The Watcher by the Threshold (Audible Audio Edition) John Buchan Cathy Dobson Red Door Audiobooks Books
Download As PDF : The Watcher by the Threshold (Audible Audio Edition) John Buchan Cathy Dobson Red Door Audiobooks Books
John Buchan (1875 - 1940) was a scottish writer, barrister, Member of Parliament and later become Baron Tweedsmuir and Govenor-General of Canada. While he was most famous for adventure stories, such as The Thirty-nine Steps, he was also popular for his supernatural horror stories, of which The Watcher by the Threshold is a prime example.
When Harry Grey receives a mysterious summons from his cousin Sybil to visit her and her husband Robert Ladlaw at their remote scottish estate, he is taken aback by the urgency of the postscript. "For Heaven's sake come and see us!" she writes. "Bob is terribly ill, and I am crazy. Come at once." And then to finish "Don't bother about bringing doctors. It is not their business."When Grey undertakes the dismal journey to the House of More where the Ladlaws live, he finds a situation far more mysterious and terrifying than he could ever have imagined.
Ladlaw is in the grips of a terrible possession... and Sybil is at her wits end. Ladlaw's split personality is so bizarre that it is sometimes hard to grasp who has the upper hand.
The Watcher by the Threshold (Audible Audio Edition) John Buchan Cathy Dobson Red Door Audiobooks Books
John Buchan is far from forgotten these days, thanks to his widely read and adapted Richard Hannay yarns that earned him a status of one of the fathers of modern thrillers.What is forgotten, however, is that he produced fair amount of weird fiction. His strange stories are rarely reprinted, and barely read. That is a shame, as they are far from your generic supernatural yarns that were commonly produced in that period. These are subtle, oft psychologically charged, tales, whose subject range from unusual takes on more common tropes, to some pretty original tales that, in their themes and delivery, anticipated some famous 20th century's weird stories.
Longest story in this collection, "No-Man's Land", anticipates Robert E. Howard's treatment of the little people folklore as opposed to Machen's more ethereal one (tho, it would've made for more attractive weird tale if the second half of it was cut off), whereas "Space" warrants comparison to HPL's "Witch-house" and "From beyond" - through his work, brilliant mathematician regains the level of perception that modern men lost, one that lets him see "that at which dogs bark at night"... only, he too gets noticed by... other things.
"The Grove of Astharoth", "The Green Wildebeest" and "The Wind in the Portico" deal with modern man's encounter with ancient survivals, always with tragic results. "The Wind...", in particular, is great example of that somewhat dubious "folk horror" sub-genre that is increasingly popular nowadays. Any of these three tales would certainly satisfy any fan of Blackwood or Sarban.
"The Watcher by the Treshold", "Tendebant Manus" and "Fullcurcle" present most unusual hauntings. "The Watcher" and "Tendebant Manus" deal with hauntings/possession, former with an excellent gothic mood and a good dash of that interest in old survivals that I mentioned in relation to previous three stories, latter with a more psychological focus and a great dose of ambiguity as to actual presence of anything overtly supernatural. In "Fullcurcle" is the titular house itself, rather than any conventional ghost, that is responsible for the haunting.
Even it those weaker and more forgettable of his stories, Buchan's prose is elegant and gorgeously descriptive, and his ability to paint vivid locales and to instill them with their own numinous spirit. That Romantic interpretation of the spirit of place is one recurring motif in most of these tales, in spite of their great variety.
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The Watcher by the Threshold (Audible Audio Edition) John Buchan Cathy Dobson Red Door Audiobooks Books Reviews
Although John Buchan (1875-1940) is best known for his spy novel, "The Thirty-Nine Steps," he was also esteemed for his short stories, many of them with supernatural themes. However, casual fans of such literature will find none of the usual ghosts, goblins, and bloodsuckers in his tales. Kenneth Hillier, Honorary Secretary of The John Buchan Society writes "[Buchan's] stories were set in and around the places he knew and loved, most famously the Scotland of his childhood, and from his earliest days he showed a fascination with the supernatural, most particularly the idea of 'temenos,' or sacred places; although these places could be sacred to malign forces as easily as they could to more pleasant ones."
If I had to choose another author that reminded me of Buchan, it would be H. Rider Haggard, rather than any of the more well-known writers of supernatural fiction.
This particular collection of five stories was originally published in 1902, and was written while the author matriculated at Oxford University.
"The Watcher at the Threshold"--A brooding, atmospheric tale of demonic possession. The laird of a desolate moor in Perthshire seems to be in thrall to a shadow that clings to his left side. He has come to believe that his manor was built on ground that was sacred to the area's prehistoric tribes.
"No-Man's-Land"--This is the longest (20,000 words) of Buchan's short stories. A Stone-age tribe survives in the Scottish moorland, occasionally kidnapping crofters' wives and daughters, who are never again seen in the outer world. They also capture a professor of Northern Antiquities, who is taken to a cave sacred to their Neolithic god (the 'temenos' of this story).
"The Far Islands"--A young boy grows up on the coast of Scotland, dreaming (or hallucinating) of a mystical island just beyond the Western horizon that can be reached only in death.
"The Outgoing of the Tide"--An historical tale of witchcraft and the Evil One. Two young lovers pledge to meet on Beltane Eve on the haunted Sker sands, when the tide is at its lowest ebb.
"Fountainblue"--This is a psychological rather than a supernatural tale. It is the portrait of a strong, self-made man who learns that "the sad elemental world of wood and mountain was far more truly his own than...cosy and elegant civilization."
Ash-Tree Press has published a far more comprehensive collection of John Buchan's supernatural fiction under the same title, "The Watcher by the Threshold" (2005). It contains a detailed introduction by Kenneth Hillier, a glossary of Scottish dialect, and 28 of this author's supernatural tales. I would recommend it over this edition.
Buchan can spin a subtle yarn capturing both mood and scene! Good writing is timeless and John Buchan earns five stars for a place on my top shelf. Don't miss out on a stand out of reserved terror and imagination.
John Buchan is far from forgotten these days, thanks to his widely read and adapted Richard Hannay yarns that earned him a status of one of the fathers of modern thrillers.
What is forgotten, however, is that he produced fair amount of weird fiction. His strange stories are rarely reprinted, and barely read. That is a shame, as they are far from your generic supernatural yarns that were commonly produced in that period. These are subtle, oft psychologically charged, tales, whose subject range from unusual takes on more common tropes, to some pretty original tales that, in their themes and delivery, anticipated some famous 20th century's weird stories.
Longest story in this collection, "No-Man's Land", anticipates Robert E. Howard's treatment of the little people folklore as opposed to Machen's more ethereal one (tho, it would've made for more attractive weird tale if the second half of it was cut off), whereas "Space" warrants comparison to HPL's "Witch-house" and "From beyond" - through his work, brilliant mathematician regains the level of perception that modern men lost, one that lets him see "that at which dogs bark at night"... only, he too gets noticed by... other things.
"The Grove of Astharoth", "The Green Wildebeest" and "The Wind in the Portico" deal with modern man's encounter with ancient survivals, always with tragic results. "The Wind...", in particular, is great example of that somewhat dubious "folk horror" sub-genre that is increasingly popular nowadays. Any of these three tales would certainly satisfy any fan of Blackwood or Sarban.
"The Watcher by the Treshold", "Tendebant Manus" and "Fullcurcle" present most unusual hauntings. "The Watcher" and "Tendebant Manus" deal with hauntings/possession, former with an excellent gothic mood and a good dash of that interest in old survivals that I mentioned in relation to previous three stories, latter with a more psychological focus and a great dose of ambiguity as to actual presence of anything overtly supernatural. In "Fullcurcle" is the titular house itself, rather than any conventional ghost, that is responsible for the haunting.
Even it those weaker and more forgettable of his stories, Buchan's prose is elegant and gorgeously descriptive, and his ability to paint vivid locales and to instill them with their own numinous spirit. That Romantic interpretation of the spirit of place is one recurring motif in most of these tales, in spite of their great variety.
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