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The Night Wire and Other Tales of Weird Media
A mysterious radio signal reports cosmic doom from an otherworldly location. Photography and X-ray evidence suggests there may be some truth to a sculptor’s claim that he has created a god. A spectral projection sows terror amid the flickering light of the cinema. From the whispering wires of the telegraph and ghostly images of the daguerreotype to the disembodied voices of the phonograph and radio, the new technologies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries gave their users miraculous new powers – and new nightmares. After all, if Graham Bell’s magical device could connect us with loved ones a half a world away, what was to stop it from reaching out and touching the dead – or something worse?
Tracing this fiction of fear from the 1890s to the 1950s, this new collection brings together the best tales of haunted or uncanny media from classic – and unjustly neglected – writers of the supernatural.
Tracing this fiction of fear from the 1890s to the 1950s, this new collection brings together the best tales of haunted or uncanny media from classic – and unjustly neglected – writers of the supernatural.
288 pages, Paperback
First published May 31, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 16, 2025
3.5 stars
This Tales of the Weird collection from the British Library looks at the development of technologies and their intersection with the weird and supernatural. Hence there are stories about television, wireless, photography, typewriters, railways, telegrams, phonographs, X-rays, film and cinema and some of the more esoteric inventions. This sort of story began, I suppose when the portrait became animated and stepped off the wall in Walpole’s Castle of Otranto and continues through films like the ring when the girl steps out of the television. This collection was written between the 1890s and the 1960s.
There are stories by Robert Milne, Marcel Schwob, Charles Crosthwaite, Bernard Capes, Rudyard Kipling, Oliver Onions, Francis Stevens, Stefan Grabinski, H P Lovecraft, Bessie Kyffin-Taylor, H F Arnold, H Russell Wakefield, Louis Golding, Marjorie Bowen, J B Priestley and Mary Treadgold. Some of these have not aged well (the Kipling for example), but others are still effective. The J B Priestley story Uncle Phil on TV still works well as does the last story by Mary Treadgold. The Lovecraft is old-fashioned horror of the Hammer kind. There is an artist who becomes his sculpture and a reflection on the effect of typing on the role of women.
This Tales of the Weird collection from the British Library looks at the development of technologies and their intersection with the weird and supernatural. Hence there are stories about television, wireless, photography, typewriters, railways, telegrams, phonographs, X-rays, film and cinema and some of the more esoteric inventions. This sort of story began, I suppose when the portrait became animated and stepped off the wall in Walpole’s Castle of Otranto and continues through films like the ring when the girl steps out of the television. This collection was written between the 1890s and the 1960s.
There are stories by Robert Milne, Marcel Schwob, Charles Crosthwaite, Bernard Capes, Rudyard Kipling, Oliver Onions, Francis Stevens, Stefan Grabinski, H P Lovecraft, Bessie Kyffin-Taylor, H F Arnold, H Russell Wakefield, Louis Golding, Marjorie Bowen, J B Priestley and Mary Treadgold. Some of these have not aged well (the Kipling for example), but others are still effective. The J B Priestley story Uncle Phil on TV still works well as does the last story by Mary Treadgold. The Lovecraft is old-fashioned horror of the Hammer kind. There is an artist who becomes his sculpture and a reflection on the effect of typing on the role of women.
June 27, 2023
A strong theme, and a good mix of stories - definitely more good than bad. Also nice to see a bit more variety than I've come to expect from these books, with stories from France and Poland as well as the usual Anglo-American ones. Loose thoughts on some of the stories below.
- The Night Wire and Benlian are the two best in the book. Will definitely be stealing the plots for some sort of rpg thing at some point in future. Worth seeking out.
- Lesser highlights include Wireless (ghost Keats!), Signals (Polish! Creepily vague/vaguely creepy!), They Found My Grave (appropriately grim!) and The Telephone (subtle!)
- A fair few have a really interesting central idea, but are a bit lacking in the plot/execution, chiefly The Eidoloscope and Rontgen's Curse.
- Unseen, Unfeared: Poisoned cigars? Turning me into a racist? It's more likely than you'd think... Also includes my favourite line: "...and there are marvels better left unproved. Those, for instance, which concern the Powers of Evil."
- Having not been too impressed by the Lovecraft short stories I've read in other British Library collections, The Statement of Randolph Carter was actually pretty good! And not even the most weirdly xenophobic story in the book (Looking at you The Devil's Fantasia...)
- The Night Wire and Benlian are the two best in the book. Will definitely be stealing the plots for some sort of rpg thing at some point in future. Worth seeking out.
- Lesser highlights include Wireless (ghost Keats!), Signals (Polish! Creepily vague/vaguely creepy!), They Found My Grave (appropriately grim!) and The Telephone (subtle!)
- A fair few have a really interesting central idea, but are a bit lacking in the plot/execution, chiefly The Eidoloscope and Rontgen's Curse.
- Unseen, Unfeared: Poisoned cigars? Turning me into a racist? It's more likely than you'd think... Also includes my favourite line: "...and there are marvels better left unproved. Those, for instance, which concern the Powers of Evil."
- Having not been too impressed by the Lovecraft short stories I've read in other British Library collections, The Statement of Randolph Carter was actually pretty good! And not even the most weirdly xenophobic story in the book (Looking at you The Devil's Fantasia...)
April 15, 2023
A game of two halves.
The first of this book was a slog for me. All but one of the stories jumped out at me and, for the most part, I found this section of the book either boring or I just didn't get it.
"Rontgen's Curse" was the highlight story at this point in the book. A very unsettling story about the horrors of x ray.
"Signals" by Stefan Grabinski is where the book picks up (at last), with a great story about trains and a signalman. Nothing to do with the Dickens story plot wise.
This then is followed by a fantastic
H. P. Lovecraft story, the title story and others.
"The Wind in the Woods" was the best tale of the whole book. It's a first class ghost story that I can easily picture making for an amazing television adaptation (somebody please get onto that).
"Uncle Phill on TV" was another highlight of the book by J. B. Priestly. Really interesting idea and concept of a haunted television set.
Overall; it's a shame about the first half, but whereas the second does have some unremarkable stories as well, there is some brilliant stories to be found in this book.
3/5 6/10
The first of this book was a slog for me. All but one of the stories jumped out at me and, for the most part, I found this section of the book either boring or I just didn't get it.
"Rontgen's Curse" was the highlight story at this point in the book. A very unsettling story about the horrors of x ray.
"Signals" by Stefan Grabinski is where the book picks up (at last), with a great story about trains and a signalman. Nothing to do with the Dickens story plot wise.
This then is followed by a fantastic
H. P. Lovecraft story, the title story and others.
"The Wind in the Woods" was the best tale of the whole book. It's a first class ghost story that I can easily picture making for an amazing television adaptation (somebody please get onto that).
"Uncle Phill on TV" was another highlight of the book by J. B. Priestly. Really interesting idea and concept of a haunted television set.
Overall; it's a shame about the first half, but whereas the second does have some unremarkable stories as well, there is some brilliant stories to be found in this book.
3/5 6/10
July 5, 2023
Great anthology of well crafted stories, though one or two show their age and don’t represent my cultural or ethnic beliefs (ironically the Lovecraft story was one of the least offensive) there are some really compelling gems
November 29, 2022
Technological ghosties…
Another anthology from the great British Library Tales of the Weird series, the theme of this one is how horror writers played with all the new communications technology coming into use in the early part of the twentieth century, examining society’s anxieties about how these would change the world as they knew it. From photographs to movies, from telephones to the telegraph, from phonographs to radio to TV – all technologies we take for granted today but which were revolutionary when they were introduced. And the horror writers of the day used them with great imagination, showing how the ghosties and ghoulies of the time mastered these technologies as tools to boost their scariness to the poor victims of their hauntings!
There are seventeen stories in the book, and the mix of authors is interesting. There are perhaps fewer than usual of the biggest names, though Lovecraft is there; some that are better known, to me at least, in other genres, such as Bernard Capes and Rudyard Kipling; and lots I’ve never come across before. The more I read of these anthologies, the more I realise that their success or failure is largely dependent on the compatibility of the editor and the reader, and is therefore quite subjective. There are a few editors I look forward to eagerly, and Aaron Worth is high on that list. I find his choice of stories always works particularly well for me, and I always enjoy his informative introductions even in the shortened form the format of this series dictates. So, in short, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection! Only three of the stories didn’t work for me – the other fourteen all rated as good, very good or excellent, with eight of them getting the full five stars.
Here’s a flavour of a few of the ones I most enjoyed:
Poor Lucy Rivers by Bernard Capes – Our narrator is a doctor, One day he’s in a typewriter shop when a young woman comes in to request that the shop exchange a second-hand typewriter she’d bought there a week or so ago. She explains there’s nothing wrong with the machine but she simply wants a different one. The shop owner pretends to give her a different machine but in fact cheats her into taking the same one again. The doctor is intrigued, gets the woman’s name from the shop and learns she does typing jobs to earn just enough to keep body and soul together. So he decides to give her a job, as a means of prying into why she has an issue with that particular typewriter. It transpires the problem may be the person who owned the typewriter before – poor Lucy Rivers! Very effective, and it gives a good picture of how typing gave women a means to earn an independent living. Though thankfully not all typewriters are haunted!
Benlian by Oliver Onions – The narrator, Pudgie, makes his living painting miniatures, using photographs as his models. Across the yard from him is Benlian’s studio – he’s a sculptor, and Pudgie doesn’t know him. But one day, Benlian appears and asks Pudgie to photograph him. Pudgie obliges, but the photos turn out fogged and unclear. Pudgie puts this down to the materials he used in the processing and offers to take new photos, and so begins a routine of him photographing Benlian every few days. But over time the photos become odder, and Pudgie gradually learns just exactly what Benlian is trying to do with the sculpture he’s working on. This is an unnerving one, with a chilling ending that is left deliberately ambiguous as we begin to wonder how reliable Pudgie is as a narrator, and just what exactly did happen in Benlian’s studio...
Uncle Phil on TV by JB Priestley – When Uncle Phil dies, the Fleming family inherit £150 insurance money. They decide to buy a TV – a new-fangled invention and horrendously expensive, and with only one channel broadcasting a few hours each evening. Mrs Fleming is the first to spot something rather odd – in the background of the programme she’s watching, she spots someone who looks just like Uncle Phil! Gradually the rest of the family admit that they too keep seeing Uncle Phil, and soon he’s not just in the background – he starts talking to them from the screen or talking to other on-screen characters about them. But why? This is great fun – a little bit of spookiness and lots of humour, and a kind of well-deserved ghostly revenge!
So lots of variety despite the single theme, and everything from light-hearted fun to dark, unsettling and sometimes sad. I also enjoyed the look at very early versions of the various technologies and how they changed the way people lived, creating new opportunities and new forms of entertainment but also adding to the speed and rush of life, and the anxieties that come with that. Another excellent anthology in what is turning out to be a bumper year!
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Another anthology from the great British Library Tales of the Weird series, the theme of this one is how horror writers played with all the new communications technology coming into use in the early part of the twentieth century, examining society’s anxieties about how these would change the world as they knew it. From photographs to movies, from telephones to the telegraph, from phonographs to radio to TV – all technologies we take for granted today but which were revolutionary when they were introduced. And the horror writers of the day used them with great imagination, showing how the ghosties and ghoulies of the time mastered these technologies as tools to boost their scariness to the poor victims of their hauntings!
There are seventeen stories in the book, and the mix of authors is interesting. There are perhaps fewer than usual of the biggest names, though Lovecraft is there; some that are better known, to me at least, in other genres, such as Bernard Capes and Rudyard Kipling; and lots I’ve never come across before. The more I read of these anthologies, the more I realise that their success or failure is largely dependent on the compatibility of the editor and the reader, and is therefore quite subjective. There are a few editors I look forward to eagerly, and Aaron Worth is high on that list. I find his choice of stories always works particularly well for me, and I always enjoy his informative introductions even in the shortened form the format of this series dictates. So, in short, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection! Only three of the stories didn’t work for me – the other fourteen all rated as good, very good or excellent, with eight of them getting the full five stars.
Here’s a flavour of a few of the ones I most enjoyed:
Poor Lucy Rivers by Bernard Capes – Our narrator is a doctor, One day he’s in a typewriter shop when a young woman comes in to request that the shop exchange a second-hand typewriter she’d bought there a week or so ago. She explains there’s nothing wrong with the machine but she simply wants a different one. The shop owner pretends to give her a different machine but in fact cheats her into taking the same one again. The doctor is intrigued, gets the woman’s name from the shop and learns she does typing jobs to earn just enough to keep body and soul together. So he decides to give her a job, as a means of prying into why she has an issue with that particular typewriter. It transpires the problem may be the person who owned the typewriter before – poor Lucy Rivers! Very effective, and it gives a good picture of how typing gave women a means to earn an independent living. Though thankfully not all typewriters are haunted!
Benlian by Oliver Onions – The narrator, Pudgie, makes his living painting miniatures, using photographs as his models. Across the yard from him is Benlian’s studio – he’s a sculptor, and Pudgie doesn’t know him. But one day, Benlian appears and asks Pudgie to photograph him. Pudgie obliges, but the photos turn out fogged and unclear. Pudgie puts this down to the materials he used in the processing and offers to take new photos, and so begins a routine of him photographing Benlian every few days. But over time the photos become odder, and Pudgie gradually learns just exactly what Benlian is trying to do with the sculpture he’s working on. This is an unnerving one, with a chilling ending that is left deliberately ambiguous as we begin to wonder how reliable Pudgie is as a narrator, and just what exactly did happen in Benlian’s studio...
Uncle Phil on TV by JB Priestley – When Uncle Phil dies, the Fleming family inherit £150 insurance money. They decide to buy a TV – a new-fangled invention and horrendously expensive, and with only one channel broadcasting a few hours each evening. Mrs Fleming is the first to spot something rather odd – in the background of the programme she’s watching, she spots someone who looks just like Uncle Phil! Gradually the rest of the family admit that they too keep seeing Uncle Phil, and soon he’s not just in the background – he starts talking to them from the screen or talking to other on-screen characters about them. But why? This is great fun – a little bit of spookiness and lots of humour, and a kind of well-deserved ghostly revenge!
So lots of variety despite the single theme, and everything from light-hearted fun to dark, unsettling and sometimes sad. I also enjoyed the look at very early versions of the various technologies and how they changed the way people lived, creating new opportunities and new forms of entertainment but also adding to the speed and rush of life, and the anxieties that come with that. Another excellent anthology in what is turning out to be a bumper year!
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
July 26, 2022
3.5☆
given how present technology is in our daily lives nowadays, the technology subject to these stories can sometimes appear bizarre just based on how removed it is from our time. it is interesting to see what people's anxieties around the time were related to and how they compare to ours.
that being said, a line from "the devil's fantasia" by bernard capes:
what an accidentally accurate prediction of twitter from a time when the internet was not even invented yet.
favourite stories: "wireless" by rudyard kipling, "poor lucy rivers" by bernard capes,"benlian" by oliver onions, "the statement of randolph carter" by h.p. lovecraft, "the wind in the woods" by bessie kyffin-taylor, "the night wire" by h.f. arnold, "the found my grave" by marjorie bowen (who is also a pleasure as a feature), "uncle phil on tv" by j.b. priestey and "the telephone" by mary treadgold.
given how present technology is in our daily lives nowadays, the technology subject to these stories can sometimes appear bizarre just based on how removed it is from our time. it is interesting to see what people's anxieties around the time were related to and how they compare to ours.
that being said, a line from "the devil's fantasia" by bernard capes:
"signor marconi," said i, "is confident that in a little while new york and land's end will be able to talk together without the need for wires."
"the whole world will be one whispering-gallery," said george. "if you sit here, johnny, an turn a deaf ear to me -- as you very often do -- i shall only have to show you my back, and speak a matter of twenty-three thousand miles into your other ear."
(...)
"i wish it was signor what's-his-name's theory exploded," said [lucy] quite plaintively. "(...) i must say i think this world is going to be made a detestable place for people who don't want to know everything."
what an accidentally accurate prediction of twitter from a time when the internet was not even invented yet.
favourite stories: "wireless" by rudyard kipling, "poor lucy rivers" by bernard capes,"benlian" by oliver onions, "the statement of randolph carter" by h.p. lovecraft, "the wind in the woods" by bessie kyffin-taylor, "the night wire" by h.f. arnold, "the found my grave" by marjorie bowen (who is also a pleasure as a feature), "uncle phil on tv" by j.b. priestey and "the telephone" by mary treadgold.
August 12, 2024
"He stands there always, always facing me"
Ended up really liking the collection, some amazing stories, great introductions and curation.
Definitely enjoyed the stories more on average as the book went on, I think a turning point was "Signals", from then on they got really good and some real gems. (Although the previous stories were also good, "Benlian" was a highlight of the first few stories.)
I find it can sometimes be hard for fictional horror to be truly scary, either leaving too much or too little to the imagination. But a lot of stories here found this balance really well, genuine creepiness especially from "Signals" by Stefan Grabinski, "The Night Wire" by H.F. Arnold, "Uncle Phil on TV" by J.B. Priestley, and most of all the bizarre nature of the transmission in "Surprise Item" by H. Russell Wakefield which really gave me chills!
Very cool seeing the way that technology was looked at when new, some of which we are now very familiar with and some of which has evolved far beyond the form it took in these tales.
A great introduction to a lot of new authors, intrigued to see what else some of these writers have created.
Some quotes I liked:
"I will premise by saying that my narrative deals with the correlation of forces and the production of ghosts"
"This world is going to be made a detestable place for people who don't want to know everything"
"He talked a lot about 'hyper-space', whatever that is"
"Most probably someone will hit upon the right signs by accident and draw out the train from the fourth dimension to the earth"
"The fog is not simply vapour - it lives! By the side of each moaning and weeping human is a companion figure, an aura of strange and vari-coloured hues"
"'Never mind about how on earth'"
Ended up really liking the collection, some amazing stories, great introductions and curation.
Definitely enjoyed the stories more on average as the book went on, I think a turning point was "Signals", from then on they got really good and some real gems. (Although the previous stories were also good, "Benlian" was a highlight of the first few stories.)
I find it can sometimes be hard for fictional horror to be truly scary, either leaving too much or too little to the imagination. But a lot of stories here found this balance really well, genuine creepiness especially from "Signals" by Stefan Grabinski, "The Night Wire" by H.F. Arnold, "Uncle Phil on TV" by J.B. Priestley, and most of all the bizarre nature of the transmission in "Surprise Item" by H. Russell Wakefield which really gave me chills!
Very cool seeing the way that technology was looked at when new, some of which we are now very familiar with and some of which has evolved far beyond the form it took in these tales.
A great introduction to a lot of new authors, intrigued to see what else some of these writers have created.
Some quotes I liked:
"I will premise by saying that my narrative deals with the correlation of forces and the production of ghosts"
"This world is going to be made a detestable place for people who don't want to know everything"
"He talked a lot about 'hyper-space', whatever that is"
"Most probably someone will hit upon the right signs by accident and draw out the train from the fourth dimension to the earth"
"The fog is not simply vapour - it lives! By the side of each moaning and weeping human is a companion figure, an aura of strange and vari-coloured hues"
"'Never mind about how on earth'"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 26, 2024
Another excellent collection from this series. Quality can sometimes vary, but there wasn't one I disliked about these. Deliciously spooky, it made even reading them in the sunroom in the middle of summer seem atmospheric. It's so much fun seeing what used to spook people about technology in this era -- from the 1800s to the 1950s -- and it's also a lot of fun to compare what's different and what's stayed the same. I remember being a teenager and absolutely devouring all the new versions of this old fear, reading countless creepy stories about cursed webpages and YouTube videos; watching the rise of the alternate reality game in internet format. Technology is a brilliant way of not only exploring new stories but also as a medium to tell them, and it's nice to see that our ancestors were playing with the same ideas and getting their spooks from the same places. I wonder what a collection like this will look like in another fifty to one hundred years?
Excellent selection by the editor. This is a really solid and highly enjoyable selection that showcases the best of the genre.
Excellent selection by the editor. This is a really solid and highly enjoyable selection that showcases the best of the genre.
January 26, 2023
One of the themed anthologies in the British Library series, this collection takes its cue from the observation that modern media and communications were taking off just as the golden age of the ghost story in English was starting to wind down. What we have is a selection of British, American and European tales inspired by the supernatural possibilities of the telegraph, radio, x-rays, film and television and so on, and some of them very good indeed. The titular story and J B Priestley’s ‘Uncle Phil on TV’ (a more humorous take on the dynamics of ‘An Inspector Calls’) are personal highlights.
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January 2, 2023loved this, what a great premise for a collection. I think Unseen, Unfeared and The Night Wire have to be my two favourites. I enjoyed all the stories despite having a pretty much non-existent grasp on technology from any era - even today's, which made everything somewhat more frightening.
May 11, 2023
One of the best collections of these twilight zone-like stories yet. As I’ve a history in broadcasting, I suspected I’d enjoy this one. Stories of the weird and surreal in telephone, telegraphs, radio, gramophones, and TV broadcasts. Some spooky, some odd, all entertaining.
November 14, 2024
the first story was a bit of a stinker and almost put me off, but i'm glad i stuck with it! a gallimaufry of wondrous and weird.
the titular night wire was a stand-out--other favourites of mine were the wind in the woods, signals, and the telephone. recommended :)
the titular night wire was a stand-out--other favourites of mine were the wind in the woods, signals, and the telephone. recommended :)
February 11, 2023
The first three and Benlian was really interesting
November 14, 2023
The only two stories I could pay attention to were "Röntgen's Curse" & "The Wind in the Woods"
June 28, 2024
Really interesting, especially from a historical perspective.
October 31, 2025
As always a mixed bag of short stories, but some really memorable ones, including The Night Wire, The Wind in the Woods, and Uncle Phil on TV.
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January 18, 2024Favourites:
- The Eidoloscope by Robert Duncan Milne (1890)
- Röntgen's Curse by Charles Crosthwaite (1896)
- Poor Lucy Rivers by Bernard Capes (1906)
- Benlian by Oliver Onions (1911)
- Signals by Stefan Grabinski (1919)
- The Night Wire by H.F. Arnold (1926)
- They Found My Grave by Marjorie Bowen (1938)
- Uncle Phil on TV by JB Priestley (1953)
- The Eidoloscope by Robert Duncan Milne (1890)
- Röntgen's Curse by Charles Crosthwaite (1896)
- Poor Lucy Rivers by Bernard Capes (1906)
- Benlian by Oliver Onions (1911)
- Signals by Stefan Grabinski (1919)
- The Night Wire by H.F. Arnold (1926)
- They Found My Grave by Marjorie Bowen (1938)
- Uncle Phil on TV by JB Priestley (1953)
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews