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Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 5, Winter 1944-1945
Page 80
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80 FANTASY COMMENTATOR Forgotten Creators of Ghosts by A. Langley Searles Introduction Some writers of supernatural fiction seem strangely destined to enjoy popularity during their lifetimes, and yet to sink into near-obscurity in the years thereafter. Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu is one of these, and his obscurity might yet be complete were it not for the efforts of Montague Summers, S. M. Ellis and M. R. James, who have by this time gained for his work a certain limited recognition. So also with William Hope Hodgson; but for the unceasing efforts of H. C. Koenig the splendid imaginative works of this second British author would doubtless still remain in oblivion. Fortunate indeed are those among the deceased who still have their champions and staunch supporters! Yet the situation has its depressing side, for many are the writers who have not---and it is to deal with such as these that this series of articles has been initiated. In the forgotten past lie many supernatural tales, now almost completely unknown. Some of them deserve resurrection; others do not. But in these articles I shall call to the reader's attention the works of all authors in this category that I come upon, regardless of the intrinsic merit of their writings. Though of course less time and space may perhaps be devoted to those of lesser merit, nevertheless it seems both fitting and necessary to mete out adequate descriptions and impartial critical evaluations to all comers. I -- W. James Wintle Although he has written several books on other subjects, the reputation of W. James Wintle in the realm of the supernatural rests solely upon his Ghost Gleams: Tales of the Uncanny (1921). The author's intentions in writing these stories may be gleaned from the forward to the collection, from which the following is quoted: These tales make no claim to be anything more than straight-forward ghost stories. They were written in answer to insistent demand, "Tell us a story!" from eight bright boys whose names stand on the dedicatory page; and they were told on Sunday nights to the little group crouching over a wood fire on a wind-swept island off the Western shore. and the author goes on to state that "the gruesome ones met with the best reception." Let it be stated at the outset, however, that despite the fact that the fifteen stories in the volume were ostensibly written for an audience of boys, they are by no means intrinsically juvenile. That these tales were originally composed for oral presentation is not difficult for the reader to guess, after even a casual perusal. Wintle's prose has all the forthright directness that is naturally associated with a story-teller. Such directness---depending on the concept employed---may either aid or hinder the development of a supernatural story. In the case here under consideration both effects are noticeable: the story is aided in that directness leads to vigor of description and refrains from toying with the "unnameable"; and it is hindered, for Wintle thereby loses that subtle stepwise introduction of the supernatural into his vehicle which alone can raise a tired plot to an energetic level. In William Fryer Harvey's "Beast with Five Fingers" we have an example of
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80 FANTASY COMMENTATOR Forgotten Creators of Ghosts by A. Langley Searles Introduction Some writers of supernatural fiction seem strangely destined to enjoy popularity during their lifetimes, and yet to sink into near-obscurity in the years thereafter. Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu is one of these, and his obscurity might yet be complete were it not for the efforts of Montague Summers, S. M. Ellis and M. R. James, who have by this time gained for his work a certain limited recognition. So also with William Hope Hodgson; but for the unceasing efforts of H. C. Koenig the splendid imaginative works of this second British author would doubtless still remain in oblivion. Fortunate indeed are those among the deceased who still have their champions and staunch supporters! Yet the situation has its depressing side, for many are the writers who have not---and it is to deal with such as these that this series of articles has been initiated. In the forgotten past lie many supernatural tales, now almost completely unknown. Some of them deserve resurrection; others do not. But in these articles I shall call to the reader's attention the works of all authors in this category that I come upon, regardless of the intrinsic merit of their writings. Though of course less time and space may perhaps be devoted to those of lesser merit, nevertheless it seems both fitting and necessary to mete out adequate descriptions and impartial critical evaluations to all comers. I -- W. James Wintle Although he has written several books on other subjects, the reputation of W. James Wintle in the realm of the supernatural rests solely upon his Ghost Gleams: Tales of the Uncanny (1921). The author's intentions in writing these stories may be gleaned from the forward to the collection, from which the following is quoted: These tales make no claim to be anything more than straight-forward ghost stories. They were written in answer to insistent demand, "Tell us a story!" from eight bright boys whose names stand on the dedicatory page; and they were told on Sunday nights to the little group crouching over a wood fire on a wind-swept island off the Western shore. and the author goes on to state that "the gruesome ones met with the best reception." Let it be stated at the outset, however, that despite the fact that the fifteen stories in the volume were ostensibly written for an audience of boys, they are by no means intrinsically juvenile. That these tales were originally composed for oral presentation is not difficult for the reader to guess, after even a casual perusal. Wintle's prose has all the forthright directness that is naturally associated with a story-teller. Such directness---depending on the concept employed---may either aid or hinder the development of a supernatural story. In the case here under consideration both effects are noticeable: the story is aided in that directness leads to vigor of description and refrains from toying with the "unnameable"; and it is hindered, for Wintle thereby loses that subtle stepwise introduction of the supernatural into his vehicle which alone can raise a tired plot to an energetic level. In William Fryer Harvey's "Beast with Five Fingers" we have an example of
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