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Supernatural Buchan: Stories of Ancient Spirits, Uncanny Places & Strange Creatures
Supernatural Buchan - Stories of Ancient Spirits uncanny places and strange creatures. Buchan's stories of solid characters clad in tweeds and braving all odds armed only with a stout walking stick have become popular classics. Perhaps it is therefore no surprise that the same character types populate his highly entertaining tales of the strange and weird - here collected into a feast of supernatural delights. In a Buchan story the hauntings and other manifestations are far more subtle than the usual blood-curdling phantoms. The author brings finely crafted detail and a profound sense of the spirit of landscape (specially that of his native Scotland) and place to locales that are as disparate as the stories themselves. Whether they are acknowledged or not, ancient other-worldly creatures, deities and people intrude into Buchan's settings to influence and effect the lives of "modern" man. These wonderful tales of hidden threat and menace make dealing with the mundane concerns of our own world seem like child's play.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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About the author
John Buchan
1,734 books466 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
John Buchan was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation.
As a youth, Buchan began writing poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction, publishing his first novel in 1895 and ultimately writing over a hundred books of which the best known is The Thirty-Nine Steps. After attending Glasgow and Oxford universities, he practised as a barrister. In 1901, he served as a private secretary to Lord Milner in southern Africa towards the end of the Boer War. He returned to England in 1903, continued as a barrister and journalist. He left the Bar when he joined Thomas Nelson and Sons publishers in 1907. During the First World War, he was, among other activities, Director of Information in 1917 and later Head of Intelligence at the newly-formed Ministry of Information. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities in 1927.
In 1935, King George V, on the advice of Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, appointed Buchan to succeed the Earl of Bessborough as Governor General of Canada and two months later raised him to the peerage as 1st Baron Tweedsmuir. He occupied the post until his death in 1940. Buchan promoted Canadian unity and helped strengthen the sovereignty of Canada constitutionally and culturally. He received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom.
John Buchan was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation.
As a youth, Buchan began writing poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction, publishing his first novel in 1895 and ultimately writing over a hundred books of which the best known is The Thirty-Nine Steps. After attending Glasgow and Oxford universities, he practised as a barrister. In 1901, he served as a private secretary to Lord Milner in southern Africa towards the end of the Boer War. He returned to England in 1903, continued as a barrister and journalist. He left the Bar when he joined Thomas Nelson and Sons publishers in 1907. During the First World War, he was, among other activities, Director of Information in 1917 and later Head of Intelligence at the newly-formed Ministry of Information. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities in 1927.
In 1935, King George V, on the advice of Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, appointed Buchan to succeed the Earl of Bessborough as Governor General of Canada and two months later raised him to the peerage as 1st Baron Tweedsmuir. He occupied the post until his death in 1940. Buchan promoted Canadian unity and helped strengthen the sovereignty of Canada constitutionally and culturally. He received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 8, 2019
John Buchan, author of The Thirty Nine Steps, was not only a writer: he was also a war correspondent, an intelligence officer, a candidate for parliament, secretary to the governor of South Africa, and governor-general of Canada. Clearly he was a man of action, and his writings appeal to readers who like their fiction filled with incident and adventure. He was also a man who loved to take long solitary walks, and--trekking across veldt, brae and moor--he learned how the progress of a particular road may darken a traveller's mood, and how a lone manor or an isolated villa can crystallize such a mood into menace or terror.
In Buchan's spy novels, the man of action and the devotee of landscape work together very effectively, but such is not always the case in his supernatural fiction. At his worst ("No Man's Land," "Basilissa") he uses his descriptive powers to create a sinister mood and then spoils it all by having his young hero grab a pistol, and resolve the tale by rescuing a woman in distress. At his most typical ("The Wind in the Portico," "The Watcher at the Threshold,") he relies on a mood based on architecture and landscape to suggest the supernatural without explicitly evoking it. In his most successful pieces "Full Circle," "The Gove of Ashtaroth" and "Tendebaunt Manus"), however, he consciously uses the tension between action and imagination to show us a world where action, however salutary in the expulsion of evil, still leaves us with the sense that the purged world may be more impoverished and less nuanced than before.
