Curfew and Other Eerie Tales by Lucy M Boston. Book review
CURFEW AND OTHER EERIE TALES by Lucy M Boston. The Swan River Press £25
Reviewed by Mario Guslandi
Mostly remembered as the author of a series of children’s novels set in a haunted manor (Green Knowe), Lucy M Boston (1892-1990) also penned a bunch of supernatural tales which are now assembled and published by Brian J Showers’ Swan River Press.
Boston’s tales are written in a solid, classical narrative style, in the tradition of the great ghost story writers. A typical example is the title story, “Curfewâ€, a gripping ghostly tale set in a farmhouse on the outlying land of an old manor. In “Blind’s Man Bluff†Boston draws with a steady hand the portrait of a haunted man who must pay his dues to a vengeful enemy. In the vivid, enticing “The Italian Desk†she depicts the evil effects of a haunted desk on people’s sanity of mind. “Many Coloured Glass†is a disturbing story taking place during a ball, featuring an emotionally troubled young lady. “Pollution†is a great tale of terror, tense and atmospheric, where a tutor in a secluded country house recalls frightening events concerning a bleak water tower and mysterious, unearthly insects.
The best story in the volume is, in my opinion, “The Tiger Skin Rugâ€, an excellent, terrifying tale of supernatural dread set in a previously quiet country house after a peculiar rug has been bought and installed therein. The collection also includes “The Horned Manâ€, the only play ever written by Boston. Aimed to expose the bigotry and the ignorance behind any witch hunt, the work has a distinctly sinister undercurrent, disclosing how evil itself can be the fuel of human intolerance and falsity.
In short, a charming book unearthing forgotten gems and apt to delight any ghost story lover.