The Best Ghost Stories of H. Russell Wakefield

by H. Russell Wakefield, H.R. Wakefield (AKA), Richard Dalby (Introduction)

Short horror stories concern haunted houses, strange supernatural occurrences, and the appearances of ghosts.

Contents (collection by H. Russell Wakefield)
7 • Introduction • essay by Richard Dalby
13 • The Red Lodge • (1928) • short story
28 • "He Cometh and He Passeth By!" • (1928) • novelette [as by H. R. Wakefield]
58 • Professor Pownall's Oversight • (1928) • short story
73 • The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster • (1928) • short story
87 • "Look Up There!" • (1929) • short story
98 • Blind Man's Buff • (1929) • short story
103 • Day-Dream in Macedon • (1930) • short story
111 • Damp Sheets • (1929) • short story
120 • A Black Solitude • (1951) • short story
138 • The Triumph of Death • (1949) • short story
155 • A Kink in Space-Time • (1948) • short story
164 • The Gorge of the Churels • (1951) • short story
174 • "Immortal Bird" • (1961) • novelette
202 • Death of a Bumblebee • (1967) • novelette

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Short Stories, Ghost Stories, Ghosts, Weird Fiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Herbert Russell Wakefield was an English short story writer, novelist, publisher, and civil servant chiefly remembered today for his ghost stories.
Pseudonyms: H.R. Wakefield, H. Russell Wakefield

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

When masters of the British ghost story are named, Wakefield is often mentioned in the company of LeFanu and M.R. James. His inclusion in this small list is fitting, but misleading. Like the other two, Wakefield chooses the exact detail to best elicit anxiety or summon horror, but he lacks either the capacity or discipline to choose the other details of his narratives with equal force and precision. In addition, his prose is undistinguished, and this combination results in stories that lack both concentration and elegance.

Still, Wakefield has told some very fine tales, including his first, the celebrated "The Red Lodge," "The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster" (an excellent account of supernatural manifestations on a golf course), and "Immortal Bird," the story of a murderous mathematician plagued by the apparition of an albino raven. "Damp Sheets" and "Blind Man's Buff"--the latter one of the best evocations I have read of what it feels like to be trapped in absolute darkness--are also very good; both are brief and benefit from the concision Wakefield often lacks. My two favorite stories, however, feature thinly-disguised appearances by Aleister Crowley, one ("Black Solitude") almost in jest, and another ("He Cometh and He Passeth by") horrifyingly in earnest.

All in all, this is a rewarding collection, and belongs on the short list of any devotee of the British ghost story.

[Shawn]

So, I got this from Inter-Library Loan to read one story from my "H. Russell Wakefield" list - and then looking at the table of contents, I realized that I had already read everything in this, except the story I intended to read and one other. So I read that one as well - they both come first, followed by the repurposed reviews:

"A Black Solitude" - A publisher's Tudor mansion has a traditional Wakefieldian "room where something bad has happened" and which no one can safely sleep in. The publisher's partner, entertaining a notorious if charming individual, at the place for the weekend., finds that the individual can not only grasp the problem with the room, but may be able to confront its evil. I really enjoyed this charmingly grim tale, and was a bit surprised that, having given us an evil Aleister Crowley stand-in in "He Cometh And He Passeth By", Wakefield gives us another one (still scandalous but more balanced and heroic) in this tale. Apuleius Charlton has all of Crowley's notoriety (drug use, occultism, sexual debauchery) BUT, when faced with the evil room, knows exactly what's wrong and believes he can defeat it - but can he? On top of this, the story has some nice little grace notes, including a very funny portrayal of well-paid butlers who eventually retire to spend their own wealth in the U.S.

"The Death of a Bumble-Bee" - Dilys, famed singer, strong clairvoyant and vibrant personality, is plagued by strong, recurrent dreams of an un-exploded ticking time bomb that she feels is under the house. Her husband, a publisher, enlists the aid of his partner to contact an alienist who he hopes might cure her of this disquieting disturbance, as the increased tension is ruining the health of the couple. But Dilys confides a sexual secret to the partner, and seems convinced that not only is there really a bomb, but that she has caused it to materialize with her mind... A strange story this, one of (possibly or actually) Wakefield's last - longer than usual, there is (unsurprisingly) rising suspense throughout, especially as all of our lusty and love-lorn characters gather for a weekend, leading to a not unexpected outcome - although I'm not sure I get the symbolic intent of the last couple of lines (that give us the story's title). Interesting.

