The Ghost-Ship

by Richard Barham Middleton

The Ghost-Ship One of the best-loved ghost stories in English literature By Richard Middleton Richard Barham Middleton (28 October 1882 - 1 December 1911) was a British poet and author, who is remembered mostly for his short ghost stories, in particular The Ghost Ship. After education at Cranbrook School, Kent, he worked in London for the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation bank, as a clerk, from 1901 to 1907. Unhappy in this, he affected a Bohemian life at night; he is mentioned, in disguised terms, in Arthur Ransome's Bohemia in London. He moved out of his parents' house and into rooms in Blackfriars and joined the club The New Bohemians where he acquired literary contacts who included Arthur Machen, Louis McQuilland (1880-1946), Christopher Wilson and others. He became an editor at Vanity Fair under Edgar Jepson where he confided to Frank Harris, who was also editing at the magazine at the time, that what he would really wanted to do was make a living as a poet. Shortly thereafter, Harris published Middleton's poem "The Bathing Boy."

Genres: Horror, Classics, Fiction, Short Stories, Audiobook

150 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1912

About the author

Richard Barham Middleton was an English poet and author, who is remembered mostly for his short ghost stories, in particular The Ghost Ship.

Reviews

[Althea Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A humorous tale of a town bustling with ghosts. The living villagers are accustomed to the deceased going about their business around them - but an element of chaos is introduced when a supernatural pirate ship appears in a turnip patch, and begins to dispense a heavenly rum to both living and dead. Good fun.

[Eustachio · Rating 3 out of 5]

«The other day I said to a friend, "I have just been reading in proof a volume of short stories by an author named Richard Middleton. He is dead. [...]"»

Già nel 1912 era evidente che Machen cercasse di tenere in vita la reputazione di un autore senza successo. Cent'anni dopo possiamo dire che i suoi propositi non sono andati a buon fine: se già di Machen si sente parlare poco, almeno qui in Italia, figuriamoci di Richard Middleton, autore suicidatosi prima dei trent'anni lasciandosi alle spalle una produzione postuma quasi introvabile, a eccezione della suddetta raccolta, The Ghost Ship.
La domanda con i libri e gli autori dimenticati dalla storia è sempre la stessa: vale la pena leggerli? Se sono stati dimenticati c'è una ragione, no? Oppure mi ritroverò davanti un capolavoro ingiustamente messo da parte?
Un po' e un po'.

Non c'è un genere preciso: ci sono storie di fantasmi, storie soprannaturali o con un che di insolito, storie con finali a sorpresa, storie allegoriche e storie che non sembrano storie. Si va da una nave di fantasmi che durante una tempesta approda in un paesino inglese già di per sé abituato alla presenza di fantasmi (The Ghost Ship) all'odio per la scuola di un ragazzino (A Drama of Youth), da dei bambini che cercano delle fate (Children of the Moon) a un poliziotto che non si sente di arrestare nessuno (The Soul of a Policeman), da un prestigiatore incapace che però riesce a far sparire la moglie (The Conjurer) a un autore che scrive senza avere nulla da dire (The Story of a Book), da un bambino metafora dell'artista solitario (Fate and the Artist) a un aspirante autore che si spaccia per scrittore di capolavori senza essere capace di scriverne (The Great Man), da una strage familiare vista dagli occhi di due bambini (And Who Shall Say—?) a un racconto/saggio sulla differenza tra uomini d'azione e sognatori (A Wet Day) e così via.
È difficile trovarci un unico filo conduttore. Alterna la prima alla terza persona, i protagonisti o sono uomini o bambini e il più delle volte la narrazione è una scusa per parlare della scrittura e dell'essere artisti. Quando cerca di creare dei colpi di scena non riesce sempre a essere imprevedibile, ma alcuni racconti nel loro piccolo sono notevoli. E se non tutto è memorabile, se non altro è abbastanza scorrevole e contiene frasi e concetti abbastanza condivisibili da meritare la lettura.

The Ghost Ship: ****
A Drama of Youth: ***
The New Boy: ***
On the Brighton Road: ****
A Tragedy in Little: ***
Shepherd's Boy: **
The Passing of Edward: ****
The Story of a Book: ***
The Bird in the Garden: ***
Children of the Moon: ****
The Coffin Merchant: ****
The Soul of a Policeman: **
The Conjurer: ***
The Poet's Allegory: **
And Who Shall Say—?: ****
The Biography of a Superman: **
Blue Blood: **
Fate and the Artist: ***
The Great Man: ***
A Wet Day: ***

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a unique and really fun ghost story. There are no scars here but the premise is interesting. A small town is overrun with ghosts to the point where they are the seen as any of the other inhabitants of the town. A storm ends up leaving a ghost ship in a landlord's garden and they are temporarily absorbed into the town.
Imagine turnips that taste like rum. For whatever reason this cracked me up.
This story can be found on the Classic Ghost Stories podcast, with the always good narration by Tony Walker.

[DúviAurvandil Ericsson e Pereira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing dreadful, nor dreadfully wrong about this little bagatelle, and it has enough silly dry observation to make it enjoyable, but like it’s eponym, it doesn’t really go anywhere with much purpose.

[Michele Dechert · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a decent enough ghost story to pass the time. Nothing spectacular.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quaint compilation of short stories. I quite enjoyed several, some were decent but I would have quit them had they been novels. Overall not a bad read. Some great vocabulary.

[Bill Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting story writing. Probably happened

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what one would expect as it diverges for the usual idiotic belief/disbelief dichotomy.