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Stories From The Clock Strikes 12
A new collection of macabre tales by H. Russell Wakefield - the first in fifteen years - is an event to delight the connoisseur. Eighteen new stories, together with an introduction, Why I Write Ghost Stories, represent the first new uncanny tales to be published in the United States since the notably successful They Return at Evening and Others Who Returned.
"That there are many things in Heaven and on Earth for which we have no explanation, and for which, in all probability, we shall never have an explanation is certainly part of my philosophy; and I have never written a tale in which are recorded happenings that I do not believe could occur," writes Mr. Wakefield in his Introduction to this collection. "We have to remember and face the fact that we have not and cannot have, any acquaintance with more than a millionth part of what is called reality or the final truth about the universe."
Contents (all by H. Russell Wakefield [as by H. R. Wakefield])
7 • Why I Write Ghost Stories • (1946) • essay
13 • Into Outer Darkness • (1938) • short story
20 • The Alley • (1940) • short story
39 • Jay Walkers • (1940) • short story
52 • Ingredient X • (1940) • short story
63 • "I Recognized the Voice" • (1940) • short story
72 • Farewell Performance • short story
79 • In Collaboration • (1940) • short story
94 • Lucky's Grove • (1940) • short story
115 • Happy Ending? • (1940) • short story
122 • The First Sheaf • (1940) • short story
132 • Used Car • (1932) • short story
145 • Death of a Poacher • (1935) • short story
"That there are many things in Heaven and on Earth for which we have no explanation, and for which, in all probability, we shall never have an explanation is certainly part of my philosophy; and I have never written a tale in which are recorded happenings that I do not believe could occur," writes Mr. Wakefield in his Introduction to this collection. "We have to remember and face the fact that we have not and cannot have, any acquaintance with more than a millionth part of what is called reality or the final truth about the universe."
Contents (all by H. Russell Wakefield [as by H. R. Wakefield])
7 • Why I Write Ghost Stories • (1946) • essay
13 • Into Outer Darkness • (1938) • short story
20 • The Alley • (1940) • short story
39 • Jay Walkers • (1940) • short story
52 • Ingredient X • (1940) • short story
63 • "I Recognized the Voice" • (1940) • short story
72 • Farewell Performance • short story
79 • In Collaboration • (1940) • short story
94 • Lucky's Grove • (1940) • short story
115 • Happy Ending? • (1940) • short story
122 • The First Sheaf • (1940) • short story
132 • Used Car • (1932) • short story
145 • Death of a Poacher • (1935) • short story
159 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1961
14 people want to read
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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July 27, 2021
A collection of H.R. Wakefield's mid-career stories - this is the Ballantine paperback release (of the Arkham House original), so it's "STORIES FROM" THE CLOCK STRIKES 12 - omitting 5 stories from the Arkham House edition.
The The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural expresses the opinion that this collection reflects the point when Wakefield, a prolific short fiction author, began repeating himself or turning too easily to the "revenge of the dead" motif - and for all I know that could be right. But there are a number of extremely solid stories here - and I don't find myself as gaga for his earlier piece "He Cometh And He Passeth By" as the ENCYCLOPEDIA is - so perhaps it's just all down to opinion. I find Wakefield interesting because he's obviously a workmanlike author, crafting his stories with care, but not necessarily concerned overmuch with atmospherics and effects. Sometimes, when he's leaning heavily on his "Psychic/Psychical Research" cards, that can make for an interesting but kind of negligible reading exercise ("since we know that clairvoyance is a fact, how can we trickily apply it to different story scenarios?" as a writing approach has little more to commend it than the blitherings of Theosophists from a decade or so earlier). And yet - when he's ON - and really hitting the effects or so in control of his narrative that he knows just exactly how long to make it, and how to pepper it with humor or suspense - his stuff works a treat (he's very good at abrupt, punchy endings). The occasional spicing of a P.G. Wodehouseian-humor, or a deliberate contrast between hoary English Ghost story tropes and trappings of modernity (like cars and radio), make for interesting reading. In other words, I guess, his output may be "uneven", but the good stuff is GOOD. And this collection is more GOOD stuff than weak sauce. The book starts with his essay "Why I Write Ghost Stories" and while it's more Psychical Research stuff, in the main, it does capture his sense that "these things happen, usually for reasons we have no chance of understanding.... at present."
But, to dispense with that noted "weak sauce" first - the two weakest stories here are: "'I Recognized The Voice'", in which Mr. Goran wants to meet with the popular expert in crime, Mr. Lefanu (who claims to have some mild clairvoyant ability). Goran explains a personal situation he was party to where a passing friend died under circumstances that implied a murder, but were considered heart failure. Lefanu uses his abilities to solve the likely culprit in the case. Eh, all a bit too cute. Meanwhile, in "Happy Ending?" a highly rational psychology student is plagued by horrific sounds in his dreams after moving into a bed-sitting room. This is a strange story - the actual "supernatural" aspect is horrific (the sounds of a suicide by hanging) but the story presents its main character in a humorous mode, far too rational (and fawning to his Professor) than is good for him - and so he tackles the increasingly disturbing dreams from a psychological point of view instead of an emotional one. It ends with a pretty funny last line as well. Not great but a bit different - I think Wakefield was intrigued by attempting to write comic pieces, as he sometimes works them into stories.
Of the "Good but slightly weak" category, we have: In "Jay Walkers" a man with some claim to Psychic Investigation tries to figure out why a certain stretch of road has recurrent fatal accidents on one specific day almost every year. This was interesting and engagingly told, but not particularly atmospheric - Wakefield seems intent on not merely updating his hauntings (here, a "cursed road" now accepting motor cars) but in occasionally presenting them simply as dry mysteries to be treated, if not exactly scientifically, as if they are a mere array of unknown forces to be puzzled out. So here, we get the revelation of a historical death that may have actually been a murder. Interestingly, from a class point of view, both this story and the later "The Alley" feature bits where our well-off main characters must meet with a lower-class local/yokel to gain the folkloric knowledge he needs (from the source, as it were). A man steals his friend's idea for a novel (because he knows he can write it better), in "In Collaboration", and becomes wealthy, until remorse overcomes him and he attempts to track down his "unintended collaborator" - but he can only catches glimpses of him on the street as a desperate, starving derelict - even as he finds himself compelled to write a transmitted narrative of the man's downfall. Not exactly a horror story - very little atmospherics - almost more of a sentimental ghost story where the supernatural is used as a prop to tell the tale. More interesting for the details of "life on the skids" for WWI veterans, faced with unemployment and starvation. Finally "Death Of A Poacher" is one of those story types that every British writer of this time period seemed to need to write - a story about the superstitious beliefs of "Darkest Africa" that turn out not to be mere superstition. Two friends visit an associate, a grand African explorer who since his last trip seems to be wasting away while suffering something like a nervous breakdown. This all follows on his killing of a giant hyena that had been ravaging the tribal area, and seeing it possibly transform into a sorcerer - at which point he fled the country. You've read it before, and this is interesting only in the small details of how it plays out.
Now, of the solid stories there are quite a few: In "Into Outer Darkness" a young man, worried about his ability to rent his ancestral home because of "unexplained events" asks a friend (who reluctantly admits he is psychically sensitive) to check the manor house with him - but, as the psychic friend warns him, these areas are not to be trifled with, and so their investigation comes to an abrupt end. A good story - partially because it's all about the build-up, and then drops things at the brutal climax. It reminds me a bit of Wakefield's "Blind Man's Bluff" - in that once the "haunted place" is entered, almost nothing else happens. Nicely done! "The Alley" has a young chappy invite his friends around for a housewarming of his new "cottage" in Chesham, reputed to be haunted (but, oh, aren't they all...) and one of them starts to slowly go downhill, as they toss back drinks, play golf and chatter over inanities... Actually, very well done - Wakefield totally committing to his presumed conceit of "a nasty supernatural story told by P.G. Wodehouse" - wonderfully "period precise" dialogue as the friends wonder what's happened to the old shoe... Again, a nicely abrupt and shocking climax. A young man of some wealth, following his father's bad business decision, finds he must start a job and take a shabby one-room flat in "Ingredient X". But the grim little room features oddities at night, like a locked bathroom, recurrent sightings of a slinking dog in the hallways, strange sounds, and an uncertain geography. Nicely done, would make a good short film, and deliberately atmospheric.
Continuing with the solid yarns: "Farewell Performance" may turn on a familiar concept - a famous ventriloquist decides "the show must go on" (despite the recent, unexpected death of his wife), but his dummy has other ideas - but is nicely done - compact, effective and sharply written. "The First Sheaf" has a man recounts his childhood with his minister father when they were assigned to a remote, rural parish - an area suffering under drought, and where the locals had resorted to "the old ways" for help. Not a bad little piece of Folk Horror - you pretty much know where it's going but the presentation is engaging and the abrupt ending pretty nasty. Meanwhile, a father buys a "Used Car" - an American Highway Straight Edge, originally brought over from Chicago - for his family, but they all soon begin to experience troubling events - glimpsed figures, a stain that won't come out, an odd smell - and sinister, repeated visions of being assaulted and attacked in the car. While the outcome may be obvious, this is a quite well done story - the horror of the hallucinations is nicely handled, nightmarish and invasive - and I like all the details one gets about the life of a family of this economic class during this time period (the family dog, Jumbo, is almost another character himself - he doesn't trust the car, needless to say).
Finally, the best thing here is "Lucky's Grove", a reread for me. Wealthy Mr. Braxton and his wife are hosting a large Christmas celebration/visit for the extended family at his expansive manor home. Unfortunately, the tree selected as the centerpiece has been uprooted from a sacred grove... I still think it's one of Wakefield's best (I wanted to run it on PSEUDOPOD as a Christmas episode but we could never get confirmation on who held the rights). It's longer than usual for him, has some surprisingly well done bits of characterization/psychology (Mr. Braxton, at length, and little glimpses of his children and grandchildren) and does a good job capturing what Christmas festivities were like in an upper-class (if nouveau riche) British household in the late 30s. The funny thing is that the story is very much a straight-line plot - things just get worse and worse for the characters (nicely deployed atmospherics), until we reach the almost apocalyptic, cruel ending. I still think it carries a nasty, nasty punch!
ADDENDUM: There were two stories on my "to be read" list which appeared in the later Ash-Tree Press version of this, so I popped for the e-book from AMAZON. "A Fishing Story" from 1935 is early Wakefield, so there isn't the formulaic "murdered spouse" and "just revenge" aspect shoehorned in - two friends, fishing in Ireland, are warned away from a pool which is a prime fishing location but stands near the location of a collapsed bridge where an unlikeable local met his fate years ago (and where other visitors have vanished). While the main plot of this is fairly routine, the little touches make for interesting reading - set in Ireland, "the Troubles" form part of the backstory, and there's some local atmospheric color and the addition of the details of a modern pastime, fly-fishing, to the familiar. Not great but not a waste of your time.
In addition, there is "Masrur", which could be seen as Wakefield's take on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat", as an alcoholic man who resents his wife does away with her cat, and finds himself haunted by its sounds. Interesting as a character study of alcoholism and obsession, there's an interesting little side character, "Carol Portland" (gifter of the cat to the wife) who is definitely not gay (the text, or the main character at least, assures us) but decidedly effeminate. Not bad.
And there you are. And now onto Strayers from Sheol...
The The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural expresses the opinion that this collection reflects the point when Wakefield, a prolific short fiction author, began repeating himself or turning too easily to the "revenge of the dead" motif - and for all I know that could be right. But there are a number of extremely solid stories here - and I don't find myself as gaga for his earlier piece "He Cometh And He Passeth By" as the ENCYCLOPEDIA is - so perhaps it's just all down to opinion. I find Wakefield interesting because he's obviously a workmanlike author, crafting his stories with care, but not necessarily concerned overmuch with atmospherics and effects. Sometimes, when he's leaning heavily on his "Psychic/Psychical Research" cards, that can make for an interesting but kind of negligible reading exercise ("since we know that clairvoyance is a fact, how can we trickily apply it to different story scenarios?" as a writing approach has little more to commend it than the blitherings of Theosophists from a decade or so earlier). And yet - when he's ON - and really hitting the effects or so in control of his narrative that he knows just exactly how long to make it, and how to pepper it with humor or suspense - his stuff works a treat (he's very good at abrupt, punchy endings). The occasional spicing of a P.G. Wodehouseian-humor, or a deliberate contrast between hoary English Ghost story tropes and trappings of modernity (like cars and radio), make for interesting reading. In other words, I guess, his output may be "uneven", but the good stuff is GOOD. And this collection is more GOOD stuff than weak sauce. The book starts with his essay "Why I Write Ghost Stories" and while it's more Psychical Research stuff, in the main, it does capture his sense that "these things happen, usually for reasons we have no chance of understanding.... at present."
But, to dispense with that noted "weak sauce" first - the two weakest stories here are: "'I Recognized The Voice'", in which Mr. Goran wants to meet with the popular expert in crime, Mr. Lefanu (who claims to have some mild clairvoyant ability). Goran explains a personal situation he was party to where a passing friend died under circumstances that implied a murder, but were considered heart failure. Lefanu uses his abilities to solve the likely culprit in the case. Eh, all a bit too cute. Meanwhile, in "Happy Ending?" a highly rational psychology student is plagued by horrific sounds in his dreams after moving into a bed-sitting room. This is a strange story - the actual "supernatural" aspect is horrific (the sounds of a suicide by hanging) but the story presents its main character in a humorous mode, far too rational (and fawning to his Professor) than is good for him - and so he tackles the increasingly disturbing dreams from a psychological point of view instead of an emotional one. It ends with a pretty funny last line as well. Not great but a bit different - I think Wakefield was intrigued by attempting to write comic pieces, as he sometimes works them into stories.
Of the "Good but slightly weak" category, we have: In "Jay Walkers" a man with some claim to Psychic Investigation tries to figure out why a certain stretch of road has recurrent fatal accidents on one specific day almost every year. This was interesting and engagingly told, but not particularly atmospheric - Wakefield seems intent on not merely updating his hauntings (here, a "cursed road" now accepting motor cars) but in occasionally presenting them simply as dry mysteries to be treated, if not exactly scientifically, as if they are a mere array of unknown forces to be puzzled out. So here, we get the revelation of a historical death that may have actually been a murder. Interestingly, from a class point of view, both this story and the later "The Alley" feature bits where our well-off main characters must meet with a lower-class local/yokel to gain the folkloric knowledge he needs (from the source, as it were). A man steals his friend's idea for a novel (because he knows he can write it better), in "In Collaboration", and becomes wealthy, until remorse overcomes him and he attempts to track down his "unintended collaborator" - but he can only catches glimpses of him on the street as a desperate, starving derelict - even as he finds himself compelled to write a transmitted narrative of the man's downfall. Not exactly a horror story - very little atmospherics - almost more of a sentimental ghost story where the supernatural is used as a prop to tell the tale. More interesting for the details of "life on the skids" for WWI veterans, faced with unemployment and starvation. Finally "Death Of A Poacher" is one of those story types that every British writer of this time period seemed to need to write - a story about the superstitious beliefs of "Darkest Africa" that turn out not to be mere superstition. Two friends visit an associate, a grand African explorer who since his last trip seems to be wasting away while suffering something like a nervous breakdown. This all follows on his killing of a giant hyena that had been ravaging the tribal area, and seeing it possibly transform into a sorcerer - at which point he fled the country. You've read it before, and this is interesting only in the small details of how it plays out.
Now, of the solid stories there are quite a few: In "Into Outer Darkness" a young man, worried about his ability to rent his ancestral home because of "unexplained events" asks a friend (who reluctantly admits he is psychically sensitive) to check the manor house with him - but, as the psychic friend warns him, these areas are not to be trifled with, and so their investigation comes to an abrupt end. A good story - partially because it's all about the build-up, and then drops things at the brutal climax. It reminds me a bit of Wakefield's "Blind Man's Bluff" - in that once the "haunted place" is entered, almost nothing else happens. Nicely done! "The Alley" has a young chappy invite his friends around for a housewarming of his new "cottage" in Chesham, reputed to be haunted (but, oh, aren't they all...) and one of them starts to slowly go downhill, as they toss back drinks, play golf and chatter over inanities... Actually, very well done - Wakefield totally committing to his presumed conceit of "a nasty supernatural story told by P.G. Wodehouse" - wonderfully "period precise" dialogue as the friends wonder what's happened to the old shoe... Again, a nicely abrupt and shocking climax. A young man of some wealth, following his father's bad business decision, finds he must start a job and take a shabby one-room flat in "Ingredient X". But the grim little room features oddities at night, like a locked bathroom, recurrent sightings of a slinking dog in the hallways, strange sounds, and an uncertain geography. Nicely done, would make a good short film, and deliberately atmospheric.
Continuing with the solid yarns: "Farewell Performance" may turn on a familiar concept - a famous ventriloquist decides "the show must go on" (despite the recent, unexpected death of his wife), but his dummy has other ideas - but is nicely done - compact, effective and sharply written. "The First Sheaf" has a man recounts his childhood with his minister father when they were assigned to a remote, rural parish - an area suffering under drought, and where the locals had resorted to "the old ways" for help. Not a bad little piece of Folk Horror - you pretty much know where it's going but the presentation is engaging and the abrupt ending pretty nasty. Meanwhile, a father buys a "Used Car" - an American Highway Straight Edge, originally brought over from Chicago - for his family, but they all soon begin to experience troubling events - glimpsed figures, a stain that won't come out, an odd smell - and sinister, repeated visions of being assaulted and attacked in the car. While the outcome may be obvious, this is a quite well done story - the horror of the hallucinations is nicely handled, nightmarish and invasive - and I like all the details one gets about the life of a family of this economic class during this time period (the family dog, Jumbo, is almost another character himself - he doesn't trust the car, needless to say).
Finally, the best thing here is "Lucky's Grove", a reread for me. Wealthy Mr. Braxton and his wife are hosting a large Christmas celebration/visit for the extended family at his expansive manor home. Unfortunately, the tree selected as the centerpiece has been uprooted from a sacred grove... I still think it's one of Wakefield's best (I wanted to run it on PSEUDOPOD as a Christmas episode but we could never get confirmation on who held the rights). It's longer than usual for him, has some surprisingly well done bits of characterization/psychology (Mr. Braxton, at length, and little glimpses of his children and grandchildren) and does a good job capturing what Christmas festivities were like in an upper-class (if nouveau riche) British household in the late 30s. The funny thing is that the story is very much a straight-line plot - things just get worse and worse for the characters (nicely deployed atmospherics), until we reach the almost apocalyptic, cruel ending. I still think it carries a nasty, nasty punch!
ADDENDUM: There were two stories on my "to be read" list which appeared in the later Ash-Tree Press version of this, so I popped for the e-book from AMAZON. "A Fishing Story" from 1935 is early Wakefield, so there isn't the formulaic "murdered spouse" and "just revenge" aspect shoehorned in - two friends, fishing in Ireland, are warned away from a pool which is a prime fishing location but stands near the location of a collapsed bridge where an unlikeable local met his fate years ago (and where other visitors have vanished). While the main plot of this is fairly routine, the little touches make for interesting reading - set in Ireland, "the Troubles" form part of the backstory, and there's some local atmospheric color and the addition of the details of a modern pastime, fly-fishing, to the familiar. Not great but not a waste of your time.
In addition, there is "Masrur", which could be seen as Wakefield's take on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat", as an alcoholic man who resents his wife does away with her cat, and finds himself haunted by its sounds. Interesting as a character study of alcoholism and obsession, there's an interesting little side character, "Carol Portland" (gifter of the cat to the wife) who is definitely not gay (the text, or the main character at least, assures us) but decidedly effeminate. Not bad.
And there you are. And now onto Strayers from Sheol...
February 25, 2020
3.5 stars. Wakefield's writing is solid and his concepts, while not overflowing with originality, were likely not the tropes they are today when first published in the 40's. A little uneven, but the best selections: 'Ingredient X', 'Farewell Performance' (apparently adapted for a 'Moment of Fear' TV episode in the 60's!), 'Lucky's Grove', 'The First Sheaf', 'Used Car'.
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