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Couching at the Door
Dorothy Kathleen Broster (1877-1950) is best known for her historical novels. But there is a darker side to her writing, glimpsed in her early poems - The Second of September 1792 is a fine example - and finding full expression in the stories she wrote after she had become a highly successful novelist. Sometimes - as in The Window or The Pestering, or All Soul's Day - these are what we might call 'explainable' ghost apparitions or hauntings whose origin is to be found in some violent or unjust action in the past. Other stories, Couching at the Door and From the Abyss, have little or no explanation, even in supernatural terms. Add to these an elegant reworking of the Persephone myth, The Taste of Pomegranates, the downright bloodthirsty Clairvoyance, and the psychological studies, The Promised Land and The Pavement which so well merit the heading 'Madness and Obsession', and you have a collection to disturb and unsettle the strongest nerves.
192 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2001
4 people are currently reading
171 people want to read
About the author
D.K. Broster
65 books15 followersDorothy Kathleen Broster (1877 - 1950) produced 15 popular historical novels between 1911 and 1947.
The Yellow Poppy (1920) about the adventures of an aristocratic couple during the French Revolution, was later adapted by Broster and W. Edward Stirling for the London stage in 1922. She produced her bestseller Scottish historical novel, The Flight of the Heron, in 1925. Broster stated she had consulted eighty reference books before beginning the novel. She followed it up with two successful sequels, The Gleam in the North and The Dark Mile. She wrote several other historical novels, successful and much reprinted in their day, although this Jacobite trilogy (inspired by a five-week visit to friends in Scotland), featuring the dashing hero Ewen Cameron, remains the best known.
The Flight of the Heron was adapted for BBC Radio twice, in 1944, starring Gordon Jackson as Ewen Cameron, and again in 1959, starring Bryden Murdoch as Cameron. Murdoch also starred in radio adaptations of the book's sequels, The Gleam in the North and The Dark Mile.
The Yellow Poppy (1920) about the adventures of an aristocratic couple during the French Revolution, was later adapted by Broster and W. Edward Stirling for the London stage in 1922. She produced her bestseller Scottish historical novel, The Flight of the Heron, in 1925. Broster stated she had consulted eighty reference books before beginning the novel. She followed it up with two successful sequels, The Gleam in the North and The Dark Mile. She wrote several other historical novels, successful and much reprinted in their day, although this Jacobite trilogy (inspired by a five-week visit to friends in Scotland), featuring the dashing hero Ewen Cameron, remains the best known.
The Flight of the Heron was adapted for BBC Radio twice, in 1944, starring Gordon Jackson as Ewen Cameron, and again in 1959, starring Bryden Murdoch as Cameron. Murdoch also starred in radio adaptations of the book's sequels, The Gleam in the North and The Dark Mile.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 7, 2024
Little is known about the life of the historical novelist D. K. Broster, she was most known for Her fiction mainly of historical romances set in the 18th or early 19th centuries.
A poet who's younger writing shocked the public begins to notice he’s being visited by a mysterious "drenched smear", a feather boa? It’s after him due to what he's done all those years ago. He needs a plan to transfer the curse to someone else...
3/5 creepy and a fun take. The story is horrifying for its effects on the people it involves, rather than for the actual supernatural elements – which is not to say the Weirdness isn’t entertaining, more importantly the deftness of character and a very intense way of description that grabs your attention. There is a clear sense of personhood. While not scary to me, if you're fan of Weird fiction or early 20th century women’s writing, then I highly recommend this. Excellent character study.
A poet who's younger writing shocked the public begins to notice he’s being visited by a mysterious "drenched smear", a feather boa? It’s after him due to what he's done all those years ago. He needs a plan to transfer the curse to someone else...
3/5 creepy and a fun take. The story is horrifying for its effects on the people it involves, rather than for the actual supernatural elements – which is not to say the Weirdness isn’t entertaining, more importantly the deftness of character and a very intense way of description that grabs your attention. There is a clear sense of personhood. While not scary to me, if you're fan of Weird fiction or early 20th century women’s writing, then I highly recommend this. Excellent character study.
December 31, 2020
Once again, I find myself thankful to the British publisher Wordsworth Editions, and in particular its Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural division, for turning me on to an author who I may not have ever discovered otherwise. In the past, I have written here of several other writers brought to my attention by this extensive and wonderful series of economically priced books: Ambrose Bierce in "Terror By Night," Alice and Claude Askew in "Aylmer Vance: Ghost-Seer," and May Sinclair in "Uncanny Stories," amongst others. And now, courtesy of Wordsworth, my latest find: D.K. Broster, and her marvelous collection of scarifying short stories, "Couching at the Door."
Before I proceed with some comments on the nine winning tales in this volume, a quick word on the author herself. D. K. (Dorothy Kathleen) Broster was born in Liverpool in 1877, and would go on to become a nurse during WW1 and to receive, at the age of 43, a Master of Arts degree at Oxford; one of the first women to do so. She is today primarily remembered as the author of some 15 historical novels and two collections of short stories, of which this volume was the second. "Couching at the Door," when originally released in 1942 as a William Heinemann hardcover, contained only five stories: the title piece, "The Pestering" (a marvelous title, that!), "From the Abyss," "Juggernaut" and "The Pavement." The book would then go out of print for almost 60 years, until Ash-Tree Press released a new edition in 2001, which included 10 stories, those additional five presumably having been culled from Broster's first short-story collection, 1932's "A Drift of Firewood." The Wordsworth edition, released in 2007, includes those five original stories plus four more; all the stories in the Ash-Tree Press volume except for "All Souls' Day." So yes, obviously, the 2001 volume is the most complete of the bunch, but based on my previous experience with Ash-Tree, finding a decently priced copy of one of their OOP volumes can be very challenging, to say the least. And so, this Wordsworth volume, an easy-to-find edition at a bargain price, containing these nine stories, written during the period 1932 - 1940, that are all--every one of them--gripping and exquisitely written, in Broster's well-researched, elegant manner.
The collection happily begins with one of its strongest pieces, "Couching at the Door," which introduces the reader to the decadent, 51-year-old poet and man of sinful repute, Augustine Marchant. All has been going well in Marchant's debauched and voluptuary life until he begins to notice, of all things, a feathered boa that follows him about, creeps into his bed, and even trails him out of doors. What sounds in synopsis a somewhat inane setup actually becomes a story of chilling impact in Broster's skillful hands. And when Marchant attempts to pass off this apparent curse to the unsuspecting artist who is illustrating his latest book, matters only grow more dire, culminating in a shocking conclusion. A bravura effort to get this collection rolling.
"From the Abyss" is very much a straightforward ghost story, of the inexplicable variety. Here, a young Englishwoman, Daphne Lawrence, goes on a holiday to the French Riviera and narrowly escapes death when her car goes over a cliff and crashes into a ravine. The car's two other occupants are presumed dead, and Daphne returns to her fiancé strangely changed. Meanwhile, a woman is seen in the vicinity of the accident who looks exactly like Daphne; a woman who wanders about having lost most of her memory. Broster's tale wraps up with still another tragedy--or perhaps it is a double tragedy--as this story of dual personality and separated corporeal bodies draws to its close.
These two opening tales serve to give the reader fair notice that no character, man or woman, is safe in Broster's work, and the remarkably bloody "Clairvoyance" demonstrates this lesson yet again. In this one, we learn the history of the bloodstain on the rug of Strode Manor, a house that realtors have had difficulty getting off their hands. Thus, we are made privy to the garden party that Mr. Strode had thrown there some five years before, and learn what had happened when his young daughter's teenage friend, a sensitive clairvoyant, had chanced to pick up his priceless, and supremely deadly, Japanese katana sword. Broster does not hold back here, in a tale guaranteed to please all the gorehounds in the audience. A pleasingly suspenseful and grisly tale, this.
"The Pavement" gives us the story of 74-year-old Lydia Reid, who lives with her invalid brother Simon in an isolated cottage in the country. Lydia's obsession in life is the Roman pavement that happens to lie on her property; a relic of historical importance for which Lydia serves as tour guide and caretaker. But trouble looms when a letter arrives from the authorities, saying that the British government has decided to assume all responsibility for the ancient artifact. Lydia, thus, is driven to extreme methods to keep her beloved property her very own, in this tale of an obsession that goes just a bit over the line. Not exactly a frightening story here, but a beautifully written one, with an abundance of historical detail.
"The Window" is yet another straightforward ghost story, but this one comes with a rather convincing explanation at the end. In this tale, Romilly, an aspiring British artist and currently a soldier serving in France during WW1, explores an abandoned house and becomes inextricably trapped when one of its windows crashes down on him. Unable to lift the casement off his body, he is stuck there, on his knees, with no one to call out to for assistance, and contemplates the horrible hours that he must endure before death's sweet release. Broster's tale later hearkens back to the year 1793, as we learn about the house's tragic history following the Vendean defeat at Cholet, an era that might be an unknown one for many, as it was for me.
In "Juggernaut," middle-aged Flora Halkett, a writer of murder mysteries, goes to a seaside resort to recuperate from a sprained ankle, accompanied by her niece Primrose. While there, the two women encounter a real-life mystery of sorts: an elderly man who pushes an empty wheelchair up and down the strand, in fair weather or foul, and who refuses Flora's request to hire him for her stay. No, this is not another ghost story, as it turns out, but one in which the haunting memories of a foul deed committed in the past have a drastic effect on the present. This tale concludes quite suspensefully, indeed, atop a precipitous clifftop, with the lives of our two heroines very much, uh, up in the air.
A marvelously written tale conflating obsession, murder and madness, "The Promised Land" gives us the sorry story of Ellen Wright, a mousy, 61-year-old woman who finally fulfills the dream of her bleak existence by taking a trip to Italy. The only catch: She has consented to be accompanied by her older cousin, Caroline, who completely dominates her and goes far in ruining Ellen's Tuscany experience. And so...what's a poor, frustrated woman to do, but perpetrate a little homicide and take off for Florence, on her own at last! This truly memorable story is one that shocks the reader on occasion and then grows increasingly uncomfortable as pitiful Ellen descends ever deeper into delusional fantasy and madness.
Up next we have what is probably my favorite offering of the bunch; certainly the longest. In "The Pestering," a husband and wife, Ralph and Evadne Seton, purchase a cottage called Hallows, only to quickly discover that the centuries-old abode is haunted. An old man knocks repeatedly on their door seeking for some kind of chest, a young man in 17th century garb appears in their bedroom at night, a rolling pin stolen from the kitchen is used to batter at the attic door. Eventually, after some fascinating sleuthing, with the assistance of an historian at Oxford, the cause of their poltergeist is revealed...one dating back all the way to the time of King Charles II. A splendid tale, this, wonderfully paced and not a little frightening.
This collection concludes with still another stunner, "The Taste of Pomegranates," at once a modern-day take on the Persephone myth and a fantasy involving time displacement. In this one, two English sisters, the dreamy Arbel and the more practical Roberta, go to France and wind up exploring, by themselves, a cave in the Dordogne region, hoping to see the Neanderthal paintings therein. But things take an unexpected turn after a roof collapse traps them inside...uncomfortably close to two cave bears that should have gone extinct 15,000 years before! This is still another elegantly written, impeccably researched tale from Ms. Broster that attains to quite a fair amount of suspense, as we wonder whether or not the two sisters will ever survive their macabre ordeal.
So there you have it...nine exquisite pieces guaranteed to fascinate, enthrall and chill, penned by the hand of an evident master. Any fan of meticulously worded horror, with an emphasis on European culture and history, should certainly pounce on "Couching at the Door," I feel. As a matter of fact, I enjoyed this Wordsworth offering so much that I think my next book will be another one from their Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural division; another book of short horror stories by another British authoress of mainly historical fiction, Marjorie Bowen. Stay tuned....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of this kind of spooky fare....)
Before I proceed with some comments on the nine winning tales in this volume, a quick word on the author herself. D. K. (Dorothy Kathleen) Broster was born in Liverpool in 1877, and would go on to become a nurse during WW1 and to receive, at the age of 43, a Master of Arts degree at Oxford; one of the first women to do so. She is today primarily remembered as the author of some 15 historical novels and two collections of short stories, of which this volume was the second. "Couching at the Door," when originally released in 1942 as a William Heinemann hardcover, contained only five stories: the title piece, "The Pestering" (a marvelous title, that!), "From the Abyss," "Juggernaut" and "The Pavement." The book would then go out of print for almost 60 years, until Ash-Tree Press released a new edition in 2001, which included 10 stories, those additional five presumably having been culled from Broster's first short-story collection, 1932's "A Drift of Firewood." The Wordsworth edition, released in 2007, includes those five original stories plus four more; all the stories in the Ash-Tree Press volume except for "All Souls' Day." So yes, obviously, the 2001 volume is the most complete of the bunch, but based on my previous experience with Ash-Tree, finding a decently priced copy of one of their OOP volumes can be very challenging, to say the least. And so, this Wordsworth volume, an easy-to-find edition at a bargain price, containing these nine stories, written during the period 1932 - 1940, that are all--every one of them--gripping and exquisitely written, in Broster's well-researched, elegant manner.
The collection happily begins with one of its strongest pieces, "Couching at the Door," which introduces the reader to the decadent, 51-year-old poet and man of sinful repute, Augustine Marchant. All has been going well in Marchant's debauched and voluptuary life until he begins to notice, of all things, a feathered boa that follows him about, creeps into his bed, and even trails him out of doors. What sounds in synopsis a somewhat inane setup actually becomes a story of chilling impact in Broster's skillful hands. And when Marchant attempts to pass off this apparent curse to the unsuspecting artist who is illustrating his latest book, matters only grow more dire, culminating in a shocking conclusion. A bravura effort to get this collection rolling.
"From the Abyss" is very much a straightforward ghost story, of the inexplicable variety. Here, a young Englishwoman, Daphne Lawrence, goes on a holiday to the French Riviera and narrowly escapes death when her car goes over a cliff and crashes into a ravine. The car's two other occupants are presumed dead, and Daphne returns to her fiancé strangely changed. Meanwhile, a woman is seen in the vicinity of the accident who looks exactly like Daphne; a woman who wanders about having lost most of her memory. Broster's tale wraps up with still another tragedy--or perhaps it is a double tragedy--as this story of dual personality and separated corporeal bodies draws to its close.
These two opening tales serve to give the reader fair notice that no character, man or woman, is safe in Broster's work, and the remarkably bloody "Clairvoyance" demonstrates this lesson yet again. In this one, we learn the history of the bloodstain on the rug of Strode Manor, a house that realtors have had difficulty getting off their hands. Thus, we are made privy to the garden party that Mr. Strode had thrown there some five years before, and learn what had happened when his young daughter's teenage friend, a sensitive clairvoyant, had chanced to pick up his priceless, and supremely deadly, Japanese katana sword. Broster does not hold back here, in a tale guaranteed to please all the gorehounds in the audience. A pleasingly suspenseful and grisly tale, this.
"The Pavement" gives us the story of 74-year-old Lydia Reid, who lives with her invalid brother Simon in an isolated cottage in the country. Lydia's obsession in life is the Roman pavement that happens to lie on her property; a relic of historical importance for which Lydia serves as tour guide and caretaker. But trouble looms when a letter arrives from the authorities, saying that the British government has decided to assume all responsibility for the ancient artifact. Lydia, thus, is driven to extreme methods to keep her beloved property her very own, in this tale of an obsession that goes just a bit over the line. Not exactly a frightening story here, but a beautifully written one, with an abundance of historical detail.
"The Window" is yet another straightforward ghost story, but this one comes with a rather convincing explanation at the end. In this tale, Romilly, an aspiring British artist and currently a soldier serving in France during WW1, explores an abandoned house and becomes inextricably trapped when one of its windows crashes down on him. Unable to lift the casement off his body, he is stuck there, on his knees, with no one to call out to for assistance, and contemplates the horrible hours that he must endure before death's sweet release. Broster's tale later hearkens back to the year 1793, as we learn about the house's tragic history following the Vendean defeat at Cholet, an era that might be an unknown one for many, as it was for me.
In "Juggernaut," middle-aged Flora Halkett, a writer of murder mysteries, goes to a seaside resort to recuperate from a sprained ankle, accompanied by her niece Primrose. While there, the two women encounter a real-life mystery of sorts: an elderly man who pushes an empty wheelchair up and down the strand, in fair weather or foul, and who refuses Flora's request to hire him for her stay. No, this is not another ghost story, as it turns out, but one in which the haunting memories of a foul deed committed in the past have a drastic effect on the present. This tale concludes quite suspensefully, indeed, atop a precipitous clifftop, with the lives of our two heroines very much, uh, up in the air.
A marvelously written tale conflating obsession, murder and madness, "The Promised Land" gives us the sorry story of Ellen Wright, a mousy, 61-year-old woman who finally fulfills the dream of her bleak existence by taking a trip to Italy. The only catch: She has consented to be accompanied by her older cousin, Caroline, who completely dominates her and goes far in ruining Ellen's Tuscany experience. And so...what's a poor, frustrated woman to do, but perpetrate a little homicide and take off for Florence, on her own at last! This truly memorable story is one that shocks the reader on occasion and then grows increasingly uncomfortable as pitiful Ellen descends ever deeper into delusional fantasy and madness.
Up next we have what is probably my favorite offering of the bunch; certainly the longest. In "The Pestering," a husband and wife, Ralph and Evadne Seton, purchase a cottage called Hallows, only to quickly discover that the centuries-old abode is haunted. An old man knocks repeatedly on their door seeking for some kind of chest, a young man in 17th century garb appears in their bedroom at night, a rolling pin stolen from the kitchen is used to batter at the attic door. Eventually, after some fascinating sleuthing, with the assistance of an historian at Oxford, the cause of their poltergeist is revealed...one dating back all the way to the time of King Charles II. A splendid tale, this, wonderfully paced and not a little frightening.
This collection concludes with still another stunner, "The Taste of Pomegranates," at once a modern-day take on the Persephone myth and a fantasy involving time displacement. In this one, two English sisters, the dreamy Arbel and the more practical Roberta, go to France and wind up exploring, by themselves, a cave in the Dordogne region, hoping to see the Neanderthal paintings therein. But things take an unexpected turn after a roof collapse traps them inside...uncomfortably close to two cave bears that should have gone extinct 15,000 years before! This is still another elegantly written, impeccably researched tale from Ms. Broster that attains to quite a fair amount of suspense, as we wonder whether or not the two sisters will ever survive their macabre ordeal.
So there you have it...nine exquisite pieces guaranteed to fascinate, enthrall and chill, penned by the hand of an evident master. Any fan of meticulously worded horror, with an emphasis on European culture and history, should certainly pounce on "Couching at the Door," I feel. As a matter of fact, I enjoyed this Wordsworth offering so much that I think my next book will be another one from their Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural division; another book of short horror stories by another British authoress of mainly historical fiction, Marjorie Bowen. Stay tuned....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of this kind of spooky fare....)
June 9, 2016
Rounded up from 2.5.
I have mixed feelings about this collection. Some of the stories ("Couching at the Door", "At the Abyss", "Clairvoyance", "The Promised Land") are extremely good - 5 stars. The others......erm.....not so much.
One thing they are all is languorous. Even the best stories take a long time to arrive, often to the point that I began wondering if anything would actually happen--so be prepared. I suspect that these stories work better if they are not all read at once.
I have mixed feelings about this collection. Some of the stories ("Couching at the Door", "At the Abyss", "Clairvoyance", "The Promised Land") are extremely good - 5 stars. The others......erm.....not so much.
One thing they are all is languorous. Even the best stories take a long time to arrive, often to the point that I began wondering if anything would actually happen--so be prepared. I suspect that these stories work better if they are not all read at once.
July 18, 2025
This was so fun, definitely can see the oscar Wilde inspiration, but to be honest I kind if prefer this to the picture of Dorian grey.
January 26, 2018
Dorothy Kathleen Broster (1877-1950) was a successful historical novelist, best known for her popular Jacobite Rebellion Trilogy, the first volume of which, The Flight of the Heron, was published in 1925. Little is known about Broster's private life, as she was an incredibly private person. Some resources claim that it came as a surprise to critics and readers to find out, when she died in 1950, that Broster was a woman. That's not exactly true; in the 'Can You Tell' quiz in the Dundee Evening Telegraph, in July 1929, Broster's full name and sex was the answer to one of the questions, and newspapers as far back as 1919 were referring to her as 'Miss Broster', so the information wasn't top secret. There was a charming article in the Dundee Courier in June 1928 entitled 'Miss Broster Comes to the Highlands', in which the reporter comments on the writer's lovely speaking voice. As he also points out, she was 'by nature and by education a historian', having studied history at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, from 1896 to 1900.
Couching at the Door was published in 1942 by William Heinemann Ltd., under wartime economy restrictions. A slim volume of just 130 pages, the stories in the collection are: Couching at the Door, The Pestering, From the Abyss, Juggernaut, The Pavement.*
In 'Couching at the Door', it is the summer of 1898. Augustine Marchant, a scandalous, decadent writer with a reputation for being wicked, has not long returned from a trip to Prague. Whilst abroad, though not truly a believer in the dark arts, Marchant played at sorcery and dabbled in black magic, with disastrous consequences. Now, back home in England, he discovers that something has followed him home.
In 'The Pestering', Evadne and Ralph Seton have purchased an old cottage at Timpsfield known as Hallows. Evadne decides to start offering teas as a way of making an income from the local tourists, as the couple are a little short on cash. But late one afternoon, as the light is fading and Evadne is home alone, a strange old man, who she takes for a visitor wanting tea, shows up asking for a chest. 'Have pity on me, sweet lady,' he says, 'and let me come in and fetch it away!' Though Evadne manages to turn him away, she soon discovers that he's not one to give up easily.
In 'From the Abyss', Stephen Ellison's fiancée Daphne Lawrence is involved in a motoring accident in the south of France. Daphne returns home with nothing more than cuts and bruises, and it is thought that she was thrown clear of the car before it plunged down a precipice, but she remembers going down with the vehicle to the bottom of the gorge. And on her return home, Daphne is not quite herself.
In 'Juggernaut', Miss Flora Halkett writes thrillers under the male pseudonym Theobold Gardiner. She has sprained her ankle badly and is staying with her niece, Primrose, in the seaside town of Middleport for a short change of air. Wanting to hire a bath-chair for her aunt, Primrose approaches an old bathman by the name of Cotton, but he won't carry anyone in his chair, as Mrs Birling, who died two years ago, wouldn't like it.
'The Pavement' is a Roman one at Chasely, the mosaic flooring of a triclinium, uncovered by a ploughshare during the late seventeenth century. The elderly Lydia Reid has been its custodian for fifteen years and she has come to think of the figures depicted within it as her friends. She is particularly fond of the image of a young woman, thought to be Hebe, and she converses with her regularly. But Lydia is not just fond of the pavement, she is quite obsessed with it, in the end much to its detriment.
Click here to read the rest of the review...
Couching at the Door was published in 1942 by William Heinemann Ltd., under wartime economy restrictions. A slim volume of just 130 pages, the stories in the collection are: Couching at the Door, The Pestering, From the Abyss, Juggernaut, The Pavement.*
In 'Couching at the Door', it is the summer of 1898. Augustine Marchant, a scandalous, decadent writer with a reputation for being wicked, has not long returned from a trip to Prague. Whilst abroad, though not truly a believer in the dark arts, Marchant played at sorcery and dabbled in black magic, with disastrous consequences. Now, back home in England, he discovers that something has followed him home.
In 'The Pestering', Evadne and Ralph Seton have purchased an old cottage at Timpsfield known as Hallows. Evadne decides to start offering teas as a way of making an income from the local tourists, as the couple are a little short on cash. But late one afternoon, as the light is fading and Evadne is home alone, a strange old man, who she takes for a visitor wanting tea, shows up asking for a chest. 'Have pity on me, sweet lady,' he says, 'and let me come in and fetch it away!' Though Evadne manages to turn him away, she soon discovers that he's not one to give up easily.
In 'From the Abyss', Stephen Ellison's fiancée Daphne Lawrence is involved in a motoring accident in the south of France. Daphne returns home with nothing more than cuts and bruises, and it is thought that she was thrown clear of the car before it plunged down a precipice, but she remembers going down with the vehicle to the bottom of the gorge. And on her return home, Daphne is not quite herself.
In 'Juggernaut', Miss Flora Halkett writes thrillers under the male pseudonym Theobold Gardiner. She has sprained her ankle badly and is staying with her niece, Primrose, in the seaside town of Middleport for a short change of air. Wanting to hire a bath-chair for her aunt, Primrose approaches an old bathman by the name of Cotton, but he won't carry anyone in his chair, as Mrs Birling, who died two years ago, wouldn't like it.
'The Pavement' is a Roman one at Chasely, the mosaic flooring of a triclinium, uncovered by a ploughshare during the late seventeenth century. The elderly Lydia Reid has been its custodian for fifteen years and she has come to think of the figures depicted within it as her friends. She is particularly fond of the image of a young woman, thought to be Hebe, and she converses with her regularly. But Lydia is not just fond of the pavement, she is quite obsessed with it, in the end much to its detriment.
Click here to read the rest of the review...
August 12, 2024
I bought two 'horror' short stories, this and "Aylmer Vance: Ghost-Seer". And this was better!
God some stories are creepy and others interesting and weird. For some moments, I really did not want these stories to end cuz i enjoyed reading them so much
However, as a non-native English, it was really hard to understand every word and description that was written, also the author did put some French and Italian/ or Spanish words here and there, which for sure, i didnt know. Fortunately, it did not hinder my liking for the book or my understanding of the whole story.
Happy this was a good read ;)
God some stories are creepy and others interesting and weird. For some moments, I really did not want these stories to end cuz i enjoyed reading them so much
However, as a non-native English, it was really hard to understand every word and description that was written, also the author did put some French and Italian/ or Spanish words here and there, which for sure, i didnt know. Fortunately, it did not hinder my liking for the book or my understanding of the whole story.
Happy this was a good read ;)
December 7, 2023
A heroic libertine (progressive) frees himself from old fashioned morality by boadlerising a sex worker in Prague with humorous results.
September 20, 2018
Every story is masterfully written, imaginative and imbued with a sly sense of nasty humour. If nothing matches the delirious black comedy of 'Clairvoyance' (Saki meets the Evil Dead), and she never fulfils her threat of going full on horror, no story in this collection is without interest. Broster is an exceptional writer. Underneath everything is an understated, subversive feminism that is worthy of study, as is Broster's work generally. She deserves more attention. My only regret is that she didn't write more in the horror genre, or better yet, write a horror novel. I see shades of Saki, E. F. Benson, M. R. James, and even Penelope Fitzgerald, in her writing, but a novel might have made her a British Shirley Jackson, though with more warmth. A really pleasant discovery.
October 11, 2018
Great collection of well-written stories but I suspect only a few would be considered ‘noteworthy’ contributions to the canon of classic supernatural fiction. Among those, “Couching at the Door” (a poet is haunted by ghostly scarf) and “The Pestering” (an uninvited guest in search of a lost chest troubles a couple in an old cottage) are my two favorites.
Other standout stories are of a more psychological bent, such as “The Promised Land” (a stifled invalid is pushed to her breaking point) and “The Pavement” (an obsessive curator of sorts is driven to enact a spiteful revenge for the sake of art). The romantic protagonist of “The Window” is waylaid in quite an interesting way — mundane but potentially deadly (with hints that a malevolent presence is behind it all to boot). The supernatural elements are rather subtle in the final story, “The Taste of Pomegranates,” but it is one of the most suspenseful tales in the collection and made for a satisfying conclusion.
All nine of D.K. Broster’s stories in this collection are great, but those in search of scarier and more traditional early 20th century ghost stories may want to temper their expectations a bit. Many stories do, however, feature memorable female characters that would be of interest to feminist scholars focused on ‘lost’ or overlooked women writers from the early 20th Century.
Other standout stories are of a more psychological bent, such as “The Promised Land” (a stifled invalid is pushed to her breaking point) and “The Pavement” (an obsessive curator of sorts is driven to enact a spiteful revenge for the sake of art). The romantic protagonist of “The Window” is waylaid in quite an interesting way — mundane but potentially deadly (with hints that a malevolent presence is behind it all to boot). The supernatural elements are rather subtle in the final story, “The Taste of Pomegranates,” but it is one of the most suspenseful tales in the collection and made for a satisfying conclusion.
All nine of D.K. Broster’s stories in this collection are great, but those in search of scarier and more traditional early 20th century ghost stories may want to temper their expectations a bit. Many stories do, however, feature memorable female characters that would be of interest to feminist scholars focused on ‘lost’ or overlooked women writers from the early 20th Century.
September 27, 2021
Weird, relatively tame tales, some of which feel similar to a fever dream. The final story in particular is quite intriguing.
January 2, 2025
first book of the year done 😛
January 13, 2025
3.5 stars
November 23, 2012
Another book in the lovely Wordsworth Tales of mystery & the supernatural series. I have to say I had mixed feelings about the stories in the book. The first was about an Oscar Wilde-type character getting what was coming to him for dealing with the black arts. It was interesting and suspenseful. The next few stories didn't really grab me. I think part of the problem was I just wasn't feeling anything for any of the characters. The last few stories I did like. There was a lovely story of murder about an old woman who'd been dreaming of going to Italy all her life and finally getting there and having the a nightmare trip, The pestering was quite a nice little ghost story and the taste of pomegranates was a nice time travel story set with an archaeological theme. Overall though the stories weren't very spooky or supernatural and it wasn't nearly as interesting as other books in this series.
October 3, 2008
James Baker/ The main character in the book is a man named Augustine who is a poet. The man meets people along the way to help with his poetry. but along the way has seen many things "a man should never see" as he said. along with some horror poems that he wrote to depict what was going on.
The theme of the book is mostly be that when writing a type of story sometimes its best that you don't reenact what you want to write.
One main thing is that there are lots of quotes to god in the book that relates to his poetry. Like he writes one about cain... "If thou doest well shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well sin coucheth at the door."
It was ok but i think it might be to religious for me to say that i liked it. But there are some very disturbing things going on in the book that can make you think twice.
The theme of the book is mostly be that when writing a type of story sometimes its best that you don't reenact what you want to write.
One main thing is that there are lots of quotes to god in the book that relates to his poetry. Like he writes one about cain... "If thou doest well shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well sin coucheth at the door."
It was ok but i think it might be to religious for me to say that i liked it. But there are some very disturbing things going on in the book that can make you think twice.
August 17, 2010
I've picked up several of the Wordsworth Mystery & Supernatural books because they're cheap, attractive ways to get hold of a lot of classic and vintage supernatural stories.
This particular collection was of stories I'd never heard of by an author I'd never heard of, but I found it quite enjoyable. I particularly liked "The Taste of Pomegranates" and the surprisingly bloody "Clairvoyance," though most of the stories were very good, and several were nicely inexplicable.
This particular collection was of stories I'd never heard of by an author I'd never heard of, but I found it quite enjoyable. I particularly liked "The Taste of Pomegranates" and the surprisingly bloody "Clairvoyance," though most of the stories were very good, and several were nicely inexplicable.
Want to read
August 12, 2014This one is still on my "want to read" list, so there's no review here. I did read the title story in another collection, Detection mystery and horror by Dorothy L. Sayers
May 28, 2012
Wow! One of the best collections of ghost stories I've read in a very long time.
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