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Fantasy Comentator, v. 1, issue 1, December 1943
Page 9
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FANTASY COMMENTATOR 9 sees in a painting the very face of her dreams; this increases her nervous tension to such an extent that she is forced to take a rest-cure at a lonely seaside village. Here, to her dread, she comes upon the very terrain of her dream; and that evening, at her stopping-place, she is accosted at the door by the one who turns out to be the horrible creature of her dream. He leads her up the cliff through a tremendous storm which has arisen; and the next day, amid the washed-out graveyard, is discovered the body of this creature, "untouched by corruption or decay, through two hundred years had elapsed since it was interred there". But Hester Ward is never seen again. Second only to "The Face" is "And No Bird Sings", which treats of the hunting down of an enormous phosphorescent slug amid the dark aisles of a silent wood completely devoid of animal life. In his descriptions of this huge primeval entity Benson is at his vivid best. Not far behind this tale is "The Temple" which ends the volume; this recounts the weird occurrences in a house built upon the site of an ancient temple whose stone of sacrifice is still intact. The reenacting of a murder accounts for the theme of "Home Sweet Home" and "Naboth's Vineyard" is similar in subject to "Reconciliation". The remaining two tales in the book, "The Corner House" and "Corstophine", tell of cases of murder and pre-vision, respectively. Of [title underlined] More Spook Stories (1934), E. F. Benson's last volume, less need be said. Booksellers' prices for the book range between the limits of two dollars and three-fifty; it is now out of print. Several of the stories are familiar to American readers by reason of inclusion in [title underlined] Weird Tales magazine; two others of the total of thirteen appeared in English anthologies: "Pirates" in [title underlined] A Century of Creepy Ghost Stories (1934), and "The Hanging of Alfred Wadham" in [title underlined] A Century of Creepy Ghost Stories (1934). As a whole, the quality of Benson's final effort in the field falls somewhat short of his previous works. The bases of the stories are of a slighter nature, and the plots show little change from those of earlier collections. Some, indeed, degenerate into little more than drawing-room discussions and others leave entirely too much to the imagination. Benson experiments in one case with the "surprise ending", and, it must be admitted, fails to entice more than a yawn from the reader for all his pains. However, this volume does possess its redeeming features. The subject of invisibility is used to good effect in "The Dance", and that of spiritualism once more comes to the forefront, being especially well employed in "The Psychical Mallards". And despite the decrease in the number of shudders per page Benson's style retains its usual literary solidity, so that while the reader's expectations may at times be disappointed, he is not, as a rule, bored. "The Sanctuary", moreover, will certainly disappoint no reader who admires the author's former masterpieces. Here is an example of the practice of the Black Mass that demonstrates the author's accustomed power and sure dramatic insight into the potentialities of horror. In its own way, "The Sanctuary" compares well with "Negotium Perambulans...". It is indeed unfortunate that the late E. F. Benson was not prevailed upon to write introductions to his collections, thus enabling his readers to attain to a more accurate insight of his purpose and beliefs in the field. As it is, much must now be left to guesswork. Luckily, we have something, which, however short, nevertheless does aid the reader who finds himself still curious after the last story has been read; this something is the half-page preface to [title underlined] The Room in the Tower, from which the following is quoted: [block quote] " These storeis have been written in the hopes of giving some pleasant qualms to their reader, so that, if by chance, anyone may be occupying in their perusal a leisure half-hour before he goes to bed, when the night and the house are
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FANTASY COMMENTATOR 9 sees in a painting the very face of her dreams; this increases her nervous tension to such an extent that she is forced to take a rest-cure at a lonely seaside village. Here, to her dread, she comes upon the very terrain of her dream; and that evening, at her stopping-place, she is accosted at the door by the one who turns out to be the horrible creature of her dream. He leads her up the cliff through a tremendous storm which has arisen; and the next day, amid the washed-out graveyard, is discovered the body of this creature, "untouched by corruption or decay, through two hundred years had elapsed since it was interred there". But Hester Ward is never seen again. Second only to "The Face" is "And No Bird Sings", which treats of the hunting down of an enormous phosphorescent slug amid the dark aisles of a silent wood completely devoid of animal life. In his descriptions of this huge primeval entity Benson is at his vivid best. Not far behind this tale is "The Temple" which ends the volume; this recounts the weird occurrences in a house built upon the site of an ancient temple whose stone of sacrifice is still intact. The reenacting of a murder accounts for the theme of "Home Sweet Home" and "Naboth's Vineyard" is similar in subject to "Reconciliation". The remaining two tales in the book, "The Corner House" and "Corstophine", tell of cases of murder and pre-vision, respectively. Of [title underlined] More Spook Stories (1934), E. F. Benson's last volume, less need be said. Booksellers' prices for the book range between the limits of two dollars and three-fifty; it is now out of print. Several of the stories are familiar to American readers by reason of inclusion in [title underlined] Weird Tales magazine; two others of the total of thirteen appeared in English anthologies: "Pirates" in [title underlined] A Century of Creepy Ghost Stories (1934), and "The Hanging of Alfred Wadham" in [title underlined] A Century of Creepy Ghost Stories (1934). As a whole, the quality of Benson's final effort in the field falls somewhat short of his previous works. The bases of the stories are of a slighter nature, and the plots show little change from those of earlier collections. Some, indeed, degenerate into little more than drawing-room discussions and others leave entirely too much to the imagination. Benson experiments in one case with the "surprise ending", and, it must be admitted, fails to entice more than a yawn from the reader for all his pains. However, this volume does possess its redeeming features. The subject of invisibility is used to good effect in "The Dance", and that of spiritualism once more comes to the forefront, being especially well employed in "The Psychical Mallards". And despite the decrease in the number of shudders per page Benson's style retains its usual literary solidity, so that while the reader's expectations may at times be disappointed, he is not, as a rule, bored. "The Sanctuary", moreover, will certainly disappoint no reader who admires the author's former masterpieces. Here is an example of the practice of the Black Mass that demonstrates the author's accustomed power and sure dramatic insight into the potentialities of horror. In its own way, "The Sanctuary" compares well with "Negotium Perambulans...". It is indeed unfortunate that the late E. F. Benson was not prevailed upon to write introductions to his collections, thus enabling his readers to attain to a more accurate insight of his purpose and beliefs in the field. As it is, much must now be left to guesswork. Luckily, we have something, which, however short, nevertheless does aid the reader who finds himself still curious after the last story has been read; this something is the half-page preface to [title underlined] The Room in the Tower, from which the following is quoted: [block quote] " These storeis have been written in the hopes of giving some pleasant qualms to their reader, so that, if by chance, anyone may be occupying in their perusal a leisure half-hour before he goes to bed, when the night and the house are
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