward in time. The King in Yellow of the book is a play that drives its readers mad.

Chambers’ book is part of the so-called Decadent Movement of the latter 19th century, which valued fantasy and hedonism over reality. (It’s a fantastic job if you can get it). Early writers were French, such as Théophile Gautier and Charles Baudelaire.

All that to say, Hildred is more than half a bubble off, and he has a hard time separating fantasy from reality. He is the dreaded unreliable narrator. How much of what he says is true? Is the year even 1920? And yet, despite everything, the reader can’t help feeling a little sympathy for him and feeling the tragedy at end of the story all the more.

Some of the imagery is breathtaking. I can understand Hildred wanting to hold onto the world of the Yellow King:

“for I cannot forget Carcosa where black stars hang in the heavens; where the shadows of men’s thoughts lengthen in the afternoon, when the twin suns sink into the lake of Hali; and my mind will bear for ever the memory of the Pallid Mask.”

The authorities have declared Hildred cured. How sure is the reader? One of the things Chamber excels at is capturing the odd, uncomfortable dialogue people have with someone whose sanity they question.

Unfortunately, living in fantasy has real-world consequences. This is a sad story.

Bio: Robert W. Chambers (1865-1933) was a playwright, artist, and illustrator who turned to writing supernatural and weird fiction. Of his seventy books, his best known is The King in Yellow, which was influenced by Ambrose Bierce and, in turn, influenced H. P. Lovecraft. Told in vignettes that jump forward and backward in time, it describes a play that drives its readers mad.


The story can be read here:

The story can be listened to here: (1:30:10)


Title: “The Repairer of Reputations”
Author: Robert W. Chambers (1865-1933)
First Published: The King in Yellow, 1895
Length: novelette

Review of “The Open Door” by Mrs. Margaret Oliphant: Halloween Countdown

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For October 20

Plot:

On his return from India in 18—, Colonel Mortimer takes a house called Brentwood for his family. Edinburgh is within reach so his daughters can have the masters and lessons they need, and his boy, Roland, whose education has been neglected, can now receive the proper education for a lad his age. On the same property stand the ruins of another house that nature is busy reclaiming.

The girls love the house, and it seems to suit his wife, too, until one day when Roland comes home from school looking peaked. His pony is in a sweat. A fever seizes Roland. In his delirium, he repeatedly cries, “Mother, let me in!”

This breaks his mother’s heart.

When his father returns from a business trip to London, the boy tells him what really bothers him. There is a suffering spirit in the ruins. Worrying over it makes him sick. He knows Father will find an answer.

Father doesn’t know jack. He’s not a ghost-buster by trade, inclination, or belief, yet he’s desperate because he’s certain his son’s life depends on putting the spirit (if such it is) to rest.

Thoughts:

This odd story drips Victorian sentimentality. Plus, it’s long. Mortimer becomes a believer after experiencing the ghost, but Dr. Simson remains a skeptic, convinced human agency is involved, and even finds evidence of one after all is said and done. The point is not whether it’s a spirit or a human. A suffering creature seeks release from its suffering. Only through this will Roland be cured, and so on. What about the poor pony?

I think the point is well taken: regardless of the source of suffering, a sensitive soul (and it’s interesting that it affects the boy more than the girls) feels it and will not be released until the other’s suffering is addressed.

Having said that, I will add that I don’t think the story has aged well and may strike many people as tedious, though it is not a bad little read.

Bio: Mrs. Margaret Oliphant’s (1828-1897) literary output totals nearly two hundred works, including novels, short fiction, and various articles. She cranked them out, in part, to pay the bills.

She lost her husband to tuberculosis (“consumption,” in the parlance of the times). Three of their six children died before reaching adulthood. Oliphant outlived even those who did. She also supported an alcoholic brother after his bankruptcy.

Her early novels included a sensation novel, Salem Chapel. Later in life, she wrote supernatural stories. Most of her work reflects her Scottish heritage, religious reverence, and the personal tragedies she suffered.

Happily, she developed a close relationship with the Blackwoods of Blackwood’s magazine, who would, at times, offer her assignments in addition to publishing her short stories and serialized novels.


The story can be read here:

The story can be listened to here: (1:56:11)


Title: “The Open Door”
Author: Mrs. Margaret Oliphant (1828-1897)
First published: Blackwood’s, January 1882
Length: novelette

Review of “Mysterious Maisie” by Wirt Gerrare: Halloween Countdown

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For October 19

Plot:

With her father recently deceased and her mother in failing health, seventeen-year-old Laura must earn a living. She is not (her sister Maggie writes) fit to be a teacher. Even if she were, hearing what Maggie has to say about her own post as an assistant mistress of a high school has put her off from that course.

She offers her services as a paid companion to a lady or an invalid. The agency fixes her up with one Miss Mure, a train trip from her home.

Laura calls the neighborhood “dingy.” Her first glance of her employer’s house is not anymore uplifting. The house “looked old and badly kept.” The garden in the front was shabby.

Laura’s first encounter with the maid Agnes adds a dimension of weirdness. Agnes keeps a pet four-foot-long crocodile. She warns Laura to stay out of the kitchen if she’s not around.

Agnes tells her tales of hauntings in the house. Laura doesn’t believe her and resents her attempts to scare her. Why the crocodile? Why doesn’t she keep a dog?

“They won’t stay,” Agnes tells her.

Someone comes into her room that night and doesn’t answer her call. She figures it’s Agnes, but for what reason?

Agnes tells her she’s been with Miss Mure for fourteen years. Their employer is a spiritualist.

She is an ogre, Laura decides when she meets her. She’s tall and heavy.

Laura’s primary duties consist of reading to Miss Mure, who has bad eyesight. What types of books are these? And the Latin ones? Laura can read Latin, but she understands very little.

Then there’s the night of the séance.

Thoughts:

The tale is told as a letter addressed to Dr. Horace Vesey, an occult investigator. His reply, if any, is not supplied here. Maggie has collected Laura’s journals and letters and sent them to Vesey, seeking to understand what happened to her sister.

The events build suspense, although the reader understands from the beginning that Laura is already in a bad way. The household grows increasingly weird and threatening often without explanation.

Laura’s journal refers to things so terrible she refuses to give details. A half-human “horror” arrives, which she never completely describes. Its keeper beats it.

With all the mysterious goings on—the footsteps, the doors opening and closing—Laura accepts that the house is haunted.

Laura suspects something more sinister is in the works. Her mail to her family is not being posted. She is not allowed out of the house. Men arrive and seem to drag a girl away—who is she? Where are they taking her? Agnes locked her in the room until the whole affair was over.

Why would she do that? What do these people have in mind for her? Agnes tells her she won’t escape but will soon be “an angel.”

When she brings this up to Ms. Mure, she’s told that she’s imagining everything. Is she going crazy? …maybe.

The story resembles Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s “Good Lady Ducayne”(but not its perfectly Pollyanna ending), published a year later.

The ending of the present story is neither as miserable nor as happy as it could be.

Bio: Wirt Gerrare (legal name: William Oliver Greener) (1862-1935) was a British gun expert, journalist, and author. He wrote fiction and nonfiction, including Rufin’s Legacy: A Theosophical Romance (1892), about a Russian spy who astral projects, and Phantasms: Original Stories Illustrating Posthumous Personality and Character (coll 1895) on the exploits of Horace Vesey, occult detective.


I could not find an online text version of this story.

I could not find an audio version of this story.


Title: “Mysterious Maisie”
Author: Wirt Gerrare (legal name: William Oliver Greener) (1862-1935)
First published: Phantasms, 1895
Length: novelette