Product Description

Here together for the first time in one volume are the twenty five spooky stories created by Sir Andrew Caldecott in two collections the 1940s: Not Exactly Ghosts and Fires Burn Blue. Caldecott, who only turned to fiction after retiring from the civil service, allowed his lifelong fascination with the supernatural full reign in these simple yet remarkably disturbing stories. Taking his inspiration from the master of the ghost story, M. R. James, who chilled by implication rather than by gory description, Caldecott created believable but unsettling scenarios which effectively produce a sense of unease in the reader. The mundane becomes horrific; the everyday is unnerving; and the commonplace is frightening. At last these rare forgotten gems are available once more to stir the imagination and chill the blood.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55362 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

Truly Jamesian and well written
I've never come across the name of Sir Andrew Caldecott in connection with supernatural tales before but I'm really happy that I discovered this collection. His tales are truly Jamesian in spirit and well written, too. A must-have for the "Jamesian" library in my opinion; I can only recommend Sir Caldecott's tales for all lovers of the subtle "ghost story" - although we're not exactly dealing with ghosts in the present case.

You can't beat MR James, but....
If you love the short stories of MR James (I do)then it's always worrying when an author is recommended as being in his tradition or writing in a similar way, because you know they wouldn't be as good as James and you'll be disappointed. BUT this collection is the exception to that rule. Sir Andrew Caldecott writes in that understated and subtle way which captures the almost seen horrors of good ghost fiction to best effect. If MR James is an essential in your collection then this one has to be to. I was going to list the highlights of the book, but then realised that I was just repeating the contents page. Read, enjoy and shiver.

Very exactly good: the complete Sir Andrew Caldecott
This lovely volume from Wordsworth's excellent 'Mystery & the Supernatural' series reprints all the strange stories from Andrew Caldecott's two collections 'Not Exactly Ghosts' (1947) and 'Fires Burn Blue' (1948). Caldecott wrote excellent supernatural stories with a wide range of settings. He owed something to M. R. James but Caldecott took the supernatural story in directions not even the unsurpassable MRJ thought of. Besides ghosts, other memorable Caledecott visitants include were-spiders, a giant mantis, strange holes in space and a train whose destination lies in a parallel timeline. A great buy for any fans of the uncanny story.