{"id":13995,"date":"2021-07-31T12:49:48","date_gmt":"2021-07-31T12:49:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/?p=13995"},"modified":"2023-01-03T13:33:56","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T13:33:56","slug":"minor-hauntings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/archive\/minor-hauntings\/","title":{"rendered":"[Review] Minor Hauntings"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Minor Hauntings<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Sarah Johnson reviews Minor Hauntings: Chilling Tales of Spectral Youth<\/em> (ed. Jen Baker), the latest in the British Library\u2019s excellent Tales of the Weird<\/em> series. <\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Parents and guardians are often wicked and cruel in Minor Hauntings: Chilling Tales of Spectral Youth;<\/em><\/strong> while the stories may focus on child cruelty and neglect, inevitably they are as much about adult attitudes to children as to the ghosts themselves. Another publication in the British Library\u2019s Tales of the Weird<\/em> series, this volume contains thirteen stories published between 1831 and 1925. Featuring authors such as M. R. James (1862-1936) and Charlotte Riddell (1832-1906), several have been published elsewhere and will be familiar to readers of Victorian ghost stories. Gathered together, however, they provide a unique perspective on the topic of child spirits in literature, and Jen Baker\u2019s Introduction and accompanying notes also provide a useful guide.<\/p>

\"\"\u2018Lost Hearts\u2019<\/em> by James is, for me, a highlight of the collection: regardless of how many times I\u2019ve read it, each is a pleasure. Ancient rituals and dead children haunt Aswarby Hall where the \u2018austere recluse\u2019 Mr Abney lives. Abney maintains a philanthropic fa\u00e7ade as supposed benefactor to orphan Stephen Elliott, but with rumours of dark whisperings in the wine-cellar and glimpses of wraithlike children, Stephen Elliott\u2019s feelings of unease grow the longer he stays at Aswarby Hall. The spirit children are particularly gruesome, and the description of what Stephen sees in the disused bathroom always strikes me as chilling. Abney stands out amongst these stories as a unique character, with his matter-of-fact attitude to the murder of a child: he considers it a matter of necessity in the pursuit of knowledge. This lack of emotion marks Abney as a different kind of villain to the typically cruel and sadistic parents or guardians which feature in several of the other tales.<\/p>

Whether for money, convenience, or simply jealousy, the children in these stories are neglected, poisoned, or beaten to death. I found the description of the beating in \u2018Two Little Red Shoes\u2019<\/em> by Bessie Kyffin-Taylor particularly gruesome, although the perpetrator is eventually punished for his actions. This is a theme that runs throughout the tales, with children (in spirit form) exacting revenge on their murderers and tormentors. Of particular interest is \u2018The Ghost of Little Jacques\u2019<\/em> by Ann M. Hoyt and the attitudes to child mortality it explores. As Jen Baker writes: \u2018the story is rich in detail and its attempts to grapple with the philosophy and ethics of child death\u2019. The narrator states of a bereaved father:<\/p>

\u2018The necessity of providing for his little living family had quite disenthralled Monsieur C from any weak sentimentality in regard to his little dead family.\u2019<\/p><\/div>

Monsieur C is business-like about the demise of his children \u2013 who die with alarming regularity \u2013 and he is \u2018arrested by a Higher Power\u2019 for his actions.<\/p>

By contrast, several characters in Minor Hauntings<\/em> counteract this callous attitude. Mr. Bernard Puckler, a doll doctor, is notable for the love of his daughter Else in F. Marion Crawford\u2019s story \u2018The Doll\u2019s Ghost\u2019<\/em>. From the start, Crawford creates an uneasy atmosphere with the introduction of a doll (Nina) which is a little too human:<\/p>

\u2018She had been a very beautiful doll, very large, and fair, and healthy, with real yellow hair, and eyelids that would open and shut over very grown-up dark eyes. Moreover, when you moved her right arm up and down she said \u201cPa-pa\u201d, and when she moved the left she said \u201cMa-ma,\u201d very distinctly.\u2019<\/p><\/div>

Puckler treats his doll \u2018patients\u2019 like children, saying: \u2018You must be gentle with them. It costs nothing to be kind to the little beings, and perhaps it makes a difference to them.\u2019 With doll Nina bearing a resemblance to daughter Else, the narrative develops striking elements of the uncanny doppelg\u00e4nger. The \u2018small pattering, as of tiny feet on the boards\u2019, might belong either to a child or a doll come to life. I enjoy aspects of the Freudian uncanny in my horror literature, and (although overly sentimental in parts) this story is unique in the collection as it does not involve the death of a child.<\/p>

Dealing with family matters as most of the stories do, they are ripe for analysis. Internal repression and external oppression abound, with children often cast as \u2018other\u2019. Reading \u2018Anne\u2019s Little Ghost\u2019<\/em> by H.D. Everett, the question is whether the little ghost is real, or a product of Anne locking \u2018inner feelings\u2026 tender regrets and constant thoughts\u2019 in a \u2018secret chamber in her mind, the door of which is shut and barred\u2019. The real fascination of the stories in Minor Hauntings<\/em> lies in the representation of children and the family. There are some chilling moments and some of horror, but these are more likely to be caused by the behaviour of adults than by the ghosts of children.<\/p>

Purchase a copy of Minor Hauntings<\/i>\u00a0by clicking the image below…<\/p>

\"Minor<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSarah Johnson\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Sarah is a filmmaker, writer and lecturer. She\u2019s spent a lifetime pulling apart and putting films back together, and still enjoys every minute of it.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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More To Explore<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTales From The Crypt (1972)\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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Tales From The Crypt 1972 \/ Freddie Francis Where does one start with examining arguably Amicus\u2019 greatest portmanteau film? Well, for me, wiping away the<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThe People That Time Forgot (1977)\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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The People That Time Forgot 1977 \/ Kevin Connor The success of Amicus\u2019 first two Edgar Rice Burroughs-based fantasy adventures in 1975 and 1976 led<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t19\/09\/2023\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tAt The Earth’s Core (1976)\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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AT THE EARTH’S CORE 1976 \/ Kevin Connor Amicus\u2019 first foray into the science fiction adventure, The Land That Time Forgot (UK, Kevin Connor, 1974)<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t19\/09\/2023\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sarah Johnson reviews Minor Hauntings: Chilling Tales of Spectral Youth (ed. Jen Baker), the latest in the British Library\u2019s excellent Tales of the Weird series…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2030],"tags":[1888,722],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/minor-hauntings-cov.png?fit=682%2C996&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13995"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13995"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122679,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13995\/revisions\/122679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}