I did all the usual useful tidying up stuff but also managed to have some time for some book related fun and some light exercise.
The book related fun was a book swapping trip to the Age UK bookshop in sunny Wolverton. I decided that life is too short to be reading stuff I don't want to so I have now swapped all my Patterson books for some that I do really want to read. But... more on my attitudes towards Mr Patterson in a later post.
The exercise came in the shape of a bike ride out to Willen Lake, back through Campbell Park and then on to the shop for a little food shop. I realise that this may not sound like much to some but for me it was a major achievement. It was good to go out on the bike again and just see the world around me slowly pass me by. With all the problems with my back I have not always been able to get out much but today's ride was fun and relaxing. It made me realise how much I love to cycle. Still a lot of work needed to get back into shape and fighting fit but at least I am making a start.
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The Open Door and other Ghost Stories - Selected by Philip Gooden
This was was both a good experience and a bit of a repeat of stories I have read before. I guess once you read so many ghost stories repeats are inevitable and this one had quite a few I had read before. However, some revealed more of their mysteries on a second reading. Maybe this is a sign I should really read slower and pay attention to what I read... I do, but apparently not always?!
Still, the new ones were good to discover and this collection reminded me that I do love a good ghost story before turning in for the night!
The Open Door - Margaret Oliphant
I have read this one several times now and this time round it seemed different than the last time I read it. Last time I sort of missed the introduction of one of the characters and this time round I got where he came from. This cleared some questions up no end!
The story is a lovely tale of a father who will do anything to please his little boy and a wandering juniper bush. Dad is a reluctant believer, the good doctor is the sceptic and we even have a priest who manages to lay the ghost. All in all a cracking line up and some suitably eerie stuff goes on near the ruins of an old house. What more could you want?
The Middle Toe of the Right Foot - Ambrose Bierce
I like Ambrose Bierce and read a whole book of his tales a little while ago. This one is a cracker! It shows that revenge can be very sweet and Hell really hath no fury than a woman scorned. Some guys go through some great lengths to set up a stranger who turns out to have some connection to a lonely house. The stranger gets his just deserts but not in a flurry of bullets. Plain and simple fear gets him.
Schalken the Painter - Sheridan Le Fanu
The Irish Master of the Ghost story. This is another one I read before but it is as good at the second reading as on the first. The tale is dark and gloomy. It seems innocent enough when our young apprentice Godfrey falls in love with the niece of his master but gets beaten to the proposal by a mysterious gent. The Gent turns out to be more of a creepy, weird con man than anyone could have ever suspected and the lady ends up in big trouble and comes to a mysterious end. Dark tale, oppressive atmosphere and creepy characters... perfect!
The Ghost Ship - Richard Middleton
This is another one I read before and it is ok. It seems to not really have a proper point it works towards or a clear line of tension that builds up. Basically there is a village where people are perfectly to live with the ghosts they have and get upset when a ghost ships comes to town to disturb the peace. Then the ship leaves and all the girl ghosts are sad and after a while everyone forgets about the ghost ship and things return to normal. Hmm... ok.. and your point is sir?
Owen Wingrave - Henry James
This one definitely has the sting in the tail. It also seems to be a bit long in getting to the tail but it is an okay story of a young man who gets dared by a woman to prove his mettle. He does and ends up paying with his life. The story is more about a young man making decisions that he knows his family will not approve off and the pressure they put on him than it is a ghost story. Almost as if the ghost is thrown in for good measure to fill out the pages but the tale is nice enough.
The Smallest Ghost in the World - John Fuller
This one is a nice little tale of what mischief an errant thumb can cause. The little blighter belonged to a kitchen hand who had a grudge against our Mr Speedfall. I am not sure I would not haunt the person who ate my thumb so not sure whose side I am on in this one. Nicely told and at the end of it you are not sure if the professor just needs a lie down or if there is something to it all.
A lady of Bayou St John - Kate Chopin
Not sure this one is a really a ghost story? A lady is married but falls for another man only to dump him once she hears her husband has died. Once he is out of the way she seems to live only for him and his memory.... weird, yes... but nowhere does he appear as a ghost. Slightly pointless tale.
Thurnley Abbey - Percival Landon
Not sure why we have the whole story of someone being approached by a stranger to tell his ghostly tale when just the tale itself would have sufficed. Anyway, man goes to stay with friends and has ghost turn up at his bedside. Man beats said ghost to a pulp instead of gently asking it to leave and then finds out that ghost are tougher than they look. This apparently then is a reason to go and accost strangers in boat crossing asking them if you can share their cabin... must remember that one!
The Triumph of Night - Edith Wharton
I kind of liked this one and kind of thought it a bit contrived.
A man is going to stat a new job but gets waylaid at a train station due to bad weather and a forgetful boss. He ends up staying at a neighbour's house and forming an instant friendship with a young man that happens to be picking up guests at the local train station. Before you know it he is seeing things others don't and dismisses them as visions of a tired brain. Yet they disturb him enough to send him running off into the night only to be followed by his new friend who then ends up dying in his arms. The nice touch with this one is at the end when we see our man in different surroundings and by some coincidence finally understanding what the visions were all about only for him to plunge back into despair and insanity again.
The Hanged Man's Bride - Charles Dickens
A man tells his tale of woe of how he is to dwell restless forever. To be honest the guy deserves it. He is cruel, only after money, wills his young bride to die and kills the boy who really loved her. He was hanged for his crimes and is now forced to tell his tale and if only two people will hear it he may be released. However, the young bride has cast her spell well and her revenge is sweet! Perhaps one of the earliest example of real Girl Power.
Man size in Marble - Edith Nesbit
If only in these people would listen to the legends and tales that are being told in these small villages about these cute cottages they move into then there would be so many less ghost stories in the world. In this one a man ignores the tale he hears about statues coming to life. To be honest the locals do their bit to ensure the impending doom is able to play out in full. It all ends in tears as the lovely young bride snuffs it with a cold marble finger clasped in her hand and a look of horror on her face.
Wandering Willie's Tale - Walter Scott
Read this one before as well and struggled with the language then too. But I have to say that despite the dialect that makes it hard to follow what is going on at times this is a really nice tale of a man who goes to Hell and back to gets his receipt for his rent and ensure he clears his name. the story also illustrates very well why monkeys should never be kept as pets... thieving little bastards.
The Upper Berth - F Marion Crawford
Another boat crossing and this time it is a window that will not stay closed and a smelly shape in the top birth that causes the upheaval. Yet our man is not to be messed with, nor is the vessel's captain and they decide to fight the smelly one...bad idea. In the end they all realise that perhaps some times there is nothing that cannot be solved by putting a few nails in a door and never returning to the scene of the horror.
The Open Window - Saki
One of the few funny ghost stories I ever read. It is really more the story of a girl with a wicked imagination but she could not have chosen a more worthy recipient then our Mr Nuttel.
She spins her yarn then sits back and gloats, he runs for the hills and I was left with a smile on my face. Lovely tale!
Title: The Open Door and other ghost stories
Author: Various; Selected by Philip Gooden
245 pages
Phoenix
ISBN# 0-75380-743-2
Books to be read: 134
Books swapped :5
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