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Acolyte, v. 4, issue 1, whole no. 13, Winter 1946
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LITTLE-KNOWN FANTAISISTES by Harod Wakefield --o0o-- 9. R. H. MALDEN *** FOR those readers interested in the art of M. R. James, a slim little volume of stories that first appeared in 1943 will prove of extreme interest. The title of the book is Nine Ghosts (7 1/2", 132p, Arnold, London, 1943, 1944 reprinted) and the author, Richard Henry Malden, Dean of Wells, was an old friend and colleague of James, with whom he shared a mutual admiration for the sadly neglected Sheridan LeFanu. Indeed, LeFanu's name is mentioned at least twice in the stories in this book. Out of print now, after going through two small printings, Nine Ghosts presents a disciple who has absorbed so much of his master's method and approach that his stories bear an uncanny likeness to those of his mentor. Written between 1909 and 1942, the stories are apparently presented in chronological order, and thus afford an interesting demonstration of the author's growing mastery of his medium. The first story, "A Collector's Company", deals with the visit of a young clergyman to the home of an enigmatic minister to substitute for him during a temporary indisposition. His host turns out to look like an evil caricature of Dr. Hans Emmanuel Bryerly, the Swedenborgian teacher in LeFanu's "Uncle Silas", and possessed of an immense erudition in dark and forbidden lore. On retiring for the night, the visitor feels an unpleasant atmosphere about the house and locks his door. During the night, he his wakened by a sound. He goes to the window, which commands a view of the lawn with the churchyard in the background, the whole scene bathed with an unpleasant and unnatural light. Shortly his host appears, followed by about twelve very dubious and indistinct figures who group around him in a circle. The wizard, producing a wand, then conducts a hideous dance of the dead. Soon after, the light fails and all disappear. The guest goes back to bed, and in the morning is told that his host is indisposed and gladly leaves without meeting him again. The story ends on a decided anti-climax, the guest reading some days later of the rector's being found with his neck broken at the entrance to the churchyard. "The Dining Room Fireplace" deals with a club meeting into which a note of diabolism became introduced. Eventually the nameless president appears at a meeting, much to the consternation of the members. It is the psychic residue of this demon that forms the basis of the story. Perhaps the least effective story in the book is "Stivinghoe Bank", telling of the incumbent of a chapel in Norfolk entering into a pact with the devil. Told as the story is through old manuscripts, it loses a great deal in the absence of a climactic development. The impudent replies of the rascally monk to his prior are the chief point of interest in a tale whose treatment seems altogether too oblique. In "The Sundial", we find an Englishman, returning to his country after a long sojourn abroad. On his estate is an ugly tree stump which he determines to replace with a sundial. A series of uncanny experiences ensues, climaxed with the pursuit by the hero of a hideously -- 16 --
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LITTLE-KNOWN FANTAISISTES by Harod Wakefield --o0o-- 9. R. H. MALDEN *** FOR those readers interested in the art of M. R. James, a slim little volume of stories that first appeared in 1943 will prove of extreme interest. The title of the book is Nine Ghosts (7 1/2", 132p, Arnold, London, 1943, 1944 reprinted) and the author, Richard Henry Malden, Dean of Wells, was an old friend and colleague of James, with whom he shared a mutual admiration for the sadly neglected Sheridan LeFanu. Indeed, LeFanu's name is mentioned at least twice in the stories in this book. Out of print now, after going through two small printings, Nine Ghosts presents a disciple who has absorbed so much of his master's method and approach that his stories bear an uncanny likeness to those of his mentor. Written between 1909 and 1942, the stories are apparently presented in chronological order, and thus afford an interesting demonstration of the author's growing mastery of his medium. The first story, "A Collector's Company", deals with the visit of a young clergyman to the home of an enigmatic minister to substitute for him during a temporary indisposition. His host turns out to look like an evil caricature of Dr. Hans Emmanuel Bryerly, the Swedenborgian teacher in LeFanu's "Uncle Silas", and possessed of an immense erudition in dark and forbidden lore. On retiring for the night, the visitor feels an unpleasant atmosphere about the house and locks his door. During the night, he his wakened by a sound. He goes to the window, which commands a view of the lawn with the churchyard in the background, the whole scene bathed with an unpleasant and unnatural light. Shortly his host appears, followed by about twelve very dubious and indistinct figures who group around him in a circle. The wizard, producing a wand, then conducts a hideous dance of the dead. Soon after, the light fails and all disappear. The guest goes back to bed, and in the morning is told that his host is indisposed and gladly leaves without meeting him again. The story ends on a decided anti-climax, the guest reading some days later of the rector's being found with his neck broken at the entrance to the churchyard. "The Dining Room Fireplace" deals with a club meeting into which a note of diabolism became introduced. Eventually the nameless president appears at a meeting, much to the consternation of the members. It is the psychic residue of this demon that forms the basis of the story. Perhaps the least effective story in the book is "Stivinghoe Bank", telling of the incumbent of a chapel in Norfolk entering into a pact with the devil. Told as the story is through old manuscripts, it loses a great deal in the absence of a climactic development. The impudent replies of the rascally monk to his prior are the chief point of interest in a tale whose treatment seems altogether too oblique. In "The Sundial", we find an Englishman, returning to his country after a long sojourn abroad. On his estate is an ugly tree stump which he determines to replace with a sundial. A series of uncanny experiences ensues, climaxed with the pursuit by the hero of a hideously -- 16 --
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