Summoning Knells and Other Inventions

by A.F. Kidd

'Crouched in the belfry, clustered like lions, inimical as scorpions, first one and then legion came into sight. Like her dream, they appalled her, but unlike her dream, she could see them clearly, and wished with all her soul she could not. The unkindly light showed her things she could never unsee. 'Below in the narrow space the bells would clear when in motion, a cluster of beasts sat thick as ticks on a hedgehog, and in turn they bent their horrid heads to whatever lay beneath them, dipping, dipping . . .' Few things evoke the timeless peace and charm of the English countryside as vividly as the sound of church bells ringing out across the landscape. In the stories of A. F. Kidd, however, this seemingly placid surface hides a world of demons and spirits, magic and mystery, malice and revenge. There is no telling what may be lurking amid the bells and peal-boards, watching and waiting, ready to exact payment for some misdeed of the past, or feast upon the body or spirit of the living. The author, who is herself an avid bellringer, has drawn on her own experiences for many of the incidents in her stories; yet another, stronger inflence, the ghost stories of M. R. James, also informs and inspires many of the forty-seven tales in SUMMONING KNELLS. Here are the understated horrors, the elegance of tone, and the suggestion of another world whose rules we do not know and at which we can only dimly guess, that will be familiar to, and welcomed by, all enthusiasts of the classic ghost story.

Genres: Horror, Ghost Stories, Short Stories

341 pages, Hardcover

First published October 17, 2000

About the author

pseudonym of Chico Kidd

Reviews

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A superb book, whose first half contains the more 'James'-ian stories, published in Ghosts & Scholars magazine, and the second half consists of more adventurous ventures, two of which deserve places amongst the "best-of-the-best" pantheon: 'Saint Sebastian and the Mona Lisa' and 'The Last Great Masterpiece of Andrea Giaiotti'. Highly recommended.

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summoning Knells and Other Inventions by A. F. Kidd (Ash-Tree Press, 2012) is a collection of fifty supernatural stories. Told with brevity and a graceful clarity, they are uniformly outstanding work. So far I have only read the first half of the book, the stories collected under "Ghost Stories of a Campanologist."

Like the stories of David G. Rowlands, about whom I have written here, Kidd's tales wed a few guiding Jamesian rules to modern circumstances of work or hobby. For Rowlands it was adventures of men who ran pest control businesses or played in Hawaiian music bands. For Kidd it is men and women from various walks of life who are united by a passion for change ringing. 

Full review:

http://jayrothermel.blogspot.com/2021...

[robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

a mix of MR James pastiches and some original work. The quality is pretty uneven, and so far as the pastiches go, there are phrases and ghosts lifted entire from James stories. I assume that's done with full acknowledgement, with a nod and a wink to other James fans, but it felt recycled.

Some of the original stories though, I enjoyed very much and overall I think she's worth reading if you're looking for an old-fashioned kind of ghost story.