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Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 9, Winter 1945-1946
Page 216
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216 FANTASY COMMENTATOR Forgotten Creators of Ghosts by A. Langley Searles V - Bessie Kyffin-Taylor Judging from the evidence extant, there are many authors who dabble casually in the fictional outre, apparently laboring under the delusion that it is a relatively uncultivated field where few have preceeded their literary footsteps. Occasionally such dilettantes unearth new ideas, or furnish pleasingly fresh variants on well-known thematic gambits. More often, however, their efforts are largely derivative and frequently badly-written besides. The work of Lady Kyffin-Taylor hovers annoyingly between these two extremes: From out of the Silence: Seven Strange Stories (1930) is a heterogeneous combination of traditional plots, a few excellent variations on them, and a writing style that varies from a satisfactory to a downright incompetent level. Indeed, the most consistent characteristic of her prose is its patent---if a times naïve---sincerity. Inability to achieve an adequate medium of expression is probably the authoress' chief fault. Such a criticism is too strongly based for comfort, since it involves not only careless composition, but a glaring ignorance of the fundamental rules of English grammar on her part. This last manifests itself in the stringing together of three or four obvious sentences by commas, and much incorrect italicizing. The development of the stories, too, is often awkward and at loose ends. This is especially true of their climaxes, which lose much potential effectiveness through being diluted by excess wordage. Moreover, the conversation encountered never hits the happy medium of familiarity that a good writer's should, and the slang expressions it embodies usually leave an impression of clumsiness rather than informality. Since many others have handled similar themes with less originality, it is obvious that the stories in From out of the Silence seem of lower quality than they actually are solely because of inadequacy in their vehicle. Basically they have much in common: all deal with varying examples of the dead influencing the living; all are somewhat longer than the average supernatural short story; and all are told in the first person by one who has taken part in the events depicted. Ghostly reenactments of murders take place in no less than five. Those encountered in "Room No. Ten," "Sylvia" and "The Star Inn" are neither outstandingly good or bad, and conform to expected traditional patterns; that of "Two Little Red Shoes," while not without merit, is badly marred by the conventional sentimental approach which---to a lesser or greater extent---is present in all of Bessie Kyffin-Taylor's work; while "The Wind in the Woods," although it might have been more compactly written, impresses one as being the best of the group. "The Twins" deals with a dead man's evil influence over the life of his surviving birthmate, and how it was eventually stopped; this tale becomes almost sticky on occasions with a romantic sentimentality that is both exaggerated and out of place. A more satisfactory example of fiction, on the other hand, wherein somewhat novel subject-matter is given better than usual treatment, is "Outside the House"; this impresses one as being the most outstanding of the authoress' efforts. It tells of a house built near the site of an abandoned mine, and which is haunted by the spirits of men who were sent into its workings, only to die there when trapped by falling earth. After sundown no one in the region dares venture out-of-doors; and when a chance visitor at the place scoffs at what he considers mere superstition does so, he suffers a horrible experience that results in his eventual death. The description of the ghostly figure intent on drawing him down to destruction is quite well done, and is the more effective for
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216 FANTASY COMMENTATOR Forgotten Creators of Ghosts by A. Langley Searles V - Bessie Kyffin-Taylor Judging from the evidence extant, there are many authors who dabble casually in the fictional outre, apparently laboring under the delusion that it is a relatively uncultivated field where few have preceeded their literary footsteps. Occasionally such dilettantes unearth new ideas, or furnish pleasingly fresh variants on well-known thematic gambits. More often, however, their efforts are largely derivative and frequently badly-written besides. The work of Lady Kyffin-Taylor hovers annoyingly between these two extremes: From out of the Silence: Seven Strange Stories (1930) is a heterogeneous combination of traditional plots, a few excellent variations on them, and a writing style that varies from a satisfactory to a downright incompetent level. Indeed, the most consistent characteristic of her prose is its patent---if a times naïve---sincerity. Inability to achieve an adequate medium of expression is probably the authoress' chief fault. Such a criticism is too strongly based for comfort, since it involves not only careless composition, but a glaring ignorance of the fundamental rules of English grammar on her part. This last manifests itself in the stringing together of three or four obvious sentences by commas, and much incorrect italicizing. The development of the stories, too, is often awkward and at loose ends. This is especially true of their climaxes, which lose much potential effectiveness through being diluted by excess wordage. Moreover, the conversation encountered never hits the happy medium of familiarity that a good writer's should, and the slang expressions it embodies usually leave an impression of clumsiness rather than informality. Since many others have handled similar themes with less originality, it is obvious that the stories in From out of the Silence seem of lower quality than they actually are solely because of inadequacy in their vehicle. Basically they have much in common: all deal with varying examples of the dead influencing the living; all are somewhat longer than the average supernatural short story; and all are told in the first person by one who has taken part in the events depicted. Ghostly reenactments of murders take place in no less than five. Those encountered in "Room No. Ten," "Sylvia" and "The Star Inn" are neither outstandingly good or bad, and conform to expected traditional patterns; that of "Two Little Red Shoes," while not without merit, is badly marred by the conventional sentimental approach which---to a lesser or greater extent---is present in all of Bessie Kyffin-Taylor's work; while "The Wind in the Woods," although it might have been more compactly written, impresses one as being the best of the group. "The Twins" deals with a dead man's evil influence over the life of his surviving birthmate, and how it was eventually stopped; this tale becomes almost sticky on occasions with a romantic sentimentality that is both exaggerated and out of place. A more satisfactory example of fiction, on the other hand, wherein somewhat novel subject-matter is given better than usual treatment, is "Outside the House"; this impresses one as being the most outstanding of the authoress' efforts. It tells of a house built near the site of an abandoned mine, and which is haunted by the spirits of men who were sent into its workings, only to die there when trapped by falling earth. After sundown no one in the region dares venture out-of-doors; and when a chance visitor at the place scoffs at what he considers mere superstition does so, he suffers a horrible experience that results in his eventual death. The description of the ghostly figure intent on drawing him down to destruction is quite well done, and is the more effective for
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