Not Exactly Ghosts & Fires Burn Blue

by Andrew Caldecott, David Stuart Davies (Editor)

Here together for the first time in one volume are the twenty five spooky stories created by Sir Andrew Caldecott in two collections in the 1940s: Not Exactly Ghosts and Fires Burn Blue.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Ghost Stories, Weird Fiction, Fiction, Gothic, Ghosts

305 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1947

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of these stories of the supernatural--particular the ones set in English village society--resemble those of M.R. James, Caldecott's greatest influence; the stories they resemble, however, are the inferior works, in which rural dialects, entertaining character sketches and an ironic tone compensate in part for a loss of supernatural intensity and narrative power.

The best stories here are the ones in which Kongea--a mythical Asian country created by Caldecott out of his experiences as governor of Hong Kong and Ceylon--are prominently featured. Caldecott knows the customs and civil service politics of his part of Asia at least as well as Kipling knew India, and his Kongean stories evoke an exotic atmosphere that makes the supernatural element doubly effective.

[Isidore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of weird tales, written in his retirement by a former colonial Governor of Hong Kong and Ceylon, are highly entertaining without attaining the level of the author's model, M.R. James. Fans of the latter will know what to expect: understatement, preference for suggestion over the explicit, an blandly urbane tone which renders sudden intrusions of horror all the more effective--all those things the modern Gore Masters neither appreciate nor understand.

If Caldecott's horrors tend to be a little tame alongside those of James, he nevertheless produced some effective stories. "Christmas Re-Union" is apparently the best known, but I find myself leaning to those which are set in the fictional British colony of Kongea, where Caldecott is able to draw on his own background for local colour: "Grey Brothers" is particularly fine, with its portrait of an Englishman gone native, who acquires some very ghastly allies among the jungle fauna; the story is at first almost humorous, and finally disturbing, in the best Jamesian manner. "Light in the Darkness" (a nicely ironic title) is also very good, as it tells of the unpleasant consequences of attempting to debunk a native cult.

Of the non-Kongea stories, I'd perhaps pick "His Name was Legion": structurally the story is a bit of a mess, but some very nasty moments, and some even nastier *verse* make up for that. All in all, a very worthwhile (and very inexpensive) treat for fans of sophisticated supernatural fiction.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very decent collection with some Jamesian jewels like "A Room In Rectory", "Autoepitaphy", "Whiffs of the Sea", some tales very similar to L.P. Hartley in tone & tenor (""Branch Line To Benceston", "In Due Course", "Christmas Reunion" [practically a retelling of "The Visitor From Down Under"], "Decastroland", etc.), and some of the nasty-yet-venerable H.R.Wakefield stories ("Sonata in D Minor", "A Victim of Medusa") etc. They are the works of an amateur, but the narrative is even & lean. The only thing that these stories lack is a ghost, but perhaps, after reading the title of this very-very reasonably priced Wordsworth edition, we should not complain.

Recommended as a decent read, nothing more and nothing less.

[Frank McAdam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This odd collection of stories is suggestive not so much of the supernatural as of just plain weirdness. Its upper class English characters seem to have wandered out of an Angus Wilson novel into random episodes of The Twilight Zone. Some of the stories are mildly entertaining and a few are awful, most notably those in which the author insists on inserting his truly execrable poetry. Curiously, the best story, "Grey Brothers," set in the imaginary South Asian country Kongea, shows the influence not of M.R. James but of Joseph Conrad.

[Rob Blackmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not many ghosts, but there are plenty of weird happenings in these short stories by Sir Andrew Caldecott.

Caldecott served as a governor in the far east, and this is the setting for many of his tales in the fictional country of Kongea.
They're certainly an odd assortment, ranging from the macabre; 'The Pump in Thorpe's Spinney' to the downright bizarre; 'Grey Brothers'.

There are one or two 'clunkers' but also some genuine gems (Whiffs of the Sea is my favourite).

Not as good as other supernatural writers such as James or Blackwood, but if you like strange tales, then this collection is certainly worth a look.

[Stig · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not at M.R. James level, this is a nice enough collection of almost-ghost stories by a former governor of Hong Kong. This is a good volume for a stormy autumn night in front of a fire, whisky in hand.