4th Vault Advent Calendar

As has maybe been mentioned on here, the Vault forum is where you’ll find the bulk of the contributors to this place, and if you’ve yet to register, now is as good a time as any. At present, we’re currently halfway through our fourth annual advent calendar, a daily treat in the run-up to Christmas featuring horror fiction, old and new, from several of our very favourite authors. Get with it at Vault – Your one-stop shop for festive mirth!

C. A. Dawson Scott & Ernest Rhys – Twenty And Three Stories

C. A. Dawson Scott & Ernest Rhys (eds.) – Twenty And Three Stories: By Twenty And Three Authors (Thornton Butterworth, 1924)

 

Introduction: Ernest Rhys & C. A. Dawson Scott

Edith Wharton – Kerfol
L. de Bra – A Life – A Bowl Of Rice
W. B. Yeats – The Crucifixion Of The Outcast
The Marquess Curzon Of Kedleston – The Drums Of Kairwan
T. F. Powys – Alleluia
A. E. W. Mason – Hatteras
Elinor Mordaunt – Hodge
Thomas Burke – The Chink And The Child
Robert Hichens – The Nomad
Cutcliffe Hyne – The Ransom
Edwin Pugh – The Other Twin
Morley Roberts – Grear’s Dam
Ward Muir – The Reward Of Enterprise
H. de Vere Stackpoole -The King Of Maleka
Algernon Blackwood – Violence
A. Conan-Doyle – Captain Sharkey
Arthur Lynch – The Sentimental Mortgage
Ellis Roberts – The Narrow Way
Louis Golding – The Call Of The Hand
Walter De La Mare – The Creatures
W. Somerset Maugham – The Taipan
John Masefield – Davy Jones’ Gift
W. W. Jacobs – The Monkey’s Paw

“The New Terror is apt to be more psychical, more psychological perhaps, than the old. The method of the latter is based on EDGAR POE and the writers for Blackwoods Magazine, while the former is akin to the Russians, to SOLOGUB and TCHEKKOV.”

Strong mixed bag of Ghost stories, mysteries and thrillers – “stories of sensation” as the authors put it – with enough of a horror bent to be included here. A companion piece to their Thirty And One Stories of the previous year which is more diverse in its approach but still finds time to include genre contributions from Percival Gibbon, Violet Hunt, May Sinclair and H. G. Wells of those I recognise.

Kevin Carolan – Churchyard Whispers

Kevin Carolan (ed.) – Churchyard Whispers (Hodder & Stoughton, 1999)

Cover picture: detail taken from SC24848 Stoke Poges Church by John Constable (1776-1837)
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK/Bridgeman Art Library.

Tales Of Mystery & Suspense

Introduction

W. E. Aytoun – The Man In The Bell
Guy De Maupassant – The Graveyard Sisterhood
Edgar Allan Poe – The Pit and the Pendulum
Viscount De L’isle – The Torture Of Hope
Herman Melville – The Bell-Tower
Walter de la Mare – All Hallows
O. Henry – The Cop And The Anthem
Sherwood Anderson – The Strength Of God
T.F. Powys – The Hunted Beast

Tales Of Crime & Detection

Jack London – The Master Of Mystery
Melville Davisson Post – The Angel Of The Lord
Catherine Louisa Pirkis – The Sisterhood
H. Jenkins – The Gylston Slander
Robert Louis Stevenson – The Young Man In Holy Orders
J. MacLaren-Ross – The Episcopal Seal
E. C. Bentley – The Genuine Tabard
R. Ellis Roberts – The Narrow Way
H.C. Bailey – The Yellow Slugs
Kevin Carolan – Churchyard Shadows

Blurb:
Most of us must have walked around a country churchyard at some time or other, looking at the carefully laid-out gravestones, and felt a sense of peace and order. But there can also be movements in the shadows which make us uncomfortable. The desolation of many churches and cemeteries makes them an ideal spot to commit atrocious crimes. The vicarage can be filled with bitterness and religious frenzy as much as spiritual calm.

Churchyard Shadows draws together the best stories of crime and mystery that take the church as their backdrop, written by some of the greatest masters of the short story. Tales such as Edgar Allan Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum, T.F. Powys’ The Hunted Beast and Walter de la Mare’s All Hallows hold us in unbearable suspense. H.C. Bailey’s The Yellow Slugs sees spiritual cruelty lead to murder. Robert Louis Stevenson examines the corrupting effect of an enormous diamond on a young clergyman. On the other hand, we witness the celebrated Uncle Abner and Jack London’s tribal shaman solve crimes using their religious insights. This is an anthology to entertain and enthrall – but not to be read in a darkened churchyard!

These covers with embossed lettering are sent to try us, but the content looks very strong. Hadn’t heard of Kevin Carolan before, but, from the back cover, he “writes and lectures on a wide variety of subjects, and is the editor of the short-story collection Celtic Mysteries.”

Dennis Wheatley – Shafts Of Fear

Dennis Wheatley (ed.) – Shafts Of Fear (Arrow, 1964)

Introduction – Dennis Wheatley

Evelyn Waugh – The Man Who Liked Dickens
Martin Armstrong – The Pipe-Smoker
Michael Joseph – A Glass Of Milk
William Hope Hodgson – The Island Of The Ud
William Hope Hodgson – The Derelict
T. F. Powys – The House With The Echo
A. E. Coppard – Arabesque: The Mouse
Alec Waugh – The Last Chukka
Charles Birkin – A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts
Thomas Burke – The Bird
Guy de Maupassant – Vendetta
James Hilton – The Mallet
Hugh Walpole – The Silver Mask
C. E. Montague – The First Blood Sweep
John Russell – The Fourth Man
John Russell – The Price Of The Head
John Russell – The Lost God
Ambrose Bierce – A Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge
Dennis Wheatley – The Snake