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Under the Crust: Supernatural Tales of Buxton
When Under the Crust was self-published in 1993, few people outside the ghost story world in England heard about the book; but those who had managed to obtain a copy were incredibly enthusiastic about this bright new talent in the genre. Few people were more enthusiastic than Ramsey Campbell, who helped to bring the book to the attention of the late Karl Edward Wagner, thus ensuring that it was nominated for an amazing three World Fantasy Awards, eventually winning the award for Best Novella. Since then the book has been virtually unobtainable, and Ash-Tree Press is proud to be publishing it as a companion volume to 1996’s Conference With the Dead. As with the earlier book, there is a stunning wraparound dust jacket design by Douglas Walters, and the author has provided an Introduction describing the book’s genesis.
Contents: Introduction by Terry Lamsley; 'Two Returns'; 'Living Waters'; 'Killjoy'; 'Something Worse'; 'Tabitha After Life'; 'Under the Crust'.
Contents: Introduction by Terry Lamsley; 'Two Returns'; 'Living Waters'; 'Killjoy'; 'Something Worse'; 'Tabitha After Life'; 'Under the Crust'.
- GenresHorror
145 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 5, 2019
Hailed quite rightly on publication as a great debut, all the more remarkable as it was self-published. Lamsley has been fairly quiet of late but his stories are always worth seeking out.
April 16, 2020
Great book - dark and disturbing, just like it should be. Nothing too M R Jamesian here, but no blood and gore either, thank goodness. Not needed if the author is highly skilled. These stories have plenty of weirdness about them that lingers for days after the reading is done. It must be fun for Buxtonians (Buxtonites ?) to read these and pick up on the city landmarks. I almost felt like a local myself after finishing the book. 'Two Returns' concerns something nasty in a sack thrown in the stairwell closet. The 'Living Waters' does involve old documents and accounts of historic Pagan rites, and their present day revival - not a happy outcome here. 'Killjoy' is about a particularly nasty lad who, well, you'll have to find out yourself. 'Something Worse' gave me a very bleak feeling of impending doom which did not disappoint at all. I felt 'Tabitha After Life' was a nice tongue in cheek follow up to lighten my mood again, but that was soon dashed by the bizarre story line of 'Under the Crust' which ended this collection on a suitably grim note. Buy it - you'll love it!
January 12, 2023
(Insert my obligatory comment about some great fiction being impossible or expensive to get a hold of, blah blah blah.)
I first heard the name Terry Lamsley a few years ago when I was kidnapped by the CIA and they ran by me a few names of possible international terrorists between water boardings. The second time was probably when I was foraging the Supernatural River that runs straight through Storyland for more Jamesian ghost stories. I’d read Two Returns, and liked it, but not enough to seek out more from TL. Why? I don’t know. I flit around different genres and inevitably I’ll lose the mood for each of them in turn before eventually looping back. Sue me!
However, recently I read Under the Crust for the first time in an anthology and it compelled me to get everything Lamsley had ever written. Which, except for his novella RIP, I did. At a pretty penny. There’s a quality to Lamsley’s prose and stories that I also find in CE Ward’s work. I don’t know what it is, exactly. Or, rather, neither have I the time nor the inclination to elaborate further, thank you very much. Good day!
Now that I have more of him under my belt, I’m glad I bought Lamsley’s books. There’s something quietly uneasy about his stories, they really aren’t Horror; they’re really Weird. I’m looking forward to reading them all and someday reading them twice. Also someday I’ll grab RIP when it isn’t selling for less than $2.62 per page.
Oh… and hello, Buxton! Lamsley really put you guys on the map, no? No? Well, for me he did. Seems like a lovely part of the world. I’m open to a visit.
My one complaint with the book is the book itself. I’m a young man and I had to buy my first pair of “cheaters” to read this, that’s how tiny the print is. Otherwise it’s a beautiful package. And, heavenly, I literally only found one type: the w was missing from a ‘was.’
