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The Temple of Death: The Ghost Stories of A. C. & R. H. Benson
The great oaken gate heaved and splintered, and a monstrous beast as huge as a horse appeared at the mouth of the den; his small head was laid back on his hairy shoulders, his little eyes gleamed wickedly, and his red mouth opened snarling fiercely.
Undeservedly, the weird and chilling ghost stories of Arthur Christopher Benson and Robert Hugh Benson have been neglected for far too long. This volume attempts to rectify that situation. This dark banquet of tales takes us to strange, unworldly and often archaic environments, far removed from the manic pace and pressures of the twenty-first century, but as exercises in the art of luring the reader into a stat of unease they are as potent as they were when the ink was barely dry on the page.
Stories by A.C. Benson:
"The Temple of Death"
"The Closed Window"
"The Slype House"
"The Red Camp"
"Out of the Sea"
"The Grey Cat"
"The Hill of Trouble"
"Basil Netherby"
"The Uttermost Farthing"
Stories by R.H. Benson:
"The Watcher"
"The Blood Eagle"
"Consolatrix Afflictorium"
"Over the Gateway"
"Father Meuron's Tale"
"Father Macclesfield's Tale"
"The Traveler"
Undeservedly, the weird and chilling ghost stories of Arthur Christopher Benson and Robert Hugh Benson have been neglected for far too long. This volume attempts to rectify that situation. This dark banquet of tales takes us to strange, unworldly and often archaic environments, far removed from the manic pace and pressures of the twenty-first century, but as exercises in the art of luring the reader into a stat of unease they are as potent as they were when the ink was barely dry on the page.
Stories by A.C. Benson:
"The Temple of Death"
"The Closed Window"
"The Slype House"
"The Red Camp"
"Out of the Sea"
"The Grey Cat"
"The Hill of Trouble"
"Basil Netherby"
"The Uttermost Farthing"
Stories by R.H. Benson:
"The Watcher"
"The Blood Eagle"
"Consolatrix Afflictorium"
"Over the Gateway"
"Father Meuron's Tale"
"Father Macclesfield's Tale"
"The Traveler"
240 pages, Paperback
First published September 10, 2007
5 people are currently reading
192 people want to read
About the author
A.C. Benson
479 books20 followersArthur Christopher Benson was an English essayist, poet, author and academic and the 28th Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge.
Benson was born on 24 April 1862 at Wellington College, Berkshire. He was one of six children of Edward White Benson (1829-1896; Archbishop of Canterbury 1882–96; the first headmaster of the college) and his wife Mary Sidgwick Benson, sister of the philosopher Henry Sidgwick.
Benson was born into a literary family; his brothers included E.F. Benson, best remembered for his Mapp and Lucia novels, and Robert Hugh Benson, a priest of the Church of England before converting to Roman Catholicism, who wrote many popular novels. Their sister, Margaret Benson, was an artist, author, and amateur Egyptologist.
Benson was born on 24 April 1862 at Wellington College, Berkshire. He was one of six children of Edward White Benson (1829-1896; Archbishop of Canterbury 1882–96; the first headmaster of the college) and his wife Mary Sidgwick Benson, sister of the philosopher Henry Sidgwick.
Benson was born into a literary family; his brothers included E.F. Benson, best remembered for his Mapp and Lucia novels, and Robert Hugh Benson, a priest of the Church of England before converting to Roman Catholicism, who wrote many popular novels. Their sister, Margaret Benson, was an artist, author, and amateur Egyptologist.
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July 29, 2019
Perhaps you are familiar with Edward Frederick Benson, author of the Mapp and Lucia comic novels and some of the best ghost stories in the English language? This pleasant although not compelling selection of occult tales is by two of his siblings, the lesser of the literary Benson brothers, Arthur Christopher and Robert Hugh.
A.C. Benson was a "confirmed bachelor," a lecturer in English Literature at Eton for 18 years, and later at Cambridge where he became the Master of Magdalene College. Most of his stories contained herein were intended as moral lessons for the young men he taught, and--although they have their moments--their style is a little stiff and their conclusions a little too pat. The two longer stories here--"Basil Neatherby" and "The Uttermost Farthing"--are a different matter entirely. A.C. apparently wrote them for his own amusement, and they are dense and complex, reminding one occasionally of Henry James both in their attenuated narratives and in their sublety. Read these two stories even if you read none of the rest.
Robert Hugh Benson was an Anglican clergyman who subsequently converted and was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest. His was a celebrated and notorious conversion. (After all, he was the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury!) Today he is probably best known for his novel Come Rack! Come Rope!, a story of the Anglican persecution of recusants during the sixteenth century. I find it odd, but I liked his stories much better than his brother Arthur's, even though I could put my finger on nothing in plot or style that marked then as superior. Still, they all seems so suffused with love, with a reverence for life, with a profound sense of the numinousness of all things, that their spirit stayed with me long after the effect of A.C.'s had passed away.
October 21, 2016
Many people have heard of Edward Frederic (E.F.) Benson, who wrote a series of humorous novels about Mapp and Lucia. I haven't read them, but am familiar with the name. Unfamiliar to me was the fact that E.F. had a couple brothers - A.C. and R.H. These acronyms also wrote stories, though as far as I can tell they were less popular than E.F., and I'm not sure if they wrote anything longer than a short story.
This collection is nice because E.F. has no part in it. I understand he also wrote ghost stories, but I haven't experienced them yet. I can say that between A.C. and R.H., A.C. (I so want to write A.C. Slater...) was a much better writer. His stories have detail and a bit of edge. There are some morals (or morals that I've inferred anyway), but are mostly well-written and interesting stories that have a wide variety of truly creepy shit that occurs.
R.H., on the other hand, was a priest who apparently still wanted to be a part of the writing family. His stories are brief and usually involve some sort of epistolary thing going on - a diary entry, a letter, a story relayed to someone else from someone else, etc. There's not a lot of description, there's a whole helluva lot of GOD, and all told, I didn't care much about any of them.
For what it's worth, there was also a Benson sister who had the spine to actually go by her first name, Margaret. I don't think she wrote, but apparently she was an "amateur Egyptologist". But she was a woman, so obviously she wasn't that important, and she was left to her little hobbies like Egyptology.
Moving right along!
I reviewed the stories as I read them because of my pathetic excuse of a memory. It sort of worked out for me. I could have done without the R.H. stories, quite honestly, so sorry. I think the A.C. stories are really actually pretty cool, and a few of them might actually stick with me. People compare these bros with another acronym writer, M.R. James - another someone I haven't read. It's hard to keep up with all these abbreviations.
The Benson bros (without a Margaret in sight):
Guess which one is the priest, R.H. Yeah, exactly.
Arthur Christopher (A.C.) Benson:
The Temple of Death
Paullinus is a Christian teacher who travels by foot to visit out-of-the-way hamlets and villages to tell them about "the Word". The story begins after Paullinus has spent the night in a village with an old man who tells him about a special place he in the wood Paullinus should not visit, not in a million years, it's full of EEEeeeviiiiillll.
Of course Paullinus winds up there, though not intentionally. Will his Christianity save him in THE TEMPLE OF DEATH?
Note: This is not about an Icelandic metal band, though if one hasn't already used the name Temple of Death, I'd be terribly surprised.
The Closed Window
Sir Mark lives in the Tower of Nort, and eventually his cousin and heir, Roland, comes to live there as well. One rainy day Roland is all "I'm bored! Entertain me!" and so they wander the tower, coming to a room with four windows (one facing each direction). One window is closed with a creepy Latin warning to leave it closed. But phooey to that! The window is opened and STUFF HAPPENS.
Moral of the story: Don't mock Latin warnings.
The Slype House
I'll be honest, I didn't know what a "slype" was. I thought it might be some Slytherin-related thing, so I just looked it up and found that a "slype" is an actual thing. It's an architectural turn for often a "covered passage between the transept and chapter house" in cathedrals. (Thank you, Wikipedia; sorry, Freshman year in college, for forgetting my architectural terms from the Humanities class I took and thought I loved.) Of course A.C. Benson sort of explained that concept to me in the first line or two of the story, but in olden terms, so I sort of missed that.
Anthony Purvis is a curmudgeonly sort, lacking in solid friendships or relationships or any sort of warmth. At university he's befriended by an occultist, and after Anthony's father dies, he returns to the Slype house to collect his inheritance. Being all out of the way and all, he uses the home for his practices, many of which are occult-y, which then makes some scaries happen, as they are wont to do.
Moral: Make a friend or two. No one is an island.
The Red Camp
Another story about a man returning home to collect his inheritance in the form of property. On the property is an overgrown mound that is known locally as "the Red Camp". No one fully knows the story of this spot, but when Walter thinks out loud maybe dig up the area, he's urged not to as that is a poor idea 'cause, y'know, the land is probably cursed or something. So of course Walter decides to do it anyway. SUPER smart. Will there be treasure or will there be curses?
Moral: When it doubt about what you've done, build a church.
Out of the Sea
A beast. From the sea.
The Grey Cat
A young man goes for a walk, discovers a pool of water, is warned to stay away from said pool, but like any good 15-year-old, totally ignores the warnings and drinks from it. He then has hallucinations because maybe there was LSD in the pool, and a cat befriends him.
Moral: Don't do drugs and befriend animals.
The Hill of Trouble
"He was still young, and yet he had made himself a name for learning, and still more for wisdom, which is a different thing, though the two are often confused."
Basil Netherby
When Leonard Ward receives a strange message from a former pal from music school, he goes to meet with Basil Netherby. Conversations about spirits and the unknown ensue and a bad thing happens.
Moral: If you get a bizarre letter from someone from your past, just remember curiosity killed the cat.
The Uttermost Farthing
The title actually comes from the King James Bible, "Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." No, I didn't just figure that out, I looked it up with my eyeballs. That's from Matthew 5:26 which someone with a religious background might actually know what it means. Something about having to pay ones dues, I suppose.
This is the longest story of the bunch, wherein the narrator visits Hector Bendyshe, one of the coolest names ever. They talk a lot about things of supernatural topics. And it's just really, really long.
Robert Hugh (R.H.) Benson:
The Watcher
The narrator shoots a bird, realizes he's being watched, and has a spiritual crisis. Basically.
The Blood-Eagle
A priest retells a story of an experience he had as a teenager that involved a creepy-ass woman in the woods and a pig that had been used in a ritual, but apparently should have been a human that was used.
This story... sort of just ended? And I'm not sure what the point was. Probably GOD.
'Consolatrix Afflictorum'
An old man remembers the time as a child after his mother died how much he wanted to see her again, and then she started visiting him at night. Except it wasn't really his mother; it was The Mother, as in a totally religious sort of figure.
Another story about GOD.
Over the Gateway
This was also about GOD.
Father Meuron's Tale
An exorcism! And, well, GOD.
Father Macclesfield's Tale
Father Macclesfield tells some tales of spookiness. Not so much about GOD this time. At least not overtly.
The Traveller
Annnnnd... GOD.
This collection is nice because E.F. has no part in it. I understand he also wrote ghost stories, but I haven't experienced them yet. I can say that between A.C. and R.H., A.C. (I so want to write A.C. Slater...) was a much better writer. His stories have detail and a bit of edge. There are some morals (or morals that I've inferred anyway), but are mostly well-written and interesting stories that have a wide variety of truly creepy shit that occurs.
R.H., on the other hand, was a priest who apparently still wanted to be a part of the writing family. His stories are brief and usually involve some sort of epistolary thing going on - a diary entry, a letter, a story relayed to someone else from someone else, etc. There's not a lot of description, there's a whole helluva lot of GOD, and all told, I didn't care much about any of them.
For what it's worth, there was also a Benson sister who had the spine to actually go by her first name, Margaret. I don't think she wrote, but apparently she was an "amateur Egyptologist". But she was a woman, so obviously she wasn't that important, and she was left to her little hobbies like Egyptology.
Moving right along!
I reviewed the stories as I read them because of my pathetic excuse of a memory. It sort of worked out for me. I could have done without the R.H. stories, quite honestly, so sorry. I think the A.C. stories are really actually pretty cool, and a few of them might actually stick with me. People compare these bros with another acronym writer, M.R. James - another someone I haven't read. It's hard to keep up with all these abbreviations.
The Benson bros (without a Margaret in sight):
Guess which one is the priest, R.H. Yeah, exactly.
Arthur Christopher (A.C.) Benson:
The Temple of Death
Paullinus is a Christian teacher who travels by foot to visit out-of-the-way hamlets and villages to tell them about "the Word". The story begins after Paullinus has spent the night in a village with an old man who tells him about a special place he in the wood Paullinus should not visit, not in a million years, it's full of EEEeeeviiiiillll.
Of course Paullinus winds up there, though not intentionally. Will his Christianity save him in THE TEMPLE OF DEATH?
Note: This is not about an Icelandic metal band, though if one hasn't already used the name Temple of Death, I'd be terribly surprised.
The Closed Window
Sir Mark lives in the Tower of Nort, and eventually his cousin and heir, Roland, comes to live there as well. One rainy day Roland is all "I'm bored! Entertain me!" and so they wander the tower, coming to a room with four windows (one facing each direction). One window is closed with a creepy Latin warning to leave it closed. But phooey to that! The window is opened and STUFF HAPPENS.
Moral of the story: Don't mock Latin warnings.
The Slype House
I'll be honest, I didn't know what a "slype" was. I thought it might be some Slytherin-related thing, so I just looked it up and found that a "slype" is an actual thing. It's an architectural turn for often a "covered passage between the transept and chapter house" in cathedrals. (Thank you, Wikipedia; sorry, Freshman year in college, for forgetting my architectural terms from the Humanities class I took and thought I loved.) Of course A.C. Benson sort of explained that concept to me in the first line or two of the story, but in olden terms, so I sort of missed that.
Anthony Purvis is a curmudgeonly sort, lacking in solid friendships or relationships or any sort of warmth. At university he's befriended by an occultist, and after Anthony's father dies, he returns to the Slype house to collect his inheritance. Being all out of the way and all, he uses the home for his practices, many of which are occult-y, which then makes some scaries happen, as they are wont to do.
Moral: Make a friend or two. No one is an island.
The Red Camp
Another story about a man returning home to collect his inheritance in the form of property. On the property is an overgrown mound that is known locally as "the Red Camp". No one fully knows the story of this spot, but when Walter thinks out loud maybe dig up the area, he's urged not to as that is a poor idea 'cause, y'know, the land is probably cursed or something. So of course Walter decides to do it anyway. SUPER smart. Will there be treasure or will there be curses?
Moral: When it doubt about what you've done, build a church.
Out of the Sea
A beast. From the sea.
The Grey Cat
A young man goes for a walk, discovers a pool of water, is warned to stay away from said pool, but like any good 15-year-old, totally ignores the warnings and drinks from it. He then has hallucinations because maybe there was LSD in the pool, and a cat befriends him.
Moral: Don't do drugs and befriend animals.
The Hill of Trouble
"He was still young, and yet he had made himself a name for learning, and still more for wisdom, which is a different thing, though the two are often confused."
Basil Netherby
When Leonard Ward receives a strange message from a former pal from music school, he goes to meet with Basil Netherby. Conversations about spirits and the unknown ensue and a bad thing happens.
Moral: If you get a bizarre letter from someone from your past, just remember curiosity killed the cat.
The Uttermost Farthing
The title actually comes from the King James Bible, "Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." No, I didn't just figure that out, I looked it up with my eyeballs. That's from Matthew 5:26 which someone with a religious background might actually know what it means. Something about having to pay ones dues, I suppose.
This is the longest story of the bunch, wherein the narrator visits Hector Bendyshe, one of the coolest names ever. They talk a lot about things of supernatural topics. And it's just really, really long.
Robert Hugh (R.H.) Benson:
The Watcher
The narrator shoots a bird, realizes he's being watched, and has a spiritual crisis. Basically.
The Blood-Eagle
A priest retells a story of an experience he had as a teenager that involved a creepy-ass woman in the woods and a pig that had been used in a ritual, but apparently should have been a human that was used.
This story... sort of just ended? And I'm not sure what the point was. Probably GOD.
'Consolatrix Afflictorum'
An old man remembers the time as a child after his mother died how much he wanted to see her again, and then she started visiting him at night. Except it wasn't really his mother; it was The Mother, as in a totally religious sort of figure.
Another story about GOD.
Over the Gateway
This was also about GOD.
Father Meuron's Tale
An exorcism! And, well, GOD.
Father Macclesfield's Tale
Father Macclesfield tells some tales of spookiness. Not so much about GOD this time. At least not overtly.
The Traveller
Annnnnd... GOD.
January 15, 2023
Stories by A. C. Benson:
The Temple of Death 3⭐
The Closed Window 3⭐
The Slype House 3.25⭐
The Red Camp 3⭐
Out of the Sea 3⭐
The Gray Cat 3⭐
The Hill of Trouble 3⭐
Basil Netherby 3.5⭐
The Uttermost Farthing 3.25⭐
Stories by R. H. Benson:
The Watcher 3⭐
The Blood-Eagle 3⭐
'Consolatrix Afflictorum' 3⭐
Over the Gateway 3⭐
Father Meuron's Tale 2⭐
Father Macclesfield's Tale 4⭐
The Traveller 3.5⭐
The Temple of Death 3⭐
The Closed Window 3⭐
The Slype House 3.25⭐
The Red Camp 3⭐
Out of the Sea 3⭐
The Gray Cat 3⭐
The Hill of Trouble 3⭐
Basil Netherby 3.5⭐
The Uttermost Farthing 3.25⭐
Stories by R. H. Benson:
The Watcher 3⭐
The Blood-Eagle 3⭐
'Consolatrix Afflictorum' 3⭐
Over the Gateway 3⭐
Father Meuron's Tale 2⭐
Father Macclesfield's Tale 4⭐
The Traveller 3.5⭐
September 19, 2013
The Temple of Death is billed as ghost stories (or "Tales of Mystery and the Supernatural") by A. C. And R. H. Benson. These are the lesser-known (for good reason, I think) brothers of E. F. Benson of Mapp and Lucia fame. The back of the book says that these weird and chilling ghost stories have been undeservedly neglected for too long. But I can't say that I think that's necessarily true. I probably could have gone on just as well without ever having read these. Oh, they're decent enough stories....particularly those by A. C. Benson. But they're not strictly ghost stories--religious ghost stories, perhaps. So, I guess "tales of the supernatural" would describe these best. All of the stories have a very religious, moral tone. In each, you have an element of good needing to triumph over evil--whether that be the evil of paganism and the Dark Arts or the evil doings of the human heart.
The stories of R. H. Benson have far less substance than those of his brother--fortunately, there are fewer of them. A. C. Benson's tales (synopses below) have more narrative and more depth. The former's tales range from the "killer instinct" of a man compelled to shoot a thrush ("The Watcher") to two boys lost on a road who encounter a gypsy ("Blood Eagle"). There isn't much haunting to be found and I can't say that R. H. does much for me in the story-telling line. Of A. C.'s stories, the best by far are "Out of the Sea," "Basil Netherby," and "The Uttermost Farthing." I don't say that you need to run out and find this collection, but if you do happen upon it then be sure to read these three if you read no others. Three stars. Just.
Stories by A. C. Benson:
"The Temple of Death": Paullinus, a Roman follower of the Christian faith, gets lost on his travels and finds himself at the pagan "Temple of Death." Will his faith help him overcome the dreadful beast that is lord of the temple?
"The Closed Window": The evil Sir James de Nort died under mysterious circumstances in the turret room. Since that time, the window has never been opened. What will happen if his grandson and grand-nephew decide to do so? What odd vision of the world will be revealed?
"The Slype House": Anthony Purvis, owner of the Slype House, dabbles in the Dark Arts...and winds up in a battle for his very soul.
"The Red Camp": Walter Wyatt inherits the ancestral home. On his land, there is a dense wooded area known as the "Red Camp"--so-called because of the terrible battle that took place there. Wyatt must lay to rest the souls killed on this terrible spot.
"Out of the Sea": A ghastly beast comes out of the sea to haunt a wealthy fisherman and his son--a fate they must endure because of their actions towards a survivor of a shipwreck.
"The Grey Cat": A young boy is in a fight for his very soul....with of all things, a harmless-seeming grey cat.
"The Hill of Trouble": Gilbert is happy in his life as a scholar at Cambridge--he's close to finishing the book that has been his life's work. But then he goes visiting in the country, wanders onto the "Hill of Trouble" and has his future revealed to him by the spectre of the hill.
"Basil Netherby": Basil is a musician of some little talent. He takes up residence at a house with evil connections. His music changes--and so does he. Can his friend help rescue him from the evil influence of the house's former owner?
"The Uttermost Farthing": Three men race against the ghosts of two evil men to uncover hidden secrets. Are the secrets better revealed or destroyed?
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block
The stories of R. H. Benson have far less substance than those of his brother--fortunately, there are fewer of them. A. C. Benson's tales (synopses below) have more narrative and more depth. The former's tales range from the "killer instinct" of a man compelled to shoot a thrush ("The Watcher") to two boys lost on a road who encounter a gypsy ("Blood Eagle"). There isn't much haunting to be found and I can't say that R. H. does much for me in the story-telling line. Of A. C.'s stories, the best by far are "Out of the Sea," "Basil Netherby," and "The Uttermost Farthing." I don't say that you need to run out and find this collection, but if you do happen upon it then be sure to read these three if you read no others. Three stars. Just.
Stories by A. C. Benson:
"The Temple of Death": Paullinus, a Roman follower of the Christian faith, gets lost on his travels and finds himself at the pagan "Temple of Death." Will his faith help him overcome the dreadful beast that is lord of the temple?
"The Closed Window": The evil Sir James de Nort died under mysterious circumstances in the turret room. Since that time, the window has never been opened. What will happen if his grandson and grand-nephew decide to do so? What odd vision of the world will be revealed?
"The Slype House": Anthony Purvis, owner of the Slype House, dabbles in the Dark Arts...and winds up in a battle for his very soul.
"The Red Camp": Walter Wyatt inherits the ancestral home. On his land, there is a dense wooded area known as the "Red Camp"--so-called because of the terrible battle that took place there. Wyatt must lay to rest the souls killed on this terrible spot.
"Out of the Sea": A ghastly beast comes out of the sea to haunt a wealthy fisherman and his son--a fate they must endure because of their actions towards a survivor of a shipwreck.
"The Grey Cat": A young boy is in a fight for his very soul....with of all things, a harmless-seeming grey cat.
"The Hill of Trouble": Gilbert is happy in his life as a scholar at Cambridge--he's close to finishing the book that has been his life's work. But then he goes visiting in the country, wanders onto the "Hill of Trouble" and has his future revealed to him by the spectre of the hill.
"Basil Netherby": Basil is a musician of some little talent. He takes up residence at a house with evil connections. His music changes--and so does he. Can his friend help rescue him from the evil influence of the house's former owner?
"The Uttermost Farthing": Three men race against the ghosts of two evil men to uncover hidden secrets. Are the secrets better revealed or destroyed?
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block
October 12, 2013
I can't believe more people didn't really like this book. The book is split in two, the first stories are written by AC Benson, a kind of nobody, and the others are written by his brother, a Catholic kind of nobody. The RH Benson (the Catholic) were pretty forgettable, but thankfully only took up the last 20 percent or so of the book. The AC Benson stories were FUCKING BADASS. I can't believe these aren't more popular, totally in the MR James tradition of scary ghost stories that aren't really populated by ghosts, but evil monster things. The settings are arachaic and mysterious, for the most part, ancient stuff, the atmosphere is thick and dark, the writing is well-paced, etc. Except that almost all of them end with Christianity saving the day, they're perfect. I could have had a few more horrible endings, but that never happens, every story ends neatly and well, which became predictable after awhile. The only exceptions were the last two stories, which were a little different, and I think were unpublished in the author's lifetime, and they were the best ones.
I don't know why a lot of people seem to prefer the RH stories, they were really boring in comparison, I thought. The five stars are for AC's stories only. The other's I'd give one or two to.
I don't know why a lot of people seem to prefer the RH stories, they were really boring in comparison, I thought. The five stars are for AC's stories only. The other's I'd give one or two to.
June 1, 2017
A. C. Benson and R. H. Benson have been overshadowed by their more popular novelist brother, E. F Benson, but between the three, the produced over 100 volumes of fiction and nonfiction. This is a collection of stories written by the two less well-remembered Bensons during the early Edwardian era.
While the collection is referred to as "ghost stories", and described as "chilling", they are not ghost stories, and rarely chilling. They are stories of the supernatural, simply told, and, as mentioned further down, mainly stories of Christian virtue versus demonic powers.
A. C. Benson's creates an excellent atmosphere, giving most stories a creepy feeling of dread. His stories focus on Christianity triumphing over a supernatural evil, and follow the same formula. His writing is good, but certainly not great.
Stories by A.C. Benson:
"The Temple of Death" 3/5 stars
"The Closed Window" 4/5 stars
"The Slype House" 4/5 stars
"The Red Camp" 4/5 stars
"Out of the Sea" 4/5 stars
"The Grey Cat" 3/5 stars
"The Hill of Trouble" 4/5 stars
"Basil Netherby" 3/5 stars
"The Uttermost Farthing" 4/5 stars
R. C. Benson's stories are mostly straight-forward Catholicism overcoming Satanic evil. The lack the atmosphere of A.C. Benson's stories, but make up for it with well-thought out plots. His writing is better than his brother's, and the narratives flow well.
Stories by R.H. Benson:
"The Watcher" 4/5 stars
"The Blood Eagle" 3/5 stars
"Consolatrix Afflictorium" 5/5 stars
"Over the Gateway" 4/5 stars
"Father Meuron's Tale" 4/5 stars
"Father Macclesfield's Tale" 3/5 stars
"The Traveler" 4/5 stars
While the collection is referred to as "ghost stories", and described as "chilling", they are not ghost stories, and rarely chilling. They are stories of the supernatural, simply told, and, as mentioned further down, mainly stories of Christian virtue versus demonic powers.
A. C. Benson's creates an excellent atmosphere, giving most stories a creepy feeling of dread. His stories focus on Christianity triumphing over a supernatural evil, and follow the same formula. His writing is good, but certainly not great.
Stories by A.C. Benson:
"The Temple of Death" 3/5 stars
"The Closed Window" 4/5 stars
"The Slype House" 4/5 stars
"The Red Camp" 4/5 stars
"Out of the Sea" 4/5 stars
"The Grey Cat" 3/5 stars
"The Hill of Trouble" 4/5 stars
"Basil Netherby" 3/5 stars
"The Uttermost Farthing" 4/5 stars
R. C. Benson's stories are mostly straight-forward Catholicism overcoming Satanic evil. The lack the atmosphere of A.C. Benson's stories, but make up for it with well-thought out plots. His writing is better than his brother's, and the narratives flow well.
Stories by R.H. Benson:
"The Watcher" 4/5 stars
"The Blood Eagle" 3/5 stars
"Consolatrix Afflictorium" 5/5 stars
"Over the Gateway" 4/5 stars
"Father Meuron's Tale" 4/5 stars
"Father Macclesfield's Tale" 3/5 stars
"The Traveler" 4/5 stars
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April 19, 2025Interesting curiosity that I found at Bookman's in Tucson. This is why one goes to bookstores, to find things and be surprised, rather than just having an agloroithm do it for you (besides the obvious advantages of paper...) Anyway. A compilation of the stories of two authors who were brothers. Both brothers wrote in a very Christian and moralistic way. I found both affecting and deeply felt. AC Benson's stories are longer, about 75% of the volume, fairly reminiscent of MR James. RH Benson's stories are much shorter, almost vignettes, but also pretty effective little ghost stories, usually in "told after dinnertime" type stories. Well written and one can see some influence on HPL and what comes after. Maybe it would be nicer to have more of this influence... gentle and kind authors with a lot of compassion for their subjects, even the ghosts in the ghost stories... with no apologies made for violence of any kind, including on the part of the protagonists (in which there is generally none.)