(Caution: if you have no tolerance for the knee-jerk "blood racism" often seen in those who carried "the white man's burden" in the British Empire before World War II, avoid "The Green Wildebeest" and approach "The Grove of Ashtaroth" with caution. Jews and Kaffirs are destined by blood to be superstitious little beggars, don't ya know?)
September 2, 2017
John Buchan is far from forgotten these days, thanks to his widely read and adapted Richard Hannay yarns that earned him a status of one of the fathers of modern thrillers.
What is forgotten, however, is that he produced fair amount of weird fiction. His strange stories are rarely reprinted, and barely read. That is a shame, as they are far from your generic supernatural yarns that were commonly produced in that period. These are subtle, oft psychologically charged, tales, whose subject range from unusual takes on more common tropes, to some pretty original tales that, in their themes and delivery, anticipated some famous 20th century's weird stories.
Longest story in this collection, "No-Man's Land", anticipates Robert E. Howard's treatment of the little people folklore as opposed to Machen's more ethereal one (tho, it would've made for more attractive weird tale if the second half of it was cut off), whereas "Space" warrants comparison to HPL's "Witch-house" and "From beyond" - through his work, brilliant mathematician regains the level of perception that modern men lost, one that lets him see "that at which dogs bark at night"... only, he too gets noticed by... other things.
"The Grove of Astharoth", "The Green Wildebeest" and "The Wind in the Portico" deal with modern man's encounter with ancient survivals, always with tragic results. "The Wind...", in particular, is great example of that somewhat dubious "folk horror" sub-genre that is increasingly popular nowadays. Any of these three tales would certainly satisfy any fan of Blackwood or Sarban.
"The Watcher by the Treshold", "Tendebant Manus" and "Fullcurcle" present most unusual hauntings. "The Watcher" and "Tendebant Manus" deal with hauntings/possession, former with an excellent gothic mood and a good dash of that interest in old survivals that I mentioned in relation to previous three stories, latter with a more psychological focus and a great dose of ambiguity as to actual presence of anything overtly supernatural. In "Fullcurcle" is the titular house itself, rather than any conventional ghost, that is responsible for the haunting.
Even it those weaker and more forgettable of his stories, Buchan's prose is elegant and gorgeously descriptive, and his ability to paint vivid locales and to instill them with their own numinous spirit. That Romantic interpretation of the spirit of place is one recurring motif in most of these tales, in spite of their great variety.
What is forgotten, however, is that he produced fair amount of weird fiction. His strange stories are rarely reprinted, and barely read. That is a shame, as they are far from your generic supernatural yarns that were commonly produced in that period. These are subtle, oft psychologically charged, tales, whose subject range from unusual takes on more common tropes, to some pretty original tales that, in their themes and delivery, anticipated some famous 20th century's weird stories.
Longest story in this collection, "No-Man's Land", anticipates Robert E. Howard's treatment of the little people folklore as opposed to Machen's more ethereal one (tho, it would've made for more attractive weird tale if the second half of it was cut off), whereas "Space" warrants comparison to HPL's "Witch-house" and "From beyond" - through his work, brilliant mathematician regains the level of perception that modern men lost, one that lets him see "that at which dogs bark at night"... only, he too gets noticed by... other things.
"The Grove of Astharoth", "The Green Wildebeest" and "The Wind in the Portico" deal with modern man's encounter with ancient survivals, always with tragic results. "The Wind...", in particular, is great example of that somewhat dubious "folk horror" sub-genre that is increasingly popular nowadays. Any of these three tales would certainly satisfy any fan of Blackwood or Sarban.
"The Watcher by the Treshold", "Tendebant Manus" and "Fullcurcle" present most unusual hauntings. "The Watcher" and "Tendebant Manus" deal with hauntings/possession, former with an excellent gothic mood and a good dash of that interest in old survivals that I mentioned in relation to previous three stories, latter with a more psychological focus and a great dose of ambiguity as to actual presence of anything overtly supernatural. In "Fullcurcle" is the titular house itself, rather than any conventional ghost, that is responsible for the haunting.
Even it those weaker and more forgettable of his stories, Buchan's prose is elegant and gorgeously descriptive, and his ability to paint vivid locales and to instill them with their own numinous spirit. That Romantic interpretation of the spirit of place is one recurring motif in most of these tales, in spite of their great variety.
November 13, 2021
A real mixed bag collection of tales.
The Watcher by the Threshold started off the collection promisingly. But all too sadly came to an end all to abruptly - would have been nicer had it been fleshed out a bit more.
The King’s of Orion and Tendebant Manus were instantly forgettable and did not hold my interest.
No man’s-land was my favourite of the collection. Tense, well paced and good descriptions of the landscape given. An enjoyable read.
The Wind in the Portico was reasonable as was the Grove of Ashtaroth.
The Herd of Standlan was enjoyable once the old Scots was overlooked.
Space was very average and it ended frightfully dull with A Lucid Interval.
When Buchan got it right he did a pretty fine job and offered entertaining reads. Some very good stories but some equally bad ones.
The Watcher by the Threshold started off the collection promisingly. But all too sadly came to an end all to abruptly - would have been nicer had it been fleshed out a bit more.
The King’s of Orion and Tendebant Manus were instantly forgettable and did not hold my interest.
No man’s-land was my favourite of the collection. Tense, well paced and good descriptions of the landscape given. An enjoyable read.
The Wind in the Portico was reasonable as was the Grove of Ashtaroth.
The Herd of Standlan was enjoyable once the old Scots was overlooked.
Space was very average and it ended frightfully dull with A Lucid Interval.
When Buchan got it right he did a pretty fine job and offered entertaining reads. Some very good stories but some equally bad ones.
September 9, 2023
3.64⭐
John Buchan ✔
The Keeper of Cademuir (Glasgow University Magazine, 1894) 3.25⭐
A Journey of Little Profit (The Yellow Book, 1898) 4⭐
The Outgoing of the Tide (Atlantic Monthly, 1902) 3⭐
No-man's-land (Blackwood's Magazine, 1899) 4.25⭐
The Watcher by the Threshold (Atlantic Magazine, 1900) 4.5⭐
The Grove of Ashtaroth (Blackwood's Magazine, 1910) 3.25⭐
Space (Blackwood's Magazine, 1911) 3.5⭐
Basilissa (Blackwood's Magazine, 1914) 3⭐
Fullcircle (Atlantic Magazine, 1920) 3⭐
The Magic Walking Stick (Sails of Gold, 1927) 5⭐
The Strange Adventure of Mr. Andrew Hawthorn (The Silver Ship, 1932) 3.25⭐
John Buchan ✔
The Keeper of Cademuir (Glasgow University Magazine, 1894) 3.25⭐
A Journey of Little Profit (The Yellow Book, 1898) 4⭐
The Outgoing of the Tide (Atlantic Monthly, 1902) 3⭐
No-man's-land (Blackwood's Magazine, 1899) 4.25⭐
The Watcher by the Threshold (Atlantic Magazine, 1900) 4.5⭐
The Grove of Ashtaroth (Blackwood's Magazine, 1910) 3.25⭐
Space (Blackwood's Magazine, 1911) 3.5⭐
Basilissa (Blackwood's Magazine, 1914) 3⭐
Fullcircle (Atlantic Magazine, 1920) 3⭐
The Magic Walking Stick (Sails of Gold, 1927) 5⭐
The Strange Adventure of Mr. Andrew Hawthorn (The Silver Ship, 1932) 3.25⭐
October 1, 2017
Granted, these can all be grouped under "supernatural", but I was hoping for more in the line of traditional ghost stories. In the end, however, I did enjoy every tale in varying degrees, regardless of whether or not a proper ghost was involved. A few stories evoked that classic spooky vibe, while others were just well-written pieces with a strange paranormal or mystical aspect. Landscape descriptions and Buchan's sense of setting are, for me, easily the most memorable part of this collection, which I understand is a common sentiment.
February 22, 2022
... how to choose? Which is my favorite? Fullcircle? The Watcher at the Threshold? Although Basillissa was romantic!
May 5, 2024
Some good eerie tales!
August 4, 2012
A lot of these are surprisingly bad - but the subject matter interested me. One extremely good story was "Space".
Many of the other stories could have been much better written though and the rich, country gentleman style began to grate.
Many of the other stories could have been much better written though and the rich, country gentleman style began to grate.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews