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The Watcher by the Threshold and Other Tales
From The Watcher by the Threshold: I have told this story to many audiences with diverse results, and once again I take my reputation in my hands and brave the perils. To the common circle of my friends it was a romance for a winter's fire, and I, the most prosaic of men, was credited with a fancy. . . . One man only heard me with true appreciation; but he was a wandering spirit with an ear open to marvels, and I hesitate to advance his security. He received it simply, saying that God was great, and I cannot improve upon his comment. Thus begins Buchan's unnerving tale of terror at the edge of the Scottish Highlands. Buchan - a man more remembered for mysteries and war stories - was a real hand with horror, and this 1902 compilation displays his facility nicely.
29 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1922
About the author
John Buchan
1,793 books506 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
John Buchan was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation.
As a youth, Buchan began writing poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction, publishing his first novel in 1895 and ultimately writing over a hundred books of which the best known is The Thirty-Nine Steps. After attending Glasgow and Oxford universities, he practised as a barrister. In 1901, he served as a private secretary to Lord Milner in southern Africa towards the end of the Boer War. He returned to England in 1903, continued as a barrister and journalist. He left the Bar when he joined Thomas Nelson and Sons publishers in 1907. During the First World War, he was, among other activities, Director of Information in 1917 and later Head of Intelligence at the newly-formed Ministry of Information. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities in 1927.
In 1935, King George V, on the advice of Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, appointed Buchan to succeed the Earl of Bessborough as Governor General of Canada and two months later raised him to the peerage as 1st Baron Tweedsmuir. He occupied the post until his death in 1940. Buchan promoted Canadian unity and helped strengthen the sovereignty of Canada constitutionally and culturally. He received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom.
John Buchan was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation.
As a youth, Buchan began writing poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction, publishing his first novel in 1895 and ultimately writing over a hundred books of which the best known is The Thirty-Nine Steps. After attending Glasgow and Oxford universities, he practised as a barrister. In 1901, he served as a private secretary to Lord Milner in southern Africa towards the end of the Boer War. He returned to England in 1903, continued as a barrister and journalist. He left the Bar when he joined Thomas Nelson and Sons publishers in 1907. During the First World War, he was, among other activities, Director of Information in 1917 and later Head of Intelligence at the newly-formed Ministry of Information. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities in 1927.
In 1935, King George V, on the advice of Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, appointed Buchan to succeed the Earl of Bessborough as Governor General of Canada and two months later raised him to the peerage as 1st Baron Tweedsmuir. He occupied the post until his death in 1940. Buchan promoted Canadian unity and helped strengthen the sovereignty of Canada constitutionally and culturally. He received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 30, 2018
The Watcher by the Threshold is the seventh book in my Buchan of the Month reading project. My copy of The Watcher by the Threshold was part of a compendium entitled Four Tales, published by Blackwood in 1944 (first edition February 1936) which also contains The Thirty-Nine Steps, The Power-House and The Moon Endureth (another short story collection).
The collection is made up of five stories, all set in the Scottish Highlands and with an element of the supernatural.
In ‘No Man’s Land’, superstition turns to reality in a frightening encounter with a legacy of the past.
In 'The Far Islands', a small boy, the last in a family that goes back generations, is transfixed by visions of an island beyond the horizon always just out of reach. Only in the final pages of the story does he attain his dream, but at what costs?
In ‘The Watcher of the Threshold’, a man’s friend becomes convinced that a devilish presence is constantly at his side, plunging him into melancholy and driving him to ultimately desperate acts.
In ‘The Outgoing of the Tide’, a battle between good and evil, love and hate, is played out at a place and on a night of the year when evil forces abound.
Finally, in Fountainblue', a return to the place of his boyhood brings about a moral and emotional crisis as a man realises that success in the modern world is not enough for true fulfilment.
In the stories that make up The Watcher by the Threshold, Buchan explores many of the themes that he would revisit in later books: self-sacrifice, the virtues of the outdoor life and physical activity and, most notably, the thin line between civilisation and chaos. For example, in an oft-quoted line from ‘Fountainblue’, the narrator Maitland remarks, ‘There is a very narrow line between the warm room and the savage out-of-doors’, describing the division as ‘a line, a thread, a sheet of glass’.
The stories in The Watcher by the Threshold have an eerie feel reminiscent of the ghost stories of M. R. James but played out in the wilds of Scotland where the physical perils of bog and mountainside await alongside more metaphysical dangers.
The collection is made up of five stories, all set in the Scottish Highlands and with an element of the supernatural.
In ‘No Man’s Land’, superstition turns to reality in a frightening encounter with a legacy of the past.
In 'The Far Islands', a small boy, the last in a family that goes back generations, is transfixed by visions of an island beyond the horizon always just out of reach. Only in the final pages of the story does he attain his dream, but at what costs?
In ‘The Watcher of the Threshold’, a man’s friend becomes convinced that a devilish presence is constantly at his side, plunging him into melancholy and driving him to ultimately desperate acts.
In ‘The Outgoing of the Tide’, a battle between good and evil, love and hate, is played out at a place and on a night of the year when evil forces abound.
Finally, in Fountainblue', a return to the place of his boyhood brings about a moral and emotional crisis as a man realises that success in the modern world is not enough for true fulfilment.
In the stories that make up The Watcher by the Threshold, Buchan explores many of the themes that he would revisit in later books: self-sacrifice, the virtues of the outdoor life and physical activity and, most notably, the thin line between civilisation and chaos. For example, in an oft-quoted line from ‘Fountainblue’, the narrator Maitland remarks, ‘There is a very narrow line between the warm room and the savage out-of-doors’, describing the division as ‘a line, a thread, a sheet of glass’.
The stories in The Watcher by the Threshold have an eerie feel reminiscent of the ghost stories of M. R. James but played out in the wilds of Scotland where the physical perils of bog and mountainside await alongside more metaphysical dangers.
April 4, 2008
The Watcher by the Threshold is a collection of five novellas by John Buchan, originally published in 1902. Buchan’s weird fiction is both interesting and original. Although it’s similar in some ways to the work of his contemporaries such as Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood it has its own unique flavour. These are very subtle stories, stories in which superficially not much happens. They’re entirely concerned with the internal psychology of the characters. The supernatural hardly exists, except insofar as it exists within the minds of his characters. Wonderfully moody and evocative stories by an almost forgotten author.
September 2, 2022
El escritor de "Los 39 escalones" consigue hacernos pasar un rato inquietante. Puede que las escenas no causen el terror que se espera de ellas, pero son tremendamente entretenidas de leer y la capacidad que tiene el autor de hacernos sentir el nerviosismo de los protagonistas, es de agradecer.
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🗯 Una buena forma de acercarnos al escritor (si aún no lo habíamos hecho, como es mi caso) y de seguir disfrutando de su estilo si ya somos expertos en ello.
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Esta antología es la número 6 dentro de la "Colección fantasmas" de Diablo Novelas ¡no te la pierdas!
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🗯 Una buena forma de acercarnos al escritor (si aún no lo habíamos hecho, como es mi caso) y de seguir disfrutando de su estilo si ya somos expertos en ello.
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Esta antología es la número 6 dentro de la "Colección fantasmas" de Diablo Novelas ¡no te la pierdas!
April 29, 2023
Que bien me lo he pasado leyendo estos relatos de fantasmas y lo contrario en una Escocia que Buchan evoca tan diestramente. Hay un par de relatos ("Espacio", "Skule Skerry") que los podria haber escrito Lovecraft y otros que evocan lo numinoso como un buen Machen o Blackwood. Especialmente recomendado para leer bebiendo un te debajo de la manta o mirando la lluvia.
September 27, 2022
Quisiera hacer un alto merecidísimo en este autor, prácticamente desconocido para mí salvo por "Los 39 escalones". Sus relatos de terror, recientemente editados por Diábolo Ediciones en la recopilación "El vigilante en el umbral", son un pura delicia que nada entre el horror gótico y moderno. Tras acabar el titulado "Espacio" no he podido resistir afirmar que se trata de mi descubrimiento del año tras haberme encontrado quizá el mejor cuento de terror ontológico que haya leído nunca. Una auténtica maravilla.
November 6, 2011
A fine collection of weird fiction. In the public domain, with a free electronic copy here.
February 4, 2021
....It was the hour, as the French say, 'between dog and wolf', when the mind is disposed to marvels.
-- "Space" (1911)
My review:
http://jayrothermel.blogspot.com/2021...
-- "Space" (1911)
My review:
http://jayrothermel.blogspot.com/2021...
November 9, 2018
The title story is superb. Five stars for that one.
March 16, 2026
Huntin', shootin', fishin' types (who also good at rugby and rowing) get freaked out by hill trolls and stuff. Hard to take seriously.
May 3, 2026
Fav- fountain blue
Just always take time to read short stories!
Just always take time to read short stories!
August 30, 2026
The story On Cademuir Hill is brilliant but a lot of the work feels dated.
January 5, 2023
Creo que no resulta necesario decir que las historias de terror ambientadas en Escocia son un interés primario para mi y para este blog, así que resultaba seguro que este libro (y el más reciente El comepecados y otros relatos malditos de Fiona Macleod) terminarían en mi biblioteca. Por otra parte, mi conocimiento sobre la obra de John Buchan se había limitado a la más conocida de sus obras, Los treinta y nueve escalones (historia clásica de espionaje/aventuras, de la que por otra parte no soy muy fan), por lo que no sabía muy bien que encontrarme en una colección de historias de terror. En ese sentido el libro ha sido una agradable sorpresa, aunque le falte para ser una obra redonda.
Reseña completa:
https://aventurasextraordinarias.blog...
Reseña completa:
https://aventurasextraordinarias.blog...
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August 24, 2010Deepy creepy stories about demonic possession and extinct races.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews