Purchases

Look what beauties arrived today:

 

A Visit by Shirley Jackson

 I had to order this book from the USA as it costs an arm and a leg here in the UK. 

The Amethyst Cross

With the arrival of this little gem, my Seth's Christmas Ghost Stories collection is just x2 books short of completion...

There is still no sign of A Visit by Shirley Jackson, which could be anywhere between here and the USA. The post was less than a fiver so I just hope it turn up as I snagged it as a cheap price and I haven't seen it avalaible at a price I am willing to pay anywhere else online. 

One of Seth's 2024 issues, Captail Dalgerty Returns ended up being unavailable, but I have finally managed to source and order another copy at that. It is just a waiting game now... 

X2 More SCGS Books

x2 more books added to my Seth's Christmas Ghost Stories collection. Iam now just x3 books away from completing the current range now. Those remaining books are all in order - with x2 en route from Uxbridge and x1 from America!

Looking through my collection, I had an idea. I have a box of Lego kicking around doing nowt these days. Wouldn't making Lego creations of the Seth drawings featured in these books make for a rather cool project? Hmmmmmm.

Another booty haul of goodies

I added a few more titles to my Seth's Christmas Stories book collection. I even managed to snag the rare and already out of print and very pricey The Apple Tree by Daphne du Maurier for a fiver from World of Books. 🙂

I have x3 more books on order, including the rarest SCGS book of all, A Visit by Shirley Jackson, which I sourced for only £12 from an American second hand bookshop. God only know if and when than will arrive though... 

Seth's Ghost Stories Update

The current state of my Seth Ghost Stories Collection

After a few Amazon returns, I spent my Amazon funds on adding a few more titles to my Seth's Chrismas Ghost Stories collection. 

 

One gripe has emerged already. Take a look at The Open Door book pictured above. See anything different about this book compared to the others? It is published by Penguin, not Biblioasis, and is also a larger book than the others in my collection. There is annoyingly little info out there on this book series, so I have no idea why certain editions are only available in the Puffin version. It is annoying though...

Anyway, you can see more about my progress collecting this series of books on my dedicated SCGS page here. 

Seth's Christmas Ghost Story Collection

I promised a few entries ago that I would do another Seth's Christmas Ghost Stories book post and here it is. As of today, there appears to be 30 books already published in the series, so I have a lot of catching up to do with my collection, which, as of today, looks like this:

As I hope to collect the full series eventually, I have created a webpage to add more info about the series and detail my growing collection. You can find it both here and on my Library page.

Polar Christmas Reading

It has been a recent tradition of mine these past few Christmas' to read a vintage ghost story published in Seth's illustrated range of books. Last month's title I chose to read was The Captain of the Polestar by Arthur Conan Doyle. 

Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Captain of the Polestar (1883) presents a chilling ghost story set against the backdrop of the desolate Arctic. The narrative follows John McAlister Ray, a ship's doctor aboard the Polestar, as he documents the unsettling experiences surrounding Captain Craigie. Through Ray's journal entries, the tale unfolds the psychological turmoil and supernatural disturbances that plague the captain, whose fixation on ghostly visions merges madness with the uncanny. 

Reading the story reminded me of another tale I read a few years back - the more modern and longer Dark Matter (2010) by Michelle Paver, which also navigates themes of isolation and fear within an Arctic setting. In this later book, the protagonist, Jack Miller, part of a doomed scientific mission, faces spectral occurrences as the endless Arctic night envelops him. Despite the gap of over a hundred years between the two works, both stories resonate with thematic parallels, and generate an atmosphere of dread stemming from human vulnerability in unforgiving environments.

Both narratives effectively employ the Arctic landscape as a backdrop for psychological and supernatural horror. In Doyle's The Captain of the Polestar, the frozen sea becomes an unforgiving force, mirroring Craigie’s troubled mind. Conversely, Paver's Dark Matter delves into the suffocating isolation of the Arctic, using the perpetual darkness to symbolize the encroaching fears of the unknown. While Doyle's writing is richly evocative, Paver creates a more visceral experience, vividly illustrating the relentless cold and silence that amplify the tension.

At the heart of both stories lies the fragile human psyche under extreme duress. Captain Craigie’s visions and unstable behaviour in The Captain of the Polestar echo Jack’s growing paranoia in Dark Matter. However, while Doyle leaves the supernatural elements open to interpretation—raising questions about the reality of the apparitions—Paver confirms the existence of sinister forces. This difference positions Doyle’s tale as a more enigmatic reflection of Victorian doubt, whereas Paver presents a contemporary psychological horror grounded in tangible threats.

In Doyle’s narrative, the brevity of the story shapes its characters; Captain Craigie remains an enigmatic figure, and Ray largely serves as an observer. In contrast, Paver’s Dark Matter provides a more profound emotional connection to Jack, whose personal fears and ambitions enrich his character's descent into madness. Paver, in developing her story to novel length, also creates a more robust cast of supporting characters, intensifying the story's tragic stakes.

Doyle’s prose, reflective of the Victorian era, possesses an elegance that may seem restrained by modern standards, favouring suggestion and ambience over explicit horror. In contrast, Paver's writing employs contemporary storytelling techniques, intertwining psychological tension with vivid sensory descriptions that immerse the reader in the protagonist's dread and isolation. The Captain of the Polestar stands as a notable example of Victorian ghost literature, infused with mystery and understated terror, while Dark Matter offers a more immediate and visceral horror experience, highlighting psychological intricacies and the unyielding threat posed by its Arctic setting. Readers drawn to ambiguous, atmospheric ghost stories may find resonance in Doyle’s work, whereas those in search of a harrowing, immersive narrative may gravitate towards Paver’s contemporary interpretation. Both tales, however, masterfully illustrate the lasting impact of the Arctic as a canvas for examining human vulnerability amidst extreme conditions. 

I would highly recommend both tales to ghost story enthusiasts.  And, given their chilly settings, the pair make for a fantastic supernatural Christmas reading treat.

And whilst Doyle's short story can be easily found in numerous anthologies, I do suggest you find the version I read over Christmas, if only for the small book's cool design, and Seth's cool minimalist yet highly evocative illustrations.

Watch this space for more info on Seth's range of Christmas ghost stories...

Time to Put Away the Toys, for a while at least

Thursday, February 15, 2024 

Okay, just completed photographing my Lego version of 'Whistle and I'll Come to You', the Ghost Story for Christmas, where the protagonist is literally haunted by a bed-cover. I am going to have to put the Lego away for a few weeks now as I really need to concentrate on completing my next novel, Cold Comfort! The break will do me good as I can't decide what the next ghost story I will be working on for my Lego Horror series - though it will probably be 'A Warning to the Curious'.

Anyway, here are the photos, with a brief outline of the M.R. James ghost story to make a little sense of them:.

Our protagonist arrives at his holiday B&B to find his single room has two beds:

That evening. He takes in the seaside air with a long walk along the beach, where he discovers a Curious old Whistle in the sand. He blows it to clear the sand from it and a strange sound fills the air. Feeling suddenly cold, He hurries back to his B&B for an early night.

Unfortunately, his sleep is a troubled one. Strange noises permeate his room, which he puts down to the wind flapping the curtains through an open window. The sound filters through into his Dreams, conjuring a nightmare vision. A malevolent force has been conjured by the sounding of the ancient whistle, and finding form in an old boat sail, billows across the beach towards him: 

He awakens, terrified as the sound of the flapping sail continues from the 'unnoccupied' bed in his room. It seems as though its bedsheets have come alive and flap as they tussle to find the form of the evil beneath them:

Panic-stricken, he grabs the whistle, and flings the cursed item into the flames of the room's open fire:

The sheets fall in a knotted heap to the floor, just an ordinary bed-cover once more. However, so terrified was the protagonist, that he never recovers his former sanity.

Make Room!

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Time for more 'Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You', if The Soosh Cat will allow!