Tales of Fear and Fantasy

by R. Chetwynd-Hayes

Collection of weird tales and ghost stories by under-rated British writer, Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes (1919-2001). This collection contains seven of his best including stories involving ghouls, a youth in love with a dead girl, and selling souls. Titles are Manderville, The Day of the Underdog, The Headless Footman of Hadleigh, The Cost of Dying, The Resurrectionist, The Sale of the Century, The Changeling.

Genres: Horror

160 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1977

About the author

Ronald Henry Glynn Chetwynd-Hayes aka Angus Campbell.

Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes was an author, best known for his ghost stories. His first published work was the science fiction novel The Man From The Bomb in 1959. He went on to publish many collections and ten other novels including The Grange, The Haunted Grange, And Love Survived and The Curse of the Snake God. He also edited over 20 anthologies. Several of his short works were adapted into anthology style movies in the United Kingdom, including The Monster Club and From Beyond the Grave. Chetwynd-Hayes' book The Monster Club contains references to a film-maker called Vinke Rocnnor, an anagram of Kevin Connor, the director of From Beyond the Grave.

He won the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement for 1988, and the British Fantasy Society Special Award in 1989.

Reviews

[Lostaccount · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy didn't shy away from the truly horrorific when he wrote, unlike a lot of chicken***t, so-called horror writers these days. Just read "The Resurrectionist" to see what I mean. Manderville is equally horrific and twisted. These stories are what I'd called "real horror" old school, not the kind of rubbish you get now which seems always to be about some kind of abuse. These are metaphysical and physical horrors written sometimes in a poetic style (see "Manderville"), and often with a lot of wit and intelligence. Great writer only recently discovered through my reading of Valancourt horror anthos. Well worth a read.

I have to read more from this guy.

[Lisa of LaCreeperie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of his best, but there are several passages that are so good/clever, I'm jealous I didn't write them myself. The last story, The Changeling is by far the best one in this collection.

[Shane Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scared the absolute shit out of me when I was 11!

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chetwynd-Hayes certainly knew his job. His stories are some of the best I have ever read.

[Steve Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

At his best, Chetwynd-Hayes is a pleasure to read. Funny, warm and horror all at the same time! They're cosy horror stories which have often been filmed ('From Beyond The Grave' is a good example). They're populated by funny, quirky characters often placed in an era which seems a little earlier than the time they were written in (mainly the 1970s and 80s).

This is a consistently good collection from 1977 of seven tales - five of them I liked very much. These are 'Manderville' (overly long, but an atmospheric story of a man intending to commit suicide taking pills only to find himself in a strange village); 'The Headless Footman Of Hadleigh' (typical Chetwynd-Hayes, a funny and entertaining tale of Francis St Clare, psychic detective, and his female assistant Fred, ridding an arrogant toff's house of demons - wonderful characters!); 'The Cost Of Dying' (one man meets another on a train - it becomes apparent that he's the only person who can see him - is another atmospheric story with humour and great characters); 'The Resurrectionist' (less humour here, this is a darkly macabre story of a man who falls in love with a dead woman from a fifty year old photograph - grimly captivating stuff!).

Then finally there's perhaps my favourite 'The Sale Of The Century.' Again, typically Chetwynd-Hayes with its atmosphere and quirky characters (think of Burgess Meredith in The Twilight Zone, this character also has an unsupporting wife). A man is poached from his job selling women's lingerie by a mysterious character who invites him to sell increasingly bizarre products. Nice interaction between all the characters; especially between husband and wife, and the main protagonist and his all-praising new employer.

Chetwynd-Hayes's mastery shines through despite Fontana's rather penny-pinching presentation. The text is small, and new stories are not even started on a new page, but begin just a couple of lines on from the completion of the previous story! Dear oh dear, you'd have thought the war was still on in 1977!

Still, this is a book worth seeking out...