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Book Review, Ghost story, Susan Hill, The Travelling Bag, The Travelling Bag and Other Ghostly Stories
Well written ghostlies, but creating mild goose-bumps rather than uncontrollable shivers
Susan Hill is always worth reading, and she does the ghostly brigade well, though I must confess to wishing for a little more of those factors which would have had me whimpering in slight fear, and turning on all the lights. She did this marvellously of course in The Woman In Black, knowing how to turn up the volume knob of terror slowly and inexorably.
This moderately long story collection comprises 4 tales of the ghostly, and whilst they are well done, the first two did not create any unease in me at all – possibly because the chosen constructions for both stories tended to minimise and undercut fear in the reader, because fear was not really there for the narrator.
The first story, The Travelling Bag is not the narrator’s own story, and so there is a distance from emotion, through the using of one person to tell another’s story. This makes it a ghost story told as entertainment, so I was not surprised to find no hairs rising on the back of my neck, though there might well be some vivid images which make certain readers feel a little whimpery and uneasy!
Boy Number 21 also has a device which turns the fearful volume knob down. The narrator is reminded of an event from his long ago childhood. This concerns the paranormal. At the time, others in his circle were a bit spooked, but he himself was not, so, really, the absence of the narrator’s fear didn’t stir mine
Degas: Intérieur
It was only the third, and really, the fourth story which made me get close to any kind of feeling spooked and a bit scared – and that, after all, is surely one of the reasons we like ghost stories (those of us that do)
The central characters in the last two are female, as indeed the possible spookers are. What makes it work is that the characters the reader is being encouraged to identify with are uneasy, and becoming increasingly so, as the story progresses, so we have mounting fear going on. In the third story, Alice Baker, the inexplicable spooky goings on take place in the mundane surroundings of the typing pool in an office block.
The last story, The Front Room, was the one which most satisfied my desire for being a bit scared, set in an unexceptional twenties suburban house, at a time pretty close to the present, as DVD players and TVs figure! What makes for a better fear factor is that everyone, bar the source, is in the end scared. And this includes small children, which somehow made the scary happenings more sinister and potent.
The Monkey’s Paw – W.W. Jacobs – scariest ghostly ever, written in 1902
Hill is an old-fashioned ghost story writer – which I like, in that she focuses most on the psychology of the person being ‘spooked’, not to mention, the psychology of the haunter, so that the journey is about increases in tension rather than the BANG! RATTLE! of a plethora of sudden shocks, clanking chains, groaning coffins and the like which are the territory of what I dismissively think of as ‘Pulpy’ Horror writers.
Though, personally, as stated I do rather like the scare factor of a good ghost story, so would have liked to be a little more terrified, this would be a good one for a reader wanting a milder, gentler shivering turn
Photo credit Ben Graville
I bought this as a download, but the ‘real’ book by all accounts is a beautifully presented one, and it’s probably particularly well-marketed for a Christmas stocking filler
Lady Fancifull 
Interesting – I’ve only read one of her stories and didn’t find it scary either. However you’ve reminded me that The Woman in Black is sitting on my Kindle ever since you reviewed it back in 2014 – must see if I can fit it in for the spooky season somehow (whales permitting!). So agree about The Monkey’s Paw – even just thinking about it makes me shudder…
When I first read it, in my early twenties, I was seriously shuddering and needing to check in case, somehow, it was beneath the bed, hiding in sinister fashion. Eek….
The Woman In Black is a good ‘un
I can resist these Susan Hill stories; but also being reminded of The Woman in Black, I’ve downloaded that one. I’m not very sensitive to ghostliness, so appreciate recommendations.
The Woman In Black really nods to those wonderful Victorian creepy stories. Central heating and electric lights don’t provide such a good dwelling place as flickering open fires and gas mantels or, even better, candle-light. There’s a great evocation of place in TWIB
It’s the perfect time of year for this sort of read isn’t it? The nights are drawing in, the temperature’s getting chillier… definitely a good time to curl up with a ghostly!
Indeed. If only some kind soul would give me an isolated cottage in the middle of a forest, with a well stocked larder, plenty of firewood, an open fire and several groaning bookshelves full of old fashioned ghostlies for a couple of weeks. Though I fear I should be discovered, my hair turned quite white with shock, frozen with an expression of terror on my face, having worked up the faint scratching of mice behind the wainscot into something far more sinister…….THE MONKEY’S PAW!!!!!!!!!!!
:-O
Glad you really enjoyed the read. I saw this book doing rounds in Instagram and the blogging community. I agree about the cover being so pretty. I have not read anything by Susan Hill. So adding it to TBR
It really is the time of year for it too – tonight’s the night!