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Snowfall and Other Chilling Events
"Weird . . . bloodcurdling." - Glasgow Herald
190 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 16, 2019
This was a book I took a chance on at the bookstore, knowing next to nothing about Elizabeth Walter (my book-hunting jaunts are the only times I really wish I owned a smartphone). I only knew that I've seen her stories listed in various 60s/70s Pan and Fontana horror anthologies over the years, and vaguely recalled reading that she had a retrospective put out by Arkham House in the late 70s. And that was good enough for me.
What's immediately apparent is that these five long-ish tales are very old-fashioned. If I hadn't known better, and had it not been for a few more modern references sprinkled throughout, I would have guessed that they were contemporaneous with M.R. James' and E.F. Benson's pre-World War I-era ghost stories. And, in fact, as a whole there's not much here that separates this collection from those masters of old.
But two tales rise above the rest, imo, and make this book worth checking out.
The first, "The Tibetan Box," is a slow-burner about three old women living together in the English countryside who, through an estate sale, come into possession of the ancient, titular box, which is ornately decorated with ominous Eastern dragons on all four sides. One of the women, who's quite worldly and well-traveled, believes that it looks like a type of box that old Tibetan sorcerers used to own, and that a curse will be put on any owner that is not the magician or his heir. The ladies aren't an abnormally superstitious lot, until one of them falls ill, and they soon discover that it can't be destroyed, and harm comes to whoever tries. The story's atmosphere slowly builds and builds to a nice crescendo.
The must-read here though is "The Island of Regrets," an absolute gem of a tale about a newly engaged British couple who decide to take a trip to a small, coastal French town, in order to get to know one another better. They find there's a local superstition about the nearby "Isle des Regrets," just off the coast. Everyone in town is afraid of it, and are hesitant to even talk about it. Of course the couple, urged on by Dora, who's quite rational and not superstitious in the least, decide to take a boat to the mysterious island. Actually, they have to steal a boat, as no one in town is willing to take them to the cursed island. And from this point on, the relentless tension never really lets up. At first I thought, "Oh. Hurrah. Yet another 'curse' tale." But this one freaked me out pretty thoroughly, a rare thing for me these days. There's a couple really haunting images that will stick with me for quite a while.
The other entries are fine, but mostly pretty generic and forgettable, imo. The two tales mentioned above can be easily found elsewhere*, so I wouldn't really call this collection a must-read, unless it's the easiest way for lovers of strange tales like myself to get their hands on those two. Still, fans of old, English-style ghost stories may find the entire book to their liking.
3.0 Stars
* "The Tibetan Box" can be found in 1973's 8th Fontana Book of Horror Stories and 1985's Realms of Death (both of which are edited by Mary Danby), as well as in Eerie, Weird, and Wicked from 1977 (ed. Helen Hoke) 1982's Stories of Terror (ed. John L. Foster), and 1996's Young Oxford Book of Supernatural Stories (ed. Dennis Pepper).
"The Island of Regrets" can be found in the Arkham House career retrospective of Elizabeth Walter's short fiction, In the Mist and Other Uncanny Encounters, from 1979, and 1966's Seventh Pan Book of Horror Stories (ed. Herbert van Thai).
What's immediately apparent is that these five long-ish tales are very old-fashioned. If I hadn't known better, and had it not been for a few more modern references sprinkled throughout, I would have guessed that they were contemporaneous with M.R. James' and E.F. Benson's pre-World War I-era ghost stories. And, in fact, as a whole there's not much here that separates this collection from those masters of old.
But two tales rise above the rest, imo, and make this book worth checking out.
The first, "The Tibetan Box," is a slow-burner about three old women living together in the English countryside who, through an estate sale, come into possession of the ancient, titular box, which is ornately decorated with ominous Eastern dragons on all four sides. One of the women, who's quite worldly and well-traveled, believes that it looks like a type of box that old Tibetan sorcerers used to own, and that a curse will be put on any owner that is not the magician or his heir. The ladies aren't an abnormally superstitious lot, until one of them falls ill, and they soon discover that it can't be destroyed, and harm comes to whoever tries. The story's atmosphere slowly builds and builds to a nice crescendo.
The must-read here though is "The Island of Regrets," an absolute gem of a tale about a newly engaged British couple who decide to take a trip to a small, coastal French town, in order to get to know one another better. They find there's a local superstition about the nearby "Isle des Regrets," just off the coast. Everyone in town is afraid of it, and are hesitant to even talk about it. Of course the couple, urged on by Dora, who's quite rational and not superstitious in the least, decide to take a boat to the mysterious island. Actually, they have to steal a boat, as no one in town is willing to take them to the cursed island. And from this point on, the relentless tension never really lets up. At first I thought, "Oh. Hurrah. Yet another 'curse' tale." But this one freaked me out pretty thoroughly, a rare thing for me these days. There's a couple really haunting images that will stick with me for quite a while.
The other entries are fine, but mostly pretty generic and forgettable, imo. The two tales mentioned above can be easily found elsewhere*, so I wouldn't really call this collection a must-read, unless it's the easiest way for lovers of strange tales like myself to get their hands on those two. Still, fans of old, English-style ghost stories may find the entire book to their liking.
3.0 Stars
* "The Tibetan Box" can be found in 1973's 8th Fontana Book of Horror Stories and 1985's Realms of Death (both of which are edited by Mary Danby), as well as in Eerie, Weird, and Wicked from 1977 (ed. Helen Hoke) 1982's Stories of Terror (ed. John L. Foster), and 1996's Young Oxford Book of Supernatural Stories (ed. Dennis Pepper).
"The Island of Regrets" can be found in the Arkham House career retrospective of Elizabeth Walter's short fiction, In the Mist and Other Uncanny Encounters, from 1979, and 1966's Seventh Pan Book of Horror Stories (ed. Herbert van Thai).
September 14, 2024
I picked this book up because of the cover, and a glance at random places indicated that the stories were old-style ghost stories. Unfortunately, they import two modern conveniences that I strongly dislike. First, people have to do really stupid things for the plot to happen. Second, people have to never talk with each other or observe anything unless the camera is on them.
In most cases in these stories, the protagonists come to believe in the supernatural long before end; but they never act on that knowledge, or, if they do, they act entirely chaotically and not just illogically but inconsistently with what they know and see.
The title story is the best, but that’s mainly because the protagonist meets his end offscreen, so we don’t know how stupidly he was acting.
The final story was the worst, mainly because the main character’s motives transform randomly from page to page to keep the plot going.
In all of the stories, it’s generally obvious how the story is going to end, because it’s generally obvious why the author is having the characters do what they do. Character actions make so little sense internally, they only make sense as a means to an ending.
But it is a very nice cover.
In most cases in these stories, the protagonists come to believe in the supernatural long before end; but they never act on that knowledge, or, if they do, they act entirely chaotically and not just illogically but inconsistently with what they know and see.
The title story is the best, but that’s mainly because the protagonist meets his end offscreen, so we don’t know how stupidly he was acting.
The final story was the worst, mainly because the main character’s motives transform randomly from page to page to keep the plot going.
In all of the stories, it’s generally obvious how the story is going to end, because it’s generally obvious why the author is having the characters do what they do. Character actions make so little sense internally, they only make sense as a means to an ending.
But it is a very nice cover.
March 1, 2025
this is a collection of 5 novellas, and as another reviewer stated, the best is the first, also titled "snowfall." the other 3 are rather slow, nonsensical and mediocre at best, with really fantastical conclusions. Skip it!
January 19, 2018
Good old fashioned ghost stories well written with great attention to detail and mood. Being written in the sixties they have a quaint feel of a less technological time.
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October 12, 2019
I picked this up at a local used book store with only vague knowledge that the author was somewhat similar to M. R. James in style (I think I read one of her stories somewhere). In any case, it was a good find, because these are very much in the Jamesian tradition. It's this sort of long-forgotten book that you sometimes find at a used book store, one that's probably been on their shelves since shortly after it was published, that makes visiting them so fun. Normally, this would be 3 stars, but one truly excellent story (The Island Of Regrets) puts it up to 4. Notes on the stories to come.
March 23, 2024
[Fontana Books] (1968). SB. 160 Pages. Purchased from Richard Dalby’s Library.
I bought a First Edition from Rodney O’Connor in 2010 (Harvill Press (1965))… unable to locate it… common problem…
Five ’superior’ supernatural short stories.
The titular entry is the best - there’s a strong, accumulating sense of clawing dread.
“The Tibetan Box” and “The Drum” are the weakest of the group.
The Centipede Press collected ‘all’ of Walter’s short stories into a beautiful-looking, 728 page, August 2022 Limited Edition (400, Numbered) - “The Spirit of the Place”. It’s Sold Out; I plan to track down a copy.
I bought a First Edition from Rodney O’Connor in 2010 (Harvill Press (1965))… unable to locate it… common problem…
Five ’superior’ supernatural short stories.
The titular entry is the best - there’s a strong, accumulating sense of clawing dread.
“The Tibetan Box” and “The Drum” are the weakest of the group.
The Centipede Press collected ‘all’ of Walter’s short stories into a beautiful-looking, 728 page, August 2022 Limited Edition (400, Numbered) - “The Spirit of the Place”. It’s Sold Out; I plan to track down a copy.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews