A Foot in the Grave

by Joan Aiken, Jan Pieńkowski (Illustrator)

When Jan Pienkowski began a haunting series of paintings and asked Joan Aiken to compose accompanying ghostly stories, the result was bound to be an exceptional book.

Here are tales of ghostly revenge, tales to scare and amuse, peopled with malevolent spirits and mysterious heroes. Haunting happenings and peculiar twists shape these stories; the unexplained and unearthly goings-on add up to an extraordinary and eerie experience.

Genres: Short Stories, Ghosts, Horror, Gothic, Fantasy, Young Adult, Middle Grade

128 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 1989

About the author

Joan Aiken was a much loved English writer who received the MBE for services to Children's Literature. She was known as a writer of wild fantasy, Gothic novels and short stories.

She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, Conrad Aiken (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry), and her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge. She worked for the United Nations Information Office during the second world war, and then as an editor and freelance on Argosy magazine before she started writing full time, mainly children's books and thrillers. For her books she received the Guardian Award (1969) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972).

Her most popular series, the "Wolves Chronicles" which began with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, was set in an elaborate alternate period of history in a Britain in which James II was never deposed in the Glorious Revolution,and so supporters of the House of Hanover continually plot to overthrow the Stuart Kings. These books also feature cockney urchin heroine Dido Twite and her adventures and travels all over the world.

Another series of children's books about Arabel and her raven Mortimer are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and have been shown on the BBC as Jackanory and drama series. Others including the much loved Necklace of Raindrops and award winning Kingdom Under the Sea are illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski.

Her many novels for adults include several that continue or complement novels by Jane Austen. These include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.

Aiken was a lifelong fan of ghost stories. She set her adult supernatural novel The Haunting of Lamb House at Lamb House in Rye (now a National Trust property). This ghost story recounts in fictional form an alleged haunting experienced by two former residents of the house, Henry James and E. F. Benson, both of whom also wrote ghost stories. Aiken's father, Conrad Aiken, also authored a small number of notable ghost stories.

Reviews

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whimsy, wickedness, wily creepy things and winsome worlds coil around as I read this book. They don't write like this for children anymore, do they?

[Derelict Space Sheep · Rating 3 out of 5]

42 WORD REVIEW:

These supernatural stories breeze along, effortlessly conjuring character and mood; yet their conclusions invariably fail to shock, spook or satisfy. The let-downs are palpable! Aiken is like a pole-vaulter who runs in beautifully, soars to great heights but always clips the bar.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joan Aiken is definitely a practitioner of quiet terror in most of her stories. Yet in some tales, ghosts refused to be quiet. One should do well to not disturb other graves, especially when taking something that doesn’t belong to you. Nor picking up something that’s not really a child. And one should always be sure the mail’s been sent. Curiosity may kill a cat but not always in the case of one who just had to break the seal, open the old leather bag, just to see what’s in it. Strange fates can be kind depending on whatever circumstances. Like was said, Joan Aiken is and was a damned excellent writer. These stories will keep till you’re finished. One wishes more of her books be back in print. Strongly recommended.

[WallofText · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting collection of stories. Definitely creepy and a few of them I quite enjoyed, but also a bit old-fashioned and not the most original. The illustrations were cool but very infrequent.

[Bethnoir · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great selection of ghost stories where the ghost are robust and determined. I loved the quickly sketched scenes and satisfying stories.

[M. Winslow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow… this was a great read. Lots of scary stories with great artwork to go along with the stories. I would not recommend this for children; some of the plot lines will stay with you.

[Steven Paulsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very fond memories of Joan Aiken’s books and short stories but this latter day reread didn’t hit the mark for me.

[Susan Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Camping read aloud- more quirky and creative than scary. She's got such a boundless imagination, its fun to get a peek into it.

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the stories, not that scary but ghostly to a point that most people will find believable. Most of all I loved the way Joan Aiken writes. Her descriptions are so vivid!

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories written to compliment Jan Pienkowski's illustrations. For older readers as it deals with more adult subjects.

[Divya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this when I was 10 or something close - picked it off the school library as a lark. And 19 years later, this still remains one of my favorite 'scary' books! I actually searched all over the city when I was 18 and bought a copy, only to lend it to a friend who never returned it. And now, I just can't seem to find it anywhere.

For someone who is not a big fan of reading horror stories, the short stories (based on a series of paintings) were a delight - simply because the scares were well balanced and invoked with a subtlety that would leave any reader confused with a haunting sense of 'now you see it - now you don't'. Which is always good because then, at night, if the monsters try and come out, you can always pretend them away.

An excellent read for children over 10 years, if you want to introduce them to this particular genre, the book is also well written and hence of particular recommendation for children who are beginning to display a certain talent for writing. The book is also recommended to adults (like me) who have a fear of horror stories and yet wouldn't mind reading something with just the right touch of spookiness.

I loved it when I first read it - and still do. Which is why, it's still stuck in my head two decades from when I first read it.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of creepy stories is actually based around a series of paintings Jan Pienkowski created, which is a really cool idea. It's frequently kind of obvious, though, that the paintings were conceived first -- the stories fit with them, but not in the same way that they would if they had been painted as illustrations. I'm not sure if that's really a fault or not, but it's occasionally distracting. The stories are alternately funny and frightening, but overall it's not really Aiken's best work, I don't think.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone admittedly addicted to scary stories, even dumb ones, this is one of the best collections of them I've ever read. What makes them great is their subtlety and the room they leave for interpretation and thought. They're not at all of the same stock as ones like "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark." At the very least they're unnerving, and terrifying at most. But you wouldn't think so right after reading one, because they tend to stick in the back of your mind and re-emerge at the most inconvenient times.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joan Aiken was one of my favourite novelists as a child - her writing is gothic, evocative and eloquent. Having read Enid Blyton in adulthood I can see why my parents steered me away from her clunky prose, while Aiken is elegant & articulate. This is an enjoyable little collection of deliciously macabre short stories with dodgy thieves of antiquities sucked into the tombs from which they stole, nasty teachers who can summon gales & ghosts dug up from their plots by developers returning to haunt the town council. Scary, humorous, socially astute & lucid.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, young adult ghost stories, but they are often not as chilling and tend to end abruptly. Still good for a rainy day.