Masques of Satan: Twelve Tales and a Novella

by Reggie Oliver

Introductory
'The Man in the Grey Bedroom'
'Grab a Granny Night'
'The Children of Monte Rosa'
'Mr Poo-Poo'
'The Silver Cord'
'The Road from Damascus'
'Mmm-Delicious'
'Puss-Cat'
'The Old Silence'
'Music by Moonlight'
'Blind Man's Box'
'Shades of the Prison House, a novella'
'The End of History'

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Collections

230 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2007

About the author

Reggie Oliver is a stage actor and playwright. His biography of Stella Gibbons was praised as “a triumph” by Hilary Spurling in the Daily Telegraph, his play Winner Takes All, was described as “the funniest evening in London”, by Michael Billington in The Guardian, and his adaptation of Hennequin and Delacour’s Once Bitten opened at the Orange Tree Theatre in London in December 2010.

He is the author of four highly-praised volumes of short fiction: The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini (Haunted River 2003), The Complete Symphonies of Adolf Hitler (Haunted River 2005), Masques of Satan (Ash Tree 2007), and Madder Mysteries (Ex Occidente 2009). His stories have appeared in over 25 anthologies and, for the third year running, one of his stories appears in The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, the most widely read and popular of contemporary horror anthologies.

Reviews

[Troy S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I had originally picked this up because there is a typo on the cover ("twelves tales"), and because there was a silly sounding story called "Mr. Poo Poo" in it that the back cover gleefully described as being about "a children’s entertainer who has obsessive desires and an unhealthy preoccupation with Hell." I thought that these details, along with the S.T. Joshi blurb on the front cover, would provide something either jocular or absurdly self-serious, but in reading it I found an incredible writer with dry whit and humor, that has a very real interest in cosmic horror and it's manifestation in our contemporary lives (while writing in a lovely gothic tone), who has a lot to say about the human emotional experience and the strange, stygian depths of the heart. Happiest I've been to be wrong about a book in years.

[Patrick.G.P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reggie Oliver’s Masques of Satan is an excellent collection of ghostly tales, firmly rooted in the classic supernatural tales, but told with a fresh exciting voice. I really liked how Oliver draws from his extensive theatre background for characters and plots, and indeed has a real talent for writing interesting characters. All the tales in this collection were creepy and exceptional, but my favorite tales was: The Man in the Grey Bedroom, The Children of Monte Rosa, The Silver Cord, The Road from Damascus and Blind Man’s Box. Superb ghost stories were written by someone with knowledge and passion for the genre. Highest recommendation for fans of the supernatural and strange!

[Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

✭✭✭½

“The Man in the Grey Bedroom” ✭✭✭✭½
“Grab a Granny Night” ✭✭✭½
“The Children of Monte Rosa” ✭✭✭½
“Mr. Poo-Poo” ✭✭✭
“The Silver Cord” (2005) ✭✭✭✭
“The Road to Damascus” ✭✭✭½
“Mmm-Delicious” ✭✭✭
“Puss-Cat” ✭✭✭
“The Old Silence” ✭✭✭½
“Music by Moonlight” ✭✭✭
“Blind Man's Box” ✭✭✭✭✭
“Shades of the Prison House” ✭✭✭
“The End of History” ✭✭½

All stories published 2007 unless otherwise noted.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once agin the moment has arrived, when I, in the humble capacity of a mere reader, get the opportunity to review works, at least some of which are considered as classics, or are likely to be heraleded as classics in due course. This is one such book, and I wish to review it with some care.

The stories follow the informative & interesting preface, simply titled as 'Introductory'. This is followed by the stories, and they are:
1) "THE MAN IN THE GREY BEDROOM": a traditional story where we know the fate likely to befall our over-knowledgable protagonist, and yet, absolutely live it because of the richness of the narrative and the classically weird setting which is built up in a phased manner.

2) "GRAB A GRANNY NIGHT": again, a traditional story, but somewhat personal, because of the authenticity provided by the author's dramatic experiences, some of which echo at the back of our protagonist's voice.

3) "THE CHILDREN OF MONTE ROSA": this is a story which can be described as 'supremely creepy', and unique, in its ability of mixing mythical horror into those generated by mundane surroundings. Undoubtedly, this is one of the best horror stories that have been written in recent times.

4) "MR POO POO": a realistic, and not-so-supernatural nightmare that becomes reality with many of us, and even without its supernatural hints & trappings, rings true.

5) "THE SILVER CHORD": a superb, lyrical, and classically Machenesque depiction of the an author's quest for (and achievement of) success, against the backdrop of his unfulfilled ambitions.

6) "THE ROAD FROM DAMASCUS": another rich narrative whose characters and matter-of-fact dialogues cover the simplicity of the horror described here (with minimum supernatural effects).

7) "MMM-DELICIOUS": the BEST story of this book, and thus, one of the most accomplished achievements in the arena of horror in recent times. This is a tale about a "talent" who is 'unearthed' (pun intended, and you would understand after reading the story) as a result of hunt to find a face that can sell eatables.

8) "PUSS-CAT": another traditional story of revenge from beyond the grave, but very well-done with its gentle humour, and authentic characters from the world of theatre.

9) "THE OLD SILENCE": a horror story in the tradition of 1960-s, where lots of nasty people are found to be even more nasty in their subsequent dealings, but which breaks new ground in its almost-poetic descriptions of the characters involved.

10) "MUSIC BY MOONLIGHT': a claustrophobic story about love, loss, and music, that raises more questions than it answers.

11) "BLIND MAN'S BOX": a superb story built up from fictitous newspaper-cuttings, letters, memo-s, extracts from gazeteers, etc., originally published as part of the 'Haunted History' series, and definitely turning out as a neat accomplishment.

12) "SHADES OF THE PRISON HOUSE, A NOVELLA": a good psychology-oriented novella with the author's natural skills of character-depiction and dialogues trying to elevate its status from merely 'good' level to the higher ones occupied by its predecessors.

13) "THE END OF HISTORY": a science-fictional take on the discovery of "chronoscope" in the future Oxford, and some thoughts regarding its consequences. Not at all supernatural, but pleasant, and thought-provoking.

So, overall I recommend this book highly, because it contains several interesting & good stories, and it contains at least 3 jewel-like stories, any of which might make a horror anthology price-worthy.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the third collection of Reggie Oliver’s weird/ghost stories that I’ve read through. Overall I found it perhaps to be a little bit weaker than the other two but there’s still lots to enjoy. The opening story ‘The Man in the Grey Bedroom’ is a very traditional but wonderful piece that places a horror from the distant past into a normal excursion to a national trust property in modern Britain. The final story seemed fairly predictable to me and I thought I could see the ending a mile off but it surprised me with a very thoughtful about turn away from the obvious. As usual my personal ratings for my own reference are below:

- Mr Poo Poo - 8
- Umm Delicious - 6
- Puss Cat - 5
- The Children of Monte Rosa - 6
- The Man in the Grey Bedroom - 9
- Grab a Granny Night - 7
- The Silver Cord - 6
- The Road from Damascus - 5
- The Old Silence - 6
- Music by Moonlight - 7
- Blind Mans Box - 3
- Shades of the Prison House - 4
- The End of History - 8

[Eric Keys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall this is a really great book. It is a bit uneven. Most of the stories are solid and there are a couple that I felt were truly amazing and possibly profound. The weakest points of the book were when Mr. Oliver strayed from the obviously supernatural. The plots were not always wonderful but there were full of great characters or details or imagined histories or other delightful things that transformed what would have been a ho-hum ghost story or horror story into something dark and disturbing and at moments genuinely scary. (Horror stories rarely scare me but a couple of these did.)

I plan on reading more by Reggie Oliver and recommend this book to fans of horror and especially fans of the ghost story.

[P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid traditional horror stories in an original theatre setting. I was amused and captivated.

[Félix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Los doce cuentos brillan con intensidad en toda la gama de colores (oscuros) que hacen grande a Oliver. Lamentablemente la novella, pese a contar con los mismos elementos, no consigue atraparme y hace que el conjunto pierda una estrella. Cosa mía, sin duda. No eres tú, Reggie, cari, soy yo.

[Bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second Reggie Oliver outing didn't amaze me quite as much as the first one, Flowers of the Sea. These stories are both more down to earth and more whimsical, and I seem to prefer the more serious tone of his later stories. Still very, very good.