The Collected Ghost Stories of Mrs. J. H. Riddell - Charlotte Eliza L. Riddell
In Victorian times, both Mrs.
Riddell’s father and husband suffered business failures so she had to go to
work with her pen. A prolific fiction writer, she wrote novels with intriguing
titles such as The Nun’s Curse and
supernatural novels like Fairy
Water and The
Uninhabited House. This Dover
collection from 1977 brought together 14 supernatural stories
originally published in Christmas annuals.
"Nut Bush Farm" (1882) -- A skeptical
man rents a farm whose nearby peasants are spooked by something which takes a
weird form. The skeptical guy finds his disbelief in haints sorely tested.
"The Open Door" (18892) – The old story
of guy, fired because he didn’t know his place, who needs. money. He accepts a
job in which he is to stay in a creepy old mansion all night long in order to
figure out why a door won’t stay shut. The things we do for money are often
examined by Mrs. Riddell, who knew the pinch of being busted.
"The Last Squire of Ennismore" (1888) –The
take-away from this story is that If a foreigner appears out of nowhere from
the sea, don’t invite him in your country house for a drink, if you don’t want
to be the last of your line, that is.
"A Strange Christmas Game" (1868) -- A penniless
brother and sister think their luck has changed when they inherit an estate
from a distant relative. They couldn’t be more wrong.
"The Old House in Vauxhall Walk" (1882) –The old story of a young man who needs bread in the worst way. Homeless and wandering the streets, he meets a former servant who offers to put him up in an old empty house. Spirited hijinks ensue.
"Sandy the Tinker" – (1882) There’s something very creepy about supernatural stories that involve bad dreams.
"Forewarned, Forearmed" (1874) – Another
weird dream story. I think I will stay up all night tonight.
"Hertford O'Donnell's Warning" (1867) – Smart people may be very smart but they are also subject to weird fancies. Whenever a poor doctor starts to propose to his lady love, who only happens to be a rich heiress, he and he only begins to hear the howl of the banshee. Mrs. Riddell was Irish, so there you go.
"Walnut Tree
House" (1882) –Stories of ghost children are weird.
"Old Mrs. Jones"
(1882) –An unforgettable mix of funny, uncanny and scary.
"Why Dr. Cray Left
Southam" (1889) – An utterly plausible story about the aftermath of when a
doctor who doesn’t suffer hypochondriacs accuses a uxorious husband of doing
away with his wife.
"Conn Kilrea"
(1899) – A family is cursed by a spirit whose appearance is a harbinger of a
death in the family. Doesn’t every family have such a early warning system?
"Diarmid Chittock's Story" (1899) – Very strong Irish interest in this story. Sick of the hurly-burly of London life, a sensitive guy man lets a remote house on Ireland's Atlantic coast. He is fascinated by a young governess who turned down the proposal of one of his friends. Our hero wants to get them together. Beware meddling in other people’s business.
"A Terrible Vengeance" (1889) -- A little town flirt breaks up with her boyfriend during a boating excursion, but then goes missing. Wet footprints begin the follow Somebody. A genuinely creepy story.
Mrs. Riddell (said “riddle”
by the bye) is a dab hand for evocative descriptions of landscapes and flora.
She also has a sharp though sympathetic wit that we like in Irish writers.
Because of her own unhappy experiences of keeping the wolf from the door, she
knows people are mainly concerned with the age-old questions “What’s this going
to cost me” and “What’s in it for me.”
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