赤い館

by H.R. Wakefield

H. R. Wakefield was one of the most popular ghost-story writers of the early 20th century. 'The Red Lodge' is arguably his greatest tale, and a classic of the haunted house genre. Many of the earliest ghost stories and tales of hauntings, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

An artist, his wife and their young son rent a place for a long vacation where they begin to feel a dark presence. Their son sees a “green monkey” in the nearby river that terrifies him, the wife glimpses people in the house where there should be none, and the husband senses three evil specters psychically tugging at him to open a window at night to look upon them. This is a wonderfully atmospheric ghost story filled with dread for the evil that infects the lodge. A true classic!

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Christmas, Classics, Ghosts, Gothic

Paperback

First published January 1, 1928

About the author

Herbert Russell Wakefield was an English short story writer, novelist, publisher, and civil servant. Wakefield is best known for his ghost stories, but he produced work outside the field. He was greatly interested in the criminal mind and wrote two non-fiction criminology studies

Used These Alternate Names: H.R. Wakefield, H. Russell Wakefield, Рассел Уэйкфилд?, Herbert Russell Wakefield, Herbert R. Wakefield, Henry Russell Wakefield, Henry R. Wakefield, Sir H. Russell Wakefield, Horace Russell Wakefield

Reviews

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked this story, even though i really wanted it to be anachronistic Twin Peaks fanfic.

my brain is broken and refuses to allow me the thrill of being scared by books, so when i do read scary things (always hoping, hoping), there’s gotta be something there that hooks me beyond the flat-observations of, “oh, here is where i should be feeling terror. thanks, brain.” and it can be anything - an unusual supernatural adversary, a prolonged ambiguity about “is it ghosts or is it maaaaadness?” or some kind of literary jazz hands putting the horror in metaphorror. no, wait, subtracting the ‘horror’ from metaphor-ror. i am as lousy at math as i am at wordplay.

anyway.

it’s a haunted house story, and one of the first things that worked for me was how the house introduced itself as haunted - not as a big crumbling gothic with a spotty reputation and well-advertised deaths, but more eerily:

My first vague, faint uncertainty came to me so soon as I had crossed the threshold. I am a painter by profession, and therefore sharply responsive to colour tone. Well, it was a brilliantly fine day, the hall of the Red Lodge was fully lighted, yet it seemed a shade off the key, as it were, as though I were regarding it through a pair of slightly darkened glasses. Only a painter would have noticed it, I fancy.

not a scary cliché, but something slightly off. and that keeps me invested in a spooky tale more than stairs what creak and windowpanes what rattle.

the house’s next big move is leaving deposits of green slime all over the place. but not like this:



less silly than slimer, more ominous than many of the other stories in this series. there’s good intensifying atmosphere here. even if you’re not broken in the same way i am broken, it’s not going to be NSFU BC U R GOING 2 P (in which that first 'U’ stands for ‘underpants’), but it’s smooth, it has a nice reveal, a little action, A GREEN MONKEY, and i like the final doorslam. "AND STAY OUT!", sez ghosties.

regarding this series: i've really been charmed by all the synopses on the backs of these books. i may go back and add them into the reviews, because that olde-timey sensationalist copy in all-caps seth-font makes me smile every time.

WHAT CAUSED THE DROWNINGS OF SO MANY PREVIOUS OCCUPANTS? WHAT DARK PRESENCE LURKS IN THE RIVER? WHY HAS THE SON GROWN SULLEN AND AFRAID?

good stuff.

a final note on color: i recently learned from watching Eli Roth’s History of Horror, via robert englund, that the red and green stripes on freddy krueger’s sweater were chosen specifically because they are apparently the most upsetting colors for the human eye to process together. they are also the colors of green pond slime on a maroon rug, upsetting the painter-narrator in this story. they are also the traditional colors of christmas.

ho-ho-horror.

yeah, the wordplay’s not going to improve. and i’m not even a little bit sorry.

mission statement copied from my review for One Who Saw

this holiday season, i am going to read through 'seth's christmas ghost stories' line on biblioasis, and i encourage you to do the same. the books are so cute and tiny, you can stuff someone's stocking or dreidel with 'em! the cover art and interior illustrations are by seth, and they are seasonally spoooooky, blending the spirit of halloween with christmas cheer the way nature, and jack skellington, intended.

2 more to go!

come to my blog!

[Lizz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t write reviews.

An artist, quite dull of character, but touched with psychic ability, rents a house for his family for the summer. This house is a place of secrets, locked doors and green slime. Top drawer British horror.

[GoldGato · Rating 4 out of 5]

This ghost story by H. Russell Wakefield revolves around a haunted house. Now, I’ve stated before and I will state it again: Some houses have their own personality. People laugh at me because of that belief. They no doubt sneak looks at me, wondering who that odd human is sitting with a book propped up over their eggs benedict at the local café. Imagine believing a house is human, they snicker. Fine. Focus on your kitchen renovations and massive mortgage debt. But I know the truth.

I always know the mood or character of a house. One welcomes you with the tail-writhing enthusiasm of a really nice dog, makes you at home, and at your ease at once. Others are sullen, watchful, hostile, with things to hide. They make you feel that you have obtruded yourself into some curious affairs which are none of your business.

See! Even the author shares the same opinion. I remember one home I looked at with an estate agent, at the end of a cul-de-sac, shaded by a massive redwood and darkened inside with old wooden furniture and flooring. It became very clear to me very quickly that this prospective house was not my friend. And that’s the way this short story starts, as the narrator and his wife and child move into holiday quarters at the old Red Lodge.

They start noticing spots of green on the floors, which turn out to be river slime, as the lodge sits next to a river. They feel they are being watched and believe they have seen someone or something at the window looking into the garden. The family tries to relax, as they have nowhere else to go, having let the place for a few months. When the local squire tells them to pop over to his manor house if there is any trouble, the narrator begins to get suspicious. Why mention the possibility of trouble? Why would there be any?

With the dusk came that sense of being watched, waited for, followed about, plotted against, an atmosphere of quiet, hunting malignancy.

Thick river mists can hide malevolent spirits. Their weapon is fear. Only the narrator can protect this family from the thronging faces that invisibly crowd around the family’s bedtime slumbers. What kind of house is this!



Herbert Russell Wakefield was considered one of the great writers of supernatural short stories. This title is part of the A GHOST STORY FOR CHRISTMAS collection, illustrated by Seth and it was scary enough to enforce my feelings about certain abodes. C’mon. I can’t be the only one who doubts the loyalty of a house.

Book Season = Winter (beastly whisperings)

[Ana on the Shelves · Rating 3 out of 5]

An elegant Queen Anne house in the country, near a river, looks like a perfect place for a young family to spend the holiday. But on the Red Lodge there are more things lurking around than the living, as the past left its marks upon the place.
Not my favorite ghost story. The pace felt off and even though there were some terrifying scenes the narrative of how things came to be was dull.
However I would still recommend reading it.

[Daniel Myatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful, quick read!

A country retreat, rented for a few months by a happy family, but the residents don't want them there!

[Canavan · Rating 5 out of 5]

✭✭✭✭✭

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super short book but the story was very interesting. I wish there was more to it .

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read we read out loud tonight. It's from a collection of Christmas ghost stories and talks a bit in the beginning about the tradition in Britain of reading ghost stories around Christmas time. This is a bit of a tongue twister in that old times British way but enjoyable quick little read, good atmosphere.

[Adam Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghostly short story of a family holidaying in a haunted house. Really enjoyed this haunting tale!

[Maja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nisam impresionirana ovim klasikom u žanru opsednutih kuća. Nije atmosferičan, niti je zanimljiv. Došli, videli i otišli, veoma zahvalni što je kratko trajalo.

[Stephanie ((Strazzybooks)) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“…I found a faint distaste at the idea of returning to the house, and again I had the impression that we were intruding…”

3.5/5

Every year I try to read 1 or 2 of the A Ghost Story for Christmas books.

The Red Lodge was a creepy and well-written little story, with a supernatural something taking over a holiday lodge.
It would also make a fun summer read.

[Leothefox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's my 2nd foray into The Haunted Bookshelf's Ghost Stories for Christmas. I mostly buy these since they're often the only examples of works by obscure pulp authors I can track down at Powell's City of Books. They all super simple illustrations by “Seth”, which I can take or leave, really.

Herbert Russell Wakefield tells of a family that rents a house for the summer, only to be menaced by nightmares, feelings of dread, and random globs and footprints of gross green slime. It's narrated first person by the proper 1928 British patriarch painter who doesn't want to breech the subject to his wife, for fear of distressing her.

Compared to similar haunted house fiction I've read from around this period, “The Red Lodge” largely goes a little too far at being low key, the narrator being a touch overly cool-headed and dispassionate, even as drippy ghosts lean over him in bed and whisper to him. That said, it does climax rather nicely.

Wakefield makes some effort to invest his narrator with character and some of the ramblings are interesting, even if they sometimes come off as ponderous. It's a quickie and no regrets here.

[robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The problem is, going in with expectations. When I see "in the spirit of JRR Tolkien" I know better than to believe I'm about to read anothe LotR. But "in the spirit of MR James" DOES raise my expectations, because that's such a specific recommendation. A book in the spirit of Tolkien is often just a fantasy quest book. But a book in the spirit of James ought to give one, to quote the man himself, a pleasing terror - haunts sketched in with the lightest, most delicate brush of the pen.

Wakefield did not remind me of James at all. The stories actually felt quite modern to me, and were often rather gross, and never more than paper-deep. James' stories, rooted in history, geography and antiquarian language, often seem very real.

And on another note - James is often accused of misogyny, but I never saw it in his stories the way I do in Wakefield's. My, he's a bit hostile. And I think it weakens his stories considerably. There were a couple that I thought good, but I would never compare him to James.

[Echoes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun little ghost story. The atmosphere reminded me of The Shining. The climax was exciting and brings about a good amount of dread for the protagonist and his family.

[Lukas Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually got this story as part of a new GHOST STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS (from The Haunted Library) series and just loved it and the art by SETH.

[Lydia Schoch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some places are too evil for human occupancy.

One of the most fascinating things about living in or visiting an old house is researching the former owners and what their lives were like. Generally, this sort of search yields pretty mundane results, but as you’ve probably already gathered this isn’t one of those occasions. I won’t go into details about how and why The Red Lodge became such a restless and malevolent place, but that backstory really made the plight of the newest occupants even more poignant.

The narrator of this tale deeply loved wife and his young son, so it struck me as odd to see how quickly he brushed away their anxiety about living at The Red Lodge. Change is hard for everyone, so I would have understood if he hadn’t listened the first couple of times. It did feel weird to have a six-year-old and a cherished wife talk about odd things happening in their home and change their habits as a result of them without the father and husband taking note of that. I sure would have liked to have a clearer explanation for whether this was a common occurrence in their family or if the spirit had already begun to warp the main character’s perspective so early on.

While this wasn’t a gory story, there were definitely some awful things that happened at the lodge. I appreciated the way the author hinted at how folks died there instead of describing it in elaborate detail. This was definitely one of those cases where less was more, especially given how reluctant folks would have been to discuss this sort of thing in the 1920s in general.

If you think a property can be stained beyond all hope of repair from the awful things that happened on it, I’d recommend checking out The Red Lodge.

[Srutirupa Acharya · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the dusk came that sense of being watched, waited for, followed about, plotted against, an atmosphere of quiet, hunting malignancy.

The story is about a haunted house in the country side where a family goes for a vacation. Now, it has a no of quintessential horror elements. But I never get tired of a quintessential horror story, especially when it is fabricated handsomely. I enjoy it even more on a cold stormy night as it was yesterday when I read this one. I loved the parts where the protagonist gets familiar with The Red lodge and the effect has been described in a subtle spooky way.

My first vague, faint uncertainty came to me so soon as I had crossed the threshold. I am a painter by profession, and therefore sharply responsive to colour tone. Well, it was a brilliantly fine day, the hall of the Red Lodge was fully lighted, yet it seemed a shade off the key, as it were, as though I were regarding it through a pair of slightly darkened glasses. Only a painter would have noticed it, I fancy.

The ending is quite sensible and I thoroughly enjoyed this nice little ghost story and the illustrations.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

"There was nothing wrong with the house, of course, but I am a bit psychic, and I always know the mood or character of a house. One welcomes you with the tail-writhing enthusiasm of a really nice dog, makes you at home, and at your ease at once. Others are sullen, watchful, hostile, with things to hide. They make you feel that you have obtruded yourself into some curious affairs which are none of your business. I had never encountered so hostile, aloof, and secretive a living place as The Red Lodge seemed when I first entered it."

I've been reading these little ghost stories for Christmas, illustrated by Seth, for a few years now. His picks are excellent, and this little gem is no different. Even as a short story, Wakefield slowly builds unease until the very last sentence, which is part of what makes it so memorable. The edition notes that H. Russell Wakefield was considered one of the greatest ghost-story writers of all time, and I can definitely see why. Creepy, atmospheric, well-written, intelligent, spooky holiday goodness -- all the words and all the feels 👻

[Sapphire Detective · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting one. It's got some creepy elements, but I don't think goes far enough. Given the right creative mind behind it, I believe there could be a really great story, but as it stands it's only good, not great. I do quite like some of the imagery, and there definitely was a chill down the spine when the "monkey" is first mentioned.

I wouldn't say this is the kind of ghost story to read around Christmas, not like "The Signalman" or "Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad," but someone might find some value for a nice little Halloween read.

My rating: 3/5
Would I own it?: In an anthology maybe? Not on it's own, though I did like the illustrations by Seth.
TW: Death, insanity, suicide, gaslighting, referenced child death
Does the animal die?: No animals die, except for the maybe monkey, which might already be dead?

[Peter Poletti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the idea of the Christmas Eve tradition of reading a ghost story out loud, and decided to start it this year. I have a number of these ghost stories from different 19th- and early 20th-century authors with art by Canadian illustrator and cartoonist Seth.

The Red Lodge is the one I decided to tackle this Christmas. While short, it creates a nice spooky atmosphere, with the tension building right up till nearly the last page. It is especially interesting in that the protagonist/narrator mentions he is a painter and is therefore able to perceive subtleties in colours and moods that others might miss. He is also half Highland Scot, which he thinks imbues him with some psychic sensitivity. This is later used to ironical effect, which I found very interesting.

[Fernando · Rating 3 out of 5]

Otro de los libros que conmemoran la "Ghost Story" británica ilustrada por el archiconido Seth.

En este estamos ante un relato canónico de uno de los autores más importantes del género. Si bien en ocasiones hubiera podido dar para mucho más, incluso una novela completa, nos sumerge en pocas pinceladas dentro de una casa maldita en la que los personajes principales hacen, para sorpresa de un servidor, lo que haría cualquier persona normal en sus circunstancias: salir corriendo antes de que suceda una tragedia.

Tiene momentos verdaderamente memorables y escalofriantes. Breve, conciso y bien escrito.

Edición cuidadísima.

[Samantha van Buuren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastically creepy ghost story. Though it has the same basic plot as most others, a house with a tragic past is haunted by those who lost their lives there, there is also a twist in a monster described as a 'green monkey' that hunts the child in the house.

I found this books wonderfully creepy with great potential to be turned into a full novel! While there was a page or two with unnecessary woffling, it was still an easy quick read, perfect for a Christmas eve as I don't usually sleep on Christmas eve anyway!

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could’ve easily read this in one go, have I not been so tired last night and fallen asleep. I wanted specifically to read this story on Christmas night because it’s one of the classic Christmas ghost stories. It was quite good, however it feel like it was moving very fast most of the time and I couldn’t keep track of what was going on sometimes. And I wish the scarier moments lasted longer as well. But overall it’s a cute little story to read at night.

[Kathryn Grace Loves Horror · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am excellent haunted house story. It’s sufficiently creepy to read as an adult, but I only wish I had read it as a child when I’m sure it would have terrified me. I only wish it were longer. I feel like this house and its otherworldly inhabitants could have been successfully explored even more in depth. I will definitely be looking into reading more of Wakefield’s work. He seems to have a gift for the uncanny.

[D.J. Adamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

“And then it began slowly to open, and something which was horribly unlike anything I had seen before passing through it, and I knew It knew I was there, and then my head seemed burst and flamed asunder, splintered and destroyed, and I awoke trembling to feel that something in the darkness was poised an inch or two above me, and then drip, drip, something began falling on my face.”

I hadn’t read Wakefield. Short and, oh, so much fun!
Reviewed at: http://www.djadamson.com

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

It may sound silly to read a short ghost story as a break from a supernatural thriller novel, but it makes perfect sense to me. I knew from reading other reviews that this was a simple ghost story that had a happy ending, and that was just the break I needed. This is exactly the kind of ghost story I love. A haunted house with a great backstory, and the good guys get away safely. I love the Ghost Story for Christmas series and look forward to reading all of them as the year goes on.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderful place to visit if you can stand the haunting! Sadly the place wasn’t advertised as such.

This is a haunting where the man whose family went to stay for the summer found out that the house, which he felt immediately some kind of malevolence immediately upon entry, ends up fleeing but not before a number of horrible manifestations try to dry them to death or madness.

[Janice E. Ryberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Red Lodge is a short ghost story, excellent 4.5 stars

I enjoyed the whole premise of ghost stories for evening reading around Christmastime or any winter evening. This one is very short, but effective. Not that I would choose to have green slime drops dropped on my face or even on the floor, but the fear associated with a stricken child would make it realistic enough.

[Reina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading ghost stories at Christmas used to be a tradition, and I think it's a little sad that it's one that's been left behind.
This is a quick, creepy read that will make your skin crawl, but is unlikely to give you nightmares, which makes for a great ghost story. I think, in the end, my sympathies go to the poor house, which did nothing to deserve being haunted.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Victorian horror is often about eliciting a mood and this does that quite well. Nothing super horrific happens, but rather the bounds of our sense of reality are tested: Is this happening, or am I crazy? Wait too long to answer and it could be too late...