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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Holidays from Hell,
By E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
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This review is from: The Fifteenth Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories (Paperback)
Throughout the 1970s, Fontana published a remarkable skein of ghost story collections, piloted by R. Aikman and later by R. Chetwynd-Hayes, no mean supernatural authors themselves. Some of the paperbacks in this series, which winds its way up to the "20th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories" are now collectors' items and worth over a hundred dollars apiece.
R. Chetwynd-Hayes has assembled an anthology of ghost stories that are both chilling and relatively unknown for this fifteenth book in the series. He has refrained from including too many humorous stories in this collection, as is his usual habit. Instead, he incorporates quite a few Christmas stories, including two you won't be able to guess from their titles. England appears to be a bad place to spend the holidays, in spite of all that propaganda from Charles Dickens. These are the stories in the 15th Fontana Book: "The Man from Glasgow" by W. Somerset Maugham--A traveler taking his ease in a Spanish hotel meets a man who suffers a ghostly encounter whenever the moon is full. "Master of Hounds" by Peter A. Hough--It's always a bad idea to kick your dog, most especially if he leads your pack of foxhounds. "The Dead Man of Varley Grange" by Anonymous--Jack Darent a former officer in the service of Her Majesty Queen Victoria is invited to spend Christmas shooting waterfowl with a group of friends. Unfortunately, the shooting party is staying over in the haunted Varley Grange. There's nothing like the spectre of a nun to put a damper on your Christmas dinner. "Christmas Entertainment" by Daphne Froome--Another Christmas party gone bad. More unusually, this story is haunted by a deceased scientist. "John Charrington's Wedding" by E. Nesbit--A much-collected Victorian ghost story, and one of my top 50. It's bad enough when brides are accidentally locked into chests or pursued by demon lovers, but when the groom is overheard telling his fiancée, "My dear, my dear, I believe I should come from the dead if you wanted me!" watch out! "The Primrose Connection" by Margaret Chilvers-Cooper--A child with a companion visible only to herself is kidnapped by a couple who just lost their own daughter. "The Saving of a Soul" by Sir Richard Burton--At the castle of Weixelstein in Germany, a brave serving-wench helps lay a ghost. "No Living Man So Tall..." by Rosemary Timperley--Very good, very short story with its title borrowed from its last sentence. Top 50 material. "The House by the Headland" by 'Sapper'--A hiker seeking shelter from a storm witnesses a murder. "Drury Lane Ghost" by W. Macqueen-Pope--Told as a true account by a man who served as a fire warden for the Drury Lane Theatre during WWII. "The Night Walkers" by Sydney J. Bounds--A bickering couple on a holiday cruise is warned away from Deadmen's Lock by the locals. Of course, that's where Roger and Jan tie up for the night. "The Business of Madame Jahn" by Vincent O'Sullivan--A ne'er-do-well boulevardier murders his old aunt and inherits her Parisian shop. But not for long. "Here Today..." by James Fisher--A man is offered a hundred pounds to stay overnight in a haunted house. This plot device may sound trite, but the story has an unusual ending. "White Christmas" by David E. Rose--A little girl falls ill right before Christmas. "Only Child" by Frances Stephens--A young boy hates his step-father and spends hours in the attic, trying to avoid him. While there, he makes a new friend. "The Bearer of the Message" by Fritz Hopman--A French physician attends an International Conference of Medicine in Moscow, and gets an unusual opportunity to save an old man's life. "The Herb Garden" by Meg Buxton--'One is nearer God's heart in a garden Than anywhere else on Earth.' The local priest hears ghostly monks in an old woman's garden. "The Hanging Tree" by R. Chetwynd-Hayes--A young Victorian teenager sees ghostly presences on the public green and on her house's staircase, and plans an unusual Christmas treat for herself.
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