Dark Descent: A Fabulous Formless Darkness v. 3 (The Dark Descent Series)

Literature & Fiction

Joyce Carol Oates

Oliver Onions

Shirley Jackson

GENE WOLFE

Fritz LEIBER

Thomas M. Disch

ROBERT W. CHAMBERS

Ambrose, Bierce

Algernon, Blackwood

Robert Aickman

Edith, Wharton

Philip, K. Dick

WALTER

De La Mare

Genre Fiction

GRAFTON

Best Ghost Stories

ROBERT GRAVES

O'Henry

J. Sheridan Le Fanu

M.R.James

E.M. Forster

Edgar-Allan-Poe

SAKI

H.P.Lovecraft

United States

Littlehampton Book Services Ltd.

Widdershins (The Landmark library)

Chatto&Windus

The story of Ragged Robyn (The Landmark library, no. 13)

Widdershins

"Widdershins" is a collection of Oliver Onions' short stories,. 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 effort

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

<p>Introduction by David Stuart Davies. Oliver Onions is unique in the realms of ghost story writers in that his tales are so far ranging in their background and substance that they are not easily categorised. His stories are powerfully charged explorations of psychical violence, their effects heightened by detailed character studies graced with a powerful poetic elegance. In simple terms Oliver Onions goes for the cerebral rather than the jugular. However, make no mistake, his ghost stories achieve the desired effect. They draw you in, enmeshing you in their unnerving and disturbing narratives. This collection contains such masterpieces as The Rosewood Door, The Ascending Dream, The Painted Face and The Beckoning Fair One, a story which both Algernon Blackwood and H. P. Lovecraft regarded as one of the most effective and subtle ghost stories in all literature. Long out of print, these classic tales are a treasure trove of nightmarish gems.</p>

The Dead of Night: The Ghost Stories of Oliver Onions (Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural)

Wordsworth Editions Ltd.

The Collected Ghost Stories of Oliver Onions

Tartarus Press

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Books by Oliver Onions