A Ghostly Crew: Tales from the Endeavour

by Roger Johnson

191 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recently, as part of my reading of Roger Johnson’s latest book “In the Night, In the Dark”, I got to re-read the stories that had been published in the collection under review. The tales are told by different narrators while sitting in a pub (“Endeavour”), and the comfortable & secure setting acts as the perfect backdrop for the terrifying events recounted via those tales. One may classify the stories as “Jamesian” (i.e. in the style of M.R. James), where old objects and ancient places unleash monsters & revenants unless they are handled with extreme care. But the author’s unique touch can be felt in the nastiness of the menace & evil described in these stories. The stories in this collection are:

1. The Scarecrow: ancient stones placed in a circle, the curses placed therein by an evil squire, and an unfortunate dabbler who wanted to know a little more than he should have known.
2. The Watchman: who defends the treasure of the church from thieves and brigands?
3. The Interruptions: a story that would have made H.R. Wakefield proud with its inherent nastiness and misogyny.
4. The Wall-Painting: all hidden treasures are not worth revealing, esp. if the persons involved in it were after nothing except their own interests.
5. The Searchlight: what would a desperate man do to bring himself back to life?
6. The Taking: an ancient wrong finally gets exposed, and is sought to be condoned.
7. The Melodrama: a near-mythological story of love, crime and punishment, its re-enactment, and a modern tale of revenge.
8. The Prize: even fair-and-square victories can unleash nightmares, if the temporary loser is really bad, with some tricks still left.
9. The Breakdown: such things can be unpleasant, and often from unexpected angles.
10. The Pool: a poignant exploration of death-wish and its motives.
11. The Clues: treasure concealed by evil men with the express purpose of corrupting others by luring them towards it, can be of no good.
12. The Night Before Christmas: the darkest story in this collection, with subtle hints of re-birth, revenge, and even (hold your breath) paedophilia.
13. The Soldier: what secrets lie hidden behind the grimy façade of the City of London?
14. The Souvenir: be careful about old things, especially if it bears inscriptions that you can’t decipher.
15. Sweet Chiming Bells: what happens, when a bill whose ringing on the Christmas-eve ensures the defeat of the devil, gets stopped before its time?

These are superb ghost stories, and their reincarnation in the above-mentioned collection is very good news.

[Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

✭✭✭½

“The Scarecrow” (1984) ✭✭✭✭
“The Watchman” (1985) ✭✭✭
“The Interruptions” (1985) ✭✭✭½
“The Wall-Painting” (1983) ✭✭✭✭½
“The Searchlight” (1985) ✭✭✭
“The Taking” (1987) ✭✭½
“The Melodrama” (1988) ✭✭✭½
“The Prize” (1989) ✭✭✭½
“The Breakdown” (1987) ✭✭✭
“The Pool” (1992) ✭✭✭½
“The Clues” (1989) ✭✭½
“The Night Before Christmas” (1989) ✭✭✭½
“The Soldier” (1990) ✭✭✭✭
“The Souvenir” (1994) ✭✭✭½
“Sweet Chiming Bells” (1995) ✭✭✭