Two Returns is definitely a story after James; Under the Crust, though, is more after Aickman—strange. Interestingly, the former opens this collection while the latter closes it. What’s in between? I wondered…
Two Returns
Ghost stories and trains are always a home run. This one involves Christmas, so it’s a grand slam. A man takes the train home and notices a certain shadow… Maybe inspired by this very memorable scene, a personal favorite, from James’ Casting the Runes?
[The man at the head of it examined his ticket, and, laden with coats, he passed down into the boat. Suddenly the official called after him, "You, sir, beg pardon, did the other gentleman show his ticket?" "What the devil do you mean by the other gentleman?" Karswell's snarling voice called back from the deck. The man bent over and looked at him. "The devil? Well, I don't know, I'm sure," Harrington heard him say to himself, and then aloud, "My mistake, sir; must have been your rugs! ask your pardon." And then, to a subordinate near him, "'Ad he got a dog with him, or what? Funny thing: I could 'a' swore 'e wasn't alone. Well, whatever it was, they'll 'ave to see to it aboard.”]
Living Waters
This story apprehended my misapprehension that the rest of this collection would be one Jamesian tale after another. People in my neighborhood of origin often end anecdotes with “must be something in the water.” I expect Buxtonites do the same. Our protagonist in this one moved into a house with a disturbing link to an ancient, watery evil. Great imagery for the ghoulies here, for sure. Particularly, there’s a scene at the park that would look great on-screen.
Killjoy
Some assholes are made by years of hardship, oppression, and degradation. Some, though, are born. The town punk, a fat kid squeezed into a smelly tracksuit, finds out what a life of cruelty gets him. Very Dickensian, in a way.
Something Worse
This one is rather gothic, no? At least it seemed so to me. An innocent young woman is brought into a big home filled with an eccentric family and charged, surreptitiously, primarily, with befriending the strange daughter keeping secrets. Good, sad tale.
Tabitha After Life
If you’ve never read Gerald Durrell’s Picnic and Suchlike Pandemonium, do yourself a favor and find a copy. The stories are mostly just really funny, but one story is really spooky and it comes right out of nowhere. This story is this collection’s unexpected turn to something different though in this case it’s the opposite: Tabitha After Life veers into the comical. And Lamsley’s brilliant at it, as he details the trials and tribulations of our titular ghost biatch falling in love with an undead man.
Under the Crust
A man notices some strange people hanging around the town dump… Strange people, strange tale. I can see why it, along with Two Returns, are the stories that pop up in the anthologies.
I first heard the name Terry Lamsley a few years ago when I was kidnapped by the CIA and they ran by me a few names of possible international terrorists between water boardings. The second time was probably when I was foraging the Supernatural River that runs straight through Storyland for more Jamesian ghost stories. I’d read Two Returns, and liked it, but not enough to seek out more from TL. Why? I don’t know. I flit around different genres and inevitably I’ll lose the mood for each of them in turn before eventually looping back. Sue me!
However, recently I read Under the Crust for the first time in an anthology and it compelled me to get everything Lamsley had ever written. Which, except for his novella RIP, I did. At a pretty penny. There’s a quality to Lamsley’s prose and stories that I also find in CE Ward’s work. I don’t know what it is, exactly. Or, rather, neither have I the time nor the inclination to elaborate further, thank you very much. Good day!
Now that I have more of him under my belt, I’m glad I bought Lamsley’s books. There’s something quietly uneasy about his stories, they really aren’t Horror; they’re really Weird. I’m looking forward to reading them all and someday reading them twice. Also someday I’ll grab RIP when it isn’t selling for less than $2.62 per page.
Oh… and hello, Buxton! Lamsley really put you guys on the map, no? No? Well, for me he did. Seems like a lovely part of the world. I’m open to a visit.
My one complaint with the book is the book itself. I’m a young man and I had to buy my first pair of “cheaters” to read this, that’s how tiny the print is. Otherwise it’s a beautiful package. And, heavenly, I literally only found one type: the w was missing from a ‘was.’
Two Returns is definitely a story after James; Under the Crust, though, is more after Aickman—strange. Interestingly, the former opens this collection while the latter closes it. What’s in between? I wondered…
Two Returns
Ghost stories and trains are always a home run. This one involves Christmas, so it’s a grand slam. A man takes the train home and notices a certain shadow… Maybe inspired by this very memorable scene, a personal favorite, from James’ Casting the Runes?
[The man at the head of it examined his ticket, and, laden with coats, he passed down into the boat. Suddenly the official called after him, "You, sir, beg pardon, did the other gentleman show his ticket?" "What the devil do you mean by the other gentleman?" Karswell's snarling voice called back from the deck. The man bent over and looked at him. "The devil? Well, I don't know, I'm sure," Harrington heard him say to himself, and then aloud, "My mistake, sir; must have been your rugs! ask your pardon." And then, to a subordinate near him, "'Ad he got a dog with him, or what? Funny thing: I could 'a' swore 'e wasn't alone. Well, whatever it was, they'll 'ave to see to it aboard.”]
Living Waters
This story apprehended my misapprehension that the rest of this collection would be one Jamesian tale after another. People in my neighborhood of origin often end anecdotes with “must be something in the water.” I expect Buxtonites do the same. Our protagonist in this one moved into a house with a disturbing link to an ancient, watery evil. Great imagery for the ghoulies here, for sure. Particularly, there’s a scene at the park that would look great on-screen.
Killjoy
Some assholes are made by years of hardship, oppression, and degradation. Some, though, are born. The town punk, a fat kid squeezed into a smelly tracksuit, finds out what a life of cruelty gets him. Very Dickensian, in a way.
Something Worse
This one is rather gothic, no? At least it seemed so to me. An innocent young woman is brought into a big home filled with an eccentric family and charged, surreptitiously, primarily, with befriending the strange daughter keeping secrets. Good, sad tale.
Tabitha After Life
If you’ve never read Gerald Durrell’s Picnic and Suchlike Pandemonium, do yourself a favor and find a copy. The stories are mostly just really funny, but one story is really spooky and it comes right out of nowhere. This story is this collection’s unexpected turn to something different though in this case it’s the opposite: Tabitha After Life veers into the comical. And Lamsley’s brilliant at it, as he details the trials and tribulations of our titular ghost biatch falling in love with an undead man.
Under the Crust
A man notices some strange people hanging around the town dump… Strange people, strange tale. I can see why it, along with Two Returns, are the stories that pop up in the anthologies.
January 1, 2026
This is an uncommonly good collection of horror stories. Quite remarkably, it was the author's first book, which was originally self-published and then later reprinted by Ash-Tree, a renowned Canadian publisher. Sadly, both Lamsley and Ash-Tree are no more.
May 15, 2012
A very special horror writer. Here's a bit from a Lamsley interview from a few years back on who he reads: "As it happens I was rereading a lot of Paul Bowles during the months when I wasn’t writing. No one can create an atmosphere of unease and get the bowels moving as skillfully and with such economy as he does. A great American writer who, I’m told, is little read or respected in his own country. I would recommend his fiction to anyone interested in horror. For all I know his work might be out of print too.
"At about the same time, on a trip to Edinburgh, I had the good luck to find three volumes of Ivan Turgenev’s stories in a 19th century edition of translations by Constance Garnett. His major novels are always available but I had never come across any of the stories in these books. He and Chekhov are to me the meat and drink of the Russian authors."
"At about the same time, on a trip to Edinburgh, I had the good luck to find three volumes of Ivan Turgenev’s stories in a 19th century edition of translations by Constance Garnett. His major novels are always available but I had never come across any of the stories in these books. He and Chekhov are to me the meat and drink of the Russian authors."
July 18, 2019
stunning first work by Lamsley!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews