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They Return At Evening:Ten Classic Ghost Stories
The decomposing ghost of a murdered wife; the spectre of a dog, which answers to the most terrifying of whistles; evil in the tradition of M. R. James's Casting the Runes, as a lawyer seeks to avenge the death of a friend . . . These, and many more, are the ghosts which H. R. Wakefield has set to haunt us in his first book of supernatural stories, a landmark collection, now republished for the first time since 1928.
"He was one of the master writers of the ghost story of the first half of this century. He was one of the few English writers whose work spanned the period from the heyday of supernatural fiction in the 1920s to its re-emergence in the early 1960s." Pringle (ed. ): St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers
Wording from the dust-wrapper of the first edition:
'The Author of The Ghost Stories of an Antiquary in the preface to one of his books expressed his lively distaste for benevolent ghosts, and ghosts with nice minds. The author profoundly agrees with this sentiment of the master, and, furthermore, he abominates the 'natural' explanation, a poisonous anti-climax. So this much can be said for his tales, that those Who Return therein are animated by undiluted malevolence, and no iconoclastic materialist has been allowed to cast a doubt on their credentials as genuine apparitions.
"He was one of the master writers of the ghost story of the first half of this century. He was one of the few English writers whose work spanned the period from the heyday of supernatural fiction in the 1920s to its re-emergence in the early 1960s." Pringle (ed. ): St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers
Wording from the dust-wrapper of the first edition:
'The Author of The Ghost Stories of an Antiquary in the preface to one of his books expressed his lively distaste for benevolent ghosts, and ghosts with nice minds. The author profoundly agrees with this sentiment of the master, and, furthermore, he abominates the 'natural' explanation, a poisonous anti-climax. So this much can be said for his tales, that those Who Return therein are animated by undiluted malevolence, and no iconoclastic materialist has been allowed to cast a doubt on their credentials as genuine apparitions.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1928
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About the author
H.R. Wakefield
72 books5 followersHerbert Russell Wakefield was an English short story writer, novelist, publisher, and civil servant. Wakefield is best known for his ghost stories, but he produced work outside the field. He was greatly interested in the criminal mind and wrote two non-fiction criminology studies
Used These Alternate Names: H.R. Wakefield, H. Russell Wakefield, Рассел Уэйкфилд?, Herbert Russell Wakefield, Herbert R. Wakefield, Henry Russell Wakefield, Henry R. Wakefield, Sir H. Russell Wakefield, Horace Russell Wakefield
Used These Alternate Names: H.R. Wakefield, H. Russell Wakefield, Рассел Уэйкфилд?, Herbert Russell Wakefield, Herbert R. Wakefield, Henry Russell Wakefield, Henry R. Wakefield, Sir H. Russell Wakefield, Horace Russell Wakefield
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
August 29, 2019
H. Russell Wakefield is often mentioned in the same breath as M.R. James, but I don’t think the fellow deserves it. The best ghost stories are produced by regional recluses (Lovecraft), occult dabblers (Machen, Blackwood), gentle misfits (E.F. Benson), or antiquarian Oxbridge dons (M.R. James). H. Russell Wakefield, however, was none of these; he was regular fellow, one who fit in.
He graduated Oxford, with second class honors, but distinguished himself as an all-round athlete (football, cricket, golf, and hockey too). He had a rich public life after university: private secretary to a prominent newspaper publisher (Viscount Northcliffe), World War I veteran (Captain, Royal Scots Fusiliers), married twice (the second time happily), and editor-in-chief for a successful publishing house (William Collins, Sons, and Co., publisher of Agatha Christie and C.S. Lewis, the HarperCollins of today).
Given his background, it is perhaps not surprising that some of his best ghost stories take place, not in neglected old churches in sleepy towns, but on large country estates (“Or Persons Unknown”), golf courses (“The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster”), or fashionable men’s clubs (“He Cometh and He Passeth By”). Wakefield is clearly a man of what is called “the real world”, and, as a consequence, there is perhaps too much sunlight—and too little moonlight—in his tales. They shock, they thrill, but they seldom terrify.
Still, each of these ten tales is worth reading, and three of them (“He Cometh and He Passeth by”, “The Red Lodge,” and “The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster”) are as good as any tale of terror you can find. (Except, for those misfits Lovecraft, Machen, Blackwood, and E.F. Benson. And M.R. James, of course.)
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November 21, 2022Wakefield's major collection, it turns out I'd already read everything here except one story that I needed to read for PSEUDOPOD's "public domain" showcase. And that having been done, here they are. A fairly solid showing, but least to best as usual
"An Echo" - a self-proclaimed "world's greatest clairvoyant" finds his uncontrollable ability to receive impressions/visions of past events a nuisance, frustrating and pointless as they prove illustrative of no greater truth/knowledge and instead seem random. Having one such vision (of a shooting on a forest trail), he tells his criminologist friend who asserts that he may have seen and solved one of the great legal murder mysteries of the age involving a wealthy man and a gold-digger... the story starts promisingly but ends up being a courtroom drama (with transcripts no less!) before resolving with the expected "your vision solved the mystery!" Not a ghost story, and not particularly well-constructed.
There's a number of pretty good stories here: "The Third Coach": a confidence man, from a socially degraded background is witness to a vision of a train accident yet to happen, then explains his philosophy of life ("95% of humanity are mugs") and how he advanced up the ladder of chicanery and illicit income, eventually taking a female accomplice - who later blackmails him with exposure to the police. But then, as the story wraps up and there's a payoff of the vision, we return to the framing device which throws the entire narrative into question... Not bad, although a bit difficult to follow with its nested flashbacks. Interesting. "Or Persons Unknown": A wealthy man interviews a new butler, a man suggested by his brother who - though gossip ties the butler to the death of his previous master - seems to have an amazing story to tell. Millin, the butler, describes his previous master, Sir Roger, as a man prone to fits of temper (exacerbated by a war injury) and unliked by the local gentry, but he befriends Millin, who discovers there are problems with a poacher on the land, one 'Black Jack.' Black Jack is nigh uncatchable, arrogant, and looked on with superstition by the locals - while Sir Roger drinks heavily and tries to catch him. But after Sir Roger drunkenly crashes his car (running over Black Jack's dog, trying to kill the poacher), the household is plagued by an insistent, high-pitched vibration and Sir Roger repeatedly sees a wayward dog... Eh, okay. Competently done, but a familiar tale. "That Dieth Not" A man explains that he got away with murdering his wife Ethel, and why he did it: she was a social climber in complete clash with his sensibilities, and he fell in love with another woman named Margaret. Finally, outraged by her actions, he murders his wife, but then begins to hear/see her everywhere - on the phone, over the radio, at the cinema. This is an okay story - the "revenge of the murdered" extended a bit for social and character details. Again, not particularly atmospheric or an attempt to be "spooky," just the plot told straightforwardly. There's a dubious bit of race snobbery aimed at the Mediterranean races. Just okay, as these stories go.
Finally for the "almost good," there's one of Wakefield's most popular stories: "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!").
Of the solidly Good stories: "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. "And He Shall Sing": A publisher, Mr. Cheltenham, is approached by a Japanese gentlemen, Mr. Kato, to put out his book of poetry. Cheltenham realizes the work is very, very good but finds there is something odd about Kato, who seems to be followed by a haunting shadow, which is also seen by all in the production line of the book, which is plagued with problems. In a way, a fairly traditional ghost story (marred somewhat by a shortened form of the word "Japanese," that has since become a slur) - the revenge of the murdered - made slightly more interesting for its setting and concerns (publishing, poetry, editing), which adds a touch of interest, and the ghost - seen in a dream - is satisfyingly creepy (rising from under a plank in the floor). Interesting. "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.' 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.
Continuing with the Good: "A Peg On Which To Hang" - Mr. James Partridge, a minor essayist, is annoyed that his golfing party has been shorted a room at the hotel (despite advance reservations) - but after rejecting the offer of a bed and breakfast, an accommodation is found (with some trepidation) in room 39. After a discussion of ghosts over dinner, and the discovery that a minor detail in the room has changed, Partridge finds his sleep disturbed by a haunting, symbolic dream... This is a very solid, typical Wakefield "bad things happened in this room" story. There is the usual intimation of previous psychic flashes on the part of Partridge, which make him sensitive to the room's influence, but also the statement that the supernatural shows "no consciousness working" and hauntings as "unfocused and indiscriminate." There's a nice bit of social/class understanding/awareness in the ending. The revelatory/eerie dream is well done, as are the "very British" touches in dialogue and temperament (as Partridge makes a fuss, and later the hotelier apologizes for even suggesting the room). Good stuff.
The best (and equally as famous as "He Cometh...") piece here is "The Red Lodge," a quite accomplished tale of a haunted place which insinuates itself into life of the new residents, leading to tragedy.
And that rounds off my Wakefield.
"An Echo" - a self-proclaimed "world's greatest clairvoyant" finds his uncontrollable ability to receive impressions/visions of past events a nuisance, frustrating and pointless as they prove illustrative of no greater truth/knowledge and instead seem random. Having one such vision (of a shooting on a forest trail), he tells his criminologist friend who asserts that he may have seen and solved one of the great legal murder mysteries of the age involving a wealthy man and a gold-digger... the story starts promisingly but ends up being a courtroom drama (with transcripts no less!) before resolving with the expected "your vision solved the mystery!" Not a ghost story, and not particularly well-constructed.
There's a number of pretty good stories here: "The Third Coach": a confidence man, from a socially degraded background is witness to a vision of a train accident yet to happen, then explains his philosophy of life ("95% of humanity are mugs") and how he advanced up the ladder of chicanery and illicit income, eventually taking a female accomplice - who later blackmails him with exposure to the police. But then, as the story wraps up and there's a payoff of the vision, we return to the framing device which throws the entire narrative into question... Not bad, although a bit difficult to follow with its nested flashbacks. Interesting. "Or Persons Unknown": A wealthy man interviews a new butler, a man suggested by his brother who - though gossip ties the butler to the death of his previous master - seems to have an amazing story to tell. Millin, the butler, describes his previous master, Sir Roger, as a man prone to fits of temper (exacerbated by a war injury) and unliked by the local gentry, but he befriends Millin, who discovers there are problems with a poacher on the land, one 'Black Jack.' Black Jack is nigh uncatchable, arrogant, and looked on with superstition by the locals - while Sir Roger drinks heavily and tries to catch him. But after Sir Roger drunkenly crashes his car (running over Black Jack's dog, trying to kill the poacher), the household is plagued by an insistent, high-pitched vibration and Sir Roger repeatedly sees a wayward dog... Eh, okay. Competently done, but a familiar tale. "That Dieth Not" A man explains that he got away with murdering his wife Ethel, and why he did it: she was a social climber in complete clash with his sensibilities, and he fell in love with another woman named Margaret. Finally, outraged by her actions, he murders his wife, but then begins to hear/see her everywhere - on the phone, over the radio, at the cinema. This is an okay story - the "revenge of the murdered" extended a bit for social and character details. Again, not particularly atmospheric or an attempt to be "spooky," just the plot told straightforwardly. There's a dubious bit of race snobbery aimed at the Mediterranean races. Just okay, as these stories go.
Finally for the "almost good," there's one of Wakefield's most popular stories: "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!").
Of the solidly Good stories: "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. "And He Shall Sing": A publisher, Mr. Cheltenham, is approached by a Japanese gentlemen, Mr. Kato, to put out his book of poetry. Cheltenham realizes the work is very, very good but finds there is something odd about Kato, who seems to be followed by a haunting shadow, which is also seen by all in the production line of the book, which is plagued with problems. In a way, a fairly traditional ghost story (marred somewhat by a shortened form of the word "Japanese," that has since become a slur) - the revenge of the murdered - made slightly more interesting for its setting and concerns (publishing, poetry, editing), which adds a touch of interest, and the ghost - seen in a dream - is satisfyingly creepy (rising from under a plank in the floor). Interesting. "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.' 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.
Continuing with the Good: "A Peg On Which To Hang" - Mr. James Partridge, a minor essayist, is annoyed that his golfing party has been shorted a room at the hotel (despite advance reservations) - but after rejecting the offer of a bed and breakfast, an accommodation is found (with some trepidation) in room 39. After a discussion of ghosts over dinner, and the discovery that a minor detail in the room has changed, Partridge finds his sleep disturbed by a haunting, symbolic dream... This is a very solid, typical Wakefield "bad things happened in this room" story. There is the usual intimation of previous psychic flashes on the part of Partridge, which make him sensitive to the room's influence, but also the statement that the supernatural shows "no consciousness working" and hauntings as "unfocused and indiscriminate." There's a nice bit of social/class understanding/awareness in the ending. The revelatory/eerie dream is well done, as are the "very British" touches in dialogue and temperament (as Partridge makes a fuss, and later the hotelier apologizes for even suggesting the room). Good stuff.
The best (and equally as famous as "He Cometh...") piece here is "The Red Lodge," a quite accomplished tale of a haunted place which insinuates itself into life of the new residents, leading to tragedy.
And that rounds off my Wakefield.
July 30, 2020
It has been a long time since I read any Wakefield and its possible that I have not read this volume again since it was first re-published back in (gulp!) 1995. Back then I gave it 5/10, which I’m translating to three stars, but looking at my little collection of marks against each tale I noticed that I have virtually reversed my opinions of the stories. and tales that seemed good to me then are not so now, and vice versa.
This surprises me somewhat as my opinions tend to stay the same from decade to decade, MRJ’s ‘The Treasure of Abbot Thomas’, excellent; ‘After Dark in the Playing Fields’ (pass it by); Lovecraft’s ‘The Music of Erich Zann’, genius; ‘The Cats of Ulthar’, oh dear… So what has changed here?
Well; Wakefield is at best a misanthrope and at worst a misogynist (the latter especially obvious in the opening tale ‘That Dieth Not’) and I have become (somewhat) more accepting in my general despair at the human race and also do not identify with the same (for me, youthful) arrogance that is apparent in some of Wakefield’s characters (the narrators of ‘That Dieth Not’ and ‘The Third Coach’; ie, I have grown up a bit (I think).
I suppose that I have also become a bit more discerning and thus less accepting of the overt M. R. James rip-off (or ‘homage’ as some might say) to be found in ‘He Cometh And He Passeth By’ (MRJ’s ’Casting The Runes’) despite it being amusing that the villain Oscar Clinton is very obviously based on Aliester Crowley.
I felt that Wakefield is feeling his way a bit into the genre, ‘A Peg on Which To Hang-‘ for example is competent but a bit ‘workmanlike’ and ‘The Third Coach’ (which I quite enjoyed) has a good idea but seems a little unrefined in some way as if wakefield was working to a magazines word count.
But Wakefield’s revenants are (like James’) nasty (always a good thing in my books) and the tales being distanced from the antiquarian trappings of musty books and gloomy churches give everything a bit more modernist vim. ‘An Echo’ might perhaps be inspired by J. W Dunne’s then-popular book ‘An Experiment with Time’ (1927) while ’The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster’ is a sort of Jamesian crossover tale, the partially felled woods are the disturbed home of something far older but the action is played out in broad daylight. This has some similarities with ‘Of Persons Unknown’ in which a landowner crosses swords with a possible atavistic character. This latter could almost be a tale that someone will (sadly) soon anthologise as a ‘folk-horror’ (‘its the new thing dontcha’ know’), although its ambivalence makes it deserving of a better fate than that. Just call it ‘horror’ and be done with it.
Even more subtle are ‘And He Shall Sing…’ (a poet who writes beautifully but is seemingly unable to articulate his desires verbally when it comes to publishing them) and the excellent ‘Professor Pownall’s Oversight’ (which I also liked first time out) in which a chess champion becomes somewhat inhibited in his abilities. Interestingly both characters are almost opposite to the main one ‘That Dieth Not’. Am I getting an old softy in my dotage?
Overall, it’s a solid ghostly debut from Wakefield and there should be pretty much something for everyone within its pages. Many of these tales have been anthologised, which is good as there does not seem to be an affordable copy at present. Is he as ‘big a deal’ as some might have him? I don’t think so. Some good flashes for sure, ’The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster’, ‘Of Persons Unknown’ and ‘Professor Pownall’s Oversight’ are certainly worth reading, but he is not consistent enough for me to allow him admittance to the hallowed hall of 'greats'. I'm no softy on that front at least.
This surprises me somewhat as my opinions tend to stay the same from decade to decade, MRJ’s ‘The Treasure of Abbot Thomas’, excellent; ‘After Dark in the Playing Fields’ (pass it by); Lovecraft’s ‘The Music of Erich Zann’, genius; ‘The Cats of Ulthar’, oh dear… So what has changed here?
Well; Wakefield is at best a misanthrope and at worst a misogynist (the latter especially obvious in the opening tale ‘That Dieth Not’) and I have become (somewhat) more accepting in my general despair at the human race and also do not identify with the same (for me, youthful) arrogance that is apparent in some of Wakefield’s characters (the narrators of ‘That Dieth Not’ and ‘The Third Coach’; ie, I have grown up a bit (I think).
I suppose that I have also become a bit more discerning and thus less accepting of the overt M. R. James rip-off (or ‘homage’ as some might say) to be found in ‘He Cometh And He Passeth By’ (MRJ’s ’Casting The Runes’) despite it being amusing that the villain Oscar Clinton is very obviously based on Aliester Crowley.
I felt that Wakefield is feeling his way a bit into the genre, ‘A Peg on Which To Hang-‘ for example is competent but a bit ‘workmanlike’ and ‘The Third Coach’ (which I quite enjoyed) has a good idea but seems a little unrefined in some way as if wakefield was working to a magazines word count.
But Wakefield’s revenants are (like James’) nasty (always a good thing in my books) and the tales being distanced from the antiquarian trappings of musty books and gloomy churches give everything a bit more modernist vim. ‘An Echo’ might perhaps be inspired by J. W Dunne’s then-popular book ‘An Experiment with Time’ (1927) while ’The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster’ is a sort of Jamesian crossover tale, the partially felled woods are the disturbed home of something far older but the action is played out in broad daylight. This has some similarities with ‘Of Persons Unknown’ in which a landowner crosses swords with a possible atavistic character. This latter could almost be a tale that someone will (sadly) soon anthologise as a ‘folk-horror’ (‘its the new thing dontcha’ know’), although its ambivalence makes it deserving of a better fate than that. Just call it ‘horror’ and be done with it.
Even more subtle are ‘And He Shall Sing…’ (a poet who writes beautifully but is seemingly unable to articulate his desires verbally when it comes to publishing them) and the excellent ‘Professor Pownall’s Oversight’ (which I also liked first time out) in which a chess champion becomes somewhat inhibited in his abilities. Interestingly both characters are almost opposite to the main one ‘That Dieth Not’. Am I getting an old softy in my dotage?
Overall, it’s a solid ghostly debut from Wakefield and there should be pretty much something for everyone within its pages. Many of these tales have been anthologised, which is good as there does not seem to be an affordable copy at present. Is he as ‘big a deal’ as some might have him? I don’t think so. Some good flashes for sure, ’The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster’, ‘Of Persons Unknown’ and ‘Professor Pownall’s Oversight’ are certainly worth reading, but he is not consistent enough for me to allow him admittance to the hallowed hall of 'greats'. I'm no softy on that front at least.
August 3, 2012
There is no way I can accurately give justice to this collection in the...oh...19 minutes before I REALLY MUST BE HEADING TO SLEEPY BYE, but I will say that it enjoyable and I recommend you parting with the faint amount of money it takes to get the ebook, but I do so with a couple of notes:
A) Despite the earlier review posted to this site, this book very much so is in the outskirts of the Jamesian tradition. One of the stories is basically a grittier, more depraved version of "Casting the Runes", and others reflect direct scenes and moods out of James's writings. However, Wakefield sets them all into the [for the time] modern day, the requirement for references to the deep past are minimized [unlike with James, and many of the stories involve direct antecedents...i.e. Person A in the story kills Person B in the story and then is directly haunted].
B) Interestingly, some of the stories have an almost P.G. Wodehouse [though not quite as lighthearted] feel to them. The opening one about a rich man who marries poorly carries that, and towards the end is a golf story full of club references and the philosophical despair that comes from contemplating the lay of the green.
C) Umm. No, those two will do for now. I'm out of time, more or less, and I need to regroup my thoughts after a night of sleep.
A) Despite the earlier review posted to this site, this book very much so is in the outskirts of the Jamesian tradition. One of the stories is basically a grittier, more depraved version of "Casting the Runes", and others reflect direct scenes and moods out of James's writings. However, Wakefield sets them all into the [for the time] modern day, the requirement for references to the deep past are minimized [unlike with James, and many of the stories involve direct antecedents...i.e. Person A in the story kills Person B in the story and then is directly haunted].
B) Interestingly, some of the stories have an almost P.G. Wodehouse [though not quite as lighthearted] feel to them. The opening one about a rich man who marries poorly carries that, and towards the end is a golf story full of club references and the philosophical despair that comes from contemplating the lay of the green.
C) Umm. No, those two will do for now. I'm out of time, more or less, and I need to regroup my thoughts after a night of sleep.
August 26, 2025
H.R. Wakefield isn't a well-known name in the States, but he was quite a popular figure in English horror literature in the 20th Century. His prolific crime and ghost stories have a touch of the M.R. James magic of delivering shivers up the spine. This collection of his work was published in 1928, and are cozy but chilling stories featuring a cast of Edwardian bachelors driven mad by post-war trauma, or DTs from indulging in too many gin martinis, or... or perhaps something truly beyond our understanding.
"That Dieth Not"--A wealthy introvert marries the perfect partner, but shortly after the wedding she shows her true colors. She spends all his money throwing society parties and going abroad, which he tolerates until she aborts her pregnancy in order to keep up her partying lifestyle. This betrayal becomes the catalyst for murder, madness, and revenge from beyond the grave. Nothing here will be new to horror fans today, but the execution is perfect. 4/5
"Or Persons Unknown"--A butler interviews for a job with a new master, but first must explain the circumstances of his former employer's brutal death. Another supernatural revenge story, this time about a man tormented by a ghostly hound. 3.5/5
"He Cometh and He Passeth By!"--Suffering chronic pulmonary disease after being gassed, a veteran of WWI is restored to health by a brilliant mesmerist. Unfortunately, his new savior is more of a mercenary than a good Samaritan, who uses magic for sociopathic and sadistic games. The plot then takes another turn as a lawyer goes undercover to end the notorious villain's reign of terror. This is a rather pulpy occult detective thriller with a cartoonish bad guy, but it really got under my skin, the kind of tale that will make you stare in dread from over the covers at the shadow creeping from your bedroom closet. 3.5/5
"Professor Pownall's Oversight"--Two school chums, Morrison and Pownall, compete at everything, but Morrison always seems to best the other, except at chess, which is Pownall's favorite pastime. However, when Morrison manages to beat him in a chess tournament, Pownall vows to kill his lifelong rival. As a means of revenge, Morrison's ghost sets out to never let Pownall win a game again. This is an interesting study of narcissism, genius, and luck, but not very scary or suspenseful. 3/5
"The Third Coach"--This one is far too difficult to summarize. It seems to be about how we invent our own reality. Wakefield was very interested in the burgeoning field of psychiatry, and most of these stories can potentially be explained from a psychiatric perspective. Here we read the testimony of someone who suffered traumatic brain injury in a train accident. There is a very clever story here somewhere, but I don't think the author quite pulled it off. It also is hard to read due to the incessant use of archaic slang. 2.5/5
"The Red Lodge"--Some houses feel inviting, like a happy dog wagging its tail. Some houses are cold and suspicious, and may even plot against you. That's the premise of this classic haunted house tale, featuring faces pressed against windows and green slime monsters. This story is right up my alley, delivering creepy, old fashioned chills. It also asks the question of whether it is ethical to not disclose to a buyer or renter that a property is haunted. 4/5
"And He Shall Sing..."--When a Japanese poet brings a beautiful masterpiece of verses to Mr. Cheltenham, the publisher is excited to partner with such a brilliant author. But a shadow literally hangs over the writer and his work. I like this one, because it implies so much more about the mysterious poet than it spells out, leaving the reader with a clear picture but also just enough unanswered questions as to cause goosebumps. 4/5
"The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster"--Mr. Baxter works at a golf club, and they have just redesigned the 17th hole of the links. But it seems the green was placed atop a knoll once a place of Druid worship, and now, not only can't the most skilled golfer make par, but the hole has become a dangerous place to play come evening. I never thought a story about golf could be creepy, but here you are. 3.5/5
"A Peg on Which to Hang"--Another story featuring golfers, a group of friends get together at a hotel for their annual round, but because the place is unexpectedly busy, there aren't enough rooms for everyone, leaving one man out. The proprietor tries putting him in a room that has gone unused due to being haunted, and that goes about as well you'd expect. A classic ghost story. 3.5/5
"An Echo"--A psychic solves an old murder mystery. Not much of a story, and the end is not so much a surprising reveal as an indictment of an incompetent police investigation. 2.5/5
SCORE: All stories average to 3.4 out of 5, rounded to 3 beautiful books bound in batik
WORD OF THE DAY: Anodyne
"That Dieth Not"--A wealthy introvert marries the perfect partner, but shortly after the wedding she shows her true colors. She spends all his money throwing society parties and going abroad, which he tolerates until she aborts her pregnancy in order to keep up her partying lifestyle. This betrayal becomes the catalyst for murder, madness, and revenge from beyond the grave. Nothing here will be new to horror fans today, but the execution is perfect. 4/5
"Or Persons Unknown"--A butler interviews for a job with a new master, but first must explain the circumstances of his former employer's brutal death. Another supernatural revenge story, this time about a man tormented by a ghostly hound. 3.5/5
"He Cometh and He Passeth By!"--Suffering chronic pulmonary disease after being gassed, a veteran of WWI is restored to health by a brilliant mesmerist. Unfortunately, his new savior is more of a mercenary than a good Samaritan, who uses magic for sociopathic and sadistic games. The plot then takes another turn as a lawyer goes undercover to end the notorious villain's reign of terror. This is a rather pulpy occult detective thriller with a cartoonish bad guy, but it really got under my skin, the kind of tale that will make you stare in dread from over the covers at the shadow creeping from your bedroom closet. 3.5/5
"Professor Pownall's Oversight"--Two school chums, Morrison and Pownall, compete at everything, but Morrison always seems to best the other, except at chess, which is Pownall's favorite pastime. However, when Morrison manages to beat him in a chess tournament, Pownall vows to kill his lifelong rival. As a means of revenge, Morrison's ghost sets out to never let Pownall win a game again. This is an interesting study of narcissism, genius, and luck, but not very scary or suspenseful. 3/5
"The Third Coach"--This one is far too difficult to summarize. It seems to be about how we invent our own reality. Wakefield was very interested in the burgeoning field of psychiatry, and most of these stories can potentially be explained from a psychiatric perspective. Here we read the testimony of someone who suffered traumatic brain injury in a train accident. There is a very clever story here somewhere, but I don't think the author quite pulled it off. It also is hard to read due to the incessant use of archaic slang. 2.5/5
"The Red Lodge"--Some houses feel inviting, like a happy dog wagging its tail. Some houses are cold and suspicious, and may even plot against you. That's the premise of this classic haunted house tale, featuring faces pressed against windows and green slime monsters. This story is right up my alley, delivering creepy, old fashioned chills. It also asks the question of whether it is ethical to not disclose to a buyer or renter that a property is haunted. 4/5
"And He Shall Sing..."--When a Japanese poet brings a beautiful masterpiece of verses to Mr. Cheltenham, the publisher is excited to partner with such a brilliant author. But a shadow literally hangs over the writer and his work. I like this one, because it implies so much more about the mysterious poet than it spells out, leaving the reader with a clear picture but also just enough unanswered questions as to cause goosebumps. 4/5
"The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster"--Mr. Baxter works at a golf club, and they have just redesigned the 17th hole of the links. But it seems the green was placed atop a knoll once a place of Druid worship, and now, not only can't the most skilled golfer make par, but the hole has become a dangerous place to play come evening. I never thought a story about golf could be creepy, but here you are. 3.5/5
"A Peg on Which to Hang"--Another story featuring golfers, a group of friends get together at a hotel for their annual round, but because the place is unexpectedly busy, there aren't enough rooms for everyone, leaving one man out. The proprietor tries putting him in a room that has gone unused due to being haunted, and that goes about as well you'd expect. A classic ghost story. 3.5/5
"An Echo"--A psychic solves an old murder mystery. Not much of a story, and the end is not so much a surprising reveal as an indictment of an incompetent police investigation. 2.5/5
SCORE: All stories average to 3.4 out of 5, rounded to 3 beautiful books bound in batik
WORD OF THE DAY: Anodyne
January 18, 2015
Wakefield is an author I've wanted to explore for some time. These stories are a good example of the late-Victorian era style ghost story. There's a few gems here but overall this collection, while "good" is rarely great. Several tropes get overused, for example the protagonist is always dreaming about the horror which then comes true. This appears in almost every story and gets extremely old. There were better authors of British horror in this vein -- M. R. James and Robert Aickman come to mind, but for those of us who like this sort of thing, this is worth a read.
Several stories here are tales of ghostly vengeance like "And He Shall Sing..." about a vengeful author, or "Professor Pownall's Oversight" about a vengeful chess player or "That Dieth Not" about a vengeful murdered wife. We even encounter a vengeful dog ghost in "Or Person's Unknown." "And He Shall Sing..." stands out for having a pretty original concept in an author using his murderer to get his poems published, "That Dieth Not" has some genuinely creepy/queasy moments in it as the man who murdered his first wife continues to encounter her, but the others just feel a bit run-of-the-mill to me.
Then we have stories about ghostly places, where innocent people stumble upon the supernatural in seemingly everyday situations. The best story here by far is "The Red Lodge" about a family which moves into a house haunted by a monster from the nearby river. "The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster" is about a haunted golf course (it's actually better than you might suspect) or "A Peg on Which to Hang--" about a hotel room haunted by a tragedy that occurred there a quarter century before. I think the idea for the latter tale was taken/borrowed/stolen from Algernon Blackwood's "The Occupant of the Room," which follows an extremely similar concept.
There's a few oddballs like "He Cometh and He Passeth By" about a sorcerer who causes a man to be haunted by a demon. It's a pretty good story and reminded me a lot of James' "Casting the Runes." "The Third Coach" surprised me, it's one of the better stories, about a man who uses his second sight into the future to kill someone. "An Echo" is the last story in the collection, it's an uninteresting episode about a clairvoyant who helps solve a long-standing murder mystery.
There are several other collections of Wakefield's work available, but I doubt I'll be jumping into them with both feet frankly.
Several stories here are tales of ghostly vengeance like "And He Shall Sing..." about a vengeful author, or "Professor Pownall's Oversight" about a vengeful chess player or "That Dieth Not" about a vengeful murdered wife. We even encounter a vengeful dog ghost in "Or Person's Unknown." "And He Shall Sing..." stands out for having a pretty original concept in an author using his murderer to get his poems published, "That Dieth Not" has some genuinely creepy/queasy moments in it as the man who murdered his first wife continues to encounter her, but the others just feel a bit run-of-the-mill to me.
Then we have stories about ghostly places, where innocent people stumble upon the supernatural in seemingly everyday situations. The best story here by far is "The Red Lodge" about a family which moves into a house haunted by a monster from the nearby river. "The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster" is about a haunted golf course (it's actually better than you might suspect) or "A Peg on Which to Hang--" about a hotel room haunted by a tragedy that occurred there a quarter century before. I think the idea for the latter tale was taken/borrowed/stolen from Algernon Blackwood's "The Occupant of the Room," which follows an extremely similar concept.
There's a few oddballs like "He Cometh and He Passeth By" about a sorcerer who causes a man to be haunted by a demon. It's a pretty good story and reminded me a lot of James' "Casting the Runes." "The Third Coach" surprised me, it's one of the better stories, about a man who uses his second sight into the future to kill someone. "An Echo" is the last story in the collection, it's an uninteresting episode about a clairvoyant who helps solve a long-standing murder mystery.
There are several other collections of Wakefield's work available, but I doubt I'll be jumping into them with both feet frankly.
August 20, 2020
Simply Awesome
Wakefield is one of the finest writers of the traditional ghost story. It's a matter of grave regret that his works had not been made available in affordable collections previously. Luckily, this Ash-Tree Press edition, enriched with editorial inputs and containing several of Wakefield's best stories, rectifies the situation to a great extent. Hopefully this book and its successors would be lapped up by the readers, thereby reinstating Wakefield to a position that he deserves.
Highly recommended.
Wakefield is one of the finest writers of the traditional ghost story. It's a matter of grave regret that his works had not been made available in affordable collections previously. Luckily, this Ash-Tree Press edition, enriched with editorial inputs and containing several of Wakefield's best stories, rectifies the situation to a great extent. Hopefully this book and its successors would be lapped up by the readers, thereby reinstating Wakefield to a position that he deserves.
Highly recommended.
August 16, 2014
As with most collections of short stories, I liked some better than others. The stand-outs for me were "The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster", "And He Shall Sing", "The Red Lodge", and "He Cometh and He Passeth By!".
Want to read
July 15, 2014This is copy 68 of 300
October 4, 2025
Similar to M. R. James, but with a sharper, more contemporary edge.
They Return at Evening is H. R. Wakefield’s debut collection of ghost stories, written in a style reminiscent of M. R. James. But unlike James, who often rooted his horrors in medieval relics or forgotten manuscripts, Wakefield turns his gaze toward the more immediate and human side of hauntings. His ghosts are often born from guilt, cruelty, or personal trauma, and they strike with less subtlety but more bite.
My edition contained ten stories:
That Dieth Not (4/5) – In what seems like a hopeless marriage, the narrator’s wife aborts his children, not wanting to ruin her figure, and chases after titled men and high class connections. When she vows to destroy him during a quarrel, he kills her in a fit of impulse. At last free, he remarries happily—until his first wife makes good on her promise, returning from beyond the grave. Some things, it seems, do not die.
Or Persons Unknown (4/5) – Seeking a new butler, Mr. James Ponders hires Mr. Millin, who comes recommended but shadowed by suspicion: his previous employer died under brutal and unexplained circumstances.
He Cometh and He Passeth By (5/5) – Edward reconnects with an old college friend, only to find him terrified of a figure named Clinton and a strange shadow that seems to creep closer each night. Determined to debunk the fear, Edward joins him in a vigil—but when black tendrils rise from the earth, skepticism collapses into sheer terror.
Professor Pownall’s Oversight (3/5) – Always overshadowed by his rival Morisson, Professor Pownall hopes to redeem himself through chess. But in a desperate bid for victory at an international tournament, he kills his old adversary—and learns the dead are not so easily outplayed.
The Third Coach (3/5) – A man witnesses a ghostly train disaster, a vision not of the past but of the future. Rather than warn others, he keeps the knowledge for himself, waiting for the right moment to exploit it.
The Red Lodge (5/5) – A painter and his family rent the seemingly idyllic Red Lodge, complete with gardens and a river. But the house has a history: a chain of suicides, and children found drowned nearby. Soon a green, muddy figure rises from the riverbank with murderous intent.
And He Shall Sing… (3/5) – A publisher discovers a manuscript of remarkable poems, only to find a malign presence clinging to its pages—whispers in the dark, shadows at the edge of vision, and finally, the poet’s murder by book.
The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster (4/5) – A new hole is added to the golf course at Duncaster, near the forest. Soon, deaths, whispers of druidic magic, and rumors of a lurking creature unsettle the club’s routine.
A Peg on Which to Hang (4/5) – On holiday with friends, a man finds himself assigned to a notorious hotel room where someone once hanged themselves on a simple wooden peg.
An Echo (5/5) – A man with clairvoyant gifts experiences an “echo” of the past while staying at Balland Manor, witnessing a long-forgotten crime and bringing to light a murder buried in time.
The stories vary in strength, but none feel weak or wasted. For a debut written almost a century ago, it’s striking how well they still read—straightforward, atmospheric, and often vicious in their cruelty. Wakefield may not match James in subtlety, but he makes up for it with directness and modern energy. ★★★★☆
They Return at Evening is H. R. Wakefield’s debut collection of ghost stories, written in a style reminiscent of M. R. James. But unlike James, who often rooted his horrors in medieval relics or forgotten manuscripts, Wakefield turns his gaze toward the more immediate and human side of hauntings. His ghosts are often born from guilt, cruelty, or personal trauma, and they strike with less subtlety but more bite.
My edition contained ten stories:
That Dieth Not (4/5) – In what seems like a hopeless marriage, the narrator’s wife aborts his children, not wanting to ruin her figure, and chases after titled men and high class connections. When she vows to destroy him during a quarrel, he kills her in a fit of impulse. At last free, he remarries happily—until his first wife makes good on her promise, returning from beyond the grave. Some things, it seems, do not die.
Or Persons Unknown (4/5) – Seeking a new butler, Mr. James Ponders hires Mr. Millin, who comes recommended but shadowed by suspicion: his previous employer died under brutal and unexplained circumstances.
He Cometh and He Passeth By (5/5) – Edward reconnects with an old college friend, only to find him terrified of a figure named Clinton and a strange shadow that seems to creep closer each night. Determined to debunk the fear, Edward joins him in a vigil—but when black tendrils rise from the earth, skepticism collapses into sheer terror.
Professor Pownall’s Oversight (3/5) – Always overshadowed by his rival Morisson, Professor Pownall hopes to redeem himself through chess. But in a desperate bid for victory at an international tournament, he kills his old adversary—and learns the dead are not so easily outplayed.
The Third Coach (3/5) – A man witnesses a ghostly train disaster, a vision not of the past but of the future. Rather than warn others, he keeps the knowledge for himself, waiting for the right moment to exploit it.
The Red Lodge (5/5) – A painter and his family rent the seemingly idyllic Red Lodge, complete with gardens and a river. But the house has a history: a chain of suicides, and children found drowned nearby. Soon a green, muddy figure rises from the riverbank with murderous intent.
And He Shall Sing… (3/5) – A publisher discovers a manuscript of remarkable poems, only to find a malign presence clinging to its pages—whispers in the dark, shadows at the edge of vision, and finally, the poet’s murder by book.
The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster (4/5) – A new hole is added to the golf course at Duncaster, near the forest. Soon, deaths, whispers of druidic magic, and rumors of a lurking creature unsettle the club’s routine.
A Peg on Which to Hang (4/5) – On holiday with friends, a man finds himself assigned to a notorious hotel room where someone once hanged themselves on a simple wooden peg.
An Echo (5/5) – A man with clairvoyant gifts experiences an “echo” of the past while staying at Balland Manor, witnessing a long-forgotten crime and bringing to light a murder buried in time.
The stories vary in strength, but none feel weak or wasted. For a debut written almost a century ago, it’s striking how well they still read—straightforward, atmospheric, and often vicious in their cruelty. Wakefield may not match James in subtlety, but he makes up for it with directness and modern energy. ★★★★☆
March 14, 2023
H. R. Wakefield's first collection of ghost stories, and of course it's a good one. This author is often linked with M.R. James and while a couple of the tales are clearly Jamesian in nature, most are written in their own unique style. The majority are highly entertaining and all offer a good variety of the forms that a ghost story can take.
THAT DIETH NOT, for example, is so psychological it rivals the work of the contemporary D.H. Lawrence. Lawrence is brought to mind again in OR PERSONS UNKNOWN, a crime story about an aristocrat falling foul of a poacher, with some very good aural hallucinations. 'HE COMETH AND HE PASSETH BY!' is, of course, heavily indebted to James' CASTING THE RUNES, and very nearly as entertaining, and THE SEVENTEENTH HOLE AT DUNCASTER is another fine and understated effort in that author's tradition.
PROFESSOR POWNALL'S OVERSIGHT is a weird little one about chess rivalry leading to murder, and THE THIRD COACH is an explicit tale about a premonition of disaster. THE RED LODGE, one of the author's earliest, is a classic haunted house tale with a memorably slimy ghost. 'AND HE SHALL SING' is a fine example of the uncanny in literature, perhaps a little obvious these days, but no less enjoyable because of that. The last and least of the collection, A PEG ON WHICH TO HANG-- and AN ECHO, are simple tales about a night in a haunted inn and a ghostly vision in a wooded lane. The latter incorporates a court case clearly indebted to Wakefield's non-fiction book, THE GREEN BICYCLE CASE.
THAT DIETH NOT, for example, is so psychological it rivals the work of the contemporary D.H. Lawrence. Lawrence is brought to mind again in OR PERSONS UNKNOWN, a crime story about an aristocrat falling foul of a poacher, with some very good aural hallucinations. 'HE COMETH AND HE PASSETH BY!' is, of course, heavily indebted to James' CASTING THE RUNES, and very nearly as entertaining, and THE SEVENTEENTH HOLE AT DUNCASTER is another fine and understated effort in that author's tradition.
PROFESSOR POWNALL'S OVERSIGHT is a weird little one about chess rivalry leading to murder, and THE THIRD COACH is an explicit tale about a premonition of disaster. THE RED LODGE, one of the author's earliest, is a classic haunted house tale with a memorably slimy ghost. 'AND HE SHALL SING' is a fine example of the uncanny in literature, perhaps a little obvious these days, but no less enjoyable because of that. The last and least of the collection, A PEG ON WHICH TO HANG-- and AN ECHO, are simple tales about a night in a haunted inn and a ghostly vision in a wooded lane. The latter incorporates a court case clearly indebted to Wakefield's non-fiction book, THE GREEN BICYCLE CASE.
January 6, 2019
As M. R. James himself said, a mixed bag. Nothing to terrify, but there are a few choice chillers. I would say these are more supernatural than ghost stories. And the writing is very strong. Also, unlike a lot of these kinds of stories from days gone by, Wakefield’s really give you a sense of time and place.
(Skip the introduction unless you’re somehow not tired of feminist critiques of “dead white guys” that too often take up valuable pages in books published or re-published after 1991. “A writer who served in WW1 was kind of misogynistic? Get out! Any other information you’d like to share? No? Well, that’s a shame.” Look elsewhere for any insights into Wakefield and his work—which is annoying, because the writer sounds like she knows what she’s talking about but she can’t get off her hobby horse.)
(Skip the introduction unless you’re somehow not tired of feminist critiques of “dead white guys” that too often take up valuable pages in books published or re-published after 1991. “A writer who served in WW1 was kind of misogynistic? Get out! Any other information you’d like to share? No? Well, that’s a shame.” Look elsewhere for any insights into Wakefield and his work—which is annoying, because the writer sounds like she knows what she’s talking about but she can’t get off her hobby horse.)
October 19, 2022
The quality of the writing itself is marvellous; sharp, evocative and vivid, and the stories are a rather more lurid but worthy take on the Jamesian-Bensonian tradition. There is a rather horrifying misogyny, racism and generally bigoted unpleasantness about the whole thing, though that leaves a nasty taste in one’s mouth.
August 19, 2019
Exceptional.
October 17, 2025
A fairly lightweight collection with a couple of superior stories hidden in the foggy Edwardian mist.
Do yourself a favour and go for the Clock Strikes Twelve instead.
Do yourself a favour and go for the Clock Strikes Twelve instead.
September 25, 2025
[Philip Allan & Co. Ltd.] (1928). HB. First Edition. 313 Pages. Purchased from John Pinkney.
Ten short “ghost stories”.
The third entry particularly sparkles: “…how can such things be? But at night I know they are.”
It features the fiendish Oscar Clinton: murderer, sophist, paedophile, satanist, sadist, parasite:
“I always drink brandy after heroin…”
I have “…no regard whatever for morality…”
“I like cruelty…”
“I know myself to be a being apart, one to whom the codes and conventions of the herd can never be applied. I have sampled every so-called ‘vice’…”
There are several other enthralling characters, not least of all the Reverend Wellington Scott, and family, in “The Third Coach”.
HRW’s turn of phrase can be marvellous:
“…met by a flaccid specimen of the genus Small Hotel-keeper, who was chafing his palms in a deprecating manner.” (“A Peg on Which to Hang”)
“That Dieth Not"
“Or Persons Unknown"
“He Cometh and He Passeth By”
“Professor Pownall's Oversight"
“The Third Coach"
“The Red Lodge"
“And He Shall Sing...”
“The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster"
“A Peg on Which to Hang"
“An Echo”
(In his ultra-brief, June 2025 Introduction to the Wildside Press edition of this collection, John Betancourt makes the astounding claim that HRW is “…now eclipsed… by… modern masters… [such as] Ramsay Campbell…” - wow…)
Ten short “ghost stories”.
The third entry particularly sparkles: “…how can such things be? But at night I know they are.”
It features the fiendish Oscar Clinton: murderer, sophist, paedophile, satanist, sadist, parasite:
“I always drink brandy after heroin…”
I have “…no regard whatever for morality…”
“I like cruelty…”
“I know myself to be a being apart, one to whom the codes and conventions of the herd can never be applied. I have sampled every so-called ‘vice’…”
There are several other enthralling characters, not least of all the Reverend Wellington Scott, and family, in “The Third Coach”.
HRW’s turn of phrase can be marvellous:
“…met by a flaccid specimen of the genus Small Hotel-keeper, who was chafing his palms in a deprecating manner.” (“A Peg on Which to Hang”)
“That Dieth Not"
“Or Persons Unknown"
“He Cometh and He Passeth By”
“Professor Pownall's Oversight"
“The Third Coach"
“The Red Lodge"
“And He Shall Sing...”
“The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster"
“A Peg on Which to Hang"
“An Echo”
(In his ultra-brief, June 2025 Introduction to the Wildside Press edition of this collection, John Betancourt makes the astounding claim that HRW is “…now eclipsed… by… modern masters… [such as] Ramsay Campbell…” - wow…)
November 27, 2022
A writer to rival M R James
H R Wakefield belongs to that class of writer scholars of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who employed their extensive knowledge of the occult to construct supernatural stories strong in atmosphere and a sense of foreboding. As such, he was a worthy successor to the earlier M R James. The stories in this collection are characterised by slowly mounting tension and sense of dread, far more horrifying than the explicit horror in some of today's supernatural fiction.
H R Wakefield belongs to that class of writer scholars of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who employed their extensive knowledge of the occult to construct supernatural stories strong in atmosphere and a sense of foreboding. As such, he was a worthy successor to the earlier M R James. The stories in this collection are characterised by slowly mounting tension and sense of dread, far more horrifying than the explicit horror in some of today's supernatural fiction.
Want to read
March 29, 2025Read so far:
That dieth not
Or persons unknown
*"He cometh and he passeth by!"
*Professor Pownall's oversight (aka The unseen player)
*The third coach
*The red lodge
"And he shall sing ..."
*The seventeenth hole at Duncaster
A peg on which to hang
An echo
***
*Lucky's grove
*The ghost hunt
*The frontier guards
*The inevitable flaw
*The first sheaf
*Old man's beard
*Blind man's buff
*Mr. Ash's studio
That dieth not
Or persons unknown
*"He cometh and he passeth by!"
*Professor Pownall's oversight (aka The unseen player)
*The third coach
*The red lodge
"And he shall sing ..."
*The seventeenth hole at Duncaster
A peg on which to hang
An echo
***
*Lucky's grove
*The ghost hunt
*The frontier guards
*The inevitable flaw
*The first sheaf
*Old man's beard
*Blind man's buff
*Mr. Ash's studio
July 7, 2025
✭✭✭
“That Dieth Not” ✭½
“Or Persons Unknown” ✭✭✭
“‘He Cometh and He Passeth By!’” ✭✭✭½
“Professor Pownall’s Oversight” ✭✭✭½
“The Third Coach” ✭½
“The Red Lodge” ✭✭✭✭✭
“‘And He Shall Sing...’” ✭✭✭
“The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster” ✭✭✭✭✭
“A Peg on Which to Hang—” ✭✭✭
“An Echo” ✭½
All stories published 1928.
“That Dieth Not” ✭½
“Or Persons Unknown” ✭✭✭
“‘He Cometh and He Passeth By!’” ✭✭✭½
“Professor Pownall’s Oversight” ✭✭✭½
“The Third Coach” ✭½
“The Red Lodge” ✭✭✭✭✭
“‘And He Shall Sing...’” ✭✭✭
“The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster” ✭✭✭✭✭
“A Peg on Which to Hang—” ✭✭✭
“An Echo” ✭½
All stories published 1928.
May 3, 2014
Not bad, but I thought some of the stories ended too abruptly and killed any suspense that was building. But it's a charming old book.
March 9, 2022
Extremely good stories
This is the first book I've read by H. R. Wakefield and thoroughly enjoyed every short ghost story. Very well written and highly entertaining indeed.
This is the first book I've read by H. R. Wakefield and thoroughly enjoyed every short ghost story. Very well written and highly entertaining indeed.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews