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Half in Shadow
Mary Elizabeth Counselman's "Three Marked Pennies" was one of the most popular stories ever to appear in the pages of Weird Tales magazine, and the work subsequently has become an acknowledged classic of American literature. Together with C.L. Moore, Miss Counselman was Weird Tales's preeminent female author, and this collection preserves her finest supernatural fiction written over a period of forty years, including: "The Three Marked Pennies," "The Unwanted," "The Shot-Tower Ghost," "Night Court," "The Monkey Spoons," "The Smiling Face," "A Death Crown for Mr. Hapworthy," "The Black Stone Statue," "Seventh Sister," "Parasite Mansion," "The Green Window," "The Tree's Wife," "Twister," and "A Handful of Silver."
212 pages, Hardcover
Published May 28, 1978
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383 people want to read
About the author
Mary Elizabeth Counselman
79 books16 followersMary Elizabeth Counselman was an American writer of short stories and poetry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_El...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_El...
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 26, 2018
One of the most popular short stories ever to appear in Weird Tales was 'The Three Marked Pennies', written by Mary Elizabeth Counselman (1911~1995) and published in 1934. Counselman began writing at an early age, and her work appeared in several magazines, including Weird Tales, The Saturday Evening Post, and Good Housekeeping.
I collect William Kimber books. I started buying them a little while back because I like the colourful jacket designs by Ionicus. In 1980, William Kimber published Half in Shadow, a collection of fourteen stories by Counselman. In addition to a preface by the author, it contains: The Three Marked Pennies, The Unwanted, The Shot-Tower Ghost, Night Court, The Monkey Spoons, The Smiling Face, A Death Crown for Mr Hapworthy, The Black Stone Statue, Seventh Sister, Para-site Mansion, The Green Window, The Tree's Wife, Twister, A Handful of silver.
The tales in this collection range from rather gentle to downright disturbing. The supernatural forces in some of the tales mean no harm, such as 'The Unwanted', 'The Shot-Tower Ghost', 'The Tree's Wife' and 'A Death Crown for Mr Hapworthy'. The supernatural force in 'The Green Window' is prophetic in nature, whereas that attached to 'The Monkey Spoons' actually brings about tragedy. 'Seventh Sister', on the other hand, is a very sad story about a black albino child who is feared and neglected from birth because she has 'the Power'.
Four of the stories really stand out, one of which is the first in the collection, 'The Three Marked Pennies'. In it, the town of Branton is buzzing with excitement following the appearance of strange little signs, typed on yellow paper. The signs explain that on the 15th of April three pennies will appear. One will be marked with a cross, one with a circle and one with a square. Whoever still owned these pennies on the 21st of the same month will receive a prize: a first prize of a thousand dollars in cash, a second prize of a trip around the world, or the third prize... death. It's such a simple tale, but so clever. I can see why it was so popular when it appeared in Weird Tales.
Click here to read the rest of the review...
I collect William Kimber books. I started buying them a little while back because I like the colourful jacket designs by Ionicus. In 1980, William Kimber published Half in Shadow, a collection of fourteen stories by Counselman. In addition to a preface by the author, it contains: The Three Marked Pennies, The Unwanted, The Shot-Tower Ghost, Night Court, The Monkey Spoons, The Smiling Face, A Death Crown for Mr Hapworthy, The Black Stone Statue, Seventh Sister, Para-site Mansion, The Green Window, The Tree's Wife, Twister, A Handful of silver.
The tales in this collection range from rather gentle to downright disturbing. The supernatural forces in some of the tales mean no harm, such as 'The Unwanted', 'The Shot-Tower Ghost', 'The Tree's Wife' and 'A Death Crown for Mr Hapworthy'. The supernatural force in 'The Green Window' is prophetic in nature, whereas that attached to 'The Monkey Spoons' actually brings about tragedy. 'Seventh Sister', on the other hand, is a very sad story about a black albino child who is feared and neglected from birth because she has 'the Power'.
Four of the stories really stand out, one of which is the first in the collection, 'The Three Marked Pennies'. In it, the town of Branton is buzzing with excitement following the appearance of strange little signs, typed on yellow paper. The signs explain that on the 15th of April three pennies will appear. One will be marked with a cross, one with a circle and one with a square. Whoever still owned these pennies on the 21st of the same month will receive a prize: a first prize of a thousand dollars in cash, a second prize of a trip around the world, or the third prize... death. It's such a simple tale, but so clever. I can see why it was so popular when it appeared in Weird Tales.
Click here to read the rest of the review...
November 4, 2015
In my review of Jessie Douglas Kerruish's "The Undying Monster," I warned readers away from the British publishing outfit known as Flame Tree 451, because of the company's slapdash manner of proofreading and editing its products. But just as there are some publishers that should be avoided, there exist others whose books might be safely recommended just by virtue of the company's imprint itself. Such a one, for me, is Arkham House, which, for 76 years now, has shown infinite care in the production of its publications. Originally founded in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to preserve the legacy of H.P. Lovecraft, the firm has remained consistent in bringing to market meticulously curated editions, featuring beautiful artwork on the dust jackets, erudite introductions… and nary a typo to be found anywhere. My half dozen or so Arkham editions are all treasures in my personal collection, and I usually jump when I see an old Arkham title on sale for $25 or less… which they rarely are. Happy day for me, then, when I spotted the 1978 Arkham edition of "Half in Shadow," selling for $20 at NYC bookstore extraordinaire The Strand. I grabbed it immediately, even though the author of this short story collection, Mary Elizabeth Counselman, was one I'd never even heard of before. And a smart purchase it was, too, as things have turned out. "Half in Shadow" just happens to be a marvelous collection consisting of 14 eerie pieces, all but one of which originally appeared in that most famous of all pulp magazines, "Weird Tales," from the period 1934 – '53. Most of the stories are in the style known as Southern Gothic, many of them set in northern Alabama, "in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains" (Counselman herself was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1911), and all are exquisitely written little gems. To my great surprise, this is one truly excellent collection of fantastic fiction, from a woman whose definition of "fantasy" is as good a one as any I've ever come across. In her introduction, Counselman tells us that "Fantasy is man's magic key to the creaking door of that Other World that is the misty, imaginary spiritual counterpart of what some choose to call 'broad daylight' in our workaday experience. It is, perhaps, a poet's-eye-view...."
As for the stories themselves, "Half in Shadow" kicks off in a big way with "The Three Marked Pennies." Originally appearing in the 8/34 issue of "Weird Tales," Counselman's first story for the magazine later proved, over the decades, one of the most popular in the publication's history! In it, a small town is notified of a very strange contest that is about to begin. The three persons who are in possession of the three differently marked coins on the morning of April 21 will each receive either $100,000 in cash, a trip around the world, or… death! But how to know which penny (the one with the circle, square or cross) signifies what? This marvelous, allegorical piece builds to a triply ironic ending with nary a wasted word, and has understandably become a perennial favorite.
In "The Unwanted," a female census taker (many of the stories' protagonists ARE, refreshingly, women) in those Blue Ridge foothills encounters a family with no less than 11 children...all of whom the hillbilly Mrs. has seemingly wished into existence! (The initial appearance of this prolific mother, standing "half in Shadow, half in clear mountain sunlight," is one source of the book's title.) This is a sweet and lovely little fantasy, just dripping with Southern atmosphere...the same atmosphere as can be found in "The Shot-Tower Ghost," which takes place at an actual such tower in Wythe County, Virginia. Here, the legend of a Confederate soldier's spirit is used to play a practical joke on a Northern cousin. But as events proceed, it would seem that a new ghostly legend is about to be created in this memorably spooky offering.
Ms. Counselman obviously suffered the loss of someone near and dear to her as the result of a reckless driver, because in "Night Court," such a menace to society, after killing his third innocent victim, is put on trial by the mangled spirits of those who have thus lost their lives. This is easily one of the eeriest tales in the entire collection, culminating with an effective jolt of an ending. (I love that Counselman puts the word "pony tails" in quotes here; this 1953 story appeared only two years after the expression was first used.)
"The Monkey Spoons" is up next, in which a hunchbacked antiques dealer sells a trio of 300-year-old spoons to three young people...spoons that just happen to be cursed, bringing death to their owners. This surprisingly downbeat story again builds to one socko ending.
In "The Smiling Face," a jealous archaeologist in the wilds of Brazil (the REAL Deep South!), laid up with crushed ribs, grows increasingly suspicious of his missing, beautiful wife, and sends a gang of Amazonian tirbesmen to bring her back. But things get a tad "lost in translation" in this horrific tale, easily the grisliest of the bunch.
From the horrific back to the charming, "A Death Crown for Mr. Hapworthy" gives us another collector of antiques; an atheist expert on amulets, talismans and assorted curios. But when Mr. Hapworthy goes to the home of a poor mountain family in his quest to obtain still another treasure, his preconceived notions regarding spirituality are given quite the shake-up, indeed.
Changing her authorial style a bit, Counselman, in "The Black Stone Statue," demonstrates that she could write a tale every bit as pulpy as her "Weird Tales" colleagues. In this one, another explorer in the jungle depths of Brazil captures an alien, star-shaped blob that has been turning the jungle to stone. He manages to capture it and bring it back home, but things don’t go quite as expected, in this deliciously juicy tale.
"Seventh Sister" has been called Counselman's finest story, and it certainly is a beautifully written one. Here, an albino girl is born into a poor black family living on the Alabama-Georgia border. Because she is a seventh sister, the child is deemed to have special abilities and voodoolike powers, but the author manages to keep things deliberately ambiguous, so that the reader is never quite sure whether Seventh Sister (yes, that's what the family has named her) has supernatural leanings or not. Another downbeat ending caps this charming little story, replete with perfectly rendered Southern patois.
"Half in Shadow" next offers up what is, at 30 pages, the longest story in the collection, as well as this reader's personal favorite. In "Parasite Mansion," a student-professor wrecks her car during a rainstorm and is taken in by the residents of a very unusual household: an alcoholic doctor, his homicidal kid brother, a cronelike hag of a grandmother, and a young girl who seems to be the focal point of the Mason family curse: namely, a violently aggressive poltergeist. This spooky story has atmosphere to spare, wonderfully drawn characters, a surprise ending and even a hint of romance; a tour de force by Ms. Counselman. "Parasite Mansion," I might add, was televised in 1960 as one of the episodes of the Boris Karloff-hosted "Thriller" anthology show, and it is a remarkably faithful adaptation, even reproducing entire chunks of dialogue intact. The TV adaptation makes some minor changes to the story (such as some of the characters' names, for some reason, as well as that old crone's ultimate fate) but still makes for one extremely frightening episode of television; the hag makeup on Jeanette Nolan is especially scary! (I am currently in the process of watching all 67 episodes of "Thriller" on DVD and have been loving them, incidentally.) Counselman again writes in true pulp fashion in this one; thus, we are given the line "The wind had risen, whining under the eaves like a leprous beggar." I love it!
Up next in this collection is "The Green Window," in which those haunted panes are reputed to be able to foretell which occupant of a Colonial mansion will die...and how. We meet the modern-day occupants of this abode, who disbelieve and pooh-pooh the old legend...to their regret!
In "The Tree's Wife," a social worker and her female friend (who may well be Mary Elizabeth herself) visit a mountain woman; a single mother whose husband had been killed during their wedding and buried beneath an old white oak. The woman had later been married by the local preacher to the tree as a sort of proxy husband, and now, to the two visitors' stunned disbelief, the tree certainly does seem to exhibit human qualities! Another lovely fantasy, really.
In "Twister," a newlywed couple comes upon a town in which all the residents live in mortal fear of an imminent tornado. And for good reason, as it transpires. A very well-done ghostly outing!
Finally, in "A Handful of Silver" (the only tale here not to have initially appeared in "Weird Tales," this one rather saw its first publication in the 1967 Derleth-edited horror anthology "Travellers By Night"), a woman who is almost certainly the author herself encounters a very unusual man in a bar on Christmas Eve. This short tale ends with yet another fine twist ending as it bids fair to become a Yuletide classic. Perhaps the most unsettling aspect of this story, however, is the notion of our pregnant narrator doing some serious drinking as a regular in that dive bar. Now THAT'S scary!
So there you have it...14 tales of the macabre, ALL of them worthy of being transformed into an old episode of "Thriller" or "The Twilight Zone." A reading of this collection will likely convince anyone that Mary Elizabeth Counselman was indeed a 20th century horror master. I'd love to read more of her work, but this collection, unfortunately, would seem to be all that is immediately obtainable. Guess I'll have to try a little harder. There is supposedly a volume from 1977, called "African Yesterdays"--a collection of her pulpy jungle stories--and another 1978 collection, this one of her newer stories, entitled "New Lamps For Old." I'm on it....
(This review, by the way, initially appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ...a most excellent destination for all fans of this type of Gothic fantasy fare....)
As for the stories themselves, "Half in Shadow" kicks off in a big way with "The Three Marked Pennies." Originally appearing in the 8/34 issue of "Weird Tales," Counselman's first story for the magazine later proved, over the decades, one of the most popular in the publication's history! In it, a small town is notified of a very strange contest that is about to begin. The three persons who are in possession of the three differently marked coins on the morning of April 21 will each receive either $100,000 in cash, a trip around the world, or… death! But how to know which penny (the one with the circle, square or cross) signifies what? This marvelous, allegorical piece builds to a triply ironic ending with nary a wasted word, and has understandably become a perennial favorite.
In "The Unwanted," a female census taker (many of the stories' protagonists ARE, refreshingly, women) in those Blue Ridge foothills encounters a family with no less than 11 children...all of whom the hillbilly Mrs. has seemingly wished into existence! (The initial appearance of this prolific mother, standing "half in Shadow, half in clear mountain sunlight," is one source of the book's title.) This is a sweet and lovely little fantasy, just dripping with Southern atmosphere...the same atmosphere as can be found in "The Shot-Tower Ghost," which takes place at an actual such tower in Wythe County, Virginia. Here, the legend of a Confederate soldier's spirit is used to play a practical joke on a Northern cousin. But as events proceed, it would seem that a new ghostly legend is about to be created in this memorably spooky offering.
Ms. Counselman obviously suffered the loss of someone near and dear to her as the result of a reckless driver, because in "Night Court," such a menace to society, after killing his third innocent victim, is put on trial by the mangled spirits of those who have thus lost their lives. This is easily one of the eeriest tales in the entire collection, culminating with an effective jolt of an ending. (I love that Counselman puts the word "pony tails" in quotes here; this 1953 story appeared only two years after the expression was first used.)
"The Monkey Spoons" is up next, in which a hunchbacked antiques dealer sells a trio of 300-year-old spoons to three young people...spoons that just happen to be cursed, bringing death to their owners. This surprisingly downbeat story again builds to one socko ending.
In "The Smiling Face," a jealous archaeologist in the wilds of Brazil (the REAL Deep South!), laid up with crushed ribs, grows increasingly suspicious of his missing, beautiful wife, and sends a gang of Amazonian tirbesmen to bring her back. But things get a tad "lost in translation" in this horrific tale, easily the grisliest of the bunch.
From the horrific back to the charming, "A Death Crown for Mr. Hapworthy" gives us another collector of antiques; an atheist expert on amulets, talismans and assorted curios. But when Mr. Hapworthy goes to the home of a poor mountain family in his quest to obtain still another treasure, his preconceived notions regarding spirituality are given quite the shake-up, indeed.
Changing her authorial style a bit, Counselman, in "The Black Stone Statue," demonstrates that she could write a tale every bit as pulpy as her "Weird Tales" colleagues. In this one, another explorer in the jungle depths of Brazil captures an alien, star-shaped blob that has been turning the jungle to stone. He manages to capture it and bring it back home, but things don’t go quite as expected, in this deliciously juicy tale.
"Seventh Sister" has been called Counselman's finest story, and it certainly is a beautifully written one. Here, an albino girl is born into a poor black family living on the Alabama-Georgia border. Because she is a seventh sister, the child is deemed to have special abilities and voodoolike powers, but the author manages to keep things deliberately ambiguous, so that the reader is never quite sure whether Seventh Sister (yes, that's what the family has named her) has supernatural leanings or not. Another downbeat ending caps this charming little story, replete with perfectly rendered Southern patois.
"Half in Shadow" next offers up what is, at 30 pages, the longest story in the collection, as well as this reader's personal favorite. In "Parasite Mansion," a student-professor wrecks her car during a rainstorm and is taken in by the residents of a very unusual household: an alcoholic doctor, his homicidal kid brother, a cronelike hag of a grandmother, and a young girl who seems to be the focal point of the Mason family curse: namely, a violently aggressive poltergeist. This spooky story has atmosphere to spare, wonderfully drawn characters, a surprise ending and even a hint of romance; a tour de force by Ms. Counselman. "Parasite Mansion," I might add, was televised in 1960 as one of the episodes of the Boris Karloff-hosted "Thriller" anthology show, and it is a remarkably faithful adaptation, even reproducing entire chunks of dialogue intact. The TV adaptation makes some minor changes to the story (such as some of the characters' names, for some reason, as well as that old crone's ultimate fate) but still makes for one extremely frightening episode of television; the hag makeup on Jeanette Nolan is especially scary! (I am currently in the process of watching all 67 episodes of "Thriller" on DVD and have been loving them, incidentally.) Counselman again writes in true pulp fashion in this one; thus, we are given the line "The wind had risen, whining under the eaves like a leprous beggar." I love it!
Up next in this collection is "The Green Window," in which those haunted panes are reputed to be able to foretell which occupant of a Colonial mansion will die...and how. We meet the modern-day occupants of this abode, who disbelieve and pooh-pooh the old legend...to their regret!
In "The Tree's Wife," a social worker and her female friend (who may well be Mary Elizabeth herself) visit a mountain woman; a single mother whose husband had been killed during their wedding and buried beneath an old white oak. The woman had later been married by the local preacher to the tree as a sort of proxy husband, and now, to the two visitors' stunned disbelief, the tree certainly does seem to exhibit human qualities! Another lovely fantasy, really.
In "Twister," a newlywed couple comes upon a town in which all the residents live in mortal fear of an imminent tornado. And for good reason, as it transpires. A very well-done ghostly outing!
Finally, in "A Handful of Silver" (the only tale here not to have initially appeared in "Weird Tales," this one rather saw its first publication in the 1967 Derleth-edited horror anthology "Travellers By Night"), a woman who is almost certainly the author herself encounters a very unusual man in a bar on Christmas Eve. This short tale ends with yet another fine twist ending as it bids fair to become a Yuletide classic. Perhaps the most unsettling aspect of this story, however, is the notion of our pregnant narrator doing some serious drinking as a regular in that dive bar. Now THAT'S scary!
So there you have it...14 tales of the macabre, ALL of them worthy of being transformed into an old episode of "Thriller" or "The Twilight Zone." A reading of this collection will likely convince anyone that Mary Elizabeth Counselman was indeed a 20th century horror master. I'd love to read more of her work, but this collection, unfortunately, would seem to be all that is immediately obtainable. Guess I'll have to try a little harder. There is supposedly a volume from 1977, called "African Yesterdays"--a collection of her pulpy jungle stories--and another 1978 collection, this one of her newer stories, entitled "New Lamps For Old." I'm on it....
(This review, by the way, initially appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ...a most excellent destination for all fans of this type of Gothic fantasy fare....)
March 5, 2021
Long long ago I'd read a story titled The Tree's Wife by Mary Elizabeth Counselman as part of The Supernatural Reader. Now, I'm a self confessed fan of the paranormal and supernatural, anything ghostly pulling me with its misty ephemeral fingers in its direction with an insistence I can never ignore. Recently I tried to look up that collection but failed to find the same. However I did come across mentions of the Weird Tales publications, periodicals brimming with the finest writing of the masters of the genre like Poe, Lovecraft and a few other not so famous ones.
Mary Elizabeth Counselman was one of the few ladies contributing frequently to Weird Tales and I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of her anthologies, Half in Shadow. As the name suggests, these are stories that exist at the boundaries; that undefined vague continuum which exists at the merging of space, time, faith and hard cold logic.
There are fourteen stories in the collection ranging from weird to bizarre, poignant to terrifying, but all of them with an element of the supernatural, sometimes sweet and sometimes bordering on the sinister.
The opening story The Three Pennies is perhaps the most famous of all. Three pennies, marked with a circle, a square and a cross are mysteriously sent to a town, the finders and keepers to receive untold wealth, a round the world trip and death respectively, only they have to correctly guess which one harbours which prize. The wrong answer results in death. So what will the finders of each penny do?
There are a few stories which have ghosts but aren't very scary. The Tree's Wife, The Unwanted, The Night Court are all sweet stories with ghosts. There are a few which are mostly paranormal like The Green Window. Some like The Smiling Face, The Monkey Spoons and The Black Stone Statue are downright sinister. The collection is eclectic, interesting and manages to hold attention till its last weird tale.
Mary Elizabeth Counselman was one of the few ladies contributing frequently to Weird Tales and I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of her anthologies, Half in Shadow. As the name suggests, these are stories that exist at the boundaries; that undefined vague continuum which exists at the merging of space, time, faith and hard cold logic.
There are fourteen stories in the collection ranging from weird to bizarre, poignant to terrifying, but all of them with an element of the supernatural, sometimes sweet and sometimes bordering on the sinister.
The opening story The Three Pennies is perhaps the most famous of all. Three pennies, marked with a circle, a square and a cross are mysteriously sent to a town, the finders and keepers to receive untold wealth, a round the world trip and death respectively, only they have to correctly guess which one harbours which prize. The wrong answer results in death. So what will the finders of each penny do?
There are a few stories which have ghosts but aren't very scary. The Tree's Wife, The Unwanted, The Night Court are all sweet stories with ghosts. There are a few which are mostly paranormal like The Green Window. Some like The Smiling Face, The Monkey Spoons and The Black Stone Statue are downright sinister. The collection is eclectic, interesting and manages to hold attention till its last weird tale.
December 1, 2019
After reading MONSTER SHE WROTE by Kroger and Anderson, I decided I needed to hunt down this woman from Alabama who published a pile of stories in Weird Tales. This was quite worth the time.
I love that Counselman wrote several precursors to “Needful Things” – one is “The Devil’s Lottery” (not in this collection) while the best is “The Three Marked Pennies.” Lottery has a lot more backstabbing and turmoil, while Pennies is a much tighter narrative. I love a good monster story and a story that nails the ending. “The Black Stone Statue” accomplished both. “The Monkey Spoons” is delightfully droll, a lot of fun, and the closing is killer! “A Handful of Silver” was a story about the Wandering Jew that was delightfully populated by a cast of dive bar regulars who would be welcome at Cheers.
“The Unwanted” was an unexpected and fascinating bit of relatively unbigoted pro-life pro-faith fiction that manages to avoid being ham-fisted. Bonus points for a southern female author portraying the south in an unterrible fashion. I am really happy this story exists.
Counselman loves drivers who get pulled into another realm. “Night Court” is one with a thoroughly unlikeable protagonist that shows off 50’s car culture, yet reflects that our ability to make selfish excuses for our driving hasn’t evolved significantly over the last century. “Twister” is another for this collection, but “Way Station” is a lot more fun and worth seeking out.
I love that Counselman wrote several precursors to “Needful Things” – one is “The Devil’s Lottery” (not in this collection) while the best is “The Three Marked Pennies.” Lottery has a lot more backstabbing and turmoil, while Pennies is a much tighter narrative. I love a good monster story and a story that nails the ending. “The Black Stone Statue” accomplished both. “The Monkey Spoons” is delightfully droll, a lot of fun, and the closing is killer! “A Handful of Silver” was a story about the Wandering Jew that was delightfully populated by a cast of dive bar regulars who would be welcome at Cheers.
“The Unwanted” was an unexpected and fascinating bit of relatively unbigoted pro-life pro-faith fiction that manages to avoid being ham-fisted. Bonus points for a southern female author portraying the south in an unterrible fashion. I am really happy this story exists.
Counselman loves drivers who get pulled into another realm. “Night Court” is one with a thoroughly unlikeable protagonist that shows off 50’s car culture, yet reflects that our ability to make selfish excuses for our driving hasn’t evolved significantly over the last century. “Twister” is another for this collection, but “Way Station” is a lot more fun and worth seeking out.
Want to read
November 18, 2019PLACEHOLDER REVIEW: Had occasion to read a few things contained herein so, even though I don't have a copy yet...
"Cordona's Skull" - down on his luck predatory magician takes the opportunity to stay with kindly old spirit medium of the title (who performs trick seances and spirit readings for altruistic reasons, using a gimmicked skull), and then takes further advantage when the old man suffers a stroke. But the skull won't stand for it... Nice, quick little yarn - obvious and familiar in its outcome, but the contrast between the well-meaning older Medium and the street-tough magician is nice.
"The Black Stone Statue" - the survivor of a doomed Amazonian jungle expedition returns with a strange trilling box that contains a creature possessing weird properties, which his tenement-dwelling sculptor friend seeks to use for his own advantage. Effective monster yarn - the descriptions of the petrified black forest in the depths of the jungle are eerie, and the story's turn from adventure yarn to predatory artist scheme to a surprisingly penitent ending are nicely handled.
"The Monkey Spoons" - some gay young things are looking for trinkets to mark their friendship in preparation for an upcoming marriage, and blunder into an antique shop where the cursed titular items are available. As might be expected, things do not go well for them... I enjoyed this - while familiar as a "cursed object" story goes, the reluctance/apologetic mien of the antique dealer, and the central mystery of why the curse takes the form it does, were nicely done.
"Something Old" - a bride-to-be, looking for "something old" on the eve of her nuptials, happens upon an ancient Babylonian ring that, during the honeymoon, leaves her open to a violent visitation and assault by Baal/Bealzebub. Not a bad little yarn, interesting for the elided material, no doubt considered too strong for the time (one would presume she is raped by the spirit, although this is only talked around) but marred by a bit of an info-dump/happily ever after ending.
"Parasite Mansion" - a woman is waylaid (by having her car shot at by a sniper!) and ends up staying overnight at a Southern Mansion where one of the residents is plagued by a violent & destructive poltergeist. This is half Southern Gothic and half paranormal thriller, as popular theories of the time (vis-a-vis parapsychology) inform the solution to the "mystery" - ambitious but pulpy, not bad but not great.
"Cordona's Skull" - down on his luck predatory magician takes the opportunity to stay with kindly old spirit medium of the title (who performs trick seances and spirit readings for altruistic reasons, using a gimmicked skull), and then takes further advantage when the old man suffers a stroke. But the skull won't stand for it... Nice, quick little yarn - obvious and familiar in its outcome, but the contrast between the well-meaning older Medium and the street-tough magician is nice.
"The Black Stone Statue" - the survivor of a doomed Amazonian jungle expedition returns with a strange trilling box that contains a creature possessing weird properties, which his tenement-dwelling sculptor friend seeks to use for his own advantage. Effective monster yarn - the descriptions of the petrified black forest in the depths of the jungle are eerie, and the story's turn from adventure yarn to predatory artist scheme to a surprisingly penitent ending are nicely handled.
"The Monkey Spoons" - some gay young things are looking for trinkets to mark their friendship in preparation for an upcoming marriage, and blunder into an antique shop where the cursed titular items are available. As might be expected, things do not go well for them... I enjoyed this - while familiar as a "cursed object" story goes, the reluctance/apologetic mien of the antique dealer, and the central mystery of why the curse takes the form it does, were nicely done.
"Something Old" - a bride-to-be, looking for "something old" on the eve of her nuptials, happens upon an ancient Babylonian ring that, during the honeymoon, leaves her open to a violent visitation and assault by Baal/Bealzebub. Not a bad little yarn, interesting for the elided material, no doubt considered too strong for the time (one would presume she is raped by the spirit, although this is only talked around) but marred by a bit of an info-dump/happily ever after ending.
"Parasite Mansion" - a woman is waylaid (by having her car shot at by a sniper!) and ends up staying overnight at a Southern Mansion where one of the residents is plagued by a violent & destructive poltergeist. This is half Southern Gothic and half paranormal thriller, as popular theories of the time (vis-a-vis parapsychology) inform the solution to the "mystery" - ambitious but pulpy, not bad but not great.
June 7, 2020
Now that Howard P. Lovecraft is the beginning and the end of Weird fiction(according to critics/fans) lets remember that there others writers for the Weird Tales magazine. There was Seabury Quinn, Robert Bloch, Robert E Howard, Mandy Wade Wellman and Mary Elizabeth Counselman. In this collection of her supernatural fiction the reader is taken the deep South of mountain haunts, roads that lead to fear, cursed heirlooms, love that guards a family and not a mention of Lovecraft's beasties in sight.
How here a few of favorites-THE UNWANTED-a census taker discovers a mother's love can be unearthly.
NIGHT COURT-a young man's reckless driving brings him to the gruesome Night Court to decide his fate.
TREE'S WIFE-a mountain feud leaves a young man dead, but love stills protect the widow and child.
Parasite Mansion-a teacher is held captive in a decaying mansion, but is able to solve a mystery that has haunts a family for three generations.
and finally-SEVENTH SISTER-a story that packs a emotional punch. It is a tragic tale of a child and misdirected magic.
There are many other stories that entertain the reader, her words create a atmosphere of past days.
How here a few of favorites-THE UNWANTED-a census taker discovers a mother's love can be unearthly.
NIGHT COURT-a young man's reckless driving brings him to the gruesome Night Court to decide his fate.
TREE'S WIFE-a mountain feud leaves a young man dead, but love stills protect the widow and child.
Parasite Mansion-a teacher is held captive in a decaying mansion, but is able to solve a mystery that has haunts a family for three generations.
and finally-SEVENTH SISTER-a story that packs a emotional punch. It is a tragic tale of a child and misdirected magic.
There are many other stories that entertain the reader, her words create a atmosphere of past days.
November 22, 2021
This book contains fourteen lost gems of strange and weird literature.
I guess people must have gone ga-ga over the author's exquisite writing and simply jaw-dropping plots when these stories had first come out. But I don't find her works being discussed in various conventions. Neither do I find her works in new paperbacks. Infact, her works are rather difficult to find these days, for reasons unknown.
If you can get hold of this beautiful hardcover from Arkham House, you would share my surprise. In the process you would also appreciate her best works.
Highly recommended.
I guess people must have gone ga-ga over the author's exquisite writing and simply jaw-dropping plots when these stories had first come out. But I don't find her works being discussed in various conventions. Neither do I find her works in new paperbacks. Infact, her works are rather difficult to find these days, for reasons unknown.
If you can get hold of this beautiful hardcover from Arkham House, you would share my surprise. In the process you would also appreciate her best works.
Highly recommended.
August 14, 2014
These are some creepy little stories, Southern Gothics obviously written for the pulp magazines, but smacking of Truman Capote's earlier stuff (think Other Voices, Other Rooms) or Carson McCullers' The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. These stories mostly involve the supernatural and people getting their comeuppance. If you enjoy Lovecraft, R.E. Howard, or Clark Ashton Smith, you should love these creepy short stories.
April 2, 2016
I picked up the book because I liked the house on the cover, but this was a strange little book with Twilight Zone type of stories and so not something that I would normally read. Still it was interesting.
October 19, 2021
I feel like, at some point, a Lovecraft fan must buy books from Arkham House, directly; you must throw your offering into the coffer of the company that made Lovecraft a name. I had some extra money at Christmas time and bought 4 books, completely at random, just based on their descriptions on the site. One such book was a compact short-story hardcover in a hideous lime green called Half in Shadow.
Ghost stories are my first love. As a kid I would read books with titles like "100 Chilling Ghost Stories" or "The Best Ghost Tales" and I would, at ages in the single digits, read stories by people like Poe or M. R. James—stories I couldn't have possibly understood fully at this age, with their dense text and archaic language. Nonetheless, I loved them.
This collection has a couple things I really enjoy, things that live deep in my bones. Not only are their ghosts, but their are helpful and not-entirely-malicious ghosts. The stories also have a moral slant, and classic moral/cautionary horror is something I love. There is a charm to it like no other.
A big praise I have for this book is how short some of these stories are, but they still manage to hit home. Most of them are in the 10-20 page range, and the formatting seems large. I don't think there's any higher mark of a good writer than one that can deliver in a tiny story.
Overall: Safe, old-fashioned, straight-forward, comfortingly predictable, effective, competently-written Southern Gothic horror stories of a classic sort.
My only complaint is some dated mid-century racial terminology and depictions. This stain starts to grow more prevalent in the second half of the book. Bumpkins are common characters in these stories, but the white ones have a down-homey charm while the black one's are just trashy. Seventh Sister—a story filled with deplorable albino superstition—being the peak of the problem. I could have done without that story, not just for its awful racism but for the large amount of incoherent dialogue in southern drawl (I had to Google a number of terms in this book). If you can look past this unfortunate aspect, it's a worthwhile collection.
Ghost stories are my first love. As a kid I would read books with titles like "100 Chilling Ghost Stories" or "The Best Ghost Tales" and I would, at ages in the single digits, read stories by people like Poe or M. R. James—stories I couldn't have possibly understood fully at this age, with their dense text and archaic language. Nonetheless, I loved them.
This collection has a couple things I really enjoy, things that live deep in my bones. Not only are their ghosts, but their are helpful and not-entirely-malicious ghosts. The stories also have a moral slant, and classic moral/cautionary horror is something I love. There is a charm to it like no other.
A big praise I have for this book is how short some of these stories are, but they still manage to hit home. Most of them are in the 10-20 page range, and the formatting seems large. I don't think there's any higher mark of a good writer than one that can deliver in a tiny story.
Overall: Safe, old-fashioned, straight-forward, comfortingly predictable, effective, competently-written Southern Gothic horror stories of a classic sort.
My only complaint is some dated mid-century racial terminology and depictions. This stain starts to grow more prevalent in the second half of the book. Bumpkins are common characters in these stories, but the white ones have a down-homey charm while the black one's are just trashy. Seventh Sister—a story filled with deplorable albino superstition—being the peak of the problem. I could have done without that story, not just for its awful racism but for the large amount of incoherent dialogue in southern drawl (I had to Google a number of terms in this book). If you can look past this unfortunate aspect, it's a worthwhile collection.
August 18, 2021
In the preface to this collection Counselman says that she does not come from the weird tale school of Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, but rather that of Seabury Quinn and August Derleth. It shows. "The Black Stone Statue" and "The Tree's Wife" are the only satisfactory stories in this collection, and that's because both are energetically and unapologetically pulpy. Many of the others have glimpses of promise, frequently springing from Counselman's finely observed Southern settings. But they always collapse under the weight of belaboured plotting, one dimensional characters, extremely tedious moralizing, or a mix of all three. "Twister" is a good example: a story that could've been a nice tight ghost tale puts all its energy behind an endlessly drawn out central mystery that's obvious two pages in. "Parasite Manor" descends into cod psychology that was already old hat when it was published. Putting the racism of its characterizations to one side, "Seventh Sister" has a curious (and repellent) moral lesson about unbaptized children. In short, she has a tale or two worth anthologizing, but the rest are for historians of the genre only.
April 1, 2024
This book is fantastic! It's quite niche though, so don't go in thinking it will be just any collection of stories, they are weird stories. But, if you are into that, then it is fantastic and I really enjoyed it. A few cliches here and there but in all its really well put together and well written. The actual plot of the short stories are very original and very interesting, especially the one regarding the Rio Das Mortes in Brazil.
November 4, 2025
These stories, all of which first appeared in the magazine Weird Tales, are all at the least engaging, and at their best, thought provoking. The author excels at a descriptive narrative, but slips occasionally with dialogue, which at times is almost stilted. But the overall effect is one of having been taken on a good journey by a very good writer.
December 22, 2022
Counselman wields a uniquely American southern gothic voice in these spooky shorts. There is nothing original here in plotting, but the rural earnestness in evidence is still fresh and invigorating.
March 2, 2017
A rather fine collection of tales from Arkham House in the 'Southern Gothic' mode. Counselman is a fine writer, and her stories are instantly engaging. The best yarns here, like 'Seventh Sister', shine with the authentic touch of southern dialects, lore and legend. It was somewhat marred by language which seems rather racist to a 21st century reader, but was inherent in the life of the deep south during the era in which these tales were produced.
Want to read
June 14, 2025Read so far:
*The three marked pennies
Cordona's skull
The lens
*The black stone statue
*Mommy
The green window
A death crown for Mr. Hapworthy
The prism of truth
*Something old
*The unwanted
The tree's wife --3
The Bonan of Baladewa
The monkey spoons
Gleason's calendar
***
The accursed isle
The cat-woman
The house of shadows --2
Night court
Seventh sister
*The three marked pennies
Cordona's skull
The lens
*The black stone statue
*Mommy
The green window
A death crown for Mr. Hapworthy
The prism of truth
*Something old
*The unwanted
The tree's wife --3
The Bonan of Baladewa
The monkey spoons
Gleason's calendar
***
The accursed isle
The cat-woman
The house of shadows --2
Night court
Seventh sister
July 21, 2012
This was a nice little collection of weird tales.
June 16, 2024
“The Three Marked Pennies”—Pennywise or pennyfoolish, people are led around by their noses with coin metal rings of their own making.
Read
February 4, 20165 stars from Sandy: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
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