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Christmas ghosts: An anthology
Christmas ghosts: An anthology
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
227 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
51 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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March 7, 2021PLACEHOLDER REVIEW
"Tarnhelm" by Hugh Walpole - A man relates how his entire life has been affected by seeing his Uncle's death when he was 10 years old. When a child (self-described as a bookish, somwhat sickly ectomorph "in search of a glorious library") he was sent to spend Christmas with his two uncles in remote Cumbria, as his parents were in India for years and he was endlessly shuttled around from relative to relative. Arriving, he befriends the trap driver Bob Armstrong, who becomes a bit of a manly father figure for him as his two Uncles prove to be, respectively, a congenial and chubby dandy (Constance - "what a funny name for a man") and a friendly but strict fellow with a collection of odd artifacts in his forbidden "Grey Tower" (Robert - whose house it is). That night he has a nightmare of a slinking yellow dog in his room and Armstrong later relates that he hates, fears and yet has pride in serving Uncle Robert. But after Uncle Robert invites the boy into his tower and tells him the legend of Tarnhelm, while showing him a grey skull-cap that he claims can transform him, everyone warns the child away from his Uncle... There are some elements in this story that seem to reoccur in Walpole's fiction (or what I've read of it): a Christmas setting, a character who is a minor writer (in this case Uncle Robert is a poet who has self-published his work) and, it must be said, suggestion of male camaraderie that border on the homoerotic (the boy recovers from his nightmare only after Bob Armstrong climbs into bed with him and holds him through the night - Armstrong, it is later noted, becomes a close companion of the narrator and his "personal bodyguard"). Also, there is some attention to a love of literature (the previously mentioned library line, both William Harrison Ainsworth's The Lancashire Witches and Ann Radcliffe's The Romance of the Forest are name checked, and at a bookstall in Cumbria the boy buys "...a publication called The Weekly Telegraph that contained, week-by-week, installments of the most thrilling story in the world") and there's some nice landscape descriptions of the area. While I hesitate to suggest this (because it's become a bit of a cliche of story analysis) I believe you can read this story two ways. The presumed way: from a Fantastic POV, our young narrator barely escape being killed (or something - maybe possessed?) by his predatory Uncle who has a magic item that allows him to shape-shift into a yellow dog. But one can also read the story as record of a failed sexual molestation/assault (very little is actually made of the supposed shape-shifting - with the dog's predatory, slinking & vile qualities more to the fore) by the Uncle. Take your pick.
"The Ether Hogs" by Oliver Onions - a telegraph operator on a storm tossed ship tries desperately to track down a possible emergency message from a ship on fire - while a ghost is sent by a ghostly tribunal (ghosts having become annoyed with having their forms disrupted by shortwave broadcasts) to scare the young man into ceasing transmissions. A "sentimental ghost story" (at least in the sense that it's not trying to be scary) this is actually quite nice but easily dismissed, as the sailor ghost allows that a "ship on fire" is more important than the disruption of spirits.
"Tarnhelm" by Hugh Walpole - A man relates how his entire life has been affected by seeing his Uncle's death when he was 10 years old. When a child (self-described as a bookish, somwhat sickly ectomorph "in search of a glorious library") he was sent to spend Christmas with his two uncles in remote Cumbria, as his parents were in India for years and he was endlessly shuttled around from relative to relative. Arriving, he befriends the trap driver Bob Armstrong, who becomes a bit of a manly father figure for him as his two Uncles prove to be, respectively, a congenial and chubby dandy (Constance - "what a funny name for a man") and a friendly but strict fellow with a collection of odd artifacts in his forbidden "Grey Tower" (Robert - whose house it is). That night he has a nightmare of a slinking yellow dog in his room and Armstrong later relates that he hates, fears and yet has pride in serving Uncle Robert. But after Uncle Robert invites the boy into his tower and tells him the legend of Tarnhelm, while showing him a grey skull-cap that he claims can transform him, everyone warns the child away from his Uncle... There are some elements in this story that seem to reoccur in Walpole's fiction (or what I've read of it): a Christmas setting, a character who is a minor writer (in this case Uncle Robert is a poet who has self-published his work) and, it must be said, suggestion of male camaraderie that border on the homoerotic (the boy recovers from his nightmare only after Bob Armstrong climbs into bed with him and holds him through the night - Armstrong, it is later noted, becomes a close companion of the narrator and his "personal bodyguard"). Also, there is some attention to a love of literature (the previously mentioned library line, both William Harrison Ainsworth's The Lancashire Witches and Ann Radcliffe's The Romance of the Forest are name checked, and at a bookstall in Cumbria the boy buys "...a publication called The Weekly Telegraph that contained, week-by-week, installments of the most thrilling story in the world") and there's some nice landscape descriptions of the area. While I hesitate to suggest this (because it's become a bit of a cliche of story analysis) I believe you can read this story two ways. The presumed way: from a Fantastic POV, our young narrator barely escape being killed (or something - maybe possessed?) by his predatory Uncle who has a magic item that allows him to shape-shift into a yellow dog. But one can also read the story as record of a failed sexual molestation/assault (very little is actually made of the supposed shape-shifting - with the dog's predatory, slinking & vile qualities more to the fore) by the Uncle. Take your pick.
"The Ether Hogs" by Oliver Onions - a telegraph operator on a storm tossed ship tries desperately to track down a possible emergency message from a ship on fire - while a ghost is sent by a ghostly tribunal (ghosts having become annoyed with having their forms disrupted by shortwave broadcasts) to scare the young man into ceasing transmissions. A "sentimental ghost story" (at least in the sense that it's not trying to be scary) this is actually quite nice but easily dismissed, as the sailor ghost allows that a "ship on fire" is more important than the disruption of spirits.
March 6, 2021
This was not a seasonal read, but it was still fun. Most of the stories I had not read, and I even found a couple of authors to look out for (Grant Allen, Marjorie Bowen). To me, not really scary, but a spooky atmosphere throughout, even in the satirical story by Jerome K. Jerome. Sadly, unlike many of the other Seon/Gogo anthologies, this one does not have a cover by Edward Gorey.
January 19, 2022
I love this collection of old-fashioned ghost stories, set during the Christmas season. Not terribly scary, but evocative.
December 21, 2023
I love to read this book around Christmas and recently ordered a new copy when I misplaced the one I had had. The stories are spooky but not too scary. My favorites are the one about the old lady who insisted that the postman had brought mail to her that day, and the one about the man trying to get help for his wife who had been poisoned.
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March 1, 2011I've read the Dorothy Sayers story already. And I think I'll save the rest for a more seasonal time.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews