Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A METICULOUSLY WRITTEN BUNCH OF TALES, October 28, 2002
I originally picked up this hard-to-find book after reading of it in Newman & Jones' excellent overview volume, "Horror: The 100 Best Books." "Widdershins" is a collection of Oliver Onions' short stories, and was first published in 1911. Onions was supposedly a meticulous writer, writing and rewriting and rerewriting, changing words repeatedly until he felt that things were just right. And his attention to detail does indeed show. All the stories in this volume are impeccably written, with wonderful attention to detail, sensuous mood, and finely modulated suspense. None of the tales in this book are what I would call especially scary, especially by modern standards of violence and shock and grue, but all are fascinating and eminently readable. The main feature of all eight creepy little tales in this collection is that the supernatural element in each of them can be otherwise explained; that is, the ghosts or other strange happenings that we read of can be seen as being merely mental aberrations of the protaganist.
The collection starts off with a bang with "The Beckoning Fair One," one of the most oft-anthologized horror tales. This ghost story has been called one of the best in the English language by such luminaries as Algernon Blackwood and H. P. Lovecraft, and who am I to argue with them? The tale is certainly the best in the "Widdershins" collection, and concerns an author who moves into a deserted house and starts to become influenced by its ghostly female occupant? Or...is it just in his mind? In "Phantas," one of the survivors of an 18th century sinking galleon sees a vision of a 20th century ship as his own boat slips beneath the waves. Or...does he really? "Rooum" is the tale of an old engineer who complains of a phantom that constantly races up behind him and then THROUGH him, taking a bit more of himself with each passage. Is this really happening...or is the old guy just going barmy? In "Benlian," a sculptor decides to really put ALL OF HIMSELF into his last great project...soul and all. Does he really, or is the old bloke just slightly off his chump? "The Accident" involves no ghosts at all; just two men, enemies from their youth, who meet in a restaurant for dinner 40 years later. It's a tale of cosmic fate and what might have been. In "The Lost Thyrsus," we're back to the spooky region, and a convalescent woman who, after reading Keats' "Endymion," is visited by a horde of Grecian bacchanals. Does she really...or is it all in her sick mind? "Hic Jacet," a longish tale, tells of a hack writer who attempts to pen the biography of his recently deceased artist friend, and the major problems he has with this task. Is the deceased artist really haunting him...or is it, again, all in his mind? Finally, in "The Cigarette Case," two Englishmen on a walking tour in Provence encounter two strange women. Or do they really? When reading "Widdershins," the reader must answer all these questions for him/herself. I prefer to tend toward the more ghostly explanations myself, but that's just me.
I should perhaps warn potential readers of this volume that "Widdershins" is NOT an easy read. I can't imagine anyone of average intelligence going into this book without the aid of an UNabridged dictionary, an atlas, an encyclopedia and the use of the Internet as research tools. There are lots of 100-year-old British slang words and expressions, and even I--a copy editor with what I feel to be an above-average vocabulary--was thrown many times. Still, for those willing to take the time and effort to read this book with the care and attention it deserves--the same care and attention, I might add, that Oliver Onions obviously invested in his writing of this volume--"Widdershins" will repay their efforts.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enigmatic, Unusual Blend of Abnormal Psychology and the Supernatural , November 5, 2005
Oliver Onions considered ghosts to be like stars in the daytime - always present, but rarely observable. He argued that what we interpret as irrational or disturbed behavior, may not always be simply a symptom of mental illness, but could be due to the influence of unseen, ghostly apparitions. The eight stories in this modern Dover edition (The First Book of Ghost Stories) were first published in 1911 under the title Widdershins.
The Beckoning Fair One, the longest story (68 pages) in this collection, was called the best ghost story in the English language by another noted writer of ghost tales, Algernon Blackwood. It is quite good and I am surprised that I had not previously encountered it. The setting, a vacant house in an aging section of town, appeals to Paul Oleron, an unsuccessful writer looking for inexpensive lodging relatively free from noise and distractions. Very gradually Oleron becomes more reserved, less interested in his those around him. Oleron may be developing early signs of depression, perhaps even paranoia. Or something else might be happening.
Phantas, Rooum, Benlian, The Accident, The Lost Thyrsus, Hic Jacet, and The Cigarette Case - the other seven ghost stories - have little or nothing to do with traditional ghosts. Onions continues his study of disturbed and distressed individuals, and only obliquely offers any evidence for supernatural influences.
Phantas is unusual in that it involves what we would call today either a time warp, or even possibly a parallel universe. It reminded me of Escort, a ghostly sea story by Daphne du Maurier.
Rooum is the story of a troubled individual whose believes his body is being physically possessed by some supernatural entity. In his story Benlian Oliver Onions melds obsession, insanity, and the supernatural into a compact, disturbing tale.
The Accident offers the artist Roumarin an unexpected opportunity to avoid a personal catastrophe. Contrastingly, The Lost Thyrsus is a more somber examination of one woman's conflict between Dreams and Reality. Hic Jacet demonstrates that some decisions in life cannot be reversed, or more explicitly, will not be permitted to change.
The final story, The Cigarette Case, would probably not seem out of place in an anthology of traditional ghost stories, even though its ending is somewhat enigmatic.
Oliver Onions' unusual blend of abnormal psychology and the supernatural may not appeal to those looking for traditional ghost stories. However, for the more venturesome reader, I recommend The First Book of Ghost Stories - Widdershins.
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by Robert Aickman
by J. Sheridan LeFanu
by Robert Aickman
