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The Night Comes on
'Standing between the niches, like sentinels over the treasure-trove of Death, were thirteen fully articulated skeletons, clothed in monks’ habits and armed with long scythes.'
Mr Metfield is astounded to discover this tableau in the crypt of the church of St Joseph, in the small French town of Vazart-les-Bains. His arrival in the town coincides with the annual enactment of the Danse Macabre, or Dance of Death, wherein thirteen monks from the abbey don skeleton costumes and proceed through the streets. When Mr Metfield returns to the crypt, however, he is horrified to find that only twelve skeletons remain. Where is the thirteenth? And how many figures are taking part in the Dance of Death in the streets outside?
In ‘The Ossuary’ and fifteen other stories in this new collection, Steve Duffy evokes the Golden Age of the ghost story with practised ease. Set mainly in the period between the Wars, the stories in The Night Comes On are consciously ‘Jamesian’ in style and setting. They feature libraries and academics and great old country houses, colleges and branch railway-stations and cathedrals; and, of course, any number of things less easily defined, which lie in wait for the foolish, the unwary, or the unlucky. The protagonists come through their adventures alive—though not always. And while they may be more or less intact in physical terms, they usually have a new insight into things for which they once had little time and less respect.
Ash-Tree Press is proud to be publishing the work of startling new talent Steve Duffy. His stories will thrill lovers of the classic ghost story and will, undoubtedly, become classics in their own right.
Jacket art by Douglas Walters.
Contents: Introduction by Steve Duffy; ‘The Night Comes On’; ‘Out of the Water, Out of the Earth’; ‘The Close at Chadminster’; ‘The Last of the Scarisfields’; ‘The Hunter and His Quarry’; ‘The Ossuary’; ‘Running Dogs’; ‘One Over’; ‘Figures on a Hillside’; ‘Ex Libris’; ‘The Story of a Malediction’; ‘The Vicar of Wryde St Luke’; ‘The Marsh Warden’; ‘The Return Journey’; ‘Nigrendo’; ‘Tidesend’; Notes on the Stories.
Mr Metfield is astounded to discover this tableau in the crypt of the church of St Joseph, in the small French town of Vazart-les-Bains. His arrival in the town coincides with the annual enactment of the Danse Macabre, or Dance of Death, wherein thirteen monks from the abbey don skeleton costumes and proceed through the streets. When Mr Metfield returns to the crypt, however, he is horrified to find that only twelve skeletons remain. Where is the thirteenth? And how many figures are taking part in the Dance of Death in the streets outside?
In ‘The Ossuary’ and fifteen other stories in this new collection, Steve Duffy evokes the Golden Age of the ghost story with practised ease. Set mainly in the period between the Wars, the stories in The Night Comes On are consciously ‘Jamesian’ in style and setting. They feature libraries and academics and great old country houses, colleges and branch railway-stations and cathedrals; and, of course, any number of things less easily defined, which lie in wait for the foolish, the unwary, or the unlucky. The protagonists come through their adventures alive—though not always. And while they may be more or less intact in physical terms, they usually have a new insight into things for which they once had little time and less respect.
Ash-Tree Press is proud to be publishing the work of startling new talent Steve Duffy. His stories will thrill lovers of the classic ghost story and will, undoubtedly, become classics in their own right.
Jacket art by Douglas Walters.
Contents: Introduction by Steve Duffy; ‘The Night Comes On’; ‘Out of the Water, Out of the Earth’; ‘The Close at Chadminster’; ‘The Last of the Scarisfields’; ‘The Hunter and His Quarry’; ‘The Ossuary’; ‘Running Dogs’; ‘One Over’; ‘Figures on a Hillside’; ‘Ex Libris’; ‘The Story of a Malediction’; ‘The Vicar of Wryde St Luke’; ‘The Marsh Warden’; ‘The Return Journey’; ‘Nigrendo’; ‘Tidesend’; Notes on the Stories.
300 pages, Hardcover
First published March 30, 1998
8 people are currently reading
122 people want to read
About the author
Steve Duffy
80 books62 followersSteve has written/coauthored seven collections of weird short stories. His latest collection, THESE AND OTHER MYSTERIES, was published by Sarob Press in 2024.
Steve's work also appears in a number of anthologies published in the UK and the US.
In 2016 he won the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novelette 2015, with the story "Even Clean Hands Can Do Damage". He won the International Horror Guild's award for Best Short Story of the year 2000, and was shortlisted for a World Fantasy Award in 2009, and again in 2012.
Visit Steve's Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Steve-Duffy/e...
Steve's work also appears in a number of anthologies published in the UK and the US.
In 2016 he won the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novelette 2015, with the story "Even Clean Hands Can Do Damage". He won the International Horror Guild's award for Best Short Story of the year 2000, and was shortlisted for a World Fantasy Award in 2009, and again in 2012.
Visit Steve's Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Steve-Duffy/e...
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 7, 2019
A self-proclaimed collection of M.R. James pastiches. Which is somewhat true. They indeed are author-identified as being pastiches, written with the intention of being pastiches, and most involve (often quite forcibly, even repetitiously) great dollops of Jamesian and near-Jamesian tropes, images, and plot devices. The problem is, of course, that the heart of a good M.R. James tale is not a plot, or a setting, or a type of spook (all of which are found a'plenty in stories authored by divers hands), but instead a particular style of which James was a master. There is no one Jamesian device that cannot be disproved by another tale—if you say he is prone to leaving gaps to the imagination, there are stories that tell all; if you say that he is gentle with his spooks, there are those that pack quiet a wallop (to borrow a phrase from The Podcast to the Curious*)—but as a whole there is a particular soul that haunts his ghostly writing, and it is hard work indeed for another to be precisely Jamesian, though many have tried. While Duffy often plucks near it, and gives praise and tribute to it, few of these stories feel properly to capture it, and so it might be just as well say these are pastiches to any number of James-adjacent individuals: E.F. Benson, for instance, or H.R. Wakefield, or some of those that Duffy expounds upon in his interesting afterword to this 2011 electronic edition.
If these are truly Jamesian tales-by-pastiche, then it seems that many of Reggie Oliver's stories (to name just one modern genius of the ghost) would be so likewise. Which, to a degree, they are, but also not.
This is not a critique of Duffy, who has crafted an excellent book of spooks. In fact, with many of the stories, it is not the Duffy-portion that feels lacking, but the part where the story tries to adhere to Jamesian ideals. Far too many begin with a stranger on a train, or a bequeathment to a college, or folks traveling some countryside (and in Duffy-land, most every countryside inhabits a certain similar milieu, be it in Germany or Suffolk, and every academic feels likewise much the same, and many drink Bass in inns that have seen better days while having gruff-voiced innkeeps that kick dogs). Generally, as you read these, you begin to mentally brace for the opening 2-5 paragraphs or so where Duffy, with only a small handful of templates and little meaningful variation, lays down a certain (often unnecessary) prologue before getting on with the juicer, and inevitability better, portions of the story (the epilogues sometimes suffer a similar fate). These prologues are much more pastiche than the rest of the plot to follow, and rarely add much.
With a few exceptions—I'd say "Nigredo" and "Out of Water, Out of Earth" being the most notable—the stories are best when they leave James to mere inspiration rather than the model. Duffy in Duffy-mode finds some quite thrilling chords to strum, in several places telling the sort of story that James himself might have avoided—look at "Running Dogs" to see a perfectly non-Jamesian story that is great in itself, or "Ex Libris" to see one that James might have written by Duffy did write it and did a damned fine job of it.
The end result is a book that is quite charming and interesting and a good addition to the genre, perhaps hampered (insomuch as it is hampered) by trying to place itself in a conversation about how great James was (and James was phenomenal) while it is much better placed in a conversation about good Duffy is.
Recommended, even to those who, like me, will flinch a bit at the third or fourth time two strangers meet on a train and one goes, "I had an experience, once..."
As a note, a side effect of me reading this and realizing that my impression that this is a newer collection was only half-right (originally from the 90s, this version was updated in 2011 to include new stories) was finding out Ash Tree press, including their wonderful old-school HTML page with lots of juicy ebooks, seems to have largely vanished. They remain on Kindle, for now, but I miss that old site. Turns out I had already bought a copy of this ebook from them, some years go, but it is good enough I do not mind the double purchase.
=======
* For those who have not heard this podcast, I recommend you look it up if you are a fan of M.R. James. Their first...60 (?) or so shows were about James's stories and are some of my favorite ever podcasting.
If these are truly Jamesian tales-by-pastiche, then it seems that many of Reggie Oliver's stories (to name just one modern genius of the ghost) would be so likewise. Which, to a degree, they are, but also not.
This is not a critique of Duffy, who has crafted an excellent book of spooks. In fact, with many of the stories, it is not the Duffy-portion that feels lacking, but the part where the story tries to adhere to Jamesian ideals. Far too many begin with a stranger on a train, or a bequeathment to a college, or folks traveling some countryside (and in Duffy-land, most every countryside inhabits a certain similar milieu, be it in Germany or Suffolk, and every academic feels likewise much the same, and many drink Bass in inns that have seen better days while having gruff-voiced innkeeps that kick dogs). Generally, as you read these, you begin to mentally brace for the opening 2-5 paragraphs or so where Duffy, with only a small handful of templates and little meaningful variation, lays down a certain (often unnecessary) prologue before getting on with the juicer, and inevitability better, portions of the story (the epilogues sometimes suffer a similar fate). These prologues are much more pastiche than the rest of the plot to follow, and rarely add much.
With a few exceptions—I'd say "Nigredo" and "Out of Water, Out of Earth" being the most notable—the stories are best when they leave James to mere inspiration rather than the model. Duffy in Duffy-mode finds some quite thrilling chords to strum, in several places telling the sort of story that James himself might have avoided—look at "Running Dogs" to see a perfectly non-Jamesian story that is great in itself, or "Ex Libris" to see one that James might have written by Duffy did write it and did a damned fine job of it.
The end result is a book that is quite charming and interesting and a good addition to the genre, perhaps hampered (insomuch as it is hampered) by trying to place itself in a conversation about how great James was (and James was phenomenal) while it is much better placed in a conversation about good Duffy is.
Recommended, even to those who, like me, will flinch a bit at the third or fourth time two strangers meet on a train and one goes, "I had an experience, once..."
As a note, a side effect of me reading this and realizing that my impression that this is a newer collection was only half-right (originally from the 90s, this version was updated in 2011 to include new stories) was finding out Ash Tree press, including their wonderful old-school HTML page with lots of juicy ebooks, seems to have largely vanished. They remain on Kindle, for now, but I miss that old site. Turns out I had already bought a copy of this ebook from them, some years go, but it is good enough I do not mind the double purchase.
=======
* For those who have not heard this podcast, I recommend you look it up if you are a fan of M.R. James. Their first...60 (?) or so shows were about James's stories and are some of my favorite ever podcasting.
March 22, 2017
✭✭✭½
The author of this collection tells us in his introduction that M. R. James was “simply the best writer of traditional ghost stories in the first half of [the twentieth] century”. If, like me, you believe that to be true, then The Night Comes On should be your cup of tea. Duffy describes these as stories written in conscious imitation of James’ style (although in a handful of cases he is quick to acknowledge other inspirations, including Le Fanu in the case of “Tidesend” and Alan Garner for “The Lady of the Flowers”). The pastiche is a literary form that is sometimes held in low regard, but I personally find that really good ones are rare and things to be treasured; Duffy remains, in my opinion, one of a handful of writers who have excelled at the Jamesian pastiche. Duffy implies in the author’s notes that since writing these stories (in the latter half of the 90s) he has moved on creatively to write ghost tales of a different type; disappointing, but understandable. At least we have these to provide us with what James referred to as “a pleasing terror”.
“The Night Comes On” (1998) ✭✭✭✭
“Out of the Water, Out of the Earth” (1998) ✭✭✭
“The Close at Chadminster” (1998) ✭✭✭½
“The Last of the Scarisfields” (1998) ✭✭✭½
“The Hunter and His Quarry” (1997/1998 rev.) ✭✭✭½
“The Ossuary” (1998) ✭✭✭½
“Running Dogs” (1998) ✭✭✭✭½
“One Over” (1998) ✭✭✭
“Figures on a Hillside” (1998) ✭✭✭✭
“Ex Libris” (1998) ✭✭✭
“The Story of a Malediction” (1998) ✭✭✭½
“The Vicar of Wryde St. Luke” (1998) ✭✭✭✭
“The Marsh Warden” (1997) ✭✭✭✭
“The Return Journey” (1998) ✭✭✭
“Nigredo” (1998) ✭✭✭½
“Tidesend”, Steve Duffy (1998) ✭✭½
“On the Dunes” (1998/2011 rev.) ✭✭✭
“The Lady of the Flowers” (1998/2011 rev.) ✭✭✭✭
“Widdershins the Barrow Round” (1998/2011 rev.) ✭✭✭½
“Off the Tracks” (1998/2011 rev.) ✭✭✭✭½
Note: The 2011 electronic edition contains four stories (pretty good ones) not found in the original 1998 hardcover edition.
The author of this collection tells us in his introduction that M. R. James was “simply the best writer of traditional ghost stories in the first half of [the twentieth] century”. If, like me, you believe that to be true, then The Night Comes On should be your cup of tea. Duffy describes these as stories written in conscious imitation of James’ style (although in a handful of cases he is quick to acknowledge other inspirations, including Le Fanu in the case of “Tidesend” and Alan Garner for “The Lady of the Flowers”). The pastiche is a literary form that is sometimes held in low regard, but I personally find that really good ones are rare and things to be treasured; Duffy remains, in my opinion, one of a handful of writers who have excelled at the Jamesian pastiche. Duffy implies in the author’s notes that since writing these stories (in the latter half of the 90s) he has moved on creatively to write ghost tales of a different type; disappointing, but understandable. At least we have these to provide us with what James referred to as “a pleasing terror”.
“The Night Comes On” (1998) ✭✭✭✭
“Out of the Water, Out of the Earth” (1998) ✭✭✭
“The Close at Chadminster” (1998) ✭✭✭½
“The Last of the Scarisfields” (1998) ✭✭✭½
“The Hunter and His Quarry” (1997/1998 rev.) ✭✭✭½
“The Ossuary” (1998) ✭✭✭½
“Running Dogs” (1998) ✭✭✭✭½
“One Over” (1998) ✭✭✭
“Figures on a Hillside” (1998) ✭✭✭✭
“Ex Libris” (1998) ✭✭✭
“The Story of a Malediction” (1998) ✭✭✭½
“The Vicar of Wryde St. Luke” (1998) ✭✭✭✭
“The Marsh Warden” (1997) ✭✭✭✭
“The Return Journey” (1998) ✭✭✭
“Nigredo” (1998) ✭✭✭½
“Tidesend”, Steve Duffy (1998) ✭✭½
“On the Dunes” (1998/2011 rev.) ✭✭✭
“The Lady of the Flowers” (1998/2011 rev.) ✭✭✭✭
“Widdershins the Barrow Round” (1998/2011 rev.) ✭✭✭½
“Off the Tracks” (1998/2011 rev.) ✭✭✭✭½
Note: The 2011 electronic edition contains four stories (pretty good ones) not found in the original 1998 hardcover edition.
June 16, 2019
My rating for the twenty evil spirit stories in this book averages to 3.7875. The book also contains an Introduction and Story Notes section by the author which I found interesting. Thus rounding up my rating to 4 stars.
My comments on the stories can be seen in this thread, posts #160 to to #180:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
My comments on the stories can be seen in this thread, posts #160 to to #180:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
July 8, 2020
A terrific collection here - this is a must have if you're an MR James fan. Really well written stories - Steve Duffy has done an excellent job capturing the style without writing obvious Jamesian knock-offs. I am hard pressed to choose favorites here, all the tales are great fun but there are a few stand outs for me. 'Running Dogs' is very chilling - I could see what was coming and am glad it's only a story! In 'Ex Libris' our heroes escape a grim end with a very narrow squeak - beware of used book deals too good to be true. 'The Vicar of Wryde St. Luke' is about a very nasty clergyman who wants his property returned - and will come and take it from you no matter what. 'Nigredo' ends with another narrow escape for our too inquisitive protagonist - don't go poking around old ruins, especially when the tide is rising. The book ends on a gentle, languorous note to release the readers tension. What a relief! I also liked how each story was a tale told by the fireside or suitably similar traditional plot device. A classic in the making - and only 500 copies printed - pity!
January 27, 2012
First let me state my "position" with respect to this book: IT IS A COLLECTION OF THE MOST HORRIFYING "Jamesian" STORIES THAT I HAVE EVER READ. Whenever we talk or think about pastiches, esp. those written in the style of M.R. James, we tend to think that the 'pleasing' terrors would be just that: 'pleasing'. But these stories overcome that limitation with their tightness of plot, superb characterization, and some of the most terrifying supernaturally villainous elements in my knowledge. Although it may do the author a great disservice, yet I am tempted to provide a story-by-story list of contents by lifting it from the exceptional Supernatural Fiction Database provided by Tartarus Press(maybe simply to rub the point vengefully to those who can not get hold of a copy of this book, since it has gone out-of-print):
1) The Night Comes On: about a grand design of a Crowly-type person to reanimate Mummies, and the inevitable consequences of it in London;
2) Out Of The Water, Out Of The Earth: Man holidaying on a remote Italian island stumbles upon something nasty and inadvertently lets it loose;
3) The Close At Chadminster: Antiquarian menaced by Thing long dead-and-buried while advising on cathedral renovations;
4) The Last Of The Scarisfields: Scholar unearths the truth behind a long-ago crime in the grounds of a Lake District stately home;
5) The Hunter And His Quarry: Englishman ignores local advice and visits small Baltic island, and something starts chasing him, with what intent?;
6) The Ossuary: If there's one thing worse than visiting remote islands, it's poking around ossuaries, Especially on Good Friday, when the Dance of the Dead is about to begin...;
7) Running Dogs: Isolated village in East Anglia has a strange railway station, and even stranger inhabitants;
8) One Over: Elsewhere in East Anglia, the sea-buried dead do not lie still;
9) Figures On A Hillside: Man carries out research into chalk giants: finds more than he bargained for;
10) Ex Libris: Or, why it's not always best to return books to their rightful owners...;
11) The Story Of A Malediction: Weird travelling folk - not the sort of people you want to cross;
12) The Vicar Of Wryde St Luke: Or, why it's always best to return books to their rightful owners;
13) The Marsh Warden: Traveller puts up at shunned inn in the Essex marshes and finds out soon enough why it's shunned;
14) The Return Journey: Rip-snorting Victorian melodrama set in and around Highgate cemetery;
15) Nigredo: An antiquarian on the trail of alchemists in Holland runs into trouble when unearthing their industrial waste;
16) Tidesend: recollections of a childhood by the Thames, and the strange little girls next door.
If you can get hold of this collection, irrespective of the price that the book-seller may quote, accompanied by evil smirk, buy it and read it keeping the lights on, otherwise you might regret reading the book. Honestly!
1) The Night Comes On: about a grand design of a Crowly-type person to reanimate Mummies, and the inevitable consequences of it in London;
2) Out Of The Water, Out Of The Earth: Man holidaying on a remote Italian island stumbles upon something nasty and inadvertently lets it loose;
3) The Close At Chadminster: Antiquarian menaced by Thing long dead-and-buried while advising on cathedral renovations;
4) The Last Of The Scarisfields: Scholar unearths the truth behind a long-ago crime in the grounds of a Lake District stately home;
5) The Hunter And His Quarry: Englishman ignores local advice and visits small Baltic island, and something starts chasing him, with what intent?;
6) The Ossuary: If there's one thing worse than visiting remote islands, it's poking around ossuaries, Especially on Good Friday, when the Dance of the Dead is about to begin...;
7) Running Dogs: Isolated village in East Anglia has a strange railway station, and even stranger inhabitants;
8) One Over: Elsewhere in East Anglia, the sea-buried dead do not lie still;
9) Figures On A Hillside: Man carries out research into chalk giants: finds more than he bargained for;
10) Ex Libris: Or, why it's not always best to return books to their rightful owners...;
11) The Story Of A Malediction: Weird travelling folk - not the sort of people you want to cross;
12) The Vicar Of Wryde St Luke: Or, why it's always best to return books to their rightful owners;
13) The Marsh Warden: Traveller puts up at shunned inn in the Essex marshes and finds out soon enough why it's shunned;
14) The Return Journey: Rip-snorting Victorian melodrama set in and around Highgate cemetery;
15) Nigredo: An antiquarian on the trail of alchemists in Holland runs into trouble when unearthing their industrial waste;
16) Tidesend: recollections of a childhood by the Thames, and the strange little girls next door.
If you can get hold of this collection, irrespective of the price that the book-seller may quote, accompanied by evil smirk, buy it and read it keeping the lights on, otherwise you might regret reading the book. Honestly!
May 22, 2015
Excellent collection of old-fashioned ghost stories, strongly influenced by MR James. My personal favourites are the title story, which manages to make Egyptian mummies scary again; "Nigredo", which could almost be by James himself; and the very last story in the collection, "Off the Tracks", which reminded me of Ramsey Campbell.
December 1, 2017
Marvellous classically styled ghost stories
Heartily recommended to any fan of the classic ghost stories of M. R. James.
More than just hollow pastiches these tales are fully rounded and delightful pieces.
Perfect for chill Winter evenings in front of the fire with a dram of your favourite tipple.
Heartily recommended to any fan of the classic ghost stories of M. R. James.
More than just hollow pastiches these tales are fully rounded and delightful pieces.
Perfect for chill Winter evenings in front of the fire with a dram of your favourite tipple.
November 3, 2024
This is, without a doubt, one of the best collections of uncanny short stories that I've ever read and I've read many. What a very pleasant surprise at a time when I thought I'd more or less drained that well.
January 14, 2019
This book had been recommended to me as a fine pastiche of M. R. James and yes, that's pretty much what it is. If you've read all of James' ghost stories and you want more, this is a fine option.
July 18, 2021
The best collection of Jamesian stories I've encountered
These definitely take cues from MR James but are far beyond mere pastiche. Highly recommended. The first few stories are slightly too understated but the collection picks up as it moves along.
These definitely take cues from MR James but are far beyond mere pastiche. Highly recommended. The first few stories are slightly too understated but the collection picks up as it moves along.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews