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              Spirit Tales From Beyond The Veil -Edited by Emily Vincent                                                         Summoned to the Seance is one of the larger collections from the 'British Library Tales of the Weird' series, contains 12 stories, a chapter from a H G Wells' novel, and an extract from a Robert Browning poem. Edited with an introduction by Emily Vincent, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in English Literature at the University of Birmingham. Published in 2024.  It not really clear if there is such a genre as 'Seance Fiction', distinct from Ghost Stories or Weird / Horror Tales. A common theme would be a seance with a medium, or perhaps  someone using  a planchette to make a deliberate attempt to contact the Dead. But even then not all the writings on offer here meet the ...

                          If the enemy lands next Autumn    The Trumpet Major and his Brother Robert (1880) is generally considered Hardy's lightest novel. Also the only one which could be called 'historical'.  It is set on the Dorset coast in 1803-1805 centred round the mill village of 'Overcombe' ( Sutton Poyntze) not far from Budmoth (Weymouth)  and overshadowed by the Napoleon's threat to invade southern England. Small communities are impacted by parading soldiers and later the Press Gang make their presence known. News sheets circulate warnings of Napoleon's mobilisation across the Channel at Boulogne. A warning beacon stands ready to be lit if needed. At one point a rumour circulates stating that Napoleon's 'Army of England' has landed. And villagers start to leave their homes.  The plot is centred around  a young lady from Overcombe -Anne Garland-and three potential husbands: The local...

                                              Serious Treatment of Unreality  ' The Weird Tales of William Hope Hodgson, edited by Xavier Aldana Reyes, is  part of the British Library Tales of the Weird series, published in 2019. Contains ten short stories.  William Hope Hodgson was born in Whetherfield, Essex in 1877: His father was the Reverend Samuel Hodgson, who was placed by the Church in different stipends, including at Middlesburgh, Nottinghamshire, Battersea, then Ireland, and finally became curate of All Saints Church in Blackburn in 1890. William was educated at school in Margate, and settled with his family in Blackburn for a year before serving in the Merchant Navy from 1891-1900. The sea became an important setting for much of his subsequent fiction, which is reflected in the above collection. TIMELINE The Blackburn Weekly Telegraph obituary of 2...

                       Review of new book and  on line chat with author Paul Williams                                              I have not really covered Jack the Ripper and the wider 'Ripperology' genre. Decided to make an exception for Paul Williams, an English writer who now lives in Australia. A specialist in Cryptozoology and the study of wolves in folklore, Paul has also written many articles for various history magazines, and has had some hundred short stories published. Most significantly, he is the author of Jack the Ripper Suspects : The Definitive Guide and Encyclopedia - which has 333 entries.  1. For people (like myself) who are not really knowledgeable about Jack the Ripper, which books, websites, online videos, are a good starting point to get an overview of the subject and some of the c...

                            Relevance of a Nonevent                 As a result of the Congress of Berlin 1878, the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, previously part of the Ottoman Empire, became under the management of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, established in 1867. Austria had lost control of Lombardy (1859), and Venetia (1866). Austria-Hungary was now up against a largely unified Italy, and a unified Germany under Prussian control. It would have to look towards The Balkans if it wanted to extend its territory and influence. The Congress of Berlin also recognised the independence of Serbia, which the Ottoman Empire had lost control of since 1867. Franz Joseph had been emperor of Austria since 1848 . It was from reading the Dutch language book Schoten in Sarajevo by Mark de Geest , an intriguing 'parallel biography' of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his assas...

                                              From the British Library Tales of the Weird Catherine Crowe (1790-1872)  has been called the 'first ghost hunter' or the 'first paranormal investigator'. A fluent German speaker, Mrs Crowe translated The Seeress of Provorst (1829) by prominent German scientist Justinus Kerner ( who discovered botulism and somnambulism). She was also inspired by other German scientists such as Heinrich Jung-Stilling, Karl Eschenmayer, Joseph Ennemoser, and Gotthilf Henrich von Schubert. All who were interested in the spirit world as an extension of their own research.  Mrs Crowe also wrote a series of novels published from around 1841  including,  The Story of   Lilly Dawson   ,The Adventures of Susan Hopley  or Circumstancial Evidence (  her most famous work ),   The Adventures of a Beauty...