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Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 9, Winter 1945-1946
Page 217
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FANTASY COMMENTATOR 217 being contrasted by sharp, well-chosen, materialistic detail. Like most of the other tales in the volume, however, this suffers from diffuseness, but it is the sole one in which high tragedy, unrelieved by any softening touch, triumphs at the denoument---and is much the better as a result. There are certain similarities of prose-style and theme which might, were her efforts less obviously those of a tyro, lead one to suspect certain literary derivations of Lady Kyffin-Taylor's fiction. As a whole, her work is a weak reflection of that found in Mrs. H. D. Everett's Death Mask. In the matter of individual stories, "Two Little Red Shoes" is somewhat reminiscent of E. F. Benson's "How Fear Departed from the Long Gallery"; "Outside the House" echoes to some extent "From the Depths" by F. B. Austin; and one is reminded by "The Wind in the Woods" of H. G. Wells' "Red Room". The favorable chronology of all these likenesses makes critical commitment tempting: but this writer, feeling that likenesses alone may be deceptive and inconclusive, is inclined to play a warier game. Until more definite evidence indicates the contrary, Bessie Kyffin-Taylor is to be regarded as a forgotten creator of ghosts who remained for the most part isolated from influence of fellow workers in her chosen medium. ---oOo--- He Pierced the Veil---concluded from page 213 pecially that where the modern adventurers' minds are taken from their bodies at the command of the ancient Atlantean sorcerer-king, to speed with him in astral form from the ghost-ridden city in the bowels of the earth to far-away places on the world's surface---possess an eerie atmosphere. One of the most fascinating supernatural creations in all of literature is that of Murgh the Death, to be found in the author's Red Eve, to whom bird-like familiars bear the souls of the dying as he sits upon his ebon throne in a spectral courtyard. And I have yet to find the equal of that scene wherein this terrible figure sails into the Venetian harbor, his flaming red figure the only moving shape on a vessel manned by rotting corpses! The Ghost Kings tells of a white maiden in whom the Zulus believe has come to dwell a divine spirit---the actual embodiment of their revered Lady of the Heavens. As the plot unfolds after some admittedly placid opening chapters, she comes at last to a strange land inhabited by wizards and witches; each lives beneath the shade of a great tree, so linked to it by occult forces that should a tree die, so would the one sitting beneath it. Weird incidents abound here, the very love motif being cunningly interwoven with hints of otherworldly powers. The suspense culminates in a powerful climax that leaves the reader with the distinct impression that The Ghost Kings alone would be sufficient to establish Haggard's reputation in the field. Rider Haggard's novels look both ways: into the legendary past and into the unknown future. The stand, title after title, as proof absolute of their author's position as a great writer of the supernatural. Nor was any hysterical or volcanic outburst of enthusiasm ever needed to establish him as such; fame has come to him through the steady acclaim of thousands of readers, through the acid test of the years. The reader of the supernatural who is alert and well-grounded in his lore knows this well; the careful critics of the genre, too, have long since been aware of it. This brief article's purpose, then, has been to touch upon Haggard's tales for the benefit of others: the newer readers; those who are prone to consider the author primarily a dealer in romantic adventure; or the ones who may never have heard of him at all. If they are truly lovers of supernatural fiction they will inevitably place these books where they rightfully belong: side by side with the excellent---but certainly no greater---Jewel of the Seven Stars, The King in Yellow and The Outsider.
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FANTASY COMMENTATOR 217 being contrasted by sharp, well-chosen, materialistic detail. Like most of the other tales in the volume, however, this suffers from diffuseness, but it is the sole one in which high tragedy, unrelieved by any softening touch, triumphs at the denoument---and is much the better as a result. There are certain similarities of prose-style and theme which might, were her efforts less obviously those of a tyro, lead one to suspect certain literary derivations of Lady Kyffin-Taylor's fiction. As a whole, her work is a weak reflection of that found in Mrs. H. D. Everett's Death Mask. In the matter of individual stories, "Two Little Red Shoes" is somewhat reminiscent of E. F. Benson's "How Fear Departed from the Long Gallery"; "Outside the House" echoes to some extent "From the Depths" by F. B. Austin; and one is reminded by "The Wind in the Woods" of H. G. Wells' "Red Room". The favorable chronology of all these likenesses makes critical commitment tempting: but this writer, feeling that likenesses alone may be deceptive and inconclusive, is inclined to play a warier game. Until more definite evidence indicates the contrary, Bessie Kyffin-Taylor is to be regarded as a forgotten creator of ghosts who remained for the most part isolated from influence of fellow workers in her chosen medium. ---oOo--- He Pierced the Veil---concluded from page 213 pecially that where the modern adventurers' minds are taken from their bodies at the command of the ancient Atlantean sorcerer-king, to speed with him in astral form from the ghost-ridden city in the bowels of the earth to far-away places on the world's surface---possess an eerie atmosphere. One of the most fascinating supernatural creations in all of literature is that of Murgh the Death, to be found in the author's Red Eve, to whom bird-like familiars bear the souls of the dying as he sits upon his ebon throne in a spectral courtyard. And I have yet to find the equal of that scene wherein this terrible figure sails into the Venetian harbor, his flaming red figure the only moving shape on a vessel manned by rotting corpses! The Ghost Kings tells of a white maiden in whom the Zulus believe has come to dwell a divine spirit---the actual embodiment of their revered Lady of the Heavens. As the plot unfolds after some admittedly placid opening chapters, she comes at last to a strange land inhabited by wizards and witches; each lives beneath the shade of a great tree, so linked to it by occult forces that should a tree die, so would the one sitting beneath it. Weird incidents abound here, the very love motif being cunningly interwoven with hints of otherworldly powers. The suspense culminates in a powerful climax that leaves the reader with the distinct impression that The Ghost Kings alone would be sufficient to establish Haggard's reputation in the field. Rider Haggard's novels look both ways: into the legendary past and into the unknown future. The stand, title after title, as proof absolute of their author's position as a great writer of the supernatural. Nor was any hysterical or volcanic outburst of enthusiasm ever needed to establish him as such; fame has come to him through the steady acclaim of thousands of readers, through the acid test of the years. The reader of the supernatural who is alert and well-grounded in his lore knows this well; the careful critics of the genre, too, have long since been aware of it. This brief article's purpose, then, has been to touch upon Haggard's tales for the benefit of others: the newer readers; those who are prone to consider the author primarily a dealer in romantic adventure; or the ones who may never have heard of him at all. If they are truly lovers of supernatural fiction they will inevitably place these books where they rightfully belong: side by side with the excellent---but certainly no greater---Jewel of the Seven Stars, The King in Yellow and The Outsider.
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