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Ghostly Shadows Shorts #2
The Strange Fate of Lord Bruton: A Tale of the Gothic
Society is astounded to learn that the formidable, Lord Bruton has actually hired a new butler. His lordship has made his views on butlers well known and they are far from complimentary. But there’s something not right about his new manservant, Ellery. Something strange and distinctly bewitching.
Despite all His Lordship’s bluster, it isn’t long before Hell comes to Bruton Hall.
A new gothic tale of comeuppance and scandal from the superb author of supernatural thrillers, F.R. Jameson.
Despite all His Lordship’s bluster, it isn’t long before Hell comes to Bruton Hall.
A new gothic tale of comeuppance and scandal from the superb author of supernatural thrillers, F.R. Jameson.
- GenresHorror
53 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 16, 2017
About the author
F.R. Jameson
38 books226 followersF.R. Jameson was born in Wales, but now lives in London with his wife and young daughter. He writes both historical thrillers and supernatural thrillers.
His books are, at the moment, mostly sorted into two different – but complimentary – series. The first, ‘Screen Siren Noir’, currently comprises of three novels: ‘Diana Christmas’, ‘Eden St. Michel’ and ‘Alice Rackham’. All of which tell the stories of beautiful British film stars caught up in Noir tales of blackmail, obsession, scandal and death. He is currently working on both the fourth and fifth books in the series.
The second series is more disturbing and scary, and lives under the moniker: ‘Ghostly Shadows’. Right now there is only one book published, a tale of supernatural revenge – ‘Death at the Shadows’. However, 2019 will bring four more entries to terrify and intrigue.
His blog - https://frjameson.com/ - is regularly updated with information about his writing, as well as film and book reviews. You can follow him @frjameson on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, and you can find him on Facebook.
His books are, at the moment, mostly sorted into two different – but complimentary – series. The first, ‘Screen Siren Noir’, currently comprises of three novels: ‘Diana Christmas’, ‘Eden St. Michel’ and ‘Alice Rackham’. All of which tell the stories of beautiful British film stars caught up in Noir tales of blackmail, obsession, scandal and death. He is currently working on both the fourth and fifth books in the series.
The second series is more disturbing and scary, and lives under the moniker: ‘Ghostly Shadows’. Right now there is only one book published, a tale of supernatural revenge – ‘Death at the Shadows’. However, 2019 will bring four more entries to terrify and intrigue.
His blog - https://frjameson.com/ - is regularly updated with information about his writing, as well as film and book reviews. You can follow him @frjameson on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, and you can find him on Facebook.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 22, 2020
Wha????????? 😕 .... I have NO words! ..... except, it most definitely is NOT a Gothic story.
June 24, 2017
I can remember the exact moment this story came to me. I woke up in my parent’s house one morning about five years ago and it was all full and vibrant in my mind, like it had bled through from a particularly vivid dream.
But that’s not really where this story started.
If I had to pick the real moment for that, it would be in the early 1990s (maybe 1990 itself) when BBC2 showed a season of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allen Poe adaptations at nine on a Monday night.
By that point, I’d of course seen the Hammer films numerous times – but I was more familiar with the source material for those. I had read the real DRACULA, the real FRANKENSTEIN, and so knew the massive deviations from the source material they were taking. I understood already that these were practically pastiches.
Poe I was much less familiar with. I’d never really read the stories, never seen any of these adaptations before and I just soaked them up.
I still get a tingle when I think of Vincent Price’s menacing gaze, or Ray Milland’s paranoia, or Barbara Steele being locked in an iron maiden, or Peter Lorre expressing no surprise whatsoever that his host would keep his wife’s corpse in a glass coffin in his hallway.
In my introduction to my first novel, THE WANNABES, I wrote about how much I loved the way the walls changed colour in THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH. This is the first time I saw that movie.
There are seven Corman/Poe films in total, and BBC2 actually only showed six in that season. (The thought occurs that I still have never seen THE TOMB OF LIGEIA. I really must rectify that).
I now had a certain image of melodramatic gothic fixed in my mind.
Later, at University, I studied the fin de siècle novels and the images and themes of those were gobbled up and stored in the marble mausoleum I was building in a dark, foggy corner of my mind.
And it’s from that place of darkness and occasionally frighteningly vivid reds, that THE STRANGE FATE OF LORD BRUTON comes from. It was not just conceived that morning. It’s a culmination of those movies I watched, those books I read, a certain kind of gothic melodrama that exists constantly in my head.
If you get chance to read it, I hope you enjoy.
If you're interested, you can buy THE STRANGE FATE OF LORD BRUTON through these links:
Amazon UK
Amazon USA
Amazon Canada
Amazon Australia
But that’s not really where this story started.
If I had to pick the real moment for that, it would be in the early 1990s (maybe 1990 itself) when BBC2 showed a season of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allen Poe adaptations at nine on a Monday night.
By that point, I’d of course seen the Hammer films numerous times – but I was more familiar with the source material for those. I had read the real DRACULA, the real FRANKENSTEIN, and so knew the massive deviations from the source material they were taking. I understood already that these were practically pastiches.
Poe I was much less familiar with. I’d never really read the stories, never seen any of these adaptations before and I just soaked them up.
I still get a tingle when I think of Vincent Price’s menacing gaze, or Ray Milland’s paranoia, or Barbara Steele being locked in an iron maiden, or Peter Lorre expressing no surprise whatsoever that his host would keep his wife’s corpse in a glass coffin in his hallway.
In my introduction to my first novel, THE WANNABES, I wrote about how much I loved the way the walls changed colour in THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH. This is the first time I saw that movie.
There are seven Corman/Poe films in total, and BBC2 actually only showed six in that season. (The thought occurs that I still have never seen THE TOMB OF LIGEIA. I really must rectify that).
I now had a certain image of melodramatic gothic fixed in my mind.
Later, at University, I studied the fin de siècle novels and the images and themes of those were gobbled up and stored in the marble mausoleum I was building in a dark, foggy corner of my mind.
And it’s from that place of darkness and occasionally frighteningly vivid reds, that THE STRANGE FATE OF LORD BRUTON comes from. It was not just conceived that morning. It’s a culmination of those movies I watched, those books I read, a certain kind of gothic melodrama that exists constantly in my head.
If you get chance to read it, I hope you enjoy.
If you're interested, you can buy THE STRANGE FATE OF LORD BRUTON through these links:
Amazon UK
Amazon USA
Amazon Canada
Amazon Australia
July 3, 2019
Another fabulous story by F.R. Jameson. I really enjoy his writing style, and that the fact that I can never pick the endings in any of his books. This is certainly a highlight for me. Along with some unique and interesting characters. Even after finishing the story, I was still thinking about it days later.
Lord Bruton ran a tight ship when it came to Bruton Hall, and he certainly didn’t let anyone get away with anything that he didn’t approve of. So, it was quite unusual when Ellery turned up at his door looking for a job, and even more surprising when Lord Bruton agreed to offer him a job as the butler. For some reason Lord Bruton seemed to lose all focus when he was around Ellery, and he had no idea of the changes that were going to take place in the near future. Do yourself a favour and read this story, you won’t be disappointed. 5/5 Star Rating.
Lord Bruton ran a tight ship when it came to Bruton Hall, and he certainly didn’t let anyone get away with anything that he didn’t approve of. So, it was quite unusual when Ellery turned up at his door looking for a job, and even more surprising when Lord Bruton agreed to offer him a job as the butler. For some reason Lord Bruton seemed to lose all focus when he was around Ellery, and he had no idea of the changes that were going to take place in the near future. Do yourself a favour and read this story, you won’t be disappointed. 5/5 Star Rating.
July 3, 2017
This is an interesting and intriguing short story that tells of the events leading up to the comeuppance of the not so pleasant Lod Bruton at the hands of his new butler Ellery. Written in the traditional gothic horror style, this is both gripping and chilling despite its short length. Personally though I would've liked a bit more substance and feel that this is more of a marketing tool than a story in its own right, which is a bit of a shame as the premise of the story is really good.
January 11, 2022
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
I got an ARC of this book.
This might just be the most straightforward story I have read from Jameson. It follows Lord Bruton’s spiraling into excess and possibly madness. It reads very much like how I expected Marquis de Sade, but without graphic detail. Mind you, this is what I imagined before I had read Marquis de Sade.
The story follows Lord Bruton who is already an angry older man. He has become infamous for his temper and inability to get along with anyone. He seems pleased with this view of himself. The story then goes to him oddly hiring a butler and that butler’s strange ability to always seem to know exactly the right thing, even while clearly not being quite right to anyone who really looked.
It was an interesting tale. It probably would have done more for me if I had not just read another book where the big bad was the Devil and hell and all of that. In this case, I don’t think the bad was supposed to be the Devil, but instead a demon that lowered inhibitions so true natures could come out. It was clear that Lord Bruton was not a good dude, so the way that his story went was quite fitting and not all that surprising. He just needed a slight push.
I think this would have been a story better served in a longer format. Might have worked an a erotic horror. I just needed a bit more about Lord Bruton to make me really care about what was happening. Not a bad story, but it did read as an earlier work of Jameson. Based on publication date, this makes sense. This shows just a small glimpse into what I have grown to expect with Jameson. If I had read this before his other work, I may have praised it a bit more. As it stands, it is decent and the voice is consistent. There is some skill. It just wasn’t the best fit for me. I needed a bit more characterization.
I got an ARC of this book.
This might just be the most straightforward story I have read from Jameson. It follows Lord Bruton’s spiraling into excess and possibly madness. It reads very much like how I expected Marquis de Sade, but without graphic detail. Mind you, this is what I imagined before I had read Marquis de Sade.
The story follows Lord Bruton who is already an angry older man. He has become infamous for his temper and inability to get along with anyone. He seems pleased with this view of himself. The story then goes to him oddly hiring a butler and that butler’s strange ability to always seem to know exactly the right thing, even while clearly not being quite right to anyone who really looked.
It was an interesting tale. It probably would have done more for me if I had not just read another book where the big bad was the Devil and hell and all of that. In this case, I don’t think the bad was supposed to be the Devil, but instead a demon that lowered inhibitions so true natures could come out. It was clear that Lord Bruton was not a good dude, so the way that his story went was quite fitting and not all that surprising. He just needed a slight push.
I think this would have been a story better served in a longer format. Might have worked an a erotic horror. I just needed a bit more about Lord Bruton to make me really care about what was happening. Not a bad story, but it did read as an earlier work of Jameson. Based on publication date, this makes sense. This shows just a small glimpse into what I have grown to expect with Jameson. If I had read this before his other work, I may have praised it a bit more. As it stands, it is decent and the voice is consistent. There is some skill. It just wasn’t the best fit for me. I needed a bit more characterization.
September 2, 2021
The Strange Fate of Lord Bruton follows the aforementioned's acquisition of a new butler. Lord Bruton's views on butlers are well known throughout the upper echelons of society. Previously known to have beaten a childhood butler so badly, he has been without one for some years. That is, until a strange man named Ellery shows up on his doorstep and seamlessly makes himself at home. What follows is Bruton Hall's fall into degradation - Hell might even be a better term.
Written in a Gothic style, it reminded me a little of Matheson's Hell House. Bruton, who used to run his home with an iron fist, loses himself and all his inhibitions once Ellery effectively takes control of Bruton Hall. Ellery is an interesting character. He influences each and every character to submit to their baser instincts. I would have liked to see more of his origins or what his true intentions were.
This is the second of the Ghostly Shadows short stories I have read.
3.5 stars.
Written in a Gothic style, it reminded me a little of Matheson's Hell House. Bruton, who used to run his home with an iron fist, loses himself and all his inhibitions once Ellery effectively takes control of Bruton Hall. Ellery is an interesting character. He influences each and every character to submit to their baser instincts. I would have liked to see more of his origins or what his true intentions were.
This is the second of the Ghostly Shadows short stories I have read.
3.5 stars.
September 4, 2021
3.5 / 5 stars
When a strange man arrives and manages to become Lord Bruton's new butler, it surprises those who know Lord Bruton's not so great reputation. Lord Bruton generally isn't the biggest fan of butlers after all. But Ellery, the new butler seems to have a strange hold on Lord Bruton and there's something not quite right about him.
This was a more medieval style read. I'm not usually the biggest fan of older fashioned stories so my review may be a bit biased in that sense.
I did really enjoy F. R.'s writing style, like usual, but this one felt slightly rushed for me.
When a strange man arrives and manages to become Lord Bruton's new butler, it surprises those who know Lord Bruton's not so great reputation. Lord Bruton generally isn't the biggest fan of butlers after all. But Ellery, the new butler seems to have a strange hold on Lord Bruton and there's something not quite right about him.
This was a more medieval style read. I'm not usually the biggest fan of older fashioned stories so my review may be a bit biased in that sense.
I did really enjoy F. R.'s writing style, like usual, but this one felt slightly rushed for me.
November 8, 2017
This has so much potential to be a classic. Unfortunately the lack of dialogue lets it down. As a story to tell over the campfire this works. Of course that is because of the lack of characters conversing as I have said. It is also a short tale so if you want something quick to fill an hour this maybe for you. There is enough of a story though to keep you interested to the end.
December 5, 2018
I love a good mystery, especially the classics like good old Sