15) “The Portrait” by Margaret Oliphant Plot:Our hero, Philip Canning, tells the reader that he lived with his father at The Grove, a Queen Anne-style place, “a large old house in the immediate neighborhood of a little town,” that is being torn down as he writes to make way for townhouses. Philip’s mother died duringContinue reading “Review of “The Portrait” by Margaret Oliphant: Halloween Countdown”
Tag Archives: ghost
Review of “Circumstance” by Harriet Prescott Spofford: Halloween Countdown
Note: The story reviewed below deals with violent imagery and sublimated sexual violence as well as not so sublimated racism. 2) “Circumstance” by Harriet Prescott Spofford Plot: Walking home from visiting a sick neighbor, through a “wilderness untrod save by stealthy native of deadly panther tribes,” our heroine sees a winding sheet fluttering in theContinue reading “Review of “Circumstance” by Harriet Prescott Spofford: Halloween Countdown”
Review of “Smee” by A. M. Burrage: Halloween Countdown
PlotDuring a Christmas Eve party, Jackson refuses to play hide-and-seek because he sometimes stays at a house where a girl was accidentally killed playing the game by falling down a flight of stairs. He wasn’t there when this happened, but he was visiting the same house during another Christmas party when something worse happened. WhenContinue reading “Review of “Smee” by A. M. Burrage: Halloween Countdown”
Review of “The Haunted Chair” by Richard Marsh: Halloween Countdown
Plot: As Mr. Philpotts walks into the smoking room of the club, he hears, “Well, that’s the most staggering thing I’ve ever known!” The narrator hints that the actual comment was not quite so tame. The speaker, Mr. Bloxom, stands in front of his chair, looking around. He asks Mr. Philpotts, “Did you see him?”Continue reading “Review of “The Haunted Chair” by Richard Marsh: Halloween Countdown”
Review of “The Entail” by E. T. A. Hoffmann: Halloween Countdown
Plot:Our hero’s great-uncle V— works as a law agent and “Justitiarius” (other translations call him “Advocate”) for the family of Freiherr (Baron)* R—. Our hero is named V—like his great-uncle. He accompanies the elder V— to the family estates to attend to R— family business. Uncle V—’s usual rooms are unavailable, having suffered a catastrophicContinue reading “Review of “The Entail” by E. T. A. Hoffmann: Halloween Countdown”
Review of “The Whistling Room” by William Hope Hodgson: Halloween Countdown
Plot: Carnacki recounts his adventures at (fictional) Iastrae Castle, some twenty miles northeast of Galway, Ireland. Mr. Sid K. Tassoc, the new owner, requested his help after finding the castle haunted. He bought the castle, intending to renovate it before marrying and bringing his bride to live there. He’s frustrated because sounds—whistling and sometimes screaming—comeContinue reading “Review of “The Whistling Room” by William Hope Hodgson: Halloween Countdown”
Review of “The Fog” (1980)
For our Saturday night pizza and bad movie selection, we chose a flick that started with a ghost story around a campfire. Plot: As midnight nears before the centennial of the founding of the northern California seaside town of Antonia Bay, old Mr. Machen (John Houseman) sits with a group of kids around a campfire.Continue reading “Review of “The Fog” (1980)”
Review of “The Screaming Skull” by F. Marion Crawford: Halloween Countdown
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.Continue reading “Review of “The Screaming Skull” by F. Marion Crawford: Halloween Countdown”
Review of “Amour Dure” by Vernon Lee: Halloween Countdown
For October 3 Plot:Polish scholar Spiridion Trepka, working for a German university, is in Italy researching the archives of the fictional town of Urbania. He has come to find the Past. He comes across the story of Medea di Capri, a 16th-century noblewoman who left a trail of dead husbands and lovers and was finallyContinue reading “Review of “Amour Dure” by Vernon Lee: Halloween Countdown”
Short Story Published (YIPPEE!!)
One of my short stories was published today in an online magazine called The Worlds Within Welcome to The Worlds Within – The Worlds Within. My short story is called Devil’s Bargain. Devil’s Bargain – The Worlds Within I must warn the reader that story is it somewhere north of 6000 words long. I hopeContinue reading “Short Story Published (YIPPEE!!)”
