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The Face
THE FACE is the fourth volume in the Ash-Tree Press series collecting all of E. F. Benson's known supernatural tales. This collection covers the period between December 1923 and November 1927. Although Benson's output of 'spook stories' had slowed down somewhat from the heady days of 1922/23, he was still able to turn out shiver-inducing tales of the haunting and horrific, as in the menacing 'A Tale of an Empty House', the prophetic 'Corstophine', and one of the author's most masterly tales, the terrifying 'The Face'.
210 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 30, 2003
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About the author
E.F. Benson
1,027 books354 followersEdward Frederic "E. F." Benson was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer.
E. F. Benson was the younger brother of A.C. Benson, who wrote the words to "Land of Hope and Glory", Robert Hugh Benson, author of several novels and Roman Catholic apologetic works, and Margaret Benson, an author and amateur Egyptologist.
Benson died during 1940 of throat cancer at the University College Hospital, London. He is buried in the cemetery at Rye, East Sussex.
Last paragraph from Wikipedia
E. F. Benson was the younger brother of A.C. Benson, who wrote the words to "Land of Hope and Glory", Robert Hugh Benson, author of several novels and Roman Catholic apologetic works, and Margaret Benson, an author and amateur Egyptologist.
Benson died during 1940 of throat cancer at the University College Hospital, London. He is buried in the cemetery at Rye, East Sussex.
Last paragraph from Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 2, 2025
The Face by E.F. Benson
She has everything. If there is a genie that escapes from a bottle, there might be nothing for him to do: what wish to grant her, if she has it all.
But then things get out of control.
A doctor is needed, who gave a bad advice:
- Get her somewhere, where she does almost nothing, very short walks.
How wrong we know this advice to be, with hindsight. Exercise is absolutely necessary. If we want to make someone worse, we recommend the long chair.
This short story proves that all that is wrong with the world is in our head.
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so” Shakespeare.
The heroine sees an apparition, who says:
- I will come for you
That was when she was much younger, but lately it is:
- I will come for you…soon
This is terrifying her and thinks about the significance of a dream…
And then she sees the portrait of the “Face” in a gallery, painted by Van Dyck…
After this, the doctor recommends a change of scenery (very good) and very little exercise (catastrophic).
The finale, which I will not disclose, has a gothic feel to it and reminded me of Poe.
After reading about scientist taking a trip into the…sun, this story seems to be as reasonable as the Three Little Pigs, even if I do not favor the ghost story and the science fiction genres.
The fact that someone sees a ghost, dreams about warnings from apparitions and then recognizes or projects all this in a painting, seems in the realm of the possible. I can imagine so many foolish unprintable things that you can find at
www.realini.blogspot.ro
She has everything. If there is a genie that escapes from a bottle, there might be nothing for him to do: what wish to grant her, if she has it all.
But then things get out of control.
A doctor is needed, who gave a bad advice:
- Get her somewhere, where she does almost nothing, very short walks.
How wrong we know this advice to be, with hindsight. Exercise is absolutely necessary. If we want to make someone worse, we recommend the long chair.
This short story proves that all that is wrong with the world is in our head.
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so” Shakespeare.
The heroine sees an apparition, who says:
- I will come for you
That was when she was much younger, but lately it is:
- I will come for you…soon
This is terrifying her and thinks about the significance of a dream…
And then she sees the portrait of the “Face” in a gallery, painted by Van Dyck…
After this, the doctor recommends a change of scenery (very good) and very little exercise (catastrophic).
The finale, which I will not disclose, has a gothic feel to it and reminded me of Poe.
After reading about scientist taking a trip into the…sun, this story seems to be as reasonable as the Three Little Pigs, even if I do not favor the ghost story and the science fiction genres.
The fact that someone sees a ghost, dreams about warnings from apparitions and then recognizes or projects all this in a painting, seems in the realm of the possible. I can imagine so many foolish unprintable things that you can find at
www.realini.blogspot.ro
June 23, 2019
I am only commenting on 'The Face' from 1928. It is basically a well-written but unoriginal and predictable sub-Jamesian ghost story which even uses the crumbling cliffs of the East Coast rather than the south coast at Rye with which he is most associated.
January 22, 2021
"The Face" is an uncanny, dreamy, macabre masterpiece. A clear bridge from JamesGang to Aickman and Campbell.
July 23, 2020
Lately, I've been reading a lot of non-fiction and philosophy related stuff and have been neglecting the horror genre so I decided to come back to an author that I recently spoke about.
A young and gorgeous woman who seems to have it all has a vivid nightmare in which a ghastly face tells her that he is coming for her. We find out that this nightmare is something that she used to dream about before. 10 years ago to be exact. She remembers that in that dream the apparition that came to her told her that he will come for her once she is older.
Frightened by all of this she goes to her husband for comfort who tells her to seek the help of a physician. The doctor tells her that she needs some rest and isolation in a quiet place so she decides to do just that. But as one would expect the peace and quiet do not last for long.
Now, if you have read stories from Benson before or my previous review on The Room in the Tower , you might recognize the style of the story. It seems very similar and repetitive, both having a protagonist who has a recurring scary dream that has a few details changing as time passes and it does get a bit annoying having read this right after I read The Room in the Tower but the way in which it is written makes it enjoyable. Maybe not as enjoyable as it would be reading it completely unaware of his other work but still, the wonderful writing style which I am really getting into is enough and it still has enough differences to make it stand out. The author seems to have a fascination with dreams and nightmares and that is something that I enjoy exploring too so any type of work connected to that is a treat for me.
Final verdict: 7/10
A young and gorgeous woman who seems to have it all has a vivid nightmare in which a ghastly face tells her that he is coming for her. We find out that this nightmare is something that she used to dream about before. 10 years ago to be exact. She remembers that in that dream the apparition that came to her told her that he will come for her once she is older.
Frightened by all of this she goes to her husband for comfort who tells her to seek the help of a physician. The doctor tells her that she needs some rest and isolation in a quiet place so she decides to do just that. But as one would expect the peace and quiet do not last for long.
Now, if you have read stories from Benson before or my previous review on The Room in the Tower , you might recognize the style of the story. It seems very similar and repetitive, both having a protagonist who has a recurring scary dream that has a few details changing as time passes and it does get a bit annoying having read this right after I read The Room in the Tower but the way in which it is written makes it enjoyable. Maybe not as enjoyable as it would be reading it completely unaware of his other work but still, the wonderful writing style which I am really getting into is enough and it still has enough differences to make it stand out. The author seems to have a fascination with dreams and nightmares and that is something that I enjoy exploring too so any type of work connected to that is a treat for me.
Final verdict: 7/10
January 24, 2023
The Face was one of several stories by E. F. Benson which Howard Phillips Lovecraft spoke highly of. Hester Ward, a young and beautiful married woman, has a nightmare about a hideous and terrifying face. This same face had appeared to her ten years earlier in a recurring nightmare, telling her that it will return for her when she is older. She tells her husband about her strange nightmares. Together they seek medical advice, and their doctor recommends that she seek a rest cure somewhere alone and quiet. However, the peace and quiet are soon disturbed.
July 27, 2019
✭✭✭
“Naboth’s Vinyard” (1923) ✭✭✭✭½
“The Face” (1924) ✭✭✭✭½
“Spinach” (1924) ✭½
“Reconciliation” (1924) ✭✭½
“Corstophine” (1924) ✭✭✭
“The Temple” (1924) ✭✭✭
“The Tale of an Empty House” (1925) ✭✭✭½
“Bagnell Terrace” (1925) ✭✭
“The Corner House” (1926) ✭✭✭½
“‘And No Bird Sings...’” (1926) ✭✭✭
“The Call” (1926) ✭✭✭½
“The Bath-Chair” (1934?) ✭✭✭
“The Dance” (1934?) ✭✭✭
“Home, Sweet Home” (1927) ✭✭✭
“By the Sluice” (1927) ✭✭✭
“Naboth’s Vinyard” (1923) ✭✭✭✭½
“The Face” (1924) ✭✭✭✭½
“Spinach” (1924) ✭½
“Reconciliation” (1924) ✭✭½
“Corstophine” (1924) ✭✭✭
“The Temple” (1924) ✭✭✭
“The Tale of an Empty House” (1925) ✭✭✭½
“Bagnell Terrace” (1925) ✭✭
“The Corner House” (1926) ✭✭✭½
“‘And No Bird Sings...’” (1926) ✭✭✭
“The Call” (1926) ✭✭✭½
“The Bath-Chair” (1934?) ✭✭✭
“The Dance” (1934?) ✭✭✭
“Home, Sweet Home” (1927) ✭✭✭
“By the Sluice” (1927) ✭✭✭
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December 7, 2021I was expecting ‘The Face’ to crawl upon my skin like the ‘Faceless man’ in Ruskin bond’s story but this one turned out to be like Count Dracula getting hold of some dame. Nothing was disturbing and even non pragmatic as the lady goes to some exile in isolation in spite of the impending doom. I am disappointed and still relate more to M R James to scare the hell out of me and make me turn in bed. Not to forget the King of horror Steve King
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 21, 2022
Entertaining fantasy listening 🎧
I listened to this novella as part of the Classis Tales of Horror - 500+ stories box set. It is a entertaining fantasy Sci-Fi ghost horror haunting short story. I would recommend it to readers of horror novels. Enjoy the adventure of books. 👻✨🎉👿 2022
I listened to this novella as part of the Classis Tales of Horror - 500+ stories box set. It is a entertaining fantasy Sci-Fi ghost horror haunting short story. I would recommend it to readers of horror novels. Enjoy the adventure of books. 👻✨🎉👿 2022
July 10, 2025
A short “horror” story that really caused me nothing but intrigue throughout the story. I think the setting that the author poses is pretty good, but the execution is very rushed and the end is predictable, despite everything it was entertaining but nothing more
March 31, 2022
More clumsy than cogent.
November 19, 2023
E F Benson is the king of Edwardian supernatural stories. Hands down.
June 29, 2025
short creepy story...love it
January 22, 2021
"The Face" is an uncanny, dreamy, macabre masterpiece. A clear bridge from JamesGang to Aickman and Campbell.
June 29, 2024
Fantastic horror short story with ghost.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews