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megapolisomancy's review
2.0
How can you be so superstitious? This is the nineteenth century. Ghosts went out when gas came in.
Australian gothic/horror/supernatural shorts from the 1860s through 1930s. Most are rather standard Victorian ghost stories, more interesting as historical artifacts (particularly those set in the Melbourne-area gold rush) than as narratives in and of themselves, and even the weirder later stories (particularly Grimshaw and Dwyer) were good but not great. The editor does go out of his way to point out that many of these authors have more-frequently anthologized stories that he chose not to include in favor of their lesser-known work, so maybe this wasn't the best place to start.
The Spirits of the Tower • (1883) • Mary Fortune - A standard ghostly revenge tale rendered in an absurdly complicated narrative, but nicely rendering the desolation of the bush.
Little Liz • (1867) • B. L. Farjeon - Also about revenge, basically lacking in supernatural elements, and revolving around a little girl fetishized to an entirely disturbing degree (to modern sentiments, at any rate).
The House by the River • (1883) • G. A. Walstab - On the one hand, a relatively good haunted house story set in India with creepy ghost scenes, but on the other hand, a relatively racist story set in colonial India.
The Ghost from the Sea • (1889) • J. E. P. Muddock - A murder mystery, I guess, although there's only ever one suspect, and also a ghostly revenge story, where the haunting occurs almost entirely off-screen. Written in stultifying, self-consciously old-fashioned prose.
Spirit-Led • (1890) • Ernest Favenc - Nice and weird, bizarro time-travel shenanigans and disconnections between the spirit and the flesh. Also, alas, with an unfortunate tinge of racism.
A Haunt of the Jinkarras • (1890) • Ernest Favenc - A man stumbles on a cave fulling of missing-link ape creatures. Even more racist!
The Boundary Rider's Story • (1895) • Ernest Favenc - A bit of a turnaround when a "Chinaman" gets some spooky revenge against a white guy.
Cannabis Indica • (1868) • Marcus Clarke - A Hoffmanesque story about a student's surreal adventures after a run-in with a witch. Also published as "A Hashish Trace," and supposedly written while Clarke was doped up, but it seems awfully coherent for that. At any rate, one of the best stories here.
Norah and the Fairies • (1900) • Hume Nisbet - A bit of ephemera about a girl lost in the bush and the fairies/animals/storybook characters who comfort her.
The Ghost Monk • (1908) • Rosa Praed - A Jesuit once helped a ghost who is now predicting his death, but in a friendly manner. Uninteresting.
Lupton's Ghost: A Memory of the Eastern Pacific • (1895) • Louis Becke - Castaways and supernatural knowledge of past dreadful crimes. More stylistically interesting than most of the others.
A Colonial Banshee • (1906) • Fergus Hume - An influx of Irish immigrants would probably bring an influx of their folkloric monsters, right? The supernatural as a source of humor.
A Strange Experience • (1888) • A. F. Basset Hull - A murderer has the telepathic ability to switch minds with a cop overseeing his execution, but for some reason only uses it to get sympathy, not to escape. A strange choice in an odd little narrative, but at least it wasn't another ghost story.
A Bushman's Story • (1882) • Frances Faucett - In which said bushman once found an eerie, silent city in the midst of an uncharted valley. The author's only story, written when she was 16ish and uncovered by Doig in the school's archives. A shame, because it's one of the best ones here.
The Death Child • (1905) • Guy Boothby - A Papuan child is cursed and all the (white colonizers) who try to take control of her end up dead. Has a dumb ending, but the barely-sublimated guilt here is the closest any of these stories get to wrestling with the crimes of colonialism.
The Jewelled Hand • (1887) • Lionel Sparrow - Kind of hysterical Poe-style prose about a mentally-ill man fixated on the lifespan of a decapitated head.
The Vengeance of the Dead • (1907) • Lionel Sparrow - Also fixated on post-mortem changes, this time spiritual in addition to physical, but told in a much cooler manner ("cooler" meaning both calmer and more interesting). A vampire story that prefigures Aleister Crowley's "The Testament of Magdalen Blair" and a fixation on Hindu spiritualism.
The Cave • (1932) • Beatrice Grimshaw - The lone man overseeing a possible mine on a remote island discovers he's not as alone as he thought. I'm just going to spoil this one by revealing that it's dinosaur ghosts. Grimshaw's stories are the best here and this manages to be both creepy and kind of a madcap adventure, with well-sketched characters and... dinosaur ghosts.
The Forest of Lost Men • (1934) • Beatrice Grimshaw - A weird place story, which have been sadly lacking here, about a particularly nefarious tribe of Aborigines who are, at least, reasonably defending their own territory. A first-person recollection with a strongly-developed voice. It's downhill from here to the end of the collection.
The Cave of the Invisible • (1939) • James Francis Dwyer - A lesser echo of Grimshaw's cave, also with dinosaur (maybe) ghosts and a creepy Russian.
Where the Butterflies Come From • (1921) • William Hay - Ephemera about a girl wandering off after her uncle lies to her about... where the butterflies come from. I'm not sure what this is doing in this anthology.
The Vampire • (1901) • W. W. Lamble - A brief prose poem about a man under the spell of an alluring vampire.
Hallowe'en • (1909) • Dulcie Deamer - A brief prose poem about a werewolf/witch. This one probably deserved more attention than I gave it but I was too ready to be done.
Australian gothic/horror/supernatural shorts from the 1860s through 1930s. Most are rather standard Victorian ghost stories, more interesting as historical artifacts (particularly those set in the Melbourne-area gold rush) than as narratives in and of themselves, and even the weirder later stories (particularly Grimshaw and Dwyer) were good but not great. The editor does go out of his way to point out that many of these authors have more-frequently anthologized stories that he chose not to include in favor of their lesser-known work, so maybe this wasn't the best place to start.
The Spirits of the Tower • (1883) • Mary Fortune - A standard ghostly revenge tale rendered in an absurdly complicated narrative, but nicely rendering the desolation of the bush.
Little Liz • (1867) • B. L. Farjeon - Also about revenge, basically lacking in supernatural elements, and revolving around a little girl fetishized to an entirely disturbing degree (to modern sentiments, at any rate).
The House by the River • (1883) • G. A. Walstab - On the one hand, a relatively good haunted house story set in India with creepy ghost scenes, but on the other hand, a relatively racist story set in colonial India.
The Ghost from the Sea • (1889) • J. E. P. Muddock - A murder mystery, I guess, although there's only ever one suspect, and also a ghostly revenge story, where the haunting occurs almost entirely off-screen. Written in stultifying, self-consciously old-fashioned prose.
Spirit-Led • (1890) • Ernest Favenc - Nice and weird, bizarro time-travel shenanigans and disconnections between the spirit and the flesh. Also, alas, with an unfortunate tinge of racism.
A Haunt of the Jinkarras • (1890) • Ernest Favenc - A man stumbles on a cave fulling of missing-link ape creatures. Even more racist!
The Boundary Rider's Story • (1895) • Ernest Favenc - A bit of a turnaround when a "Chinaman" gets some spooky revenge against a white guy.
Cannabis Indica • (1868) • Marcus Clarke - A Hoffmanesque story about a student's surreal adventures after a run-in with a witch. Also published as "A Hashish Trace," and supposedly written while Clarke was doped up, but it seems awfully coherent for that. At any rate, one of the best stories here.
Norah and the Fairies • (1900) • Hume Nisbet - A bit of ephemera about a girl lost in the bush and the fairies/animals/storybook characters who comfort her.
The Ghost Monk • (1908) • Rosa Praed - A Jesuit once helped a ghost who is now predicting his death, but in a friendly manner. Uninteresting.
Lupton's Ghost: A Memory of the Eastern Pacific • (1895) • Louis Becke - Castaways and supernatural knowledge of past dreadful crimes. More stylistically interesting than most of the others.
A Colonial Banshee • (1906) • Fergus Hume - An influx of Irish immigrants would probably bring an influx of their folkloric monsters, right? The supernatural as a source of humor.
A Strange Experience • (1888) • A. F. Basset Hull - A murderer has the telepathic ability to switch minds with a cop overseeing his execution, but for some reason only uses it to get sympathy, not to escape. A strange choice in an odd little narrative, but at least it wasn't another ghost story.
A Bushman's Story • (1882) • Frances Faucett - In which said bushman once found an eerie, silent city in the midst of an uncharted valley. The author's only story, written when she was 16ish and uncovered by Doig in the school's archives. A shame, because it's one of the best ones here.
The Death Child • (1905) • Guy Boothby - A Papuan child is cursed and all the (white colonizers) who try to take control of her end up dead. Has a dumb ending, but the barely-sublimated guilt here is the closest any of these stories get to wrestling with the crimes of colonialism.
The Jewelled Hand • (1887) • Lionel Sparrow - Kind of hysterical Poe-style prose about a mentally-ill man fixated on the lifespan of a decapitated head.
The Vengeance of the Dead • (1907) • Lionel Sparrow - Also fixated on post-mortem changes, this time spiritual in addition to physical, but told in a much cooler manner ("cooler" meaning both calmer and more interesting). A vampire story that prefigures Aleister Crowley's "The Testament of Magdalen Blair" and a fixation on Hindu spiritualism.
The Cave • (1932) • Beatrice Grimshaw - The lone man overseeing a possible mine on a remote island discovers he's not as alone as he thought. I'm just going to spoil this one by revealing that it's dinosaur ghosts. Grimshaw's stories are the best here and this manages to be both creepy and kind of a madcap adventure, with well-sketched characters and... dinosaur ghosts.
The Forest of Lost Men • (1934) • Beatrice Grimshaw - A weird place story, which have been sadly lacking here, about a particularly nefarious tribe of Aborigines who are, at least, reasonably defending their own territory. A first-person recollection with a strongly-developed voice. It's downhill from here to the end of the collection.
The Cave of the Invisible • (1939) • James Francis Dwyer - A lesser echo of Grimshaw's cave, also with dinosaur (maybe) ghosts and a creepy Russian.
Where the Butterflies Come From • (1921) • William Hay - Ephemera about a girl wandering off after her uncle lies to her about... where the butterflies come from. I'm not sure what this is doing in this anthology.
The Vampire • (1901) • W. W. Lamble - A brief prose poem about a man under the spell of an alluring vampire.
Hallowe'en • (1909) • Dulcie Deamer - A brief prose poem about a werewolf/witch. This one probably deserved more attention than I gave it but I was too ready to be done.
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