The Ballet of Dr Caligari and Madder Mysteries

by Reggie Oliver

This is Reggie Oliver’s seventh collection of stories for Tartarus in a series which has won great critical acclaim. The volume contains thirteen stories, and includes some of the finest examples of his work: uncanny, troubling, witty and full of memorably fascinating characters. The settings are as varied as ever. In the title story a young composer writes a score for an ageing choreographer and becomes unwittingly involved in the older man’s morbid obsession with a catastrophically injured ballerina. Elsewhere Oliver takes us into the worlds of British provincial theatre in the 1850s, London in the 1880s, Rome in the 1960s, Greece in the 1970s, Spain in the 1800s, as well as contemporary Britain in all its diversity. Oliver’s capacity to evoke these different atmospheres both vividly and economically is notable.

This collection also contains at least two stories which could be decribed as tours de force in that, besides being engrossing in themselves, they demonstrate Oliver’s extraordinary virtuosity as a writer. ‘Tawny’ is a haunting and horrific tale told entirely in dialogue, while in ‘The Game of Bear’ Oliver offers the completion to an unfinished story by M.R. James, written in a faultless imitation of James’s style and idiom.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Weird Fiction

297 pages, Hardcover

First published December 30, 2018

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

[Karl]

This hardcover is numbered 18 of 400 printed and is signed by Reggie Oliver.

From the Authors Note - "In 2009 'Ex Occidente Press' published a collection of my stories and some other pieces called "Madder Mysteries" it is now impossible to get hold of."

Contains:

From Madder Mysteries:

001 "A Donkey at the Mysteries"
024 - ‘The Head"
043 - "Tawny"
053 - ‘The Devil’s Funeral"
080 - "Baskerville’s Midgets"
099 - ‘The Game of Bear" (with M.R. James)

And more:

115 - ‘The Final Stage"
146 - ‘The Endless Corridor"
167 - ‘The Vampyre Trap"
209 - ‘The Ballet of Dr Caligari"
234 - "Love and Death"
258 - "Porson’s Piece"
277 - "Lady with a Rose"
297 - Author Note

[Forrest · Rating 4 out of 5]

With few exceptions, I have come to love the work of Reggie Oliver. While I was lukewarm about Flowers of the Sea , I was head-over-heels about The Complete Symphonies of Adolf Hitler and Other Stories and Mrs. Midnight and Other Stories . I had heard mixed reviews from readers I respect and admire, so I was curious where this volume would fall.

I began with misgivings. While the opening story, "A Donkey at the Mysteries," had some great moments, the ending fell a bit flat for me. I loved the subtext of unknowingly participating in rites one does not understand, but I was hoping for a moment of anagnorises that never materialized. The story had momentum, a series of setups, then . . . nothing. If this was authorial intent, the potential was under-utilized. Perhaps this is because I had read and quite enjoyed Brian C. Murarescu's investigation into ancient Greek and Roman cults of psychedelia(?), The Immortality Key . I had been (pardon the pun - but I am a dad) keyed up for the read, but was disappointed. Not upset. Just disappointed. Have I mentioned I'm a dad?

The second story was a touch better. "The Head" is a double entendre laced with Oliver's bleak humor. It's a strange admixture of sitcom and dread horror that devolves into an absurdist experimentalism. I really do like the two main characters (as much as one can like a madman and a disembodied head), and, as with other works by Oliver, his characters really shine. A worthy story, not his best, but a good read nonetheless.

When I started to figure out the subject matter of the third tale, I was prepared to be really, really disappointed. As a rule, I hate werewolf stories. But I might have to make an exception for "Tawny". I didn't love it, but this English social comedy with a lycanthropic twist was an amusing read.

Then, suddenly, the collection hit its stride. "The Devils Funeral" is peak Oliver. Clergy, madness, corruption, decay, and the near simultaneous death of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Charles Darwin as a sideshow that leaves lingering questions. The question that keeps being posed is "who is the enemy"? It's a seemingly simple question with a dastardly labyrinth of possible answers and meanings, most of it unanswerable and meaningless. Existentialism reigns above. And, as above, so below.

A sinister comedy, or a comedic tale of horror? "Baskerville's Midgets" displays Oliver's insider's insight into the actor's life beyond the stage. This (and other stories about the intersection of horror and theater) is a story that only Oliver could have written. His background as an actor, playwright, and fiction author find a fitting culmination in this story, which will have you checking under your bed for (?).

Oliver next completes an M.R. James fragment "The Game of Bear". The transition, though carefully documented, would be fairly seamless without the indicator, which only serves to sever the tale in two. Oliver does an admirable job of mimicking James' voice, particularly in the climax of the story. Of course, James did put a strong personal stamp on the structure and tone of the English ghost story, so no surprises here.

"The Final Stage" is an existential tale that only one who has acted onstage can fully appreciate; not only because of the settings and situations, but because of the attitude that one must take to truly become immersed in their characters, not just the willful suspension of disbelieve, but the willful deceit which one must not merely engage in, but wallow in, if one is to be "a brilliant actor". There is a price to pay. But how are the funds exchanged? Does the character take from the actor, or the actor from the character? The economies of "real" life and faux-life are powerfully in play here.

With the introduction of a certain trope about mid-way through the story, I was ready to write off "The Endless Corridor" as just another vampire story. It is not just another vampire story. It is, in fact, much more nuanced and much more sinister than that trope led me to believe. Oliver, with considerable panache, twists the old trope into something entirely new and more horrifying. My trepidation was allayed, but my frisson was piqued.

Oliver continues to unveil the "back" of the theater in his mystery "The Vampyre Trap," an excellent, if old-fashioned tale of jealousy and ambition behind the curtain. One wonders who the actors are and who the characters are, as these roles become muddled. What better place for a murder or three in a place whose sole purpose is deceit and drama? There are strong resonances between this story and "The Final Stage" earlier in the volume, not because of direct subject matter, but because both hint at a certain sinister something taking place behind the masks of the masks of the masks.

The title story is the most brilliant story in the volume, but only those who have watched Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari will fully appreciate its impact. If I were to teach a class on the "O'Henry ending" I would show the movie, then have students read this. Textbook. And fantastically well-crafted. This is a Reggie Oliver masterpiece; one of his best stories ever.

How can I resist a story about one of my favorite eras of painting, that of the Pre-Raphaelites? I can't. Nor can the protagonist and victim(s) of "Love and Death" resist the alluring illusion of beauty, over-shrouded by the absolute victory of decay and death. Everyone in this tale is caught in this trap. Perhaps only the reader can escape. Perhaps not. But the allure remains.

"Porson's Piece" is as solid of an English ghost story as I've ever read. The village in which most of the action takes place shares half a name with a village in the Cotswolds that my wife and I hiked through in 2019, and I think I might know some of the "fictional" spots described. One path in particular (a photo of which is at my blog) was described in such a way that I cannot shake the feeling that this very path was the one Oliver here described. This added to the verisimilitude for me, but maybe I am just hallucinating, like the main character. Or maybe not.

Oliver begins "Lady With A Rose" with an ekphrasis of a Titian painting. The story is erudite and the characters colorful (pun intended), but not as startling as many of his other works. The final "twist" was to be expected and sort of just . . . ends there.

This collection has some real gems in it, but the opening and closing stories were unspectacular. An odd way to construct a collection.

The great in this collection carries the less-spectacular tales. Perhaps I've read too much of Oliver and am a bit jaded? I don't think so. He still astounds me, at times. I would hate to discourage anyone from reading "Porson's Piece," "The Ballet of Dr. Caligari," "Baskerville's Midgets," or "The Devil's Funeral," all of which were outstanding stories. But I can't give it a perfect five. Nor can I drop it to an "average" rating of three stars. I'm firmly in the four camp with this one.

[Doug Bolden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, Space Pilgrim, a new* Reggie Oliver. This one composed of thirteen stories, six previously published under Madder Mysteries** (composing about 40% of the total volume size) and seven written since Holidays from Hell. Most of those were printed elsewhere, first, usually in a themed collection. Two seem to be unique to this collection (and another, "The Final Stage", has previously existed in a different form). This means, depending on your collecting habits and reading habits, you stand a chance to have read most of these, though the chance does not seem to be a great one, and it seems likely that a significant portion will be new to you. I have only read three.

This collection's dual nature offers a fascinating opportunity. Not only do you have a chance to read several stories that were a bit cost prohibitive (used copies online going for $500+ at the time of this review) but you get to read Oliver as divided by a decade. While the Madder Mysteries stories are not so different than the post-Holidays from Hell stories as to seem from a different source, you can feel some differences in quality and focus. For instance, the Madder tales are fairly distinctly supernatural, often ghostly. The Ballet stories are surprisingly real world, overall. Two have no supernatural elements at all - one being something of a trojan horse, setting up what seems to be a ghostly plot that Oliver has told before...and then becomes something of a Victorian mystery, and without any irony I can say I hope this is some literary equivalent to a "backdoor pilot" - and two others sink their supernatural elements into either dream states or into questions of sanity.

Of the distinctly supernatural ones, my favorite is easily "Porson's Piece", which might also double as my favorite . The ghostly white dancers in the field call back to Machen with a force that is not so much evil or destructive as alien to the human experience. Their appearance foretells death for sure, but it is not so much their fault as a side effect of the phenomenon. What does it mean, and why that one small place and only at certain times? Maybe there is meaning, maybe there is not. As the story itself says, through the voice of one its characters, "No experience is invalid, only the interpretation placed upon it."

Of of the questionably supernatural ones, "The Final Stage" is fascinating in both its extended dream imagery and in its implication of a man struggling with either his own transsexualism, his own homosexuality, his own undue fascination with his mother, or some combination of these things, as well as his own struggles of who he is and what he wants from the world of the stage and at large. It perhaps goes on a little bit long with its fight between true-self and stage-self, but it also showcases the abilities of Oliver and how much they have grown.

Another favorite of mine from this collection is the aforementioned trojan horse - I will spoil "The Vampyre Trap" slightly by saying that it probably does not have ghosts - because a story about a stage star usually cast to play the villain (and whose description seems at least a bit a nod to Christopher Lee) uses his study of classic villains real and written to team up with a young stage worker (both a bit actor and a prop designer) to solve a locked room murder mystery. There is so much good and possible here: the older actor and younger engineer, the use of old stage plays both real and parody, the use of stagecraft to carry out or solve murders. Ahhh. I would love another, Mr. Oliver.

Finishing out a trilogy of favorites, I have to go back the previously read and now three or four times reprinted, "The Donkey at the Mysteries". Invoking a certain Aickman-esque vibe (traveling Brit takes a lonely trip to Greek ruins and has to dodge the objections of locals), the story was one I actually remembered as Aickman for a time, until I reread it, here. While it definitely is in the general style of the late R.A., Oliver manages to make distinct swaths of it his own. It is good, and has a lot of little dances on the brain.

"A Game of Bear", Oliver's solution to the unfinished M.R. James story of the same name, is a perfectly adequate conclusion, and one that seems like a path that early James might have taken. I am not sure if it fits the slightly more late James style, but it was enjoyable.

As a Doug note, "The Baskerville Midgets" remains a conundrum. One of the outright creepiest stories in the collection, but it is still hard to separate it from its tongue-in-cheek dismissal of folks suffering dwarfism, very much so playing at old legends of dwarfs and little folk, perhaps, but in a way that feels a bit...mean-spirited.

All through, a great collection.

In the physical copy, I have number 51. There is a slight dink in the back cover, likely due to shipping, but the quality of Tartarus Press's printings continues to marvel.

* Or is that "new"? There is a certain literary ontological question: if a collection is mostly not new, but is also - collectively - new and has new things, is it new?

** In the afterword, Oliver describes that collection as "now impossible to get hold of and, even at the time of publication, many people experienced difficulties in obtaining a copy. The reasons for this were many, various, and mostly dull so I won’t go into them." He also explains that it was a "rag bag" and considers the stories most worthy for reprint*** to be featured here.

*** Two of the stories, "The Donkey at the Mysteries" and "The Baskerville Midgets", were previously found in Sea of Blood. "The Devil's Funeral", in modified form, can be found in the The Boke of the Divill (being, as it were, of the Morchester "mythos"). Of the main stories from Madder Mysteries, this new collection contains all but two: "The Wig" and "The Devil's Number". The latter is found in the Oliver omnibus, Drama from the Depths, along with several of the smaller pieces from Madder Mysteries. "The Wig" seems bound to that rare volume. Perhaps Oliver did not feel it warranted republication. Perhaps it is held back to be Mysteries bit of uniqueness. Having not read it, it could also have also been absorbed into something else.

[Nancy Oakes]

Especially loved the nod to Oscar Wilde (Dorian Gray) in "Love and Death," and for the most part, this was another terrific collection by Reggie Oliver. I'm home Sunday so next week I will have some time to post about all of the Oliver books. I'm positively loving them.

[Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

✭✭✭½

“A Donkey at the Mysteries” (2008) ✭✭✭✭
“The Head” (2009) ✭✭✭½
“Tawny” (2009) ✭✭✭½
“The Devil’s Funeral” (2009) ✭✭✭½
“Baskerville’s Midgets” (2009) ✭✭✭✭
“The Game of Bear” (2009) ✭✭✭✭
“The Final Stage” (previous version titled: “An Actor’s Nightmare”) (2017/2018 rev.) ✭✭
“The Endless Corridor” (2017) ✭✭✭½
“The Vampyre Trap” (2017) ✭✭✭
“The Ballet of Dr. Caligari” (2016) ✭✭✭✭
“Love and Death” (2017) ✭✭✭✭
“Porson’s Piece” (2018) ✭✭✭✭
“Lady with a Rose” (2018) ✭✭✭

All stories by Reggie Oliver, except “The Game of Bear” by Reggie Oliver & M. R. James.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

The "Madder Mysteries" portion that kicks off the book isn't exactly Oliver at his strongest ("Baskerville's Midgets" aside) but things really pick up with the newer 7 stories that populate the rest of the collection. "The Final Stage," "The Endless Corridor," "The Vampyre Trap" and "Porson's Piece" in particular were quite enjoyable.

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I comment on each story in this thread:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

My ratings of the stories average out to 3.5, thus rounding up to 4 stars.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reggie Oliver is one of the finest practioners of that strange & illusive art of writing 'strange' tales. They can be classified as horror, ghostly, grotesque, eerie etc. But they are supremely well-written, witty, and unashamedly erudite. This collection is no exception.
Among its contents, the following works thrilled me most~
1. A Donkey at the Mysteries;
2. Tawny;
3. The Devil's Funeral;
4. Baskerville's Midgets;
5. The Game of Bear (with M.R. James);
6. The Endless Corridor;
7. The Vampyre Trap (an exquisite period piece of crime & detection);
8. The Ballet of Dr. Caligari;
9. Love and Death;
10. Porson's Piece;
11. Lady with a Rose
Tartarus Press has again gifted us with an exquisite production, with the author's illustrations vividly capturing the spirits (or ghosts?) of the works.
Highly Recommended.

[Zac Hawkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something of an odds-n-sods collection for me, very evidently a bit of a dropping off point for tales otherwise less than suited in other company (guilty as charged, we've all done it). A lot of bangers here's but probably pound for pound lesser than the other two Oliver volumes i've read thus far.

[Kulchur Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bowled over by my first encounter with Reggie Oliver. This short story collection is all killer and no filler. He’s absolutely the heir to M.R. James and Aickman, but there’s much more to these tales than weird fiction. Oliver has such a distinctive voice; a cultured literary style, a lightness of tone, effortless use of wit and humour, balanced with an understated elegance.

Among the many highlights; the creepy carnivalesque of ‘The Baskerville Midgets’, the ingenious theatre whodunnit ‘The Vampyre Trap’, the oddly affecting ‘Porson's Piece’, and the titular ‘The Ballet of Dr Caligari’, which would have made a wonderful Powell and Pressburger movie.

Also pleased my first encounter with Mr. Oliver was via a sumptuous Tartarus Press hardback edition, which adds a level of opulent luxury to the reading experience.

[Kulchur Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bowled over by my first encounter with Reggie Oliver. This short story collection is all killer and no filler. He’s absolutely the heir to M.R. James and Aickman, but there’s much more to these tales than strange or weird fiction. Oliver has such a distinctive English (as in British) voice; a cultured literary style, a lightness of tone, effortless use of wit and humour, an understated elegance, reminiscent of W. Somerset Maugham. As a reader, one just slips effortlessly into each story.

Among the many highlights; the creepy carnivalesque of ‘The Baskerville Midgets’, the ingenious theatre whodunnit ‘The Vampyre Trap’, the oddly affecting ‘Porson's Piece’, and the titular ‘The Ballet of Dr Caligari’, which would have made a wonderful Powell and Pressburger movie.

Also pleased my first encounter with Mr. Oliver was via a sumptuous Tartarus Press hardback edition, which adds a level of opulent luxury to the reading experience.

[Des Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE FINAL STAGE
“Even if you believe it to be a fantasy and completely untrue, you must believe that I believe it,…”
A tour de force combined with a coup de théâtre, an unmissable Reggie Oliver work that is as effectively nightmarish as his ‘Flowers of the Sea’ story, and just as obliquely meaningful to our existence and closeness to madness.

The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.

[Chakib Miraoui · Rating 5 out of 5]

this may be the weirdest collection of short stories that i read so far, thirteen of which i read eleven, the shortest is six pages long, the longest twenty six. these stories are written in a classical ans elegant style of English prose that allows neo space for the popular writing. this being why i enjoyed reading them.

[Sem · Rating 2 out of 5]

I find Reggie Oliver's books hard to rate. I like some of the stories very much indeed, feel that others go off the rails in predictable ways, and dislike a few quite intensely. So...2 stars but there were a few fine stories in this collection. I'll soldier on.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reggie Oliver is very much the heir to a tradition of British weird writing that is unapologetically subtle, intelligent (even highbrow) and, in its frequent recourse to pastiche and imitation, M.R. Jamesian. Like Walter De La Mare, Elizabeth Bowen, and Robert Aickman, he's never afraid to make his readers put their shoulder to the interpretive wheel. He also offers pleasing variety in terms of setting, moving between centuries as well as crossing geographical and cultural boundaries.
I'll confess though that I don't always like his stories. I find there's an ingrained snobbery in them (listing what his various narrators dislike would reveal a consistency of outlook across superficially diverse tales), a fondness for the elliptical which sometimes looks like a narrative cop-out, and a tendency to use theatrical/artistic backdrops in ways which seem dated (more than one story has the feel of 1970s' television dramas set in the same environments). One does not read Oliver for enlightened views on class, either.
Nevertheless, when he gets it right and isn't wincing at the thought of 'new' universities, semi-detached houses, or glottal stops, he can produce a superb story. In this collection, 'The Devil's Funeral' is a marvellously constructed account of dark deeds by the Victorian clergy - the epistolary form is used to wonderful effect in a tale that is moving as well as chilling. I can do without the droning conversation of 'Tawny' (recycled Saki refracted through the prism of Ivy Compton-Burnett), or the 'aren't dwarves weird?' of 'Baskerville's Midgets', but 'Porson's Piece' is genuinely haunting and, like many of Oliver's best stories, emotionally affecting (even if the ballet of the white people sounds like a description of a prog-rock LP sleeve). 'The Game of Bear' is dextrous Jamesian imitation, while 'The Ballet of Dr Caligari', despite being another of Oliver's excursions into the cravat-and-red trousers-wearing set, builds to a memorably horrific finale and deserved joins a select canon of 'Caligari' tales by Basil Copper and others.
Oliver writes with great care, choosing his words with exemplary fastidiousness (one of the old-fashioned aspects of him that I greatly appreciate). Helped by Tartarus's generous allowances of space, he is unafraid of building a story gradually and accentuating atmosphere over events. His characters are only convincing when drawn from quite a circumscribed social range, but he is hardly the first weird writer with this limitation and he is undoubtedly imaginative and ingenious in other aspects of his work. As ever with Tartarus, this collection is a highly desirable physical object, with Oliver's illustrations reproduced very well throughout.