A mathematician accidentally causes the death of the current holder of a prestigious teaching position he covets, then finds himself repeatedly plagued by a flock of bird that seem to be led by a distinctive albino blackbird in "'Immortal Bird'". In a way, this is an oddity - the usual "Revenge of the Murdered Dead" plot, except our main character honestly doesn't feel (and arguably is correct in this) that he intended harm and that the event was accidental. That detail makes the subsequent "haunting" (strange flockings and attacks by birds, reports of a ghostly figure) seem crueler than usual - as if the "moral mechanism" of the universe is out of whack (of course, we could also just assume the protagonist is prevaricating - though he honestly doesn't appear to be, as he may be an admitted snob and filled with loathing for his "better" but even he admits, pre-accident, that the man has certain admirable qualities. Perhaps, instead, this is intended as an illustration of how we can convince ourselves of anything and our memory and thought processes then fill in the gaps?). There is a rather nice moment, early on, where our arch rationalist protagonist details some events from his childhood that indicated he might be psychically "sensitive" (specifically, a creepy graveyard encounter with the ghost of a child) but still - the story feels both overwritten and "more of the same."

"He Cometh And He Passeth By" - Edward Bellamy (the "most brilliant" junior at the Criminal Bar law courts in London) reconnects with his school-friend Philip Franton (invalided somewhat since a mustard gas attack in WWI - "one is brought right up against the vast enigmas of time and space and eternity when one lung is doing the work of two...") who admits to having fallen into the orbit of "that other Oscar" - Oscar Clinton, notorious scoundrel of the Decadent 90s and reputed sorcerer. Clinton insinuated himself into Franton's life, "borrowing" money, directing Franton to fight his suicidal thoughts, and impregnating the man's servant staff, before being banished - upon which he cursed Franton. And as Bellamy then sees that curse come true, he teams with Mr. Solan (an eccentric Orientalist and occult expert) to lay a trap for the crafty and wise/wary Clinton. So, as might be obvious, this is M.R. James' "Casting The Runes," just tricked out a bit. We have the same use of a stand-in for Aleister Crowley (there, Haddo, here, Clinton) - although this would essentially be "Crowley in decline" as Solan notes "the naughty boys of the Nineties" didn't age well (or, in some cases, survive at all). Some space and time is given to Clinton's persona/character (he is acknowledged to be brilliant and charismatic, while also being a debauched drug user and hedonist) and the "meeting scene" with him seems a fairly good "outsider" portrait of Crowley through a fictional lens. On the other hand, the story has very little atmosphere, and is more of an "English club story by way of a early pulp thriller" than a horror story, and everything has a breezy, surface sheen (there's even some clumsily deployed P.G. Wodehouse-styled humor) - so while the incidental details are interesting (Club Chorazin, Solan), it's just in service of a pretty disposable entertainment - and while James' had the religious belief to inform a "Crowley gets his" story, here it seems more like a punishment from a class perspective ("that brilliant but unscrupulous bounder gets his!"). "Daydream In Macedon" - A British man doing espionage work in Eastern Europe during WWI, is taking a rest cure in Macedon when he has a vision of his friend's death on the Front. Nicely done. Not a ghost story but a moving representation of psychic visions and the horrors of WWI. Meanwhile, a scheming couple invite their sickly but wealthy uncle over for a visit to hit him up for some cash, but the slightly craftier wife of the duo has more final plans in "Damp Sheets" - this is a fairly typical "revenge of the murdered spirit" story, wrapped up in some black comic character sketches - something like a more pedestrian and lower-class Saki. I liked the almost existentially absurd last line. Meanwhile, a scheming couple invite their sickly but wealthy uncle over for a visit to hit him up for some cash, but the slightly craftier wife of the duo has more final plans in "Damp Sheets" - this is a fairly typical "revenge of the murdered spirit" story, wrapped up in some black comic character sketches - something like a more pedestrian and lower-class Saki. I liked the almost existentially absurd last line. "The Triumph Of Death", has Old lady Pendelham, while innocent in outward appearance, taking sadistic delight in keeping her current attendant Amelia (previous attendants have fled, or died of fright) constantly frightened and stressed - achieving this effect through various means (making her read ghost stories and historical accounts of torture aloud) but most specifically by acting as if the house they occupy is not haunted (when it most certainly is) and ignoring the hideous sights and sounds around them, while Amelia begins to think she is going mad. But such a fiendish plot can, and does, backfire... Not bad - a mixing of the conte cruel (Pendelham's sadism) and the supernatural. Nasty, no doubt, but a little *striving* for its effect - feels more like an interesting invention than a full-fledged story. Still, I bumped it up a notch on the re-read. A brilliant mathematician in "A Kink In Space-Time", recovers from a nervous breakdown following overwork related to war efforts and takes a rest cure in a remote village, only to find himself relapsing into phantom sounds and voices, following an obsession with a figure he meets repeatedly on the footpath near the river. In a way, this is a good example of why reading stories in a compilation can be problem: this is a good story, and I'm sure I would have thought more highly of it if I had read it mixed among work by other authors. Read here, you can't help but apply the knowledge that Wakefield seems to be working through a number of inventive variants of ways to rethink the classic "ghost story" (to state, in this case, how specifically or the conceit would ruin it) and, while this one (again) is good it also feels slightly gimmicky when viewed in that light. Still, solid and not too long.

"Prof. Pownall's Oversight" (aka "The Unseen Player") - Prof. Pownall relates, in a sealed letter, how his entire life he was shadowed by a rivalry with Morrison, a schoolmate who always succeeded at beating him at everything...except chess. So Prof. Pownall enrolled them both in a Grandmaster tournament but, when they finally faced off, Pownall made a bum move and lost...and became convinced that he should murder Morrison. There's an effective "hand waving" of the actual chess playing details that helps move the tale along - "fictionalizing" the process for the story. And the supernatural aspect of the climax in interesting in that those affected have no memory of having fallen under the sway of a ghost. Not bad. "The 17th Hole At Duncaster" - a Secretary of an isolated Golf Course begins to question the wisdom of the recent installation of a 17th hole - a course which seems to defy skill and ability, not to mention persistent reports of glimpsed figures and awful smells. In time, suffering from prescient dreams of death, he looks into why the locals called the area that was cleared by the name "Blood Wood". [I've retroactively removed my incorrect identification of this story with the "golfing ghost" segment of DEAD OF NIGHT] While suffering somewhat from an abrupt and clunky ending, this story is interesting. You can almost see Wakefield deciding to expand on/update the approach of M.R. James - by taking the old figures and forms (evil genius loci, in this instance) and deliberately setting them against expectations by introducing an aspect of modernity (in this case, a well-organized golf course). In fact, even the abrupt ending may be seen as Wakefield not having "solved the equation" as yet. But a good read. A civil servant relaxing a nerve rest-cure on the Adriatic isle of Brioni (in "'Look Up There!'") becomes fascinated with an odd man who is always fixedly staring up at an angle. Eventually, the strange man tells his story - he was invited to Gauntry Hall, a famous old show-place recently bought and refurbished by some nouveau riche who chose to ignore the ancient tradition that no one occupy the place on New Year's Eve, instead throwing a party... Quite a nice little piece, all about the build-up to the ineffable and the unasked question...and "would you REALLY want to know the answer?" "The Gorge of the Churels," an enjoyable little find about a pompous British missionary who insists that his family picnic in the titular spot, but his once-Hindu-now-Christian assistant warns against local folklore of a malignant, La Llorona-type, child-stealing spirit. What's well-done about this story is the examination of the power dynamics between the missionary and the assistant, making us privy to the assistant's simmering anger over the condescension of his "better", and the moral quandary he faces in his choice at the climax.

"The Red Lodge" - a quite accomplished tale of a haunted place which insinuates itself with the new resident, leading to tragedy. A very nice and very short piece is "Blind Man's Bluff" (which seems to be taking place at the same location as Ramsey Campbell's much later "At Lorn Hall"). It's a short and super-concentrated haunted house story - so concentrated, in fact, that I can't really say much about it without ruining the fun (there's some excellent evocation of groping around in the dark) - let's just say our main character doesn't get very far upon entering...

[Jeannie Sloan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good stories although the first and last are the best in my opinion.Well worth checking out at the library but not worth the $125 amount that Amazon has it for.
You can see that it was probably a man wrote that stories because of how the women are betrayed.The only important women who have any depth of charecter are the beautiful ones while the 'plain'one are held in somewhat contempt.This is very common for male as well as some female writer's of ghost stories from that era.You have to kind of get used to the opinions of men of women during the time when the stories were written if you can.I sometimes have a hard time with this.

[N. M. D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading the sinister Christmas tree story, Lucky's Grove, in an anthology, I immediately started hunting for Wakefield's books--and quickly realized how rare they are. Once considered a major figure in the ghost story pantheon, he started to fade into obscurity in his own time.

It took me nearly a year of hunting to find this volume for a reasonable price, and what I got was a collection of very okay stories. I'm starting to realize that I like single author collections all right, and I like multiple author collections on a single topic, but I get bored with a single author and a single topic.

My favorite stories involved Crowley-esque modern wizard characters, one sinister and one sympathetic. It's cool how the stories span the complete range of his career, from the very first published to one of the few unpublished works that survived his final near-death purge. It's a well put togther volume, no doubt.

My least favorite thing, overall, was the playfully scattered sexism. I also got really tired of vengeful ghosts, a theme that starts to repeat toward the end. Before those tales, the supernatural entities were often complete mysteries, and their victims undeserving, which is much more unnerving than Just Desserts. The final two tales are overly long and in desperate need of editing. The last is the only one with no ghosts, and could have been good with a major overhaul.

If you're into ghost stories, it's a perfectly fine collection, but I wouldn't recommend paying it's typical triple digit price tag.

[Tim Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

H Russell Wakefield is one of the more brilliant ghost story writers of the early through mid twentieth century.Unfortunately, he is also largely forgotten. At his peak, he was compared to MR James, now, if he turns up at all, it's in an anthology. I'm glad I took the trouble to find this brilliant, chilling collection of the best of his stories. Many of his stories either involve struggles with evil personified, as in the suspenseful "He Cometh or Passeth By" , or involve cursed grounds. Wakefield, who was a devoted golfer, tells the story of a cursed golf hole, in "The Seventeenth Hole at Doncaster." It starts in a slightly humorous vein, but turns sinister. Wakefield deserves more acclaim and a recent anthology of his work to find a new audience.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the introduction to this collection, editor Richard Dalby quotes M.R. James's reaction to Wakefield's first published anthology of ghost stories, They Return at Evening: "Mr. Wakefield," says the darling, dry Montague, "gives us a mixed bag, from which I would remove one or two that leave a nasty taste. Among the others are some admirable pieces, very inventive." Monty could just have well been referring to this volume, which groups together fourteen of Wakefield's creepy tales ranging chronologically from his first story, "The Red Lodge," to his last, "Death of a Bumblebee."

My introduction to H.R. came courtesy of the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast (hppodcraft.com), which featured "The Red Lodge" several months ago, and I was intrigued enough by the story to bother to hunt down this collection through interlibrary loan. The effort was certainly not wasted. While there is one confirmed stinker in the bunch (the aforementioned "Bumblebee"), the rest of the tales are at least entertaining, and a couple come close to brilliant ("Blind Man's Bluff"). In all honesty, I will admit that I would feel honor-bound to promote this book sheerly on the basis of it containing the only haunted golf course story it has ever been my pleasure to stumble across. And because Wakefield devotes not one but two stories to taking the piss out of Aleister Crowley, which just kind of makes you want to buy the man a beer.

Wakefield served in the Royal Scots Fusiliers during WWI and lived in London during the Blitz. War pervades his stories, sometimes to great effect, as when it serves to mentally disarrange his narrators just enough to make them susceptible to the supernatural, sometimes to their detriment (Have I mentioned the "Bumblebee"?). Whichever it is, Wakefield tells his tales forthrightly, with none of Lovecraft's adjectival overabundance, and only waxes ever so slightly poetic when discussing mathematics or chess. His tales are far from perfect - there's a tendency to tack awkward explanatory codas onto the end, and the tone toward women will make your eyes roll - but he manages, now and then, to evoke a sincere shiver. Admirable and inventive, indeed.

[Paul Hasbrouck · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a entertaining ghost story, what is needed is the proper setting, a lonely church, hotel, ruins that have outlasted the centuries, a garden and the British county homes. In this collection by Wakefield, there are many in different forms-The Red Lodge, as riverside home that seeks to destroy children, Blind Man's Buff, a manor that sits and waits, A Black Solitude, a newspaper owner's summer home has a room that no one sleeps in and Look Up There, a family castle that is never occupied at New Year's Eve. Now after these delightful real estate, there is another, The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster, were a ancient evil lurks at remodeled golf course.
After all these ghosties and ghoulies , there is a story 'He Cometh and He Passeth By' were the evil is a human. He is a black magician, based on infamous Alister Crowley, who meets his match in a humble British barrister.
So in step in time and take a nice vacation in the English county side, watch out for that inn, county house or ruin chapel that seems a nice place to stay.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, thanks GoryDetails for allowing this book to make the rounds. I enjoyed it very much.
The Red Lodge was a story I had read first many years ago and I still find that it has the same emotional impact on me now that it did originally. That all encompassing sense of dread that pervades the story made me feel claustraphobic at times.
Perhaps my favorite previously unread tale in this collection was, The Triumph of Death, with the odious Miss Pendleham. With little inferences to other gothic style tales throughout the story it was amusing to find them and try and identify them. One question though. Was it The Upper Berth by F. Marion Crawford or a tale by M.R. James that had the bedclothes coming to life and strangling the man in the tale?
Other ones I enjoyed were: Blindman's Buff, Look Up There, Damp Sheets and A Black Solitude.

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 3 out of 5]

He Cometh and He Passeth By is worth the price of admission alone. The rest of the material varies between solid ghost stories and pieces that feel underdeveloped. Much of the collection feels a little ancient.

[Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read:

The Red Lodge - 3/5

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

✔️ Blind Man’s Buff, by H. Russell Wakefield 11/18/2025

[Jack Hession · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought I'd give myself a good scare this Halloween season. Been sleeping with the lights on.
What was that . . . ?!