And the last review for Halloween 2024!
Here’s my review of a book for Halloween that deals with classics. In the small hardback format, suitable for fitting in a pocket, with gold gilt edges and a little ribbon for a bookmark, this is a lovely little edition that you could read in an October evening or two.
There are (appropriately) thirteen stories here, beginning with Algernon Blackwood’s The Occupant of the Room, and first published in 1869, and ending with the less known Celui-La by Eleanor Scott, originally published in 1929. There’s also a brief but astute introduction by genre expert David Stuart Davies, who sadly passed away recently.
The stories included are:
- The Occupant in the Room by Algernon Blackwood
- The Treasure of Abbot Thomas by M R James
- August Heat by W F Harvey
- The Red Room by H G Wells
- And No Bird Sings by E F Benson
- The Terror of Blue John Gap by Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Thing Invisible by W H Hodgson
- The Hand by Theodore Dreiser
- Twilight by Marjorie Bowen
- Vendetta by Guy du Maupassant
- A Bottle of Perrier by Edith Wharton
- Celui-la by Eleanor Scott
If you know any of these stories, you may realise that the selection is from the late 1800s and early 1900s. The emphasis is therefore on the ‘classic’, with all that entails. At their best they are literate, intelligent and yes, gripping, whilst some readers may find the language a little obtuse and archaic.
But hopefully not many. Stuart-Davies has done a good job of picking generally readable stories, some classics but also others that are rather more obscure. Personally, as good as M R James is, I’ve read this story many, many, many times, and whilst it undeniably holds its power and totally deserves a place here, as does Benson, Wells, Hodgson, du Maupassant and Blackwood, it was the much more unknown stories by Theodore Dreiser (once very well-known in literary circles, I understand, but now pretty obscure) Eleanor Scott and W F Harvey that I appreciated. Davies is aware that the majority of the stories written at the time were by males, and he has attempted to redress the balance a little. The Wharton is excellent. The Conan Doyle is a nice surprise for those who only know Arthur Conan Doyle because of Sherlock Holmes. (The presence of Conan Doyle is less of a surprise though, as the editor was regarded as an expert on things about Sherlock Holmes.)
In fact, I’m pleased to say that all of the selections here are good.
In summary, this is a lovely little package that should tick all the boxes for anyone wanting a Halloween chill with classic stories. Perhaps designed more for the casual reader of horror stories, there’s enough of a range and a nice selection to hopefully persuade those new to the genre to read more. This would be a great little primer for anyone wanting to sample some great stories.
For those of us who have read a little more, there are still surprises as well as the chance to reread some stories that may be known but are worth revisiting.
Having being not only an editor here but also a regular anthologist with the Wentworth Tales of Mystery and the Supernatural, the recent death of Davies makes me realise how much he will be missed, but this is a pleasing reminder of his legacy.
CLASSIC HORROR STORIES Edited by David Stuart Davies
Published by Macmillan in the MacMillan Collectors Library series
ISBN: 978 103501 4941
312 pages
Review by Mark Yon
And that’s it for this year! As ever, we hope you’ve found it useful and added more books to your reading pile. Happy Halloween, everybody!