August 14, 2018
Read the book. Liked several of them. Found the tone too quiet, and contents too... inward-looking for my taste. If you can find a cheap or tattered library edition, you may read the book. But these themes have been handed in a far better manner by masters in the subsequent years. This collection is OK type, nothing more.
August 4, 2015
Very good stories but best not taken as a whole. Read back to back, some consistent elements and traits of the stories become predictable and formulaic. Read this book in small bits, a story here and a story there and you'll enjoy them more.
January 10, 2020
While I am not a believer myself, I would certainly not say that religious beliefs make good art impossible. I can count numerous works inspired by religion that are among my favourites.
However it is fair to say that it is very hard to make decent books about fantastical subjects which are also religious. Of course religion itself is pretty fantastical, but how do you balance the fantastical elements of one belief system thought to be true against a world that is not believed to be true in any way?
Consider the genre of fantasy itself. C S Lewis did a decent enough job of making his fantasy world into a metaphor for Christianity, but later books in the Narnia series began to be weighted down with his absurdly narrow-minded views.
J R R Tolkien and J K Rowling got round the problem by simply ignoring Christianity, sparing themselves the need to ask why people with magic powers would be all that interested in a man who is resurrected on a cross. However the incompatibility of fantasy and Christianity was nicely brought out when fundamentalists started protesting against Rowling’s books because the heroes practised witchcraft.
Sci-fi is another area that sits uncomfortably with Christianity. Do we really believe that people on other planets worship Jesus? How does a dystopian future square with devout beliefs?
Then there is horror. There is a natural religious overlap here, as horror can be about devils, Satanists and exorcisms, and the battle between good and evil. Nonetheless as even early great writers in the genre such as Edgar Allan Poe and H P Lovecraft realised, horror works better when there is an element of nihilism in it.
This brings me on to the stories of A C and R H Benson. Goodness, fantastical writers use a lot of initials. Most of the stories here are by A C, and they promote a resolutely pro-Christian message, as one might expect from the sons of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Indeed they would be hard-pressed to show priests trying and failing to counteract evil, and sit this against their devout faith. This leads to a certain cosiness in the stories. Just how horrific can a situation be if you know that the characters can invoke Christ and escape danger every time?
A C’s stories are particularly absurd in this. There seems to always be a helpful cleric on hand to save the day. The titular story is set in the early days of Christian, and ends with the unlikely spectacle of a missionary’s faith somehow managing to change an entire community’s minds after an evil is slain. I doubt people’s minds are so easily malleable.
If in doubt, call in a clergyman. They will give you advice and guidance and prayer. Even if you are threatened by a mysterious creature from the sea, a cleric is of more use than the army or any secular authority.
If you have a chance of receiving tainted gold, turn it down. Don’t worry. God will find another way of rewarding you. Not spiritual pleasures and rubbish. As soon as you renounce this money, he’ll find you some more material wealth.
And don’t dabble in the unknown. One man does this and has some instruments in his house that are somehow thought to be bad. What does he produce with them? Mechanical toys, and he has a good knowledge of medicine. My God! This man is practising science!
The later stories get longer, darker and more complex to be fair, but the constant intrusion of Christian goodness does get a little wearying.
R H has a few stories in here, but his life sounds more interesting than the stories. Despite being the son of the Archbishop, he converted to Catholicism and received much hate mail in consequence. Ah, Christian charity!
He also wrote a dystopian novel, which naturally is full of religious content. It seems that the world will become dominated by an anti-Christ if Britain elected a Labour government. Those were the good old days when conservative Catholics could write bonkers things like that, and be taken seriously in Britain.
His stories are briefer and less conclusive, and often end with a few boring pieties. The longest story involves the ghosts of Thomas a Becket and his murderers. Trust a Christian to harp on about martyrdom, even if they have to look back seven centuries to find a noble enough example.
The stories are certainly not terrible, and have a few moments to chill the spine. If you like classic ghost stories by all means give them a try, but don’t expect anything unusually remarkable.
However it is fair to say that it is very hard to make decent books about fantastical subjects which are also religious. Of course religion itself is pretty fantastical, but how do you balance the fantastical elements of one belief system thought to be true against a world that is not believed to be true in any way?
Consider the genre of fantasy itself. C S Lewis did a decent enough job of making his fantasy world into a metaphor for Christianity, but later books in the Narnia series began to be weighted down with his absurdly narrow-minded views.
J R R Tolkien and J K Rowling got round the problem by simply ignoring Christianity, sparing themselves the need to ask why people with magic powers would be all that interested in a man who is resurrected on a cross. However the incompatibility of fantasy and Christianity was nicely brought out when fundamentalists started protesting against Rowling’s books because the heroes practised witchcraft.
Sci-fi is another area that sits uncomfortably with Christianity. Do we really believe that people on other planets worship Jesus? How does a dystopian future square with devout beliefs?
Then there is horror. There is a natural religious overlap here, as horror can be about devils, Satanists and exorcisms, and the battle between good and evil. Nonetheless as even early great writers in the genre such as Edgar Allan Poe and H P Lovecraft realised, horror works better when there is an element of nihilism in it.
This brings me on to the stories of A C and R H Benson. Goodness, fantastical writers use a lot of initials. Most of the stories here are by A C, and they promote a resolutely pro-Christian message, as one might expect from the sons of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Indeed they would be hard-pressed to show priests trying and failing to counteract evil, and sit this against their devout faith. This leads to a certain cosiness in the stories. Just how horrific can a situation be if you know that the characters can invoke Christ and escape danger every time?
A C’s stories are particularly absurd in this. There seems to always be a helpful cleric on hand to save the day. The titular story is set in the early days of Christian, and ends with the unlikely spectacle of a missionary’s faith somehow managing to change an entire community’s minds after an evil is slain. I doubt people’s minds are so easily malleable.
If in doubt, call in a clergyman. They will give you advice and guidance and prayer. Even if you are threatened by a mysterious creature from the sea, a cleric is of more use than the army or any secular authority.
If you have a chance of receiving tainted gold, turn it down. Don’t worry. God will find another way of rewarding you. Not spiritual pleasures and rubbish. As soon as you renounce this money, he’ll find you some more material wealth.
And don’t dabble in the unknown. One man does this and has some instruments in his house that are somehow thought to be bad. What does he produce with them? Mechanical toys, and he has a good knowledge of medicine. My God! This man is practising science!
The later stories get longer, darker and more complex to be fair, but the constant intrusion of Christian goodness does get a little wearying.
R H has a few stories in here, but his life sounds more interesting than the stories. Despite being the son of the Archbishop, he converted to Catholicism and received much hate mail in consequence. Ah, Christian charity!
He also wrote a dystopian novel, which naturally is full of religious content. It seems that the world will become dominated by an anti-Christ if Britain elected a Labour government. Those were the good old days when conservative Catholics could write bonkers things like that, and be taken seriously in Britain.
His stories are briefer and less conclusive, and often end with a few boring pieties. The longest story involves the ghosts of Thomas a Becket and his murderers. Trust a Christian to harp on about martyrdom, even if they have to look back seven centuries to find a noble enough example.
The stories are certainly not terrible, and have a few moments to chill the spine. If you like classic ghost stories by all means give them a try, but don’t expect anything unusually remarkable.
June 7, 2023
I'd give this one 3-and-a-half if possible.
This one was a surprise. I have read E. F. Benson's ghost stories, and they are modern, effective, and secular. The bulk of the stories by A. C. Benson take place in a Medieval setting and have a very strong religious component. There is usually an old priest around who is able to perform a ritual to put things right. However, I have to say that the horrors encountered in A. C. Benson's stories are very vividly and unpleasantly described.
I liked these stories: "The Temple of Death," "The Closed Window," "The Slype House," "The Red Camp," "Out of the Sea," "The Grey Cat," (perhaps the scariest) and "The Hill of Trouble." The editor described these stories as "Stephen King goes to Narnia," and that feels somewhat accurate.
There were two "modern" ghost stories by A. C. Benson that didn't work for me, and the R. H. Benson stories just didn't grab me either.
This one was a surprise. I have read E. F. Benson's ghost stories, and they are modern, effective, and secular. The bulk of the stories by A. C. Benson take place in a Medieval setting and have a very strong religious component. There is usually an old priest around who is able to perform a ritual to put things right. However, I have to say that the horrors encountered in A. C. Benson's stories are very vividly and unpleasantly described.
I liked these stories: "The Temple of Death," "The Closed Window," "The Slype House," "The Red Camp," "Out of the Sea," "The Grey Cat," (perhaps the scariest) and "The Hill of Trouble." The editor described these stories as "Stephen King goes to Narnia," and that feels somewhat accurate.
There were two "modern" ghost stories by A. C. Benson that didn't work for me, and the R. H. Benson stories just didn't grab me either.
April 2, 2020
The stories of A.C Benson cover about 2 thirds of the book and are far superior to R. H Benson. Well worth a read.
February 25, 2009
If you combined the style of the first brother with the content of the second you would get some amazing stories.
November 13, 2016
Although I enjoyed reading the first couple of stories in the collection, I was disappointed overall because the stories were all so similar.
June 1, 2012
A waste of time.
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