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The Other Place, and Other Stories of the Same Sort
J. B. Priestley (1894-1984) was a versatile and prolific novelist and playwright, but in The Other Place (1953) he shows an unexpected talent, proving himself a master of the weird tale. In “The Grey Ones,” a man visits a psychiatrist after he becomes convinced that a group of demons masquerading as people are plotting the overthrow of the human race . . . but what if he’s not insane? In “Guest of Honour,” a banquet speech becomes a horrifying affair when the keynote speaker realizes his audience is made up of monstrous and menacing creatures. “The Leadington Incident” recounts the disturbing experience of a Cabinet minister who suddenly perceives that though the people around him move and talk as though alive, they are all actually just animated corpses or sleepwalking zombies. The nine tales in this collection are strange, fantastic, and often unsettling, and they represent Priestley at his best. ‘Priestley is one of the finest and most popular storytellers of the last hundred years.’ – Margaret Drabble ‘J.B. Priestley is one of our literary icons of the 20th century. And it is time that we all became re-acquainted with his genius.’ – Judi Dench “[H]ighly readable and provocative.” – Sunday Herald
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1953
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About the author
J.B. Priestley
467 books287 followersJohn Boynton Priestley was an English writer. He was the son of a schoolmaster, and after schooling he worked for a time in the local wool trade. Following the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, Priestley joined the British Army, and was sent to France - in 1915 taking part in the Battle of Loos. After being wounded in 1917 Priestley returned to England for six months; then, after going back to the Western Front he suffered the consequences of a German gas attack, and, treated at Rouen, he was declared unfit for active service and was transferred to the Entertainers Section of the British Army.
When Priestley left the army he studied at Cambridge University, where he completed a degree in Modern History and Political Science. Subsequently he found work as theatre reviewer with the Daily News, and also contributed to the Spectator, the Challenge and Nineteenth Century. His earliest books included The English Comic Characters (1925), The English Novel (1927), and English Humour (1928). His breakthrough came with the immensely popular novel The Good Companions, published in 1929, and Angel Pavement followed in 1930. He emerged, too, as a successful dramatist with such plays as Dangerous Corner (1932), Time and the Conways (1937), When We Are Married (1938) and An Inspector Calls (1947).
The publication of English Journey in 1934 emphasised Priestley's concern for social problems and the welfare of ordinary people.
During the Second World War Priestley became a popular and influential broadcaster with his famous Postscripts that followed the nine o'clock news BBC Radio on Sunday evenings. Starting on 5th June 1940, Priestley built up such a following that after a few months it was estimated that around 40 per cent of the adult population in Britain was listening to the programme.
Some members of the Conservative Party, including Winston Churchill, expressed concern that Priestley might be expressing left-wing views on the programme, and, to his dismay, Priestley was dropped after his talk on 20th October 1940.
After the war Priestley continued his writing, and his work invariably provoked thought, and his views were always expressed in his blunt Yorkshire style.
His prolific output continued right up to his final years, and to the end he remained the great literary all-rounder. His favourite among his books was for many years the novel Bright Day, though he later said he had come to prefer The Image Men.
It should not be overlooked that Priestley was an outstanding essayist, and many of his short pieces best capture his passions and his great talent and his mastery of the English language. He set a fine example for any would-be author.
When Priestley left the army he studied at Cambridge University, where he completed a degree in Modern History and Political Science. Subsequently he found work as theatre reviewer with the Daily News, and also contributed to the Spectator, the Challenge and Nineteenth Century. His earliest books included The English Comic Characters (1925), The English Novel (1927), and English Humour (1928). His breakthrough came with the immensely popular novel The Good Companions, published in 1929, and Angel Pavement followed in 1930. He emerged, too, as a successful dramatist with such plays as Dangerous Corner (1932), Time and the Conways (1937), When We Are Married (1938) and An Inspector Calls (1947).
The publication of English Journey in 1934 emphasised Priestley's concern for social problems and the welfare of ordinary people.
During the Second World War Priestley became a popular and influential broadcaster with his famous Postscripts that followed the nine o'clock news BBC Radio on Sunday evenings. Starting on 5th June 1940, Priestley built up such a following that after a few months it was estimated that around 40 per cent of the adult population in Britain was listening to the programme.
Some members of the Conservative Party, including Winston Churchill, expressed concern that Priestley might be expressing left-wing views on the programme, and, to his dismay, Priestley was dropped after his talk on 20th October 1940.
After the war Priestley continued his writing, and his work invariably provoked thought, and his views were always expressed in his blunt Yorkshire style.
His prolific output continued right up to his final years, and to the end he remained the great literary all-rounder. His favourite among his books was for many years the novel Bright Day, though he later said he had come to prefer The Image Men.
It should not be overlooked that Priestley was an outstanding essayist, and many of his short pieces best capture his passions and his great talent and his mastery of the English language. He set a fine example for any would-be author.
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November 18, 2024
Not Dull at All
This book is about fanciful stories. There are nine stories in all. Each story is very unique and interesting.
The stories are very different from each other and very different from many other stories that I have read. Each story is full of intriguing characters. And each story has a twisty ending.
The Other Place and Other Stories of the Same Sort, is a great book of stories that talks about many different aspects and ways to look at the world.
This book has several stories about time travel, a story about ghosts, a story about the walking dead to name a few.
The book is explicitly exceptional, entrancing and enthralling just the opposite of tedious, lassitude and apathy. It’s a great book to read and explore.
Won’t you like to try it?
Five stars. 💫💫💫💫💫
This book is about fanciful stories. There are nine stories in all. Each story is very unique and interesting.
The stories are very different from each other and very different from many other stories that I have read. Each story is full of intriguing characters. And each story has a twisty ending.
The Other Place and Other Stories of the Same Sort, is a great book of stories that talks about many different aspects and ways to look at the world.
This book has several stories about time travel, a story about ghosts, a story about the walking dead to name a few.
The book is explicitly exceptional, entrancing and enthralling just the opposite of tedious, lassitude and apathy. It’s a great book to read and explore.
Won’t you like to try it?
Five stars. 💫💫💫💫💫
August 14, 2018
I began The Other Place and Other Stories with low expectations. I'd read a few lukewarm reviews, and the introduction doesn't do a huge amount to inspire confidence by mentioning that short stories were Priestley's least favourite literary form. Yet this turned out to be an excellent collection with some truly outstanding stories, memorable for both their content and execution. The best of them combine the innovative strangeness of Robert Aickman's work with the relationship and character insights of Daphne du Maurier.
There is something about these stories that makes them feel magical in themselves, quite apart from their subject matter – a sense that they're simultaneously old-fashioned and ahead of their time. I think this quality might be something I associate with the publisher, Valancourt, in general.
The narrator of 'The Other Place' meets a Canadian, Lindfield, and is intrigued by the man's reason for being in a tiny English village: 'I thought it might be a place I've been trying to find'. Lindfield tells his story – the story of how a stay in the supremely depressing town of Blackley led him to meet Sir Alaric Foden, who in turn introduced him to the magical kingdom of 'the Other Place'. While it wasn't my personal favourite, I can see why 'The Other Place' was chosen to open and name the book. The concept is wonderful; the contrast between Blackley and the Other Place makes Lindfield's despair all too understandable; the characterisation is as strong as the symbolism.
'The Grey Ones' sees a man named Patson visiting a psychiatrist, to whom he must (under duress?) 'explain himself'. He begins talking about his belief in an 'Evil Principle' that seeks to destroy the soul of humanity via its agents, the 'Grey Ones', who appear indistinguishable from normal humans. The resolution is predictable but, still, everything unravels rather too quickly; even though I knew what was going to happen, I'd have liked more dramatic build-up.
In 'Uncle Phil on TV', a bickering family use the insurance money they've acquired from a loathed uncle's death to buy a television set. Their enthusiasm is quickly dampened, however, when a figure who looks just like Uncle Phil keeps turning up in the background of the programmes they watch. Written in the year of the Coronation, as TV was just starting to become popular, this touches on both the excitement and the anxiety aroused by the new medium. The image of Uncle Phil leering at his unfortunate relatives out of the TV set is so deliciously ghoulish! Exactly the sort of thing I relish in a ghost story. I loved this...
... But 'Guest of Honour' was my absolute favourite of them all. On his way to serve as guest of honour at a fancy dinner, Sir Bernard Clipter almost collides with a shabbily dressed man who utters a strange warning. He dismisses the incident, but when he arrives at the event, everything he sees seems strangely altered. I particularly loved the descriptions – the elderly chairman resembles 'a decayed pink bloodhound'; a group of somnambulist waiters 'might have been figures in some ballet or spectacle, so many robot poisoners'. The imagery is stunningly vivid and horrifying. I can't believe this has never been filmed. Another one to add to the list of adaptations I will commission myself if I'm ever rich and famous.
I don't have an awful lot to say about 'Look After the Strange Girl'; the most interesting thing about it is the opening, in which the reader must deal with the same disorientation as the narrator, who has found himself somewhere (or when) he did not intend to be. It's a good idea that doesn't go anywhere.
The protagonist of 'The Statues' finds himself in a similar state to Lindfield of 'The Other Place'. Repeatedly, he glimpses impossibly vast statues throughout London. They are not visible to others, and disappear every time; Walter Voley comes to believe he is seeing fragments of a far-future version of the city, but his inability to reach it causes a fall into depression.
'The Leadington Incident' has a similar premise to 'Guest of Honour', and perhaps suffers for that because it pales in comparison to the earlier story. George Cobthorn, a pompous Cabinet minister, encounters a stranger on his journey to an important meeting. A seemingly throwaway remark turns out to be a terrible portent which changes the way Cobthorn sees everything.
I found 'Mr. Strenberry's Tale' another of the weakest in terms of plot, although it does contain some startling, memorable visuals (all the more striking considering the story was written earlier than the rest, in 1929). A man stops at a pub in heavy rain. The titular Mr. Strenberry is a regular, scorned by locals for his tall tales. The two get talking, and the narrator gets to hear Strenberry's odd and vivid story for himself.
'Night Sequence' opens with an argument between a couple, Luke and Betty, who have just driven their car into a ditch and blame each other. The pair take refuge in a nearby house, where they meet the charismatic Sir Edward and his beautiful niece Julia. Having been unhappy together for some time, Luke and Betty find themselves strongly drawn to their hosts. There is an echo here of Lindfield and Mavis in 'The Other Place'; Priestley seems to be unusually good at depicting this specific dynamic, the companionship between two people who each have a desperate longing for someone else. Richer and more indulgent than the others, it's both compellingly weird and emotionally engaging.
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There is something about these stories that makes them feel magical in themselves, quite apart from their subject matter – a sense that they're simultaneously old-fashioned and ahead of their time. I think this quality might be something I associate with the publisher, Valancourt, in general.
The narrator of 'The Other Place' meets a Canadian, Lindfield, and is intrigued by the man's reason for being in a tiny English village: 'I thought it might be a place I've been trying to find'. Lindfield tells his story – the story of how a stay in the supremely depressing town of Blackley led him to meet Sir Alaric Foden, who in turn introduced him to the magical kingdom of 'the Other Place'. While it wasn't my personal favourite, I can see why 'The Other Place' was chosen to open and name the book. The concept is wonderful; the contrast between Blackley and the Other Place makes Lindfield's despair all too understandable; the characterisation is as strong as the symbolism.
'The Grey Ones' sees a man named Patson visiting a psychiatrist, to whom he must (under duress?) 'explain himself'. He begins talking about his belief in an 'Evil Principle' that seeks to destroy the soul of humanity via its agents, the 'Grey Ones', who appear indistinguishable from normal humans. The resolution is predictable but, still, everything unravels rather too quickly; even though I knew what was going to happen, I'd have liked more dramatic build-up.
In 'Uncle Phil on TV', a bickering family use the insurance money they've acquired from a loathed uncle's death to buy a television set. Their enthusiasm is quickly dampened, however, when a figure who looks just like Uncle Phil keeps turning up in the background of the programmes they watch. Written in the year of the Coronation, as TV was just starting to become popular, this touches on both the excitement and the anxiety aroused by the new medium. The image of Uncle Phil leering at his unfortunate relatives out of the TV set is so deliciously ghoulish! Exactly the sort of thing I relish in a ghost story. I loved this...
... But 'Guest of Honour' was my absolute favourite of them all. On his way to serve as guest of honour at a fancy dinner, Sir Bernard Clipter almost collides with a shabbily dressed man who utters a strange warning. He dismisses the incident, but when he arrives at the event, everything he sees seems strangely altered. I particularly loved the descriptions – the elderly chairman resembles 'a decayed pink bloodhound'; a group of somnambulist waiters 'might have been figures in some ballet or spectacle, so many robot poisoners'. The imagery is stunningly vivid and horrifying. I can't believe this has never been filmed. Another one to add to the list of adaptations I will commission myself if I'm ever rich and famous.
I don't have an awful lot to say about 'Look After the Strange Girl'; the most interesting thing about it is the opening, in which the reader must deal with the same disorientation as the narrator, who has found himself somewhere (or when) he did not intend to be. It's a good idea that doesn't go anywhere.
The protagonist of 'The Statues' finds himself in a similar state to Lindfield of 'The Other Place'. Repeatedly, he glimpses impossibly vast statues throughout London. They are not visible to others, and disappear every time; Walter Voley comes to believe he is seeing fragments of a far-future version of the city, but his inability to reach it causes a fall into depression.
'The Leadington Incident' has a similar premise to 'Guest of Honour', and perhaps suffers for that because it pales in comparison to the earlier story. George Cobthorn, a pompous Cabinet minister, encounters a stranger on his journey to an important meeting. A seemingly throwaway remark turns out to be a terrible portent which changes the way Cobthorn sees everything.
I found 'Mr. Strenberry's Tale' another of the weakest in terms of plot, although it does contain some startling, memorable visuals (all the more striking considering the story was written earlier than the rest, in 1929). A man stops at a pub in heavy rain. The titular Mr. Strenberry is a regular, scorned by locals for his tall tales. The two get talking, and the narrator gets to hear Strenberry's odd and vivid story for himself.
'Night Sequence' opens with an argument between a couple, Luke and Betty, who have just driven their car into a ditch and blame each other. The pair take refuge in a nearby house, where they meet the charismatic Sir Edward and his beautiful niece Julia. Having been unhappy together for some time, Luke and Betty find themselves strongly drawn to their hosts. There is an echo here of Lindfield and Mavis in 'The Other Place'; Priestley seems to be unusually good at depicting this specific dynamic, the companionship between two people who each have a desperate longing for someone else. Richer and more indulgent than the others, it's both compellingly weird and emotionally engaging.
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August 8, 2021
The Other Place was first published in 1953 and features eight stories written around that time, as well as an earlier piece “Mr. Strenberry’s Tale”, dating from the summer of 1929. The full title of the collection is The Other Place and other stories of the same sort. The phrase “of the same sort” is telling, and immediately conveys the fact that these stories are hard to categorize. They are works of speculative fiction, but they are not ghost stories, nor do they comfortably fit under the wider umbrella of “supernatural fiction”. As John Baxendale points out in the introduction to this Valancourt Books edition, the stories share some common themes and plot devices. Most of them involve situations where the fabric of time and perceived reality wears thin, allowing characters to travel in time, glimpse different eras or pass through moments of heightened lucidity which show them reality as it really is. Baxendale explains that the “time-warp” idea is probably influenced by the ideas of Russian philosopher Ouspensky, whom Priestley was reading when writing these stories. Ultimately, however, the “weirdness” serves to express Priestley’s concern about the sorry state of the post-war society, led by self-serving and self-satisfied politicians, and its capitulation to what he would later term “Admass”, the combination of mass culture and materialism draining the soul of modern society.
Several of the stories present variants on this theme. In The Grey Ones a man named Patson is convinced that an ‘Evil Principle’ and its dreary agents ‘The Grey Ones’ are intent on taking over humanity. Patson’s psychiatrist takes all this with a pinch of salt…or may have something to hide.
There are two pieces which follow a quasi-identical premise. On the way to a dinner of the Imperial Industrialists’ Association where he is meant to be the Guest of Honour, Sir Bernard Clipter almost runs over a strange man who issues an ominous warning. At the event, reality seems to alter and Clipter sees his fellows as the monsters they really are. In The Leadington Incident something similar happens to cabinet minister George Cobthorn, who eventually realizes that the audience he was so eager to address is, apart from some unsettling exceptions, made up of persons who are either dead or asleep.
Other stories are built on the “time-warp” premise. In Look After the Strange Girl, two sociology or anthropology students visit the Edwardian Era and briefly experience a world which would soon be altered by the First World War. This gives the author the opportunity to compare the two worlds, as well as to indulge in some humour provided by the anachronistic situation. (Priestley explores a similar idea in his novel Bright Day, which is also soon to be reissued by Valancourt). In Night Sequence, an unhappy young couple spend the night in a strange house, where they meet the mysteriously alluring Sir Edward and his beautiful niece Julia, and in the process, go through a process of self-discovery. Priestley included Mr Stenberry’s Tale in this volume, because “although it was written years before the others…it seems to me to belong to this collection of tales”. I am not so sure. It is certainly a weird tale with elements of time-travel, but it is more in the line of the science fiction of H.G. Wells, who is in fact referenced in the text itself.
Interesting as the concept behind these stories is, they sometimes suffer from a certain “sameness” and, possibly for this reason, some of the most pieces I found memorable were those who broke out of the “mould” of the rest, even as they share the same themes and worldview. Uncle Phil on TV features a haunted television set. It is, on the one hand, darkly comic, but it is also one of the more nightmarish stories in the collection. With its witty dialogue, and the action all centred around the (then) new-fangled contraption acquired by the Fleming household using the money from their Uncle Phil’s inheritance, I could see this working as a play. In The Statues, journalist Water Voley has visions of gigantic statues which momentarily appear throughout London. At first he believes they might be remnants of the past, until he becomes convinced that he is being granted (in)sight into a future much nobler than the workaday present. This concept of a reality much different from and much better than the somnambular present is, of course, the same as in other stories in the collection, but here Priestley imbues it with an almost Gary-Buddenesque “urban Gothic” atmosphere.
I will end with the title story, which opens and sets the tone for the whole collection. Recounted by a Canadian named Lindfield, he explains to a new acquaintance that he is looking for a tiny English village which he once magically visited whilst staying at the dreary and depressing town of Blackley. This village is everything that Blackley is not, an achingly beautiful place where the weather is always fine, everybody is happy and the world is bright with the hope and promise of Love. With its echoes of the ‘lost domain’ in Alain-Fournier’s Le Grand Meaulnes and more than a hint of Arthur Machen, it exemplifies what is best about this collection – the mixture of social critique and magical weirdness, pessimism about the present and the hope of a better reality, even if sometime and somewhere else, like Philip Larkin’s “…arrow shower, sent out of sight, somewhere becoming rain”.
Full review at: https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/20...
Several of the stories present variants on this theme. In The Grey Ones a man named Patson is convinced that an ‘Evil Principle’ and its dreary agents ‘The Grey Ones’ are intent on taking over humanity. Patson’s psychiatrist takes all this with a pinch of salt…or may have something to hide.
There are two pieces which follow a quasi-identical premise. On the way to a dinner of the Imperial Industrialists’ Association where he is meant to be the Guest of Honour, Sir Bernard Clipter almost runs over a strange man who issues an ominous warning. At the event, reality seems to alter and Clipter sees his fellows as the monsters they really are. In The Leadington Incident something similar happens to cabinet minister George Cobthorn, who eventually realizes that the audience he was so eager to address is, apart from some unsettling exceptions, made up of persons who are either dead or asleep.
Other stories are built on the “time-warp” premise. In Look After the Strange Girl, two sociology or anthropology students visit the Edwardian Era and briefly experience a world which would soon be altered by the First World War. This gives the author the opportunity to compare the two worlds, as well as to indulge in some humour provided by the anachronistic situation. (Priestley explores a similar idea in his novel Bright Day, which is also soon to be reissued by Valancourt). In Night Sequence, an unhappy young couple spend the night in a strange house, where they meet the mysteriously alluring Sir Edward and his beautiful niece Julia, and in the process, go through a process of self-discovery. Priestley included Mr Stenberry’s Tale in this volume, because “although it was written years before the others…it seems to me to belong to this collection of tales”. I am not so sure. It is certainly a weird tale with elements of time-travel, but it is more in the line of the science fiction of H.G. Wells, who is in fact referenced in the text itself.
Interesting as the concept behind these stories is, they sometimes suffer from a certain “sameness” and, possibly for this reason, some of the most pieces I found memorable were those who broke out of the “mould” of the rest, even as they share the same themes and worldview. Uncle Phil on TV features a haunted television set. It is, on the one hand, darkly comic, but it is also one of the more nightmarish stories in the collection. With its witty dialogue, and the action all centred around the (then) new-fangled contraption acquired by the Fleming household using the money from their Uncle Phil’s inheritance, I could see this working as a play. In The Statues, journalist Water Voley has visions of gigantic statues which momentarily appear throughout London. At first he believes they might be remnants of the past, until he becomes convinced that he is being granted (in)sight into a future much nobler than the workaday present. This concept of a reality much different from and much better than the somnambular present is, of course, the same as in other stories in the collection, but here Priestley imbues it with an almost Gary-Buddenesque “urban Gothic” atmosphere.
I will end with the title story, which opens and sets the tone for the whole collection. Recounted by a Canadian named Lindfield, he explains to a new acquaintance that he is looking for a tiny English village which he once magically visited whilst staying at the dreary and depressing town of Blackley. This village is everything that Blackley is not, an achingly beautiful place where the weather is always fine, everybody is happy and the world is bright with the hope and promise of Love. With its echoes of the ‘lost domain’ in Alain-Fournier’s Le Grand Meaulnes and more than a hint of Arthur Machen, it exemplifies what is best about this collection – the mixture of social critique and magical weirdness, pessimism about the present and the hope of a better reality, even if sometime and somewhere else, like Philip Larkin’s “…arrow shower, sent out of sight, somewhere becoming rain”.
Full review at: https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/20...
December 20, 2011
'I'm afraid I don't follow all this, but go on, perhaps it will become clearer '.
This is a quote from ' Mr Strenberry's Tale',the eigth in this collection of short stories by Priestley. All written prior to 1953, they all huddle around the same theme of the supernatural and the weird but without the definite presence of a ghost. It is another curate's egg that is ' good in parts '.
They work because they leave the reader to think and reflect and decide, they don't work for the very same reason. The quotation at the beginning could have been my cri de coeur on a number of moments whilst struggling through this odd collection. One of the drawbacks is they may have been written over a long period of time and therefore as they came out individually they would have struck the reader by their challenge and quirkiness but having them given as a whole they became too repetitive and covering the same territory. For example, in two of the stories the main protagonist, having had an altercation with a stranger who speaks enigmatically to him, sees all around him as being asleep or even dead even though they continue to walk and talk. the ending is slightly different in each story but the overall message is the same.
The common theme is being transported into a different reality sometimes literally by moving through space and time but more often just by becoming 'differently perceptive '. That is not an attempt at political correctness to describe the blind or something but just because this is what Priestley has his characters develop. Sometimes on the instant, sometimes seemingly permanently, sometimes for a short period.
The first three stories in the collection are weird but excellent; 'The Other Place', 'The Grey Ones' and ' Uncle Phil on TV'. These stories made it inevitable that I would read this collection to the end just in the hope that more of these little gems would appear. In my opinion, they didn't.
This is a quote from ' Mr Strenberry's Tale',the eigth in this collection of short stories by Priestley. All written prior to 1953, they all huddle around the same theme of the supernatural and the weird but without the definite presence of a ghost. It is another curate's egg that is ' good in parts '.
They work because they leave the reader to think and reflect and decide, they don't work for the very same reason. The quotation at the beginning could have been my cri de coeur on a number of moments whilst struggling through this odd collection. One of the drawbacks is they may have been written over a long period of time and therefore as they came out individually they would have struck the reader by their challenge and quirkiness but having them given as a whole they became too repetitive and covering the same territory. For example, in two of the stories the main protagonist, having had an altercation with a stranger who speaks enigmatically to him, sees all around him as being asleep or even dead even though they continue to walk and talk. the ending is slightly different in each story but the overall message is the same.
The common theme is being transported into a different reality sometimes literally by moving through space and time but more often just by becoming 'differently perceptive '. That is not an attempt at political correctness to describe the blind or something but just because this is what Priestley has his characters develop. Sometimes on the instant, sometimes seemingly permanently, sometimes for a short period.
The first three stories in the collection are weird but excellent; 'The Other Place', 'The Grey Ones' and ' Uncle Phil on TV'. These stories made it inevitable that I would read this collection to the end just in the hope that more of these little gems would appear. In my opinion, they didn't.
December 3, 2018
The Other Place, and Other Stories of the Same Sort is a collection of speculative short stories. I have been on the lookout for Uncanny short fiction--it is one of my reading interests--and I am now delighted to add J.B. Priestley to my list of favorite authors of that type of story. Others in that school are Robert Aickman and Daphne du Maurier. Also, I think that some of the stories in this book would make good episodes of a revived Twilight Zone.
One theme in the book is the contrast between current reality, which can be disagreeable, to another place and time where happiness is maximized.
The book starts out strong. In the first story, "The Other Place" the British narrator meets a Canadian
who has been looking for a special place. The Canadian had stayed in a dismal town where he met a Sir Alaric Foden who showed him a way to enter an alternate (and wonderful) version of the town. The Canadian also found love in this alternate reality. The Canadian got sent back to the current reality and is no longer able to use Sir Alaric Foden's method. 5 stars
"The Grey Ones" A patient discusses with his psychiatrist his belief that there are aliens on Earth, disguised as humans, who seek to make humans impersonal. As a reader of science fiction, I saw where this story was heading. 4 stars
"Uncle Phil on TV". The story takes place when TV was becoming a mass phenomenon. A family receives a small inheritance which they use to buy a TV. The deceased uncle Phil appears in TV programs, directly addressing family members. Creepy and humorous too. 4.5 stars
"Guest of Honor" Sir Bernard Clipter is on his way to a social gathering when his car almost hits a man who gives a strange warning. At the social gathering, Sir Clipter sees the other attendees transformed into creepy creatures, both in appearance and action. The story has a 'twist' ending. 4.5 stars
"Looking After The Strange Girl" is a time slip story. The narrator had gone back in time. The narrator knows the fates of the people he is interacting with. He then comes back to the current time, an interacts with a woman he had interacted with back then. 3 stars
In "The Statues" the protagonist is a journalist who see incredibly large statues which no one else sees, and which disappears. These statues come from the future into the present. This experience has a bad effect on the protagonist. 3 stars
"The Leadington Incident" has a similar plot structure to the previous story "Guest of Honor". Because of that, I'm giving this story 3.5 stars
"Mr. Strenberry's Tale" The narrator meets Mr. Strenberry, who others think is a strange guy. Mr. Strenberry says he saw, through what seems to have a been time portal, the end of the human race. The human race is destroyed by what I take to be a machine. Mr. Strawberry also saw a person from that time attempting to escape by going back in time, but failed. 3 stars
In "Night Sequence", Betty and Luke are a couple who have been unhappy with each other for some time and who had their car go into a ditch. They seek shelter from the bad weather, and are welcomed into a near by house, where they change into old fashioned clothes, and meet Sir Edward and his niece Julia. Betty and Sir Edward fall in love, and Luke and Julia fall in love. A time slip romance with an ending I didn't expect. 3.5 stars.
My ratings average out 3.77, thus rounding up to 4 stars.
One theme in the book is the contrast between current reality, which can be disagreeable, to another place and time where happiness is maximized.
The book starts out strong. In the first story, "The Other Place" the British narrator meets a Canadian
who has been looking for a special place. The Canadian had stayed in a dismal town where he met a Sir Alaric Foden who showed him a way to enter an alternate (and wonderful) version of the town. The Canadian also found love in this alternate reality. The Canadian got sent back to the current reality and is no longer able to use Sir Alaric Foden's method. 5 stars
"The Grey Ones" A patient discusses with his psychiatrist his belief that there are aliens on Earth, disguised as humans, who seek to make humans impersonal. As a reader of science fiction, I saw where this story was heading. 4 stars
"Uncle Phil on TV". The story takes place when TV was becoming a mass phenomenon. A family receives a small inheritance which they use to buy a TV. The deceased uncle Phil appears in TV programs, directly addressing family members. Creepy and humorous too. 4.5 stars
"Guest of Honor" Sir Bernard Clipter is on his way to a social gathering when his car almost hits a man who gives a strange warning. At the social gathering, Sir Clipter sees the other attendees transformed into creepy creatures, both in appearance and action. The story has a 'twist' ending. 4.5 stars
"Looking After The Strange Girl" is a time slip story. The narrator had gone back in time. The narrator knows the fates of the people he is interacting with. He then comes back to the current time, an interacts with a woman he had interacted with back then. 3 stars
In "The Statues" the protagonist is a journalist who see incredibly large statues which no one else sees, and which disappears. These statues come from the future into the present. This experience has a bad effect on the protagonist. 3 stars
"The Leadington Incident" has a similar plot structure to the previous story "Guest of Honor". Because of that, I'm giving this story 3.5 stars
"Mr. Strenberry's Tale" The narrator meets Mr. Strenberry, who others think is a strange guy. Mr. Strenberry says he saw, through what seems to have a been time portal, the end of the human race. The human race is destroyed by what I take to be a machine. Mr. Strawberry also saw a person from that time attempting to escape by going back in time, but failed. 3 stars
In "Night Sequence", Betty and Luke are a couple who have been unhappy with each other for some time and who had their car go into a ditch. They seek shelter from the bad weather, and are welcomed into a near by house, where they change into old fashioned clothes, and meet Sir Edward and his niece Julia. Betty and Sir Edward fall in love, and Luke and Julia fall in love. A time slip romance with an ending I didn't expect. 3.5 stars.
My ratings average out 3.77, thus rounding up to 4 stars.
Read
January 6, 2020Thoughts on this book have to be put on hold for about a week or so as I'm leaving town for a bit.
First impressions:
the back blurb says:
"The nine tales in this collection are strange, fantastic, and often unsettling..." and I'd put an emphasis on the unsettling, for sure.
more next week.
First impressions:
the back blurb says:
"The nine tales in this collection are strange, fantastic, and often unsettling..." and I'd put an emphasis on the unsettling, for sure.
more next week.
June 28, 2023
I have been a long time fan of the "dark and fantastic" tales from J.B. Priestley, especially BENIGHTED and his play, AN INSPECTOR CALLS. So, when I learned that his short stories in a similar vein had been reprinted, I very much wanted to read them. My appreciation of them was mixed, but I did enjoy reading all of them.
The title story, THE OTHER PLACE, is the first one and the best of the collection. In today's terminology, a modern Reader could be forgiven for thinking that Priestley invented the Multiverse. However, the current conceit found in the comic books (and other entertainment media made from them) is quite different from what Priestley had in mind. The success of this story comes from providing a situation both familiar and alien to the Reader. I don't want to say too much, because I found the revelation to be quite a treat. Suffice it to say if you've ever encountered a stranger and felt that you must have met that person before, you'll connect with this story.
The second tale in the collection, THE GREY ONES, also speaks to anyone who feels that there is a lack of emotional color in the world. Priestley contends that it isn't your imagination!
The remaining seven stories felt like they might be more at home as episodes of the classic television series, "Rod Serling's Night Gallery." For me, I thought they existed merely to provide a clever twist ... with UNCLE PHIL ON TV being also humorous.
The one disappointment for me was the longest of the stories, NIGHT SEQUENCE. Although the set-up is one that I naturally like (especially with my appreciation for ghost stories taking place in an isolated mansion), I thought the resolution (and the explanation provided) was very thin and stretching my willingness to suspend disbelief. Still, the structure of the tale was good and reminded me from time-to-time of BENIGHTED.
It is probably also important to mention that all but one of the stories was written close on the heels of the ending of the Second World War. So, there is a cultural mindset present reflecting both that time and the emotional attitude of being "a survivor." Today's Reader will likely have a different perspective.
The title story, THE OTHER PLACE, is the first one and the best of the collection. In today's terminology, a modern Reader could be forgiven for thinking that Priestley invented the Multiverse. However, the current conceit found in the comic books (and other entertainment media made from them) is quite different from what Priestley had in mind. The success of this story comes from providing a situation both familiar and alien to the Reader. I don't want to say too much, because I found the revelation to be quite a treat. Suffice it to say if you've ever encountered a stranger and felt that you must have met that person before, you'll connect with this story.
The second tale in the collection, THE GREY ONES, also speaks to anyone who feels that there is a lack of emotional color in the world. Priestley contends that it isn't your imagination!
The remaining seven stories felt like they might be more at home as episodes of the classic television series, "Rod Serling's Night Gallery." For me, I thought they existed merely to provide a clever twist ... with UNCLE PHIL ON TV being also humorous.
The one disappointment for me was the longest of the stories, NIGHT SEQUENCE. Although the set-up is one that I naturally like (especially with my appreciation for ghost stories taking place in an isolated mansion), I thought the resolution (and the explanation provided) was very thin and stretching my willingness to suspend disbelief. Still, the structure of the tale was good and reminded me from time-to-time of BENIGHTED.
It is probably also important to mention that all but one of the stories was written close on the heels of the ending of the Second World War. So, there is a cultural mindset present reflecting both that time and the emotional attitude of being "a survivor." Today's Reader will likely have a different perspective.
June 4, 2013
Prior to Valancourt Books asking me to write the intro to Benighted, I'd read only it and very little other pieces by J.B. Priestley, so when I learned that, along with that title, they had also gotten the rights to reprint this collection of his short weird tales, I was very excited to check it out, and it didn't disappoint. It's as charming a selection of stories as the full title (The Other Place & Other Stories of the Same Sort) would imply, reminiscent of other charming weird British writers of a similar period, including E.F. Benson and some of Nigel Kneale, to name a couple of which I am particularly fond.
While all the stories in The Other Place fall under the broad rubric of the weird or strange tale, only a few struck me as what I would call horror. Instead, they focus on inexplicable and dreamlike situations, visions, people thrust suddenly back in time. Those that do go for shudders do an admirable job, and are generally my favorite stories in the book. There are some really dramatic and incredible (if brief) descriptions of suitably weird monsters, especially in "The Grey Ones," which was my favorite of the bunch, and deserves to be more widely known in weird fiction circles.
Also, the Valancourt reissue of The Other Place looks great on the shelf next to my copy of Benighted!
While all the stories in The Other Place fall under the broad rubric of the weird or strange tale, only a few struck me as what I would call horror. Instead, they focus on inexplicable and dreamlike situations, visions, people thrust suddenly back in time. Those that do go for shudders do an admirable job, and are generally my favorite stories in the book. There are some really dramatic and incredible (if brief) descriptions of suitably weird monsters, especially in "The Grey Ones," which was my favorite of the bunch, and deserves to be more widely known in weird fiction circles.
Also, the Valancourt reissue of The Other Place looks great on the shelf next to my copy of Benighted!
December 3, 2015
J.B. Priestley (1894-1984) is probably best known for expansive novels such as The Good Companions (1929) which portrayed ‘from below’ various aspects of English society, and the ‘time plays’ in which he made startling use of J.W. Dunne’s theories about the nature of time. Priestley is also fondly remembered for his radio talks during the first years of World War II. His message of political change and social improvement to come after a hard-won victory, presented in soft and reassuring Yorkshire tones, caught the country’s mood and was credited with helping to set the scene for the defeat of Winston Churchill in the general election of 1945. But with the reforming Labour government’s loss of office in 1951, and the increasing tensions of the Cold War, it seemed to Priestley that the bright and equitable future was fast becoming tarnished and in danger of being overwhelmed in the present by a tide of materialism and mediocrity. First published in 1953, The Other Place captures this period of anxiety and menace. All except one of the nine stories were written in the early 1950s, with five original to the volume. The introduction by John Baxendale sets the stories in this wider context, and shows how they emerged from Priestley’s disappointment and forebodings.
The protagonists are usually men who have become deeply dissatisfied with the present and wish to find an explanation for the disorientating or frightening experiences or moods that have befallen them. There are variations on a theme: people find themselves apparently stepping out of their own time and space and into somewhere else where they are either completely out of place or find what they feel must be their true home. After their return, changed, to the ‘real’ world, they live in fear of the revelation they have undergone, or try to find a way back to something they have lost. Another thread in these stories is the dread, or threat, of the loss of personal individuality, of being swallowed up in the looming greyness of something huge and inhuman, and linked with the sense that nearly everyone else has stopped being truly alive, having fallen asleep and become sleepwalkers merely going through the motions.
The stories in The Other Place explore visions of ambiguous utopias and dystopias through the eyes of a range of characters, some of whom can often (and certainly now) seem caricatures. But Priestley used them to make and score points for his agenda and concerns, while entertaining as well. These stories are examples in miniature of how Priestley could use his skill at depicting ordinary people in everyday settings while also putting them into uncanny situations, moving from one setting to the other and back again with ease, and leaving the reader with the worry that something alarming is on the way, or a yearning sense of having encountered – however briefly – something wonderful. And in all cases extraordinary.
The protagonists are usually men who have become deeply dissatisfied with the present and wish to find an explanation for the disorientating or frightening experiences or moods that have befallen them. There are variations on a theme: people find themselves apparently stepping out of their own time and space and into somewhere else where they are either completely out of place or find what they feel must be their true home. After their return, changed, to the ‘real’ world, they live in fear of the revelation they have undergone, or try to find a way back to something they have lost. Another thread in these stories is the dread, or threat, of the loss of personal individuality, of being swallowed up in the looming greyness of something huge and inhuman, and linked with the sense that nearly everyone else has stopped being truly alive, having fallen asleep and become sleepwalkers merely going through the motions.
The stories in The Other Place explore visions of ambiguous utopias and dystopias through the eyes of a range of characters, some of whom can often (and certainly now) seem caricatures. But Priestley used them to make and score points for his agenda and concerns, while entertaining as well. These stories are examples in miniature of how Priestley could use his skill at depicting ordinary people in everyday settings while also putting them into uncanny situations, moving from one setting to the other and back again with ease, and leaving the reader with the worry that something alarming is on the way, or a yearning sense of having encountered – however briefly – something wonderful. And in all cases extraordinary.
February 10, 2021
Having recently rediscovered the "strange stories" of Robert Aickman and been on the lookout for works in a similar vein, I was pleasantly surprised to learn about this collection from J.B.Priestley - a writer I chiefly think of as a dramatist (because of 'An Inspector Calls') and novelist, but not a short story author. Actually it's Priestley's pedigree as a playwright and screenwriter, as well as a social commenter, is pertinent here. Stories like 'The Grey Ones' are dialogue-heavy and could easily be imagined as a dramatic two-hander, while the title story is essentially a monologue. Throughout the collection Priestley creates vivid voices that elevate these stories.
Although the stories could broadly be considered works of speculative fiction, the author's preoccupations with class, dissatisfaction, and societal decline (the arrival of a television set in a working class home in 'Uncle Phil on TV' is an amusing slice of social history) put this collection in the uncanny category with Aickman and some of L P Hartley and H G Wells' short works. Though they deal with life in post-war Britain, the stories anticpate contemporary concerns. For example, again, 'The Grey Ones' with its sense of a soul-destroying, fun-sucking bureaucratic elite that demands banal conformity (which also suggests H P Lovecraft transported to the English suburbs).
The only real gripe is the inclusion of both 'Guest of Honour' and 'The Leadington Incident', stories which are too similar - possibly one is a reworking of the other - to feature in the same collection. Otherwise, this a fun, thought-provoking read.
Although the stories could broadly be considered works of speculative fiction, the author's preoccupations with class, dissatisfaction, and societal decline (the arrival of a television set in a working class home in 'Uncle Phil on TV' is an amusing slice of social history) put this collection in the uncanny category with Aickman and some of L P Hartley and H G Wells' short works. Though they deal with life in post-war Britain, the stories anticpate contemporary concerns. For example, again, 'The Grey Ones' with its sense of a soul-destroying, fun-sucking bureaucratic elite that demands banal conformity (which also suggests H P Lovecraft transported to the English suburbs).
The only real gripe is the inclusion of both 'Guest of Honour' and 'The Leadington Incident', stories which are too similar - possibly one is a reworking of the other - to feature in the same collection. Otherwise, this a fun, thought-provoking read.
February 8, 2020
An interesting midcentury collection of the Weird. Thematically, this collection is about the fears of the expanding middle class and the erosion of the gentry. There is a particular disdain for bureaucrats and politicians. “Guest of Honour” almost a great weird destruction of reality corporate horror collapse of the class system, but it feels like the test audience required that a heartwarming ending with a redemption message be tacked on. “The Statues” feels like a metaphor for the fears of the immigrant class moving into the UK and making it home.
Probably my favorite of the bunch is “The Grey Ones,” which is a nice precursor to THEY LIVE with paranoia bubbling up from the Red Scare instead of rampant consumerism. Also, I loved the takeover mechanism of evoking ennui. I loved the gentle audio production in “Uncle Phil on TV” as tweaking the voices from the television into a flatter sound works so effectively for verisimilitude.
Probably my favorite of the bunch is “The Grey Ones,” which is a nice precursor to THEY LIVE with paranoia bubbling up from the Red Scare instead of rampant consumerism. Also, I loved the takeover mechanism of evoking ennui. I loved the gentle audio production in “Uncle Phil on TV” as tweaking the voices from the television into a flatter sound works so effectively for verisimilitude.
January 11, 2025
I have reviewed one of the stories in this collection, The Grey Ones, HERE. I gave that a single star, but maybe the rest of the collection is better?
July 19, 2015
In Priestley's massive output of literature there aren't really many short stories, which is a hame as the few he did write are rather good. The stories in this collection all have a supernatural bent, of which there are several (rather unsurprisingly knowing JB's predilections) time-slip stories. All the stories are at least good, I especially enjoyed the title piece, Uncle Phil on TV and The Statues, probably the least enjoyable I felt was The Leadington Incident, perhaps because it was so similar to one of the earlier stories "Guest of Honor."
November 25, 2023
This is Priestley's Twilight Zone stories. I'd read all, or most of these before, as a teenager. The one that made the biggest impression on me then was The Leadington Incident. I suppose that tracks: a teenager would be impressed by the revelation that everyone but a select few people is either asleep or dead. I wasn't quite as taken with that story this time around, but I did enjoy Uncle Phil on TV. Overall, my impression from this reading is that the stories get weaker toward the end of the book. The Statues, Mr. Strenberry's Tale, and Night Sequence are downright awful.
Night Sequence in particular showcases Priestley's tin ear for dialogue--something I would have missed on my first reading of these stories, since they were translated, and some of the stylistic deficiencies might have been corrected. The story is full of long, tedious speeches without insight or wit. Actually, it got one almost out-loud laugh from me, when one of the characters thinks that two others are "making long speeches at each other", because it does show some self-awareness on the author's part.
Anyway, like most short story collections, this one is pretty uneven.
Night Sequence in particular showcases Priestley's tin ear for dialogue--something I would have missed on my first reading of these stories, since they were translated, and some of the stylistic deficiencies might have been corrected. The story is full of long, tedious speeches without insight or wit. Actually, it got one almost out-loud laugh from me, when one of the characters thinks that two others are "making long speeches at each other", because it does show some self-awareness on the author's part.
Anyway, like most short story collections, this one is pretty uneven.
July 26, 2023
Beautifully written tales with a weird slant of the supernatural. However they all have the exact same nihilistic theme, in fact two of the tales are almost the exact same just with minor changes. Basically everyone and everything is terrible and mostly everyone is to stupid to see it. I admit that right after WW2 in Britain, the feeling would be understandable but for every single story to be fixated on it made the collection kind of boring. I believe I would like the tales more if I just read one in a random collection of the supernatural. It kind of beats on you when nine tales are all saying the same thing. The longest tale is the last and to me the weakest, he so wants to pontificate on his philosophy that he couldn't stand to let the story end well. He spent pages on shoehorning his thoughts in that what could be a decent story just fell apart.
Again he writes beautifully, but can't really recommend the collection.
Again he writes beautifully, but can't really recommend the collection.
May 17, 2025
This was a unexpected departure: a series of stories about the supernatural and various weird happenings. Unsurprisingly the titular story is one of the strongest, although I also liked the final story about the young couple who fantasise themselves (or do they?) the perfect partners but manage to fix their own marriage as a result. I do remember feeling that the settings started to get a bit repetitive after a while.
August 1, 2020
Not the dark classic that is
An Inspector Calls
, but an enjoyable if uneven collection of fantasy/horror short-stories leavened with a wry humour.
Want to read
March 29, 2025Read so far:
*The other place
*The grey ones
Uncle Phil on TV
Guest of honour
*Look after the strange girl
The statues
The Leadington incident
*Mr. Strenberry's tale (aka Doomsday)
Night sequence
***
*The demon king
*The old dark house
*Underground
*The other place
*The grey ones
Uncle Phil on TV
Guest of honour
*Look after the strange girl
The statues
The Leadington incident
*Mr. Strenberry's tale (aka Doomsday)
Night sequence
***
*The demon king
*The old dark house
*Underground
November 22, 2020
Definitely weird fiction and I mean that in the best possible way.
February 18, 2021
Pretty good.
November 22, 2022
Although these stories were beautifully written and unusual found it difficult to stay the course.
February 8, 2025
Very flat and dry. Disappointing.
February 27, 2016
This is the second book I've read by Priestley- and the second book I've loved by Presley.
This time, it's a collection of short stories- all of which explore themes of time travel or sudden visions of the world as it, presumably, is. I love the stories of people knocked out of their complacency, and the thoughts about the value of life contained within some of the tales. I want to just mention one tale, 'the statues', which I read on a bus that broke down- I wish this would occur in real life. A view of a hopeful future...
It is my hope that something like the thought of at least some of these stories comes to pass, that one day we realise that the economic system of the present is broken, that we waste life by allowing ourselves to be considered mere economic units working for the aggrandizement and wealth of others, and they are passed over, remembered only as the tyrants that they, in realty, are.
Sharing some of the themes found in 'the magicians', I would recommend this to be read directly either before or after that book- giving either a foretaste or a development of the ideas contained in it.
This time, it's a collection of short stories- all of which explore themes of time travel or sudden visions of the world as it, presumably, is. I love the stories of people knocked out of their complacency, and the thoughts about the value of life contained within some of the tales. I want to just mention one tale, 'the statues', which I read on a bus that broke down- I wish this would occur in real life. A view of a hopeful future...
It is my hope that something like the thought of at least some of these stories comes to pass, that one day we realise that the economic system of the present is broken, that we waste life by allowing ourselves to be considered mere economic units working for the aggrandizement and wealth of others, and they are passed over, remembered only as the tyrants that they, in realty, are.
Sharing some of the themes found in 'the magicians', I would recommend this to be read directly either before or after that book- giving either a foretaste or a development of the ideas contained in it.
July 4, 2013
Well, this was an interesting one! I picked it up in the gorgeous Picton Reading Room of Liverpool library and couldn't put it down, in spite of the lure of the shops outside.
I particularly loved 'The Other Place' and 'The Grey Ones.' I can't say much without ruining the story.
I particularly loved 'The Other Place' and 'The Grey Ones.' I can't say much without ruining the story.
Read
May 24, 2009excellent but rather sad
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