Customer Reviews

Uncanny Stories (Wordsworth Mystery & Supernatural) (Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Beware, you are wondering into the realms of literature with this book, as the scholarly introduction shows (don't read before the stories). Warning aside, I can say that I have not read a collection like it- modern, sensitive and disturbing. A particular theme is the cruelties the living can inflict on the dead,which might seems bizare, but read "The Token" for example and you will understand. "The Victim" has a killer twist at the end which only strengthens what has gone before.
Only complaint? The naff cover illustration which would suit another, lesser book.

These are classic tales which to some may seem a little dated but this is only because the themes have been copied so many times since.

A good mixture in terms of length, don't be put off by the heavyweight context of some - Freud, Einstein etc - they are still very readable short stories.

As a short story writer myself, I can only admire the craft of these tales. The language & prose is exceptional & the stories balanced.

If you mainly read new writing, flash fiction or 'shock' stories, this may not be the collection for you. But, if you are a fan of older style stories, then you'll love it.

My advice, dip into every now & then. Pick a story - they vary in length & include a novelette so there is plenty to choose from. Get into bed early, just have the lamp on & soak up the gothic feel of a well-written supernatural tale - no nightmares, no blood or slashing, just solid psycological tension.

A really excellent read. Stories just the right length to pack in a powerful and perfect mix of romantic, gothic fiction. A readable introduction helps to set the tales in context too. I enjoyed these beautiful, 'uncanny' stories that had me re-thinking and re-reading them time and again.

Woolf, Freud, Einstein, the Brontes - when the back cover invokes all these you should be impressed - and sceptical. I didn't personally think this was marvellous writing, and certainly a bit disappointing for reading by lamplight while the wind howls outside. But if she doesn't exactly dive into the maelstrom of the pschology of female desire, she certainly gets the water wings off. And the last story, 'The Intercessor', rings changes on the standard gothic motif of the restless murdered child, by venturing into the startling territory of breast-feeding, co-sleeping, and the dangerous relationship between female sexuality and motherhood: more Sheila Kitzinger than Virginia Woolf perhaps, but definitely modern.

Miss Sinclair's stuff turns up in anthologies, and I wanted to see more of her work. The book wasn't disappointing - but why didn't the publisher of this volume have enough imagination to use a cover illustration different from M.R. James' Collected Ghost Stories?

This author I did not get on with. I found the stories a little dull and very similar to each other. I have enjoyed other short story titles in the Wordsworth collection but this is definately not one of my favourites.