"I wasn't dreaming. There wasn't quite that kind of absurdity to it. There was more direction. As if I were being shown things that I had no choice but to watch.
I don't remember feeling frightened - that came later - only numb. It was a sort of paralysis, maybe. I don't know what to call it. The best I can do is to compare it to how I'd imagine someone waking up under anaesthetic to feel: conscious but immobile; a mute onlooker".
If you enjoy reading ghost stories during the Hallowe'en time,The Haunting Season, an atmospheric selection of stories by contemporary authors, might just put you in the right mood.
A Study in Black and White by Bridget Collins is one of the more masterful stories, in style of the classic ghost stories of the early XXC.
A man named Morton passes by an imposing dark house on the way to the pub, and is intrigued by the garden, arranged as a giant chess board with the yews cut like chess pieces. He finds out that the house is empty and could be rented. He moves in, and strange things begin to happen. There is a malevolent presence in the house, watching him, and moving pieces on the chess board, as if inviting to play a game.
The sense of disquiet and unease is escalating, to the dramatic ending. Atmospheric setting, though the main character is not likable. It would have been interesting to get to know more of the history of the house. There is no visceral horror, but a decent build-up of a dramatic tension.
Thwaite's Tenant by Imogen Hermes Gowar
Lucinda is fleeing her abusive husband, taking their young son Stanley with her. Her father doesn't approve of the scandal, he is a firm believer that it is a woman's lot to obey her husband and endure marital rape. He plans to take her back to her husband, in the meantime she is staying in one of a desolate houses that belongs to the family.
The Thwaite house has a sad history of its own, as apparently the mother of the family has left her husband and children, never to be seen again. The old man is haunting the house, but could it be that he is not the only ghost?
The story has a slightly cliched theme of a Victorian wife as a victim of domestic abuse.
The Eel Singers by Natasha Pulley. I understand that this story is a spin-off from The Watchmaker of Filigree Street series, and features characters that you will recognise if you're familiar with her books. I have never read Pulley's books, and found the beginning of the story rather confusing, as to who is who, what's their relationship and dynamics.
Thaniel, Keita Mori and Six want to escape the hustle and bustle of London by staying in a remote house in The Fens. Mori is overwhelmed with the glimpses of the future, and knows that the place among the marshes can quieten his mind and give him a respite from an onslaught of unwelcome memories of the future.
The local couple taking them to the house appear quite creepy. They hum a strange melody, which seems to be haunting the place. The locals are welcoming, weird and nightmarish. Will the visitors to the house be able to escape with their lives intact?
"There was one island, and on that island, sudden and stark, was the house. Its lights looked disembodied from here, in a way that made Thaniel think of alchemy. He glanced at Mori and grinned. He's never seen anywhere like this before, much less stayed. He found himself quite hoping for a ghost".
The actual plotline of the eel singers is pretty good, and creepy enough. The story is slow-paced, with macabre touches and vague explanations of the mystery. There are some bizarre footnotes, which don't clear up anything, and only appear to annoy you.
Lily Wilt by Jess Kidd is a strange story, bizarre and not well developed. It was my least favourite story of the collection.
Lily Wilt is dead, and her body is being viewed by numerous visitors as a symbol of eternal beauty. Her parents invite a memorial photographer Walter Pemble to take the photos of Lily in repose. But is Lily truly dead? She manages to communicate and promise Walter her undying love, if only he could bring her back to life, by any means necessary.
Pemble achieves the miracle, only the resurrected Lily is not what he expected.
We never know the cause of Lily's death (or what she was like when alive), how she was able to communicate to the photographer. Also how does the maid, Nan, suspect Lily of going rogue as a ghostly entity, yet doesn't seem to be perturbed or surprised? What makes her behave as if it is normal?
The Chillingham Chair by Laura Purcell is similar to dozens of stories, where someone is trying to kill off the main character for their money/inheritance. It was quite obvious from the beginning who the culprit might be.
Evelyn Lennox is visiting Chillingham House, when her horse is spooked, and she has a bad fall. Recuperating in the house which will soon become her younger sister's home (the wedding is imminent), Evelyn feels trapped. The owner of the house, Victor Chillingham, offers her the use of a wheelchair which belonged to his late father.
This wheelchair is haunted, with a mind of its own. Evelyn tries to escape its powerful grip before it's too late, only to have her eyes open to the truth.
Ghastly parents border on a caricature. The ending is open.
The Hanging of the Greens by Andrew Michael Hurley has the hints of the Wicker Man.
David cannot stand the smell of Christmas greenery, as it reminds him of what has happened many years ago, when he was a young pastor.
Running a Christian club to help struggling parishioners, he meets Joe Gull, a recovering alcoholic, who is guilt-ridden for letting down his friends. They took care of him years ago, and tried to wean him off alcohol. Joe is dying, and wants to aplogise to the couple before it's too late.
David travels to Salter Farm, where the couple lives. What he finds there, will haunt him forever.
The sequence of getting rid of the spirit is disturbing and unsettling.
Confinement by Kiran Millwood Hargrave portrays another Victorian woman as a victim. Living in a secluded house, with her husband, Catherine Blake is expecting her first baby. Their housekeeper, Mrs Noakes, is the Mrs Danvers-type - cruel, judgmental and pitiless.
Catherine spent her childhood in India, and often thinks of her ayah, who was her comfort and confidante. She has no family or friends in England.
On the way to church her husband tells her a story of a witch who used to live outside the village. She was hanged as a murderess for buying babies and murdering her charges. Catherine, already nervous and agitated, sees the witch in the woods, which brings on the labour.
The old-fashioned doctor believes in separating mother and baby, and rendering mother oblivious of the world with the help of laudnum. Tension is palpable, Catherine believes the witch is coming to snatch her baby.
In the author's note, Hargrave mentions that the plotline is vaguely based on the real life story of the Victorian baby murderer. She also says that Catherine's audio-hallucinatory symptoms are influenced by her own experiences of psychotic depression postpartum. The postpartum process is described in an honest, unflinching way, that some readers might find upsetting.
Monster by Elizabeth McNeal
Victor and Mabel are newlyweds who arrive to a coastal town in Dorset on a honeymoon-cum-fossil hunting expedition. Mabel appears to be placid and only interested in her scrapbook. Victor wants to find fame and glory by finding a big fossil which would bear his name.
On arrival to Lyme Regis, they are told that the hotel where they are staying is haunted by Selkies, mythical women who are able to transform into seals.
On a rainy day after a mudslide on the shore, the cliffs give way, the earth crashes down, and Victor finds his great "monster". At a very great cost. A child dies in tragic circumstances. For Victor this death is irrelevant, he is ecstatic about his magnificent find, and can only think about his future fame. However, his wife Mabel doesn't share his joy.
As days go, he becomes unsettled more and more, and his wife grows more distant.
The Haunting Season offers a miscellany of disquieting plotlines, the style of writing and level of engagement differ from story to story.
They are intriguing enough, but none of them have the same level of hair-raising creepiness of the classic ghost stories, like Oh Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad by M.R.James.
Light a candle, and prepare to be spooked.
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