Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror
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'Priestley's gothic fest of Poe-like fables stand out like shining beacons' Guardian 'My insides were still untangling themselves hours after I had closed the book' Sunday Telegraph 'Mesmerising, understated, and convincingly Victorian in tone ... A book for children who enjoy being frightened - and a perfect introduction to Saki and Edgar Allen Poe' Guardian 'Throbs with sinister brilliance ... The art of the chilling, well-crafted ghost story is still alive and kicking' Literary Review
Review
`Priestley's gothic fest of Poe-like fables stand out like shining beacons'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I forget where I first spotted Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror, but I do remember that I was completely captivated by the cover.
And I was delighted to discover that it was a gothic and a portmanteau book - two things I can never resist.
Edgar is a solitary child - his parents are distant and, because he has been sent away to school, he is not close to the neighbourhood children. As the story opens with young Edgar walking through the woods to visit his Uncle Montague. The author takes you along on that walk, and you never leave Edgar's side, through everything that is to come.
Menace is so cleverly hinted at with very small details - a slow-moving kissing-gate, silent children lurking in overgrown woods, a cold and heavy garden gate ...
Finally Edgar and Uncle Montague settle down for tea, cake and stories in Uncle Montague's wonderfully gothic house. And what stories! Each one is simple, clear, and perfectly-formed. And they are strange tales, each with a child protagonist, and each escalating to a striking twist.
A boy enters the house of a woman he believes to be a witch and meets a most unexpected fate; a girl opens a forbidden door and is trapped in a dolls' house; a boy chased off a cliff by a demonic version of himself; a girl granted three wishes who finds that those wishes have dark consequences.... It would be unfair to say too much.
Some of the stories are stronger than others but they all work. And, while each is distinctive, they come together well as a set.
But that's not all. Edgar and Uncle Montague talk between stories, and their own story develops. Edgar begins to wonder. Is there is truth in the stories? Where have the artefacts that Uncle Montague shows him come from? And who are the strange children trying to gain access to the house?
All becomes clear in the astonishing final story - Uncle Montague's own.
Everything comes together just perfectly.
Tribute is paid to many great writers of ghost stories and the volume itself is a lovely little hardback, beautifully illustrated by David Roberts.
Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror is a chilren's book but it makes wonderful reading for adults too - and it would be lovely for parents or grandparents to read to children with a love of scary things.
And I was delighted to discover that it was a gothic and a portmanteau book - two things I can never resist.
Edgar is a solitary child - his parents are distant and, because he has been sent away to school, he is not close to the neighbourhood children. As the story opens with young Edgar walking through the woods to visit his Uncle Montague. The author takes you along on that walk, and you never leave Edgar's side, through everything that is to come.
Menace is so cleverly hinted at with very small details - a slow-moving kissing-gate, silent children lurking in overgrown woods, a cold and heavy garden gate ...
Finally Edgar and Uncle Montague settle down for tea, cake and stories in Uncle Montague's wonderfully gothic house. And what stories! Each one is simple, clear, and perfectly-formed. And they are strange tales, each with a child protagonist, and each escalating to a striking twist.
A boy enters the house of a woman he believes to be a witch and meets a most unexpected fate; a girl opens a forbidden door and is trapped in a dolls' house; a boy chased off a cliff by a demonic version of himself; a girl granted three wishes who finds that those wishes have dark consequences.... It would be unfair to say too much.
Some of the stories are stronger than others but they all work. And, while each is distinctive, they come together well as a set.
But that's not all. Edgar and Uncle Montague talk between stories, and their own story develops. Edgar begins to wonder. Is there is truth in the stories? Where have the artefacts that Uncle Montague shows him come from? And who are the strange children trying to gain access to the house?
All becomes clear in the astonishing final story - Uncle Montague's own.
Everything comes together just perfectly.
Tribute is paid to many great writers of ghost stories and the volume itself is a lovely little hardback, beautifully illustrated by David Roberts.
Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror is a chilren's book but it makes wonderful reading for adults too - and it would be lovely for parents or grandparents to read to children with a love of scary things.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This looked like such a good book, and it has it's own lovely little charm to it, but unfortunately, I just didn't find all the stories particularly engaging, although they were excellently written.
I like books for any age, that I can read again and again, sadly for me, this is a book I will only be reading once.
The illustrations however, are wonderful! Each one is cute and scary all in one! So I love this book, simply for the illustrations.
So this book is worth a read just once, as the stories, as i've said, have a lovely charm to them, but not enough to make me want to read any more by this author.
And from the point of view of a child (I'm not, but I can think like one if I try really hard!), this would be a really excellent set of scary stories for any child who likes little horror stories, they aren't so scary that you wont be able to sleep, but they are fun, and creepy, and make you think a little bit more. So for children aged 9+, I highly recommend this book!
I like books for any age, that I can read again and again, sadly for me, this is a book I will only be reading once.
The illustrations however, are wonderful! Each one is cute and scary all in one! So I love this book, simply for the illustrations.
So this book is worth a read just once, as the stories, as i've said, have a lovely charm to them, but not enough to make me want to read any more by this author.
And from the point of view of a child (I'm not, but I can think like one if I try really hard!), this would be a really excellent set of scary stories for any child who likes little horror stories, they aren't so scary that you wont be able to sleep, but they are fun, and creepy, and make you think a little bit more. So for children aged 9+, I highly recommend this book!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I thought this book was very good, first the cover and artwork of the book was very good. The stories had a very eerie feel to them and worked effectively. The only bad thing about this book is that if the writer wanted to he could have made the book a lot scarier. The story is basically a collection of stories that are scary; as it goes on the stories get scarier and scarier.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Gorgeously scary
This is a gorgeously scary book for gothic fans of all ages. The rather old-fashioned formula did initially rather make me wonder about its appeal but, I'm delighted that I stayed... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Edward Rice
Wonderful - a building sense of terror as the tales unfold...
Edgar goes to his visit his uncle; actually his `great great great something' uncle who lives in a dark old house beyond the woods. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Keen Reader
Cleverly connected spooky tales
This book was a double first for me, the first book of short stories that I've read (since I was very young) and the first time I've read a book of spooky stories. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Jesse Owen, Books 4 Teens
A study in creepiness
At home from boarding school, Edgar is a lonely child who likes to escape his indifferent parents to visit his relation of unknown degree, called Uncle Montague, to listen to... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Petra Bryce
Fantastically Creepy
I love Chris Priestly, and this book did not disappoint! A quirky, creepy little collection of incredibly imaginative tales. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mermaid349
Spooky Tales
Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror is a very spooky collection of tales brilliantly written by Chris Priestly. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Max
Like M.R. James for the younger reader
I was recommended to read this book by my friend Claire's eight-year-old son, Elliot. I'm not a big reader, but if I do read it does tend to be supernatural short stories by M.R. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Joey Ramone
A satisfyingly spooky treat!
Hurrah for Chris Priestley, and for his illustrator, David Roberts, whose Gorey-like images provide the perfect, creepy complement to his excellently spooky tales. Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2010 by Goth lady
Satisfyingly scary
Young Edgar visits his elderly Uncle Montague to listen to him recount a series of unsettling, macabre tales. Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2010 by Nell Jacobs
Brilliant!
I picked up this book in Borders because the front cover interested me. I then began to read the first few pages and was hooked. Read more
Published on 21 Dec 2009 by A reader
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