A Sincere Warning About the Entity in Your Home

A Sincere Warning About the Entity in Your Home

by Jason Arnopp

Blurb:

"Dear friend,

This is no chain letter, hoax or prank.

It is a sincere warning about your home and the entity which dwells within.

Your home has been haunted for quite some time.

I am sorry that I could not personally deliver this document. I did not even post it myself. The postmark on the envelope will not help you, should you ever attempt to locate me.

When this letter is complete, I shall entrust a friend in another country with repackaging and sending it on my behalf. This letter also may or may not have been translated from its original language.

You do not know me. You must never know me.

Neither do I know you, beyond your name, address and appearance. I have seen you in person but you have not seen me.

Think back to the day that you moved into your home. I contrived to casually pass by as you stood outside. I saw your face, but you did not so much as glance my way. I did not stop walking. I simply committed your face to memory and moved on before you became aware of my presence.

Why did I want to see you?

I suppose my conscience drove me to it. Just as it compels me to finally write this letter.

I wanted to see exactly who I was passing the entity on to."

My Reaction:

Depending on your perspective, this is either a long short story or a short novella.  I saw it recommended somewhere as a good creepy tale and was intrigued by the premise.  The idea is that you've received a large envelope in the mail, with no way to trace it back to its source.  Inside is a letter from the previous occupant of the home into which you've just moved—but instead of wishing you happiness in their much-loved former home, or letting you know that there's a trick to one of the window latches, or even asking to come around and revisit the house they grew up in—though that alone would be worthy of a shudder—they're warning you about a dangerous entity attached to the house—one that they're certain you will encounter soon, if you haven't already.  

It's a great idea for a story!  I didn't personally find it quite as creepy as some readers have.  If I'd read it alone at night, in an empty house, it might have felt a bit more disturbing.  However, I did read part of it in the wee hours after waking and being unable to get back to sleep, and even then I don't think I felt many chills.  (I've lived in this house for over 20 years, and we had it built ourselves, so maybe that has something to do with it.)  

Still, it's an interesting premise, so I'll give some points for that!

Quiet Houses

Quiet Houses

by Simon Kurt Unsworth

Blurb:

Simon Kurt Unsworth reinvents the classic English ghost story with a portmanteau collection that takes the haunted house genre and makes it scream...quietly. Because the most terrifying screams are the silent ones.

My Reaction:  
DNF.  I just couldn't get into this one.  I read four or five of the stories, I think, but I gave up in the one about the team camping in and documenting the contents of the hotel.  It wasn't for me, unfortunately.  

"The Thing in the Hall"

"The Thing in the Hall"

by E.F. Benson

Synopsis:

A man invites an unknown spirit into his home.  This proves to have been unwise.

My Reaction (with SPOILERS):

I don't have much to say about this one.  It has some gruesome and creepy elements, but I didn't find it particularly effective, overall.  Not destined to be a favorite, I'm afraid.  The main thing that stuck out in this one, for me, was the fact that cheating at cards is presented as roughly the equivalent of torturing one's own pet to death.  Both are described as "depravity", but needlessly, intentionally hurting an animal (especially one you've agreed to protect and care for) is several orders of magnitude worse than card sharping, in my opinion.  The two aren't even comparable.  I've observed this attitude in books before: In the past, at least in certain circles, cheating at cards was seemingly a much bigger deal than it seems to me.  Not that I condone cheating, of course, but it simply doesn't feel deserving of quite the level of gravity that some authors grant it. 

That my main focus from this story was this should tell you that the rest of it fell a bit flat for me.  There are some things going for it, but they are undercut by the same pseudo-scientific approach and strange pacing that plague many of these stories (from what I can recall of the ones I read years ago).  There are moments of horror and eeriness, but sometimes they're buried under too much "evidence".  Does the author think we can so quickly forget that these are fictional short stories?  Frankly, I'm not interested in made-up science or "proof", because—how can I put this politely?—I know you just made it up.  Trying to dress it up as scientifically documented truth is pointless.  Just make it feel creepy!  To be fair, Benson is doing essentially the same thing as M.R. James and many other successful "ghost story" writers, framing his tales in realism and attempting to lend them a sense of verisimilitude, but maybe he's just not as good at it.  Some of his horror tales are lacking in a sufficiently haunting atmosphere and instead have an almost clinical feel.  

And...that's it!  That was the last story in the collection of E.F. Benson's short horror fiction!

This was a bit of a weak note to end on, but I'm glad to have finally finished this collection of short stories so I can scratch it off the list once and for all.  I can't believe it was sitting neglected on my Kindle all this time with only two stories left to read!  

It's been so long since I read the bulk of the stories that I no longer recall much about the individual tales.  My opinion is that Benson is a much better satirist / humorist than writer of horror, but that's not to say that his eerie stories aren't worth reading (and some might be worth a re-read, at some point).  However, I suspect most of them may be a little too dry to appeal to the casual modern reader; they're better suited to people who appreciate a more old-fashioned writing style.

"Inscrutable Decrees"

"Inscrutable Decrees"

by E.F. Benson

Synopsis:

An unnamed narrator stumbles upon the death notice of a remarkable woman he once knew.  He then shares his memories of the woman, followed by a discussion with an old friend, which reveals the solution to a macabre puzzle.  

My Reaction (with possible SPOILERS:

I can no longer recall if I stopped writing reviews for individual stories in this collection of E.F. Benson's short stories that I have... I know I stopped reading, years ago, but am uncertain of whether or not there may have been a backlog of stories I had read but not reviewed.  At this point, I suppose it doesn't matter.  I thought I might try to finish the collection, so I'm picking up where I left off with reading (if not reviewing).  

I found the beginning of the story was actually more amusing than horrifying, which reminded me that it may be time to revisit the Lucia series again.  As for this story, it was merely okay.  There's some vague creepiness, but you see the culmination coming from a mile away, so there's no element of surprise, and if anything, I thought the crime committed was milder than expected.  The ghostly element undercuts the horror, I think.  I'm not big on stories with seances that reveal visible ghosts, and... well, spoiler alert, I guess!  There's a visible ghost called forth by a seance.  Not the best of his work, but the central character herself is an interesting one for an armchair criminological psychologist to ponder.  

Problem at Pollensa Bay

Problem at Pollensa Bay, and Other Stories

by Agatha Christie

Blurb:

Three of Christie's top detectives—Hercule Poirot, Mr. Parker Pyne, and Harley Quin—star in these entertaining short mysteries. Two do not involve detectives, but focus on the deceptions of men and women in relationships. Includes "Problem at Pollensa Bay", "The Second Gong", "Yellow Iris", "The Harlequin Tea Set", "The Regatta Mystery", "The Love Detectives", "Next to a Dog", and "Magnolia Blossom".

My Reaction:

I started by listening to the audiobook version of this collection of short stories.  The narrator is Hugh Fraser (Captain Hastings from the 90s/2000s Poirot).  I loved his portrayal of Hastings, and he's an excellent narrator, as well. I've listened to one or two of his narrations of Poirot novels, too, and always enjoy his reading.  (The way he voices Poirot is closely modeled after David Suchet's performance-- perfect!)  I can be a little picky about narration, but no complaints this time!  

Unfortunately, the audiobook version I listened to doesn't include all the stories in the original collection, which was disappointing.  Of course I had to find a text copy, so I could at least read the remaining four stories myself.  It's a mixed bag, like most short story collections.  Some are a bit weak, but others were entertaining enough.  I don't think you'll be any the worse if you listen to the audiobook and give the others a miss.  


"Problem at Pollensa Bay"
I believe this was my introduction to Parker Pyne.  It was fine.  A bit predictable, as a modern reader, but entertaining, all the same. (...Though I did feel a bit resentful of the male love interest in the last part of the story... tsk tsk!)  

"The Second Gong"
This story was familiar, as I'd seen the Poirot TV adaptation of a very similar story; however, reading further, it seems that Christie later expanded this story into a novella, and it is that which was adapted for TV.  That explains the differences in complexity and denouement!  An interesting mystery with the classic locked-room set-up. 

"Yellow Iris"
This one, too, was familiar from the TV program.  I was surprised to learn that the song in that Poirot episode was written for the show, to fit the lyrics from the short story.  I'd have guessed that Christie was quoting an existing song. 

"The Harlequin Tea Set"
I don't think I'd read about Harley Quin before.  Not that I can recall, at any rate.  This story had a dreamy, otherworldly atmosphere that was completely unexpected.  (I understand now that all of the Harley Quin stories are slightly mystical, apparently.)  It's not the type of thing I'd want to read all the time or in novel-length doses, but it makes an enjoyable change of pace.  The mental images of some of the scenes came across very clearly and beautifully.

"The Regatta Mystery"

A bit familiar.  I think there was a Poirot episode that had an expanded version of this story (but can't be bothered to look it up).  Not the best mystery, but... Fine.  ...Okay, I did just look it up, and apparently the Poirot version of the story came before this one, which features Parker Pyne instead.  

"The Love Detectives"
Another Harley Quin story.  I didn't like this one as well as "The Harlequin Tea Set".  Again, it was fine, but maybe slightly predictable.  

"Next to a Dog"

I waited too long after reading this story to return to this blog post... I believe I thought it was okay, but sad, especially for dog-lovers.  Not something I'd read again.  

"Magnolia Blossom"

I didn't care for this at all.  Very melodramatic and blah.  I didn't care for any of the characters and didn't find the story compelling.  

Bitesized Audio Classics

Bitesized Audio Classics
Read by Simon Stanhope

This is a bit of a different kind of review for me.  The subject is not a book or a traditionally produced audiobook, but a YouTube channel.  

If you like English mystery, ghost, and suspense short stories from the Victorian and Edwardian eras-- and the audiobook format-- you may enjoy Bitesized Audio Classics.  I happened to stumble upon one of the stories and have since listened to a few more and subscribed to the channel for future listening. (I like them for easy listening while doing a diamond painting!)

These short stories are selected and narrated by UK-based actor and voice artist Simon Stanhope, and they have the same sound quality and professional polish as traditional audiobooks.  The stories are all in the public domain, but while some will likely be familiar to fans of the genre, others were new to me.  

Definitely worth a listen!

Snowflakes

Snowflakes
by Ruth Ware

Blurb:

Leah has spent her formative years isolated on a remote island with her family. But their quiet existence, far from the devastated mainland, is cracking. Father, sensing a coming threat, demands that a wall be built. As the stone blockade rises, Father’s paranoia escalates. So does Leah’s dread that the violence the family left behind has found its way to their sanctuary.

My Reaction:
The audio version of this short story was available for free, and I've enjoyed some of the author's novels, so I decided to give it a try. 

...Well, I guess it was one way to spend some time while washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen, but I don't like the story.  

Problems:

--Ugh, political overtones!  No thanks!

--Predictable "twist".

--Depressing.  (I won't get into spoiler territory, but it wasn't my cup of tea.)

--The little girl (? how old was she, exactly?) and her singing just annoyed me. I must be a cold-hearted so-and-so, but yuck.  Especially in audiobook form, that was irritating!

At least it was short, right?!  I doubt I'll bother with the other stories in this collection (from other authors).

Nothing Serious

Nothing Serious

by P.G. Wodehouse

Blurb:

This book contains further stories of members of the Drones Club and several adventures related by the Oldest Member of the golf club. Many old friends reappear - Bingo Little and Mrs Bingo, Freddie Widgeon, Ambrose Gussett, Agnes Flack, Horace Bewstridge and many more. It includes: "The Shadow Passes", "Bramley is so Bracing", "Up From the Depths", "Feet of Clay", "Excelsior", "Rodney Has a Relapse", "Tangled Hearts", "Birth of a Salesman", "How's That, Umpire?" and "Success Story".

My Reaction:

(This was a shared read-aloud with Donald, like all P.G. Wodehouse, Terry Pratchett, and 372-Pages books.)

We read this one in bits and pieces between books and reading assignments for the comedy podcast book club 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back.  As always, P.G. Wodehouse doesn't let you down, and you feel happier after reading than you did before.  (Well, I do, at least.)  It's an uplifting, stress-busting soul-tonic in text form!  

I believe our favorite story in this collection was "Birth of a Salesman", the one featuring Lord Emsworth, but I also particularly enjoyed "Success Story".  The golf stories were better than I would've guessed, given that I know little about golf (and care even less).  However, after a while, the gimmicks and framing device were wearing slightly thin, so I was glad that the last few stories moved on to other subjects. Still, on the whole they were good.  (They really aren't "about" golf.  You don't need to like or know much about the sport to appreciate them.)

I wouldn't say that this collection is Wodehouse's finest work, but they still hit the spot when you're in need of a little humor, and the title is a perfect description of his writing as a whole.  

Every House is Haunted

Every House is Haunted
by Ian Rogers


Blurb:

In this brilliant debut collection, Ian Rogers explores the border-places between our world and the dark reaches of the supernatural. The landscape of death becomes the new frontier for scientific exploration. With remarkable deftness, Rogers draws together the disturbing and the diverting in twenty-two showcase stories that will guide you through terrain at once familiar and startlingly fresh.

My Reaction:
This is a DNF. 

Every so often I think a creepy short story would hit the spot, but unfortunately, I must be very picky when it comes to horror short stories.  I so rarely actually enjoy them!  I only read three in this collection before calling it quits.  "Ace" was just "okay" for me, "Autumnology" was far too short for me to get into at all, and "Leaves Brown" was another "okay".  They're not long or involved enough for me.  I know short stories tend to be open-ended, but these were open even by that standard.  Worse, I didn't find them scary or even particularly eerie.

No sense in continuing, as I suspect "okay" is going to be my strongest reaction.  I can see how some readers might enjoy them, but they're not for me.  It's a shame; I love the title, but the stories don't seem to match it, in my ever-so-humble opinion.

Lord Emsworth and Others

Lord Emsworth and Others
by P.G. Wodehouse

Blurb:

In Lord Emsworth and Others, readers are treated to a selection of familiar characters and places, in new and unfamiliar circumstances. Fans and initiates will be highly entertained.

My Reaction:
(This was a shared read-aloud with Donald.  As always, Wodehouse is perfect for reading aloud!)

I loved the first story (set at Blandings Castle)-- hilarious and masterfully written!-- but was surprised to find that so many of the rest of the stories were framed around golf (told by the Oldest Member).  There were also a few stories starring Ukridge (a Wodehouse character I don't remember having come across before), and one about a member of the Drones Club.

The non-Blandings tales are amusing (even for someone who neither knows nor cares much about golf), but nothing could match the genius of "Crime Wave at Blandings", which had us both not just chuckling but uproariously laughing, time and again. 

I'd recommend this collection on the strength of the first story alone, but if you appreciate Wodehouse, you'll probably enjoy the whole thing.

Lord Peter

Lord Peter
by Dorothy L. Sayers


Blurb:

This is a collection of all the short stories concerning the cases of eccentric amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey.  

My Reaction:
(This was a shared read-aloud with Donald.  We skipped the essay and parody at the end.  Maybe some other time...)

On the whole, this collection of short-story mysteries was quite enjoyable!  As always, some of the short stories are better than others, but I don't think there were any without any redeeming qualities. I appreciate the old-fashioned charm of the setting (Britain between the wars), the quirkiness of the star detective, the cleverness in general, and the author's obvious respect for the intelligence of her reader.

Of the novels, we've only read Whose Body? so far, and I hesitate to admit that it didn't make as positive of an impression as these short stories did.  (Maybe it was bad timing and deserves a re-read...)  However, I'm optimistic about the rest of the series and certainly look forward to reading more about Peter Wimsey in years to come.

The Inimitable Jeeves

The Inimitable Jeeves
by P.G. Wodehouse


Blurb:

Bertie and Jeeves do their best to help, and occasionally hinder, love-struck Bingo Little as he falls head over heels and back again. Honoria Glossop, Mabel the waitress, and gold-toothed revolutionary Charlotte Corday Rowbotham are just a few of the women to cast their spells over Bingo. Meanwhile Bertie must keep the quick-tempered, aspiring actor Bassington-Bassington from the stage at Aunt Agatha's fiery behest, deal with the energetic Claude and Eustace, and win on the girls' Egg and Spoon Race and money lost to the Great Sermon Handicap! Luckily, of course, there is Jeeves: intelligent, loyal, and capable of extricating Bertie from the tightest of tight spots.

My Reaction:
This is a shared read and a re-read. Donald and I have read this together once before-- though to be honest, most of the Jeeves and Wooster stories blur together in my memory, and I have trouble telling one from another. Fortunately, that doesn't matter. Neither repetitive plots and "motifs" nor re-readings can dull the luster of Wodehousian wit.

Rather than a true novel, this is a set of short stories; there's no long-arc plot to speak of, but each "episode" is enjoyable and cozily, comfortably easy to get into. There are even recurring characters (beyond Jeeves and Wooster themselves, who are of course in every story), which helps it feel like an almost-novel.

While this is probably not the very best Jeeves book (or the best introduction to the series of novels and short stories), it's undeniably a fun, happy read.

The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All

by Laird Barron

Blurb:

Over the course of two award-winning collections and a critically acclaimed novel, The Croning, Laird Barron has arisen as one of the strongest and most original literary voices in modern horror and the dark fantastic. Melding supernatural horror with hardboiled noir, espionage, and a scientific backbone, Barron’s stories have garnered critical acclaim and have been reprinted in numerous year’s best anthologies and nominated for multiple awards, including the Crawford, International Horror Guild, Shirley Jackson, Theodore Sturgeon, and World Fantasy awards. 

Barron returns with his third collection, The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All. Collecting interlinking tales of sublime cosmic horror, including “Blackwood’s Baby”, “The Carrion Gods in Their Heaven”, and “The Men from Porlock”, The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All delivers enough spine-chilling horror to satisfy even the most jaded reader.

My Reaction:
In the interest of full disclosure, I should acknowledge right away that I stopped reading after 70%, skimmed the next story ("Vastation"), and stopped even skimming after that. Technically, this is a DNF (did not finish).

I tend to think I'll enjoy short stories more than I actually do. Short stories simply don't (typically) offer the kind of character development and longer-arc story-telling that I like best, and they are frequently (unsatisfyingly) open-ended. There are exceptions, and I'm tempted by short story collections that sound promising-- but even when I enjoy them, I find them more work to read than a novel and requiring more motivation to finish. This collection was no exception.

Still, even as a person who wants to like short stories but often struggles with them, I can say something positive about these. First, I appreciate that at least I could more or less understand what was happening in (most of) them. (Parts of the first story were a little disorienting, though, and "Vastation" was definitely out there.) Sometimes it seems that short story writers take pride in being incomprehensible, laboring under the misconception that if the reader has any grasp of what is happening (much less why), it's a sign that the author lacks that ineffable something.

I also found more of these stories to have true conclusions than I've come to expect from modern short stories. Conclusions! A satisfying sense that the story has come to an intentional end rather than just keeling over in mid-stride! Amazing!

Actually, it's funny that I keep seeing reviewers complaining-- or maybe simply commenting-- that these stories lack cut-and-dried conclusions. Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly, but I have the impression that I knew basically where most of the stories/characters were headed, at the end.  (Not-quite-a-spoiler alert: Usually, death or a fate worse than.) In any case, that I at least felt there was a sense of conclusion was good enough for me, I guess!

Then there's the writing itself, which is skillful. It's not quite to my personal taste, but I'd say it's well-crafted (if rather self-conscious).

Now for the negatives. I've already admitted that I'm probably just not the ideal reader for most modern short stories. Well, that's not the only reason I found myself unwilling to keep reading. Unfortunately, I find this style of horror ineffective. I'm not sure whether it's more properly called "cosmic horror" or "the weird"-- or even "Lovecraftian horror"-- but it just doesn't usually work on me.  Some of "the weird" that I've come across (in my limited forays into the genre) have given me distinct moments of "The Creeps", but it's certainly not my go-to genre for all my spine-chilling, goosefleshing needs. At some point, I just find these stories of Infinite Weirdness... boring.

As others have noted, it's impossible to care what happens to most of these characters-- with the exception of "The Redfield Girls". However, unlikable, unsympathetic characters seem to be rather more common than not in this type of story. (Rather like those horror movies that apparently desire you to hate the characters so much that you won't mind seeing them finished off one by one.)

There was also a bit more gore than I like.  I can deal with some of it-- especially if it seems necessary for the story/book, but gross-out/body horror-- while it does gross me well and truly out-- is not what I'm looking for in horror. I'm that weirdo who finds all the gratuitously grody zombie close-ups/zombo-cameos in The Walking Dead uninteresting, if not outright annoying.  ("Look, we get it: Zombies be decomposin'. Now, can we get back to the survival story?!") These stories aren't even that extreme, in the realm of gross horror, but it was gross enough often enough that I noticed I was skimming to sidestep the blood and guts.  Blugh.

...So, anyway... If you love cosmic horror, you should give these stories a try. If you're left cold by the unknowable Blah-Blah-Blah drifting in from some dark corner of the universe (like some sort of scary, gargantuan, blood-feasting jellyfish), maybe it's not worth the effort.

I see that many reviewers particularly enjoyed the last two stories, which I skipped, so I may go back and read them, if/when the mood returns. However, unless there's something unexpected in those last two tales, whatever it is that inspires such adulation from this author's many fans will remain a mystery to me!

I'm rounding up to a 3, but really, this is more of a 2.5 for me.

"The Death Warrant"

"The Death Warrant"
from The E.F. Benson Megapack
by E.F. Benson


Synopsis:  
After learning that he has an incurable disease, a man shares his musings on the approach of death.


My Reaction:
I would not call this a short story-- and certainly not a "horror story"-- but I'm having difficulty deciding how it should be classified...  In any case, it makes a startlingly abrupt change from the previous story in the collection, which was lighthearted and humorous, despite its war-time setting.

Maybe it's as much a reflection of my current mood as the quality of the writing, but reading these few pages brought some tears to my eyes (as I walked along on the treadmill!).

It feels very intimate, immediate, and honest-- much more powerful than the stilted language of Benson's "scientific paranormal" short stories.  It's hard to believe they were written by the same person!

Some might think the style is a little Victorian-- slightly more florid than necessary-- but it touched me more than I had expected.

"Mrs. Andrews's Control"

"Mrs. Andrews's Control"
from The E.F. Benson Megapack
by E.F. Benson


Synopsis:
A middle-aged couple dabble with the psychical, including automatic writing.  (This is more a humorous character study than a tale of horror.)


My Reaction:
The earliest known date of publication for this short story is September 1915.  In it, Benson plays with some ideas that he used in his Mapp and Lucia series of novels, which were published between 1920 and 1939.

Devotees of the Mapp and Lucia series will certainly recognize the playful gibes at dieting fads and fashionable "games" of a psychical nature-- specifically crystal-ball-gazing and automatic writing.   Benson pokes gentle fun without malice, and it's an amusing few pages.

References to WWI ("the German war") will be of particular interest to history buffs.

"The Case of Frank Hampden"

"The Case of Frank Hampden" 
from The E.F. Benson Megapack
by E.F. Benson


Synopsis:
A doctor suspects that his young cousin suffers from a type of possession.


My Reaction:
This is one of Benson's "scientific-spiritual" tales.  Though they're often based on interesting ideas, they tend not to be my favorites, and this was no exception.  The germ of the story reminded me a little of the movie Fallen (which I'm pretty sure I've referenced in other book reviews, because it made a strong impression on me), but this short story is not even in the same galaxy, as far as the sense of fear or horror goes.  There are a few creepy moments, but nothing to keep you up at night.


Silly Tidbit:
There are a couple instances of spiritual manifestation, and I found it particularly amusing that even the evil spirit is so concerned with decency that it appears "swathed" in some sort of spiritual (ectoplasmic?) version of clothing-- "some misty and opaque vesture".  It's funny enough that the spirit should necessarily take the shape of the body it inhabited, but that it should even be provided with clothing was the icing on the cake!

More Short Stories

I just found this review of a short story accidentally left in draft mode.  It's another from the LibriVox collection-- Short Ghost and Horror Collection 010-- that I was listening to about a year ago.


"The People of the Pit"
by Abraham Merritt

A tale of the weird in the Lovecraftian tradition.  (Or at least I believe it's Lovecraftian... Honestly, that genre is not my expertise.  It seems that Merritt and Lovecraft were contemporaries, but I suppose an author's works can be "Lovecraftian" even if s/he wrote before Lovecraft lived-- if you use the term to mean than there's a similarity in themes and atmosphere more than that one was inspired by the other.)

The most effective element of the story (in my ever-so-humble of opinions) was the escaped man's physical deformity from prolonged crawling and the instinctive creeping motions he continued to make-- beyond his own control. 

...With that said, I wonder how often Lovecraftian horror is actually scary.  I'm not sure why, but the little of it I've read generally doesn't give me the same creepy feeling that I more frequently experience when reading other types of horror.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe invisible slugs with lights for heads are just too far-fetched to terrify so practical a reader as myself. ;o) 

Maybe I just haven't read the right things, yet.
I don't dislike this style of story-- and it can be unsettling-- but it's rarely ever outright scary (again, in my limited experience).

After the People Lights Have Gone Off

After the People Lights Have Gone Off
by Stephen Graham Jones


Blurb:

This collection of fifteen stories taps into the horrors and fears of the supernatural as well as the everyday. Included are two original stories, several rarities and out of print tales, as well as a few "best of the year" inclusions. Stephen Graham Jones is a master storyteller. What does happen after the people lights have gone off? Crack the spine and find out.

My Reaction:
I was drawn to this book by its eerie title and cover art (the twilight scene of a woman facing a house with a lit upstairs window), so I decided to give it a try.  Modern short stories can be hit or miss with me, and this was my first experience with this author, but it had a lot of positive reviews.

Unfortunately, I've come to the conclusion that this author's style just isn't right for me.  I've read four of the stories, and while each had some promising moments, the pay-off isn't there (again, for me).  I think part of the problem is that the endings are (usually) too ambiguous for my tastes.  I don't expect everything to be spelled out in a horror short story, but I could use a few more dots to help with the connecting.

I'm not enjoying it much, so it's time to declare this a DNF (Did Not Finish) and move on to something else.

(I may go back and read the title story, though, as that's what drew me to the collection in the first place-- and because I've seen some reviewers who seemed to think it was the strongest of the bunch.  If I find I have more to say after reading it, I'll come back and edit this entry.  Otherwise...)

"Mr. Tilly's Séance"

"Mr. Tilly's Séance"
by E.F. Benson


Synopsis:
Mr. Tilly decides that a little thing like his sudden, unforeseen death won't keep him from keeping his appointment to attend a séance.


My Reaction:
This is one of Benson's more comic tales of the supernatural-- nothing particularly spooky about this story, though the very beginning is rather gruesome.  Benson pokes light fun at some of the more ridiculous aspects of spiritualism and mediums, though he also seems to be making excuses for it-- offering explanations for its frauds and dearth of concrete evidence.  Not a favorite of mine, but more enjoyable than the previous story in the collection ("In the Tube").


Random Thoughts:
--While I have no serious problem with séances in fiction (especially when played for laughs), spiritualism in general makes me uncomfortable-- especially when it is dressed up as something respectable or remotely honest.  It cheapens true spirituality and religion by pretending to be associated with them, and under the guise of helping the suffering and the seeking, instead leads them astray.  At best, it wastes their time and energies by encouraging a focus on the wrong things.  At worst, it's an outright scam.

--I had to laugh at the book disguised behind "an old cover called 'Elegant Extracts'", because it reminded me of another faux "Elegant Extracts" in Miss Mapp's garden room.

"In the Tube"

"In the Tube"
by E.F. Benson


Synopsis: 
A man tells his friend an eerie tale beginning with his vision of an event that had not yet taken place-- a suicide in a tube station.


My Reaction:
Hmm... Well, to be fair, I started this one as a shared read with Donald, when we were at loose ends, one day.  We never finished the story-- moved on to more interesting fare and never looked back.

Months passed before I was inspired to picked it back up (again, as a stop-gap measure when I finished my "main read" in the middle of a treadmill session and hadn't settled on what to read next).  Remembering that the story (so far) hadn't been outstanding, I didn't care to start from the beginning again, so perhaps I missed the full effect, after such a long intermission.  However, I think I remember enough of the first part of the story to give a reaction to the whole.  That reaction is... this is not one of my favorites of Benson's spooky tales.

It's not bad, by any means, but not a favorite.  There's much philosophizing and pondering on the nature of time.  When should we count an action as "settled" or "done"?  When it physically takes place?  When the person involved makes the decision to act?  Or when the person takes the first step on the path that will eventually lead to an inevitable conclusion?  What is time?  How much do we mere humans know of it?  Could it be that time is only an illusion?  So on and so forth.


Quote:
"I have talked to a soul in the hell of remorse, which is the only possible hell."