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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Strayers from Sheol,
By jumpwinter (Kansas City, Mo) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Strayers from Sheol (Hardcover)
Once again, Ash-Tree press has resurrected a set of ghost stories that should not have gone out-of-print. I read some Somerset Maugham stories at the same time I was reading this collection, and there were many moments when the voices of the authors sounded the same. Wakefield is very polished in his story-telling. This is not his complete works, but the contents of this book may be his best. "The Triumph of Death" will have to be read twice to catch all of the subtle hints left before the climatic death scene (it's alwasy great when the author can close a story with the climax - no "wrapping up" needed). "The Middle Drawer" is a predictable murder/ghost story, but the telling of the misery of the protagonist is fantastic. The book is rounded out with 4 never before published stories. These are as good or better than the more well-known stories preceding them. "Appointment With Fire" is a story of criminals getting their justice that rivals Robert Bloch's best work. The price is worth the possession of some of the finest ghost stories of the early 20th century. You won't find any of these stories outside of a few ancient Weird Tales anthologies. And who likes to buy an anthology only to find they already own half the stories inside ?
5.0 out of 5 stars
Forgotten Master,
By Wakefield is a polished craftsman. His work is tightly focused on plot and atmosphere. His plots are inventive, and he creates a powerful sense of atmosphere, possibly because he believes in ghosts, and experienced a kind of ghostly paralysis while staying at a haunted country house. Wakefield's ghosts are not kindly or protective spirits, they are either evil or vengeful, and as a consequence of this, his stories are very dark. Wakefield was born to an upper class British family, and when he uses upper class British characters, their speech and mannerisms are wonderfully detailed. When he uses characters who are not upper class British men, Wakefield's disdain is painful. Wakefield's stories are gems of atmosphere and plot. If readers can forgive Kipling's racism when they read "Rikki Tikki Tavi", I hope they can forgive Wakefield when they read "The Triumph of Death".
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