Three Masquerades: Novellas

by Rachel Ingalls

I See a Long Journey and On Ice, novellas that Mr. Handler considers basically perfect, originally appeared with a third, Blessed Art Though, a story that he considers to be in an entirely different tone. He felt that Friends in the Country from Ms. Ingalls’ later collection, The End of a Tragedy, was a more natural companion to the two earlier works. The author happily agreed.

I See a Long Journey introduces us to Flora who is induced by her husband, James, to take a vacation only because his chauffeur Michael, custodian of their persons and their purse, will accompany them. Things, as they so often do in Ingalls’ world, will go appalling awry.

Friends in the Country wherein a young couple drive outside of London for a Friday dinner and find themselves trapped for the weekend in a manner that surpasses Stephen King, if not in outright horror then certainly in subtlety and suggestiveness.

On Ice finds Beverley with her fiancé at an elegant hotel where she is introduced to a grande dame whose funeral Beverley’s convinced she had witnessed 10 years before.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Gothic, Literary Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2017

About the author

Rachel Ingalls grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She held various jobs, from theatre dresser and librarian to publisher’s reader. She was a confirmed radio and film addict and started living in London in 1965. She authored several works of fiction—most notably Mrs. Caliban—published in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Reviews

[Roger Brunyate · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Escalation of Horror

I had never heard of Rachel Ingalls. I've never heard of Daniel Handler either, although I gather he has written children's books under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket. But I fail to see why writing a two-paragraph introduction and selecting the three long stories here should entitle him to a cover billing more prominent than the author herself. Especially since the "selecting" consists merely of taking two stories from a previously published 1985 trilogy and replacing the third by a story from another set—in my opinion, the least successful of the three and the odd one out.

OK, rant over. Ingalls, an American writer who moved to Britain in her twenties, is the author of a prizewinning novel, Mrs. Caliban, and several collections of short novellas. I might compare her to Angela Carter in her taste for the macabre, though on the evidence of these at least, she lacks Carter's originality of imagination. But this comparative normality may be her strength. In the first of these stories, "I See a Long Journey," a young wife goes with her very rich husband and his bodyguard on a holiday to New Caledonia. Some small but relatively normal things begin to go wrong, until at the end things suddenly go very wrong indeed. I wouldn't call the story gripping from beginning to end, but it has a very well-controlled escalation of horror. "On Ice," the last story in the volume, about an American girl on a Bavarian skiing holiday with her German boyfriend, has a similar trajectory, although it moves into almost Stephen King territory at the end.

But controlled escalation is exactly what the middle story, "Friends in the Country," lacks. This is the one "selected" by Mr. Handler to accompany the other two. But although it has certain similarities to the ending of "On Ice," how could he not see that without this slight but gradual deviation from normality, it occupies a different genre entirely? A young couple, on their way to dinner in the country with a friend of a friend, become lost in the fog and arrive at a decrepit mansion where they are greeted by a pair of butlers with candles. Only six pages into the story, and we are deep in cobwebbed Gothic already; where else is there to go but from fantastic to more fantastic? But the point of the other two—and the thing that in my opinion makes Ingalls worth reading—is that the denouement when it comes is only the realization of the social and emotional tensions we have seen building in the real world. Without that reality—and in particular Ingalls' understanding of women trapped in controlling relationships—we have nothing.

[Hillary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so glad I happened to pull this gem off my neighbor's bookshelf and she happened to notice and tell me it was "REALLY GOOD" (which coming from a brilliant, discerning writer means a lot). Each novella is unique, with complex, believable characters—ending with a completely unexpected twist! Strange, frightening, and surreal but totally within a world we know, I think Ingalls defies most attempts to categorize her is a specific genre. Can't wait to read more from this not-new, but new-to-me voice!

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first novella: meh. Second novella: *shudders*. Third novella: unexpected terror.
This woman is a mash-up of Jennifer Egan, Shirley Jackson and Stephen King.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked but didn't love these stories. Luckily the friend of mine who raved for about 20 minutes straight about how amazing Rachel Ingalls was and how much he loved her writing is not on Goodreads.

[Jess Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked these a lot. Easy to digest and a satisfying novella triplet. Strong lemony snicket vibes with a good side of black humour.

[Bridget S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Rachel Ingalls so much and these were perfect as per usual. The 3rd novella in this, On Ice, is maybe one of my favorite short stories ever.

I do agree with another review talking about how Daniel Handler’s name is at the top of this in the same size as hers. Like he selected these and wrote a forward? Ok cool gtfo Daniel, you’re irrelevant!!!

[Hayden Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I only read ON ICE, as it’s the only one of these not in her selected novellas volume, but the others will be read soon.)

[Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

These stories were gripping and shook me. I picked this up from a free library in downtown st. pete outside of my favorite coffeeshop, black crow. I mistakenly thought this was Laura Ingalls and that's why I grabbed it. I was so pleasantly surprised as soon as I started reading it. I loved the style. Rachel Ingalls makes ordinary sentences feel intense or eerie. Overall, all three stories are haunting, but not like a scary way. Their unique atmosphere just sticks with you.

[Amanda M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three Masquerades is an excellent series of novellas about the terror of being trapped. It was an awful but apt choice to finish during the month of our quarantine (April 2020). Although the first two novellas unnerved me, I didn't even break a sweat reading On Ice. Being a young woman stuck in a hotel with a bunch of dull ladies of a certain age? That's always been my life!

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the first one best. Perhaps best not to read in one sitting, as they are dark and fairytale-ish. The details and escalation of discomfort make for a disturbing experience. Well-crafted.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This didn't turn out as expected. The blurb mentions horror and the forward (mostly by the author, not Handler) mentions pulp, melodrama and farce as well as Gothic. Gothic is probably the closest, but even then that doesn't quite hit it for me. I feel like each of these stories hits at the fear of not being part of the group and ultimately of isolation. Each handles it differently and the horror creeps in in different ways. Despite being pretty straightforward I feel like there's stuff to unpack and they'd even benefit from a re-read.

I thought each of the novellas was well written. The style is interesting, it seems simple but Ingalls frequently buries little bits in there that come back and nag at you throughout. If this is still on the back of my mind after a week, I might come back and bump it up. It's a neat little book that's not quite like anything else I've read.

[Adrien · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
The introduction to these three novella discusses the difficulty of placing them in a particular genre. The term "gothic" is mentioned and I could apply that to the second story, Friends in the Country and maybe the first, I See a Long Journey is in a weird way similar to Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca, but I term that encompasses all three for me is "dream-like". Her prose is very economic and there aren't a lot of details grounding the stories in a specific time and place (The last story, On Ice being somewhat of an exception) but Ingalls still manages to pack in a lot of thematic tidbits. Interestingly, the novella's share a woman in peril story in which their husband or boyfriend are too clueless to be of any help.

[Leah DeH · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection overall - “I See a Long Journey” was a bit difficult to get through, but “Friends in the Country” had me immediately hooked, and that energy carried on through “On Ice”. I would say “Friends in the Country”, was my favorite of the three novellas, with a very masterful handle on a very specific energy of eerie horror. The three stories here that Ingalls crafts are particularly gripping to read as a woman, as they play upon fears and misunderstandings that all women face as they travel through life. Reading this also made me realize how little horror I’ve read that was written by a woman. I don’t think these stories would necessarily be everyone’s taste, but I definitely recommend giving them a try, especially “Friends in the Country” and “On Ice”.

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

a TREASURE of dark situational comedy (/horror? thriller? so fun to be between genres) and you would never believe it reading the first third of any of these novellas. I love how the characters are placed in uncomfortable situations and forced into decision making that reflects their own deeper insecurities and inconsistencies. I love that the weirdos Rachel Ingalls concocts are more logical than the point of view characters.

[Jessica Furtado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ingalls instills subtle, creeping horror into seemingly everyday events. Much like Shirley Jackson, her writing is impeccable and her terrors are unexpected. These novellas slow burn, so you do have to be willing to trust that the payoff is worth it, as Ingalls tends to rapidly twist her tales close to the end.

I first read Mrs Calliban (the novella that appears to have inspired del Torro’s The Shape of Water ) and I’ve been hooked on Ingalls since.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rachel Ingalls is a genius, and I bow down before her skill. All of these stories start out relatively normal and escalate into true horror-inducing eeriness. (Horror as in the old gothic term) I also love how she writes women. Her main characters are the genuinely realistic and layered "Strong Women" people claim they want and then are absolutely savage toward.

[Missy H · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reminded me of a grown up version of the David Lubar series (In the Land of the Lawn Weenies, etc.) Eerie in a vague way. An author who knows how to let your imagination inspire fear by leaving things unsaid. In this case, I felt too much was left unsaid and the implications were too vague to be all that scary.

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange and compelling short fiction with a subtle feminist bent. I Ms. Caliban last year but hadn't read any of her other work, and after reading this collection I want to read all of Ingalls' work. I'm glad she's still getting some recognition these days.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three haunting, scary, almost gothic novellas that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

[Robert Frecer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three stories from a dark place in the feminine psyche. Honest, direct, funny and disconcerting - in Ingalls’s world, the real can get fantastic pretty fast.

[Yoo-Nah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully creepy.

[Michelle Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were weird and very compelling. Read them each through twice in short succession and they’ve stayed with me.

[Bonney Teti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weird and eerie with great writing.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deft prose on par with Shirley Jackson or Alice Munro and stories with strange, funny, horrifying twists.

[Katie Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rachel Ingalls is one of those writers that inspires complete devotion. Once you read one thing she's written, you'll want to read everything she's written.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novellas about people who discover that things are not always what they seem.

[Erica]

she had me at carnivorous toads

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very creepy.

[Ann Theis]

Kirkus