“The laws of this world are not the laws of the hereafter. Some day the truth will be revealed.”
In the run up to Christmas, I found it hard to concentrate on serious reading, so in the gap between the last two Powells of my challenge, I dipped into this little volume for some light distraction. It’s one of the Wordsworth volumes of ‘Tales of Mystery and the Supernatural’ and I liked the description of it as like Sherlock Holmes with ghosts! I confess I’d never heard of either the authors or Vance, but a little look on Wikipedia revealed this:
Alice Askew (18 June 1874 – 6 October 1917) along with her husband, Claude Askew (27 November 1865 – 6 October 1917) were British authors, who together wrote “over ninety novels, many published in sixpenny and sevenpenny series, between 1904 and 1918”.
(I’d actually recommend reading the whole entry here as it’s quite fascinating)
The stories in this book date from the early part of the 20th century, so are in a later time period than Holmes, and do display more modern trappings. Aylmer Vance is an investigator of strange phenomena, and he encounters a young barrister by the name of Dexter. They become friends and Vance regales Dexter with tales of weird happenings he’s come across. As the stories progress, it transpires that Dexter is psychic, subject to visions, and so he chucks up his practice and joins Vance in seeking out the unusual.
There are tales of ghosts and possession; scary brooding houses holding dark secrets; events from the past which resonate in the present. Many of the stories are motivated by love and passion, which seems a strong enough emotion to transcend death; but once again, there is a thin line between love and hate, with jealousy causing much of the hauntings. I have to say also that Vance and Dexter don’t always have much success – more often than not it’s the supernatural that wins out!
This is a slim volume of just over 120 pages, containing 8 tales, and if I’m truly honest they weren’t overly scary – I read them late at night without too much trouble, apart from the last one “The Fear” – which did make me a little jittery! However, they’re beautifully written and very entertaining, with a lovely repartee between the main characters. Nothing will ever rival Homes and Watson, but this was a good, light, enjoyable read just when I needed it – and for a few pounds you can’t go wrong!
(As an aside, it would have been nice to have some kind of introduction, with a little information about the stories and the Askews, just to put things in context – Wordsworth Classics usually have good forewords etc, and I’m sure classic mysteries would benefit from these too!)
Alex
Jan 02, 2014 @ 17:23:33
Given Conan Doyle’s interest in spiritualism adding ghosts to Sherlock Holmes is not as far fetched as it might sound. I love the cover of this book and as covers are something I rarely give much attention to, it must really be good.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Jan 02, 2014 @ 17:24:54
🙂 Good point! I thought it was a fun read and the cover is really striking too!
heavenali
Jan 02, 2014 @ 17:34:04
Good reading for these dark, stormy winter nights – I do enjoy these kind of old fashioned suspensful/spooky tales.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Jan 02, 2014 @ 17:37:56
So do I! There’s nothing better than being tucked up warm inside with a book like this while the wind and rain does its stuff outside! 🙂
Fleur in her World
Jan 02, 2014 @ 17:40:17
I always wonder about these Wordsworth ghost story anthologies. I like the look of some of them but I can’t cope with anything too dark and so when I don’t know the author name it’s difficult. Thank you for ‘clearing’ this one!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Jan 02, 2014 @ 18:31:52
I know exactly what you mean! I’m hopeless at reading scary things, particularly at night. I had to abandon Edith Wharton’s Ghost Stories one evening after one short story as they were a teensy bit too much for me. And my Eldest Child is reading H.P. Lovecraft!! But I think this one would be ok as it’s quite gentle.
litlove
Jan 03, 2014 @ 16:40:55
These sound quite charming. I have M R James’ collected tales to read, given me by a dear friend last autumn, and I really must get around to them. I quite like the non-scary sort of ghost story!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Jan 03, 2014 @ 16:54:01
Yes, those are the type of ghost story I prefer – I really can’t take the hard stuff!
Kat
Jan 03, 2014 @ 18:45:27
I have a copy of E. Nesbit’s ghost stories in this series (but I’ve read only a few) and have seen one or two others at a used bookstore. Never heard of the Askews, but I do like Sherlock Holmes.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Jan 03, 2014 @ 20:08:37
I’d never heard of them before but there were definitely elements of Holmes in this one – it was good fun!
Cavershamragu
Jan 04, 2014 @ 12:07:06
Thanks for the info as I have not read anything by these two – shall see about getting a copy, cheers.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Jan 04, 2014 @ 16:19:52
Hope you enjoy – there is an obvious debt to Holmes and Watson, but the stories are quite fun!
Cavershamragu
Jan 04, 2014 @ 17:21:30
I’ve got in order now so hope to check this one out really soon – thanks again!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Jan 04, 2014 @ 18:19:00
No probs!
AYLMER VANCE: GHOST-SEER (1914) by Alice and Claude Askew | Tipping My Fedora
May 01, 2015 @ 00:01:23