The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral: Two Stories of the Supernatural

by Robert Westall, Orrin Grey (Introduction)

"I dreamt I was standing in the dark, looking up at the south-west tower ... And our Kev was up there on top, in the dark, and screaming as if some wild beast was eating him."

When steeplejack Joe Clarke is hired to repair the stonework at Muncaster Cathedral, he is unprepared for the horror he will encounter. Something unspeakably evil in the medieval tower is seeking victims among the young neighborhood boys ... and Joe's son may be next! An unsettling story with a horrifying conclusion, this eerie tale will chill young and old readers alike.

Robert Westall (1929-1993) is one of the best modern writers of ghost stories in the tradition of the great M.R. James, and The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral, which won the Dracula Society's Children of the Night Award, is one of his finest. This volume also includes a second ghostly tale, 'Brangwyn Gardens', published here for the first time in the United States, and a new introduction by Orrin Grey.

'So vivid and deft in its mental touches and physical details that it had me sweating with vertigo as well as superstitious terror ... No punches are pulled.' - Daily Telegraph

'Chilly, concise and utterly spooky ... among the late British author's best works ... The tower's secret is indeed a whopper, fittingly capping the unrelenting suspense that precedes its revelation.' - Publishers Weekly

'A taut thriller, with a horrifically dramatic denouement.' - Kirkus Reviews

'This is a chilling tale spun by a master storyteller ... The suspense is gradually unleashed as more and more details are discovered and the ending is both explosive and gratifying ... will leave you with a chill down your spine.' - SFSite.com

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Gothic, Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal

141 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Robert Westall was born in North Shields, Northumberland, England in 1929.

His first published book The Machine Gunners (1975) which won him the Carnegie Medal is set in World War Two when a group of children living on Tyneside retrieve a machine-gun from a crashed German aircraft. He won the Carnegie Medal again in 1981 for The Scarecrows, the first writer to win it twice. He won the Smarties Prize in 1989 for Blitzcat and the Guardian Award in 1990 for The Kingdom by the Sea. Robert Westall's books have been published in 21 different countries and in 18 different languages, including Braille.

From: http://www.robertwestall.com/

Reviews

[Char · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars!

Originally published back in 1991, the title novella is one creepy story about a steeplejack working on the towers and steeple of Muncaster Cathedral. This edition also contains the story "Brangwyn Gardens", which is entirely new to American audiences.

Joe Clarke wondered why he had the fortune to get this good paying job, (the repairs to the cathedral). How could everyone else not be available? But as so many of us do, he set aside his questions and set to work. Get 'er done, right? As it turns out though, those other steeplejacks turned down this job for a good reason-one that Joe is soon to discover.

This story reminded me a lot of the style of M.R. James. It's literary and beautifully written, for one. It's also a type of cozy horror story, heavy on atmosphere. Exactly the kind that M. R. James used to write. As mentioned by Orrin Grey in the foreword, one thing that sets this apart from a James story is that "Stones" is told from the point of view of a regular Joe; a working class man, rather than some dusty old antiquarian. I felt like that helped make this story more accessible. I, too, am a working class Joe. (Josephine?)

The second story was distinctly different from the first, but equally enjoyable. In fact, I might have enjoyed this one just a smidge more. Another ghost story, set not long after WWII: A man moves into a rooming house and discovers a diary written by a young woman during the war. While bringing home the insanity of blitzkriegs and war, in general, it also brought home the poignancy of being lonely, young and out on your own.

In summary, this was an awesome collection of two novellas that can be read in an afternoon. And look at that, it's afternoon now. You still have time. What are you waiting for?

Highly recommended to fans of ghost stories, especially those of M.R. James.

*I was provided a free ecopy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This is it.*

[Berengaria · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

short review for busy readers:
This volume contains two longish "spooky" stories, the titular one and "Brangwyn Gardens" that were marketed to a YA audience, but don't have YA content. The first story is pleasant with a few chilling aspects. The second is problematic and somewhat of a let down, but possibly the better written one.

in detail:
"The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral" is the story of a steeplejack who gets a job renewing some stones in one of the towers of the Muncaster Cathedral.

For my sensibilities, all the right elements for a delightful paranormal tale are there, but the focus and weight given to each of them is off. For paranormal to work, it needs details. Tiny, atmospheric details. Westall gives us details -- but mostly about being a steeplejack and a little bit about being a mason, not nearly enough about the creepy.

The workman and professional details are interesting but the details of the history of the problematic south-west tower come only towards the end when we already know there's something very wrong. The final reveal is --while chilling -- also rather typical for bio-horror where humans devolve into plants and grow roots. .

The idea is an interesting one but not developed enough, as putting all the focus on the steeplejack's life and worries and not on the tower or the history of the tower dulls, IMHO, the overall paranormal impact. It's no longer a paranormal tale by the end, but a "conquering hero" story -- this brave soldier braved that evil tower and won! -- which recalls in a different setting Westall's fascination with the bravery of those who fought in WW2.

"Brangwyn Gardens" tells the story of an unpleasant young university student in the 1950s who takes up residence in what he quickly comes to believe is a haunted house.

Given that this story is marketed to young readers, it is highly problematic due to the student's view of women, which I think would be damaging to young female readers and provide young male readers with a bad role model.

Essentially there are two adjectives (and their synonyms) the boy uses to describe any woman over 35: fat and disgusting. It would be one thing if he only thinks that once or twice, but they're repeated continuously throughout the story.

Fat and disgusting. Fat and disgusting. Fat and disgusting. Fat and disgusting. Fat and disgusting. Fat and disgusting. Fat and disgusting. Fat and disgusting. Fat and disgusting.

Of course, the 21-year old love interest is "beautiful" and the student wants her terribly. The message seems to be "ladies, if you have been alive for 20 years, I'll fall in love with you. If you have been alive for 20 more....time to die, you have no more use you fat, disgusting cow."

Great, right?

This Westall might have seen as realistic given his time and place, and the twist of the story as forgiving of the high level of ageism, classism and misogyny he builds up, but it doesn't have the pay off it might have had in the hands of a different writer. It's too weak, because, as I've said before, Westall is a writer of pleasant stories. They are nice -- not biting, satirical or challenging of societal values, esp not when they touch male privilege or "men just being men".

I'm also not a fan of 'it was all a joke we were playing on character X' stories. Might work for those who think the paranormal is a hoax-joke anyway, but not for those who actually value it.

This is the second Westall I've read. I'd say the patchwork quilt that is Antique Dust: Ghost Stories is the better collection, overall.

[Jonathan Janz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is why we need publishers like Valancourt Books. Without them, I never would have heard of Robert Westall, never would have read THE STONES OF MUNCASTER CATHEDRAL.

Man, am I glad I did.

I don't really do synopses in my reviews and don't have time to now. Books to write, you see.

But I will say this: If you read the title novella, you will know what it's like to be a steeplejack, to hang suspended many stories above the ground. To feel the wind buffet your body and know you're only a slight miscalculation away from death.

You'll also know how terrifying a stone gargoyle can be, how a father can fear for his son's safety, and what ghastly secrets can be interred in the past.

Secrets that live and breathe and cast shadows on the present.

Read this book, folks. You'll love it.

[Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

British author Robert Westall (1929-1993) held academic degrees in Fine Arts and Sculpture, but acquired his fame as a writer, of both descriptive and speculative fiction, rather than as a visual artist. Best known as a children's author (a role for which his long career as a schoolteacher prepared him!), he twice won the Carnegie Medal, the UK's equivalent of the Newbery Award; but he also wrote for adult readers. This work of supernatural fiction, written late in his life, is an example of his writing for the latter age group. My only prior acquaintance with his writing was the short story “The Haunting of Chas McGill,” which I commented on in my review of Favorite Ghost Stories, so this book was my introduction to his longer fiction. (Though at 97 pages, it's not particularly long.)

The primary setting for the novella is a fictional cathedral town in northwestern England, in the author's present (ca. 1991). Our first-person narrator is Joe Clarke, a steeplejack (that is, a workman who builds or repairs the stonework or other architectural features of very high parts of buildings) from a family of steeplejacks, married and the father of a ten-year-old boy. Early on, he and his helper are hired for a repair job on the steeple roof and weather-vane of the local cathedral's southwest tower, a setting where he's never worked before. And just as early on, he makes us aware that (in hindsight) because of this job, he'll never work in a cathedral again. The reason for this unfolds in the subsequent tale of grim goings-on, centered around a particularly malevolent-looking carved gargoyle.

Because of the book's short length, the action of the tale here is brisk, with no wasted verbiage; but it's also told with a very deft evocation of Gothic atmosphere, despite the short length. We're definitely dealing with a supernatural menace; but even with the reveals at the end, its exact nature and the means by which it operates are not totally clear. (To some extent, this is to preserve the mysterious aspect that's often felt to be essential to this genre, and for some readers the very unexplained nature of some of the phenomena here heighten the horror. That said, I'd still personally have preferred more explicit explanation.) Clarke's narrative voice is also off-putting, with a smugly superior anti-Christian (coupled with an obvious ignorance/misunderstanding of Christian beliefs) and anti-clerical attitude. This, and his frequently bad-language-laced and sometimes profane speaking style (which he shares with some other characters), tended to alienate me at the outset. But Clarke, in his prejudices, doesn't necessarily speak for the author, and as another reviewer noted, the tale is not an anti-religious screed. The three main characters here are all clearly-drawn, nuanced and dynamic.

I read the book with a Goodreads group, and some discussion there focused on whether Westall's style is “Jamesian.” referring to M. R. James. As one lady there noted, that adjective usually refers to Henry James (who also wrote his share of ghost stories!) --and in fact there is a Henry James influence here: although Westall's style is much more succinct, Joe intuits things from the overall “feel” of the tower in much the same manner that the earlier writer's characters frequently do. And an M.R. James influence shows, not only in the cathedral setting, but in the "antiquarian" aspect: we're dealing with a supernatural mystery that's rooted in events that happened centuries ago, and that has to be probed through reference to very old books, and old stained-glass art. But Westall has his own style; the older authors would never have used some of the language that Joe does. Despite that, there's no sexual content, and while the element of lethal danger here is quite real, there's no unnecessary fixation with blood and gore. All in all, this is very much a story that stands in the continuity of the classic tradition of horrific supernatural fiction.

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gargoyles! Malevolent Gargoyles! ooooo wonderful. Ah but a couple of weeks ago I had read the Gargoyles of Notre Dame.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

catching up:

I actually read this back in December during a stormy day, wrapped up in a blanket with a cup of hot, spicy chai in hand -- it was, as I mentioned somewhere, a perfectly ahhhh sort of Saturday experience. There are two eerie tales in one volume here: the title story, "The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral," and a story that has never before seen the light of day in the US, "Brangwyn Gardens." My personal favorite is the latter, but both are quite good, and I have absolutely no qualms in recommending this little book.

Sadly, to tell is to ruin so I'm not going to be giving away much in the way of plot, most especially for "Brangwyn Gardens." In "The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral," we have a first-person narrative going on via a steeplejack named Joe Clarke, whose company has been offered a job fixing the southwest tower of the titular cathedral. It's not the sort of job Joe's company is regularly asked to do -- as he notes, "Cathedrals were for the big boys," -- but the company that is usually commissioned seems to be busy elsewhere for the entire summer; the other company is not available because one of their men has a back injury. The first clue we have that something just ain't right here is Joe's remark about "lying sods," and about the "big boys" knowing something he didn't. Alarm bells started ringing in my head about then (and that's just on page two), so I knew this was going to be good. How right I was -- the rest of this story begins once Joe is high up on the Cathedral's tower, as he senses some creepiness emanating from of all things, one of the gargoyles found there. Joe, though, is the consummate professional, extremely proud of his work and the family tradition of steeplejacking, so he sort of shakes it off until one night when his young son goes sleepwalking and is found at the tower...

That's all I'll reveal about the story now, except for the fact that once Joe goes delving into the tower's history, he discovers something from its past that has made its way into the present. While normally this sort of thing isn't my typical reading material, I loved this story, which proceeded to put knots in my stomach the more I got into it.

On to "Brangwyn Gardens," which is set in 1955 London, beginning when a young student (Harry Shaftoe) with a sort of cavalier attitude about life takes a room in an attic in a house in Brangwyn Gardens. This tale is a story about obsession that grows from his discovery of a wartime diary kept by a young woman, Catherine Winslow. As he reads through the diary, he comes to realize that this girl had a secret longing for a "dark and dangerous man" whom she eventually finds. As he is drawn more deeply into her story, he begins to notice signs that perhaps the past lives on at number eleven Brangwyn Gardens, and his obsession begins to take hold, drawing him back in time...

This story is much more in my reading line -- a very poignant and downright haunting story that for some reason made me think of Virginia Woolf's "A Haunted House" even though the two are very, very different. I can't say why exactly this tale made me go there in my head, but it did. I absolutely loved "Brangwyn Gardens." In reading over reader reactions to this story, I discovered that many people felt a bit let down at its ending, but not me -- a) I love stories like this one where the past tends to collide with the present and b) without sounding mushy here, it was a sad story that touched me on a very human, emotional level. I won't say more, because it is something a person must experience, but I will say that I thought about "Brangwyn Gardens" for days after I'd finished it.

I'd never read Westall before because I thought he wrote mainly for children, but there is nothing at all childish about either of these two stories, which although vastly different from each other, are connected with their focus on the past and how it lingers on into the present. Recommended, although perhaps more for people like me who seem to appreciate old-school sort of horror and supernatural stories.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars--I thoroughly loved both of these horror novellas, and I'm grateful as ever to Valancourt for bringing these horror classics back into print. (Seriously, I haven't been disappointed once by their selections.)

The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral: This is a classic "unholy ground" story, where a steeplejack squares off against the evil that dwells in a cathedral. The narrator's voice is crisp and vivid, and I cared deeply about his welfare.

Brangwyn Gardens: This story's twist blew me away. A college student comes to live in a crumbling English manor house, and suspects it's haunted by a ghost from WWII.

I'll be looking up more of Westall's ghost stories.

[Rob Twinem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two chilling stories of the supernatural that can be read by either teens or adults, they are both well researched, informative, fascinating and evocative.
 
The main titled story “The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral” is about Joe Clarke Steeplejack extraordinaire who together with his work mate Billy Simpson is prepared to scale any building to carry out all necessary repairs and maintenance. The trouble however begins when they are given a job of cleaning the South West tower at Muncaster Cathedral “There was something funny about the thing, something nobody wanted to talk about. Maybe my dream was a warning that there was something wrong with the tower: some steeplejack’s instinct that I couldn’t plumb. Something in the stone.”
 
Joe has dreams of his son being trapped on the tower.. ”And our Kevin was up there on top, in the dark, and screaming as if some wild beast was eating him. And the door to the tower was locked and I didn’t have the key. I remember that I was so desperate that I tried to climb up the outside of the tower, up the buttress. Bu I knew I’d never get there in time to save Kevin.”... He learns of its unusual background and the mysterious figures of John of Salisbury, the Devil and the mythical master mason when the original south tower was erected, Jacopo Mancini of Milan.
 
This is a superb setting for a horror story. The idea of performing such dangerous work and relying not only on such basic equipment but also the presence and help of your colleague, knowing that one mistake could be your last, is in itself chilling. Robert Westall really makes the reader feel a sense of space and height as the work proceeds with his descriptive prose..”Up there Kevin an’ I get real close to each other, as my dad and me did long before he was born...the safe careful way he climbs, as fearless of heights as a cat.”...  Then when we interweave an evil presence that spans hundreds of years the tension is both frightening and unbearable.
 
The story evolves around Joe his wife Barbara and son Kevin and to disclose more would spoil what is a brilliant read for young and old alike. However a warning those who suffer from vertigo you may want to read with an adult!
 
In the second short story it is 1955 and Harry Shaftoe, a student, is seeking accommodation in London and soon finds success at No 11 Brangwyn Gardens. This house stands alone as a testament to the blitz the properties on either side having been destroyed some years ago. Harry agrees to rent the attic room which overlooks St Paul’s Cathedral from the landlady Mrs Meggitt and as Harry observes he notices.......“Nervously she put up her hand and tucked a stray strand of dark hair back inside her headscarf. As she did so, he noticed her ear. It was absurdly fine and shapely, on such a mess of a creature. But then he’d noticed such things before. His Auntie Daisy, his mother’s older sister, had beautiful shapely legs. No varicose veins or anything, though she was over sixty. Those beautiful legs haunted him at family Christmas parties; they went so ill with that grey hair and that high-pitched cackling laugh (over women’s dirty jokes muttered in corners after the port wine had gone round twice). He had an absurd desire to rescue those beautiful legs and return them to their rightful owner, who would be satisfyingly grateful.”
 
In the attic he discovers a diary written in 1940 by Catherine Winslow and as he reads her words Harry falls in love and almost begins to imagine that she could be with him now...”But she his lovely girl, was back in 1940. She smiled up at him from the table, her eyes just pools of dark in a patch of light. Had she been buried? She’d be a mouldering skeleton by now. Or had she been cremated by her sorrowing parents? Or burned in the Blitz? Or been blown to bits; small chunks of her picked from telegraph wires by little innocent birds? He mourned her with all his heart. And then perversely he wished again that time was elastic, and he could travel back, meet her, stand close, make love.”
 
This second short story has a most unexpected, surprising and delightful ending and concludes a brilliant collection by a story teller who unfortunately is no longer with us.  Writers could learn so much from Robert Westall today, irrespective of genre his prose and ability to draw the reader in and make an occasion come alive is astounding. Highly Recommended.

[Orrin Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Robert Westall.

I don't see him talked about very much. His stories are none of them especially groundbreaking, but they embody a kind of cozy horror that I absolutely love, and their approach to the supernatural is nearly pitch perfect for my tastes. One of these days I'll write up a longer post on Westall, but for now I'll let it suffice that The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral is a damned good example of why I love him so much.

It's a quick, brief novella, written in the blue-collar voice of a lot of Westall's work. The story concerns a steeplejack who gets a job fixing up a cursed tower on the titular cathedral. The reveals of the supernatural elements aren't necessarily original, but they are perfect, blending exactly the right amount of inexplicable and grotesque.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first encountered this story (long short story/short novella) years ago as a British radio drama. Years later, when the new Hammer studios was announced (hmmmmm....how time flies), I thought it a perfect adaptation choice (it even has a logical, big-screen spectacle climax!). And I'd picked up the slim Farrar Straus Giroux printing years ago, and knew I had it sitting on my shelf. Well, I'm reading a smattering of Westall at the moment, so now's the time...

Joe Clarke, a steeplejack (from a family of steeplejacks), is given the plum assignment of doing some repair and detail work on Muncaster cathedral (only afterwards realizing that the larger, more-obvious-choice firms in the area all begged off with dubious complications). He jumps at the chance, he and his helper soon find inexplicable damage (stone rotted through in 20 years) and menace (a propensity for a history of accidents) haunt the old cathedral's Southwest Tower, symbolized in a malignant gargoyle that haunts Joe's dreams. And then, his son is taken with a fit of sleepwalking that leads him to the perilous spire late at night...and medieval evil is uncovered by research...

This is a breezy, well-written read. Given Westall's background as a children's writer, this could easily be given to a teen to read (with only a bad word or two to note), and the story succeeds through a combination of fine pacing, concise writing, an authentic voice and an interesting viewpoint. While not a particularly deep or resonant read, it is a cracking good thriller (with some suspenseful set-pieces perfect for those, like me, who suffer from acrophobia and can thrill at the danger while snuggled in bed), and Westall does a nice job handling the realistic portrayal of down-to-earth (heh), blue-collar Clarke, who has his valid beefs with the church system and a basic spirituality that rubs shoulders with paganism, yet the book never becomes an anti-religious screed. In fact, the late-in-the-game friendship-by-circumstance between the steeplejack, the hard-bitten police detective and the unctuous Reverend characters is nicely and realistically handled as well - all men dedicated to their work, all blunt or abrasive in their way but all willing to join forces against a larger evil. And, as I said, a real slam-bang ending to boot.

For those looking for something like an action/thriller version of an M.R. James story.

[Robert Vanneste · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 - 4.0 .

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

I remain increasingly impressed with the quality of books that Valancourt has been reissuing--many of these I'd never heard of before, but have swiftly become some of my favorite reads of this year and last!

THE STONES OF MUNCASTER CATHEDRAL, contains two stories in the style of M.R. James' supernatural tales. The title story involves a steeplejack, Joe Clarke, who is hired to fix the South-West tower at Muncaster. Although he hints at being a little trepidatious at first (the prestigious jobs, like Cathedrals, usually go to the bigger named businesses), he quickly pushes that aside and accepts his "superior competitors'" excuses as good luck for him. Almost immediately, the sense of evil pervades the tale, and you will NOT want to stop until you've reached the end!

The second story in this collection is making its "American Debut"--BRANGWYN GARDENS. This story struck an altogether different note in me, although no less strong. A student takes his lodgings in the attic of this old house--left standing from the war--and begins to be haunted by a female who was left behind on her wedding day 15 years before, as her new husband left immediately for the war. There was something about this story that just pulled at me from all directions, the loneliness, heartache, visions of the war past....it was so easy to get lost in this tale and feel as though I was actually living in it. There is no way to adequately describe the feelings it left upon me, except to urge others to run out and buy a copy to find out for themselves.

Highly recommended to fans of M.R. James, and the atmospheric-style haunted tales!

[Warren Fournier · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most unusual experience! The greatest ghost stories are those that truly give the reader a peep through an imperfect aperture into the past, and into the dark psyche of the traumatized mind. Books like "Burnt Offerings" and "Head Full of Ghosts" are some of my favorite examples of where the traditional spook story becomes transgressive, and thanks to Valancourt Books, I have another to add to my list of rereadable classics.

Westall's books are mostly geared to kids and young adults, but there is a darker edge to them that I feel only mature minds can appreciate, though his work is a great way to get your kids thinking more abstractly and with genuine empathy for the varieties of human past experience. In the case of "Muncaster Cathedral," published by Valancourt alongside "Brangwyn Gardens," I would suggest it for your child if they are over 13, or if they have an old soul. There is some strong language and sexual innuendo, but the real weight of the stories come from the residues that we all leave behind from our daily lives, something that some kids can appreciate when they listen with wonder at the stories of their grandparents or are caught frequently peeping at mom's old wedding album or scrapbook. Like the unique signatures left behind by masons who labored on Muncaster Cathedral, people long dead leave behind talismans for us to travel back to our valuable past, and the audience peels back layers of history with the main protagonists of these stories to find secrets they wished they hadn't seen.

"Brangwyn Gardens" is the more subtle of the two stories, and had been unpublished in the US until Valancourt came around with this volume. Both stories are quintessentially British and deal with different moments of the dark past of the UK, and "Gardens" explores the mark of trauma left behind over 20 years after World War II. It is touching and slightly uncomfortable, with a twist that you can see coming but which nonetheless impacts the reader in a deep and mournful way.

"Muncaster Cathedral" is the more fun of the bunch, a slow burn about a steeplejack that uncovers the dark Medieval history of the southwest tower of an ancient cathedral. It has more familiar horror iconography, tropes, and pacing, as well as a dash of humor that is lacking in the second work. In a word, it is more accessible to readers of all ages, and what a treat!

So if you have a young one who loves good books, I hope that if you give them this recommendation, they'll think you are one cool old aunt, uncle, paw paw or maw maw. And if you are a kid at heart who likes reading spooky stories before bed, I trust you'll be very pleased with these short tales. Turn on some Gregorian chants, light some incense, brew some tea, and curl up with a masterpiece!

[tara bomp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two effectively creepy stories that are tense right until the end. The second (Brangwyn Gardens) isn't really horror, but it *is* creepy and unsettling - someone else said the ending is a little ridiculous and I guess it *is* but it still totally works for me and I feel he pulls it off. I read these looking for MR James style horror and I think both definitely fit (although the first has a reveal which is probably a bit more over the top than anything MR James did). Great atmosphere, scary without being properly gory, constantly tense, very much enjoyed both

[olishmou · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.

Muncaster est un excellent roman qui s’inscrit parfaitement dans la tradition de l’horreur gothique: hantises et forces occultes, possessions et gargouilles; tout est présent pour créer une ambiance étouffante et angoissante que l’auteur développe à merveille. Le sentiment d’inquiétude et d’anticipation qu’il maintient à mesure que les événements curieux se multiplient est tout à fait captivant et addictif. L’intrigue elle-même est simple, mais très efficace; la courtesse du roman fait qu’il est aisé de le lire en une seule journée. Seulement, je n’ai pas beaucoup aimé la traduction, encore une fois dirigée vers un public français et employant beaucoup de vocabulaire familier, qui a terni mon appréciation de l’œuvre.

[Canavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

✭✭✭

“The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral” ✭✭✭✭
“Brangwyn Gardens” ✭✭½

Both stories published 1991.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe Clarke and his crew were hired to repair some stonework, in the South-West tower of Muncaster Cathedral. Usually, these type of jobs go to the bigger companies. It was very strange, that no was available to do this project. It turns out that was a very good reason that the other steeplejacks turned down this job. Joe will soon learn of the evil that lurks in the tower and the victims that it has claimed over the year.

The second story, Brangwyn Gardens, take place in 1955 Harry Shaftoe, is a student who is seeking a room in London. He soon finds what he is looking for in Brangwyn Gardens. His room is in the attic and overlooks Saint Paul's Cathedral. In his room, he discovers a diary, that was written in 1940 by Catherine Winslow. Harry, begins to read the diary and wonders what it would be like, if Catherine were here. Harry is being haunted by the ghost of Catherine and that all he can think about. He wonders, what became of her and how she died? Harry, mourns Catherine, and wishes that he could travel back in time to be with her.

This is the first book that I have read by Robert Westall. I enjoy his style of writing and his storytelling. Westall, has another short collection that is a must read. I highly recommend this book.

[Ken Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

A steeplejack learns the hard way why all of the other crews in the area refuse work on Muncaster Cathedral- and why the stones there have a strange tendency to need repairs so often!

I really enjoyed this fantastic novella, possibly inspired by Walter de la Mare's classic "All Hallows". The unusual setting, on ladders and scaffolds around the top of the old tower, is wonderfully drawn. Nice touches of humor illuminate the relationships in the village. Joe's perspective reflects his profession, working in areas not meant for people, with artifacts of ancient building methods. The fun story packs some ghastly thrills without being gory or violent.

I felt it could have been a bit longer because the deaths Joe observes were not given enough attention to have more impact. Deaths like these would raise many questions and cause tremendous pain in the community. I enjoyed reading about the community here and I think spending some more time to consider the tragedies would have made the delayed conclusion that much more effective.

[Vintage · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this years ago when I worked at a children's bookstore. I am not a huge fan of horror stories, but this is the best I've read. It's a combination of both mystery and horror as the main character, a steeplejack named Joe, starts to unravel the mystery associated with the number of deaths at Muncaster Cathedral. A steeplejack is the individual that does the stone work on church and cathedral steeples so is essentially a European/British job and term.

The story is short and well-done with British slang at its best. The mystery is locked into the history of the cathedral and has elements of human sacrifice and truly nasty elemental spirits.

No more spoilers here as the story needs to unfurl to the reader, but I will say this...while reading this at lunch one day I had to turn my chair so my back was to the wall I was creeped out. Old school gothic.

[WhatShouldIRead · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the voice of the author. I felt like he was actually narrating the story to me, rather than just writing down words to be read. Does that make sense?

And I love the idea of using pure evil to enhance the appearance of pure goodness. You'll have to read it to know what I'm talking about :) I'll never look at gargoyles the same way again.

[Sully Holt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nouvelle expérience de lecture réussie avec les Éditions du Typhon qui ont décidément le don de dénicher des récits extraordinaires et originaux avec une pointe de gothique.

"Le maléfice de Muncaster" ou "Muncaster" est une courte histoire située en Angleterre à notre époque. Joe Clarke, cordiste, œuvre au sommet des bâtiments, abattant les cheminées et rénovant les vieilles maçonneries avec son collègue Bill. Lorsqu'on fait appel à eux pour travailler sur la flèche de la cathédrale de Muncaster, ils acceptent avec joie, flattés par la proposition. Mais la réalité va se révéler bien plus dangereuse et dramatique à cette hauteur, et le malaise gagne peu à peu Joe au milieu des gargouilles et des vieilles pierres...

Dans ce récit haletant, l'auteur marie avec talent les codes du thriller et de l'horreur, augmentant la tension au fil des événements qui se précipitent jusqu'au final glaçant. Le tout est bien géré malgré le format court et Robert Westall est sans conteste un très grand conteur qui a le don d'entretenir le suspens grâce à son style incisif.

C'est une excellente surprise qui me donne envie d'en découvrir davantage. J'espère sincèrement que de nouvelles traductions de ses récits apparaîtront dans un avenir proche. Les Éditions du Typhon n'ont pas fini de me surprendre.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great young adult horror book that honestly pushes the boundary of what you can get away with for that age group - especially when I first read it as a kid in the 90s. Creepy mood and fast-paced at only 100 pages.

[Alaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral took a little while to get going, but once it did it was chilling and excellent. I am still getting a little shiver when I think of it.

[Kylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous little book, the title story is indeed nasty in a Jamesian sort of way, and an unusual and hauntingly sad second novella.

[Linda Lipko · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read for the Halloween season.

Westall is amazing because no matter what the subject, ie his stories regarding WWII or, switching gears to a supernatural genre, he gently coaxes, entices and persuades the reader to join him on a journey to a landscape where his descriptions hold your interest to the very end.

Similar to some short stories found in his book In Camera and Other Stories, this small novella, read in one sitting, is darkly spooky. Westall quietly weaves a tale of a series of unnerving events occurring to a stone mason/steeplejack when he and his partner are repairing a cathedral composed of a southwest and northwest tower -- one tower "normal" the other quite hideous with a evil looking gargoyle.

This is yet another Westall book found in the childrens/YA portion of the library that appears to be mis-shelved and needing to be filed in the adult section.

[A.E. Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't tell you how many times I've read this. I'll always remember the first time I read it, I was nine years old and it scared me to pieces, it really did, but I loved it. I don't generally like being scared, but Robert Westall is such a fine writer, it's a nasty pleasure with this tale. It's a short story, barely a novella, but it gets in family, history, architecture and drama in the most deft way possible. It's the kind of thing I come back to repeatedly because it's so neat and masterfully-written that it's a relief when you've spent a while fighting your way through new things.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

strange and creepy story about an evil cathedral tower and the steeplejack charged with repairing it who becomes caught in a nightmare. Shelved as YA in my library system, but more a grown up horror novella....

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

From BBC Radio 4 Extra- 4 Extra Debut: In the cathedral spire, a malevolent gargoyle wields its evil power over the fate of steeplejack Joe Clarke. Stars Peter Meakin.

[Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Première lecture de Robert Westall pour moi et, si j'en crois mes quelques recherches, il n'est pas aisé de retrouver ses textes aujourd'hui.

Attirée par le thème mystérieux et le sérieux des éditions du Typhon, je n'ai pas été déçue.
Cette nouvelle est racontée par Joe Clarke, cordiste de père en fils, c'est-à-dire qu'il répare en hauteur ou détruit des cheminées d'usine et plus rarement des clochers. Lorsqu'on lui propose de travailler sur l'une des tours de la cathédrale de Muncaster, il n'en croit pas sa chance : dans son métier, c'est ce qu'il y a de plus prestigieux. Et coup de bol pour lui, les concurrents qui lui sembleraient mieux placés pour ce job ne sont pas disponibles (évidemment...).

Lorsqu'il découvre le sommet de la tour, une gargouille particulièrement affreuse attire son attention et semble le fixer. La pierre qui l'entoure est pourrie. Joe, athée et habitué à avoir les pieds sur terre, tente de chasser la curieuse impression produite par la gargouille, sans grand succès. À partir de là, les éléments s'enchaînent et lui laissent penser que ce sera un de "ces" boulots voués aux problèmes. Surtout lorsqu'il apprend que la pierre autour de la gargouille est remplacée tous les vingt ans et que chaque fois se sont produits des disparitions ou accidents. Lorsque son fils grimpe sur la tour et plante ses yeux dans la gargouille, l'inquiétude le gagne.

J'ai beaucoup aimé ce texte porté par la langue rude du narrateur. On pressent l'œuvre du Diable dans ce qui arrive à la tour, sans vraiment savoir jusqu'où elle peut aller. Hasards malencontreux et pressentiments se tutoient dans une ambiance funeste, même si on peut encore questionner le narrateur et sa fiabilité, puisqu'au départ, tout n'est qu'intuition. La fin m'a rappelé Lovecraft, à travers les origines du mal qui ronge la pierre et le lien physique palpable qui en ressort. Je m'attendais à une fin plus spirituelle ou conceptuelle, or la rencontre finale est très concrète.

Un texte intrigant, bien ficelé, dont j'ai aimé autant l'ambiance lourde et très visuelle que la galerie de personnages riches.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first exposure to Robert Westall and I was quite impressed. These two long stories are in the tradition of M. R. James, particularly the first one with it's great sense of place and slow-building atmosphere of fear. The second story is a psychological, subtle ghost story. It reminded me more of something by Aickman, or Walter de la Mare's "Out of the Deep" or Oliver Onion's "The Beckoning Fair One."

I'll definitely look forward to exploring more of Westall's work.

The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral - This is an excellent story in the tradition of M. R. James. It's certainly got the theme of uncovering a dark history down very well. It differs from James in that it's written from the perspective of a "common Joe" type, with a good bit of dry humor in it. A steeplejack tasked with repairing part of a cathedral tower is unnerved by the feel of the place, the history of past accidents, and an even darker history that he and the priest uncover.

Brangwyn Gardens - This story isn't as great as the first one, but it's hardly what I would call "filler," I thought it was a very effective "strange" story. I'm of two minds about the ending, it didn't go where I was expecting, and yet it's got perhaps an even greater impact. Regardless how it ends, it generates an atmosphere for most of it's length like the best stories of Oliver Onions or Robert Aickman. A young student rents the attic in an old house that barely survived The Blitz. He becomes obsessed by the diary of a sad young woman he finds, and her presence which seems to haunt the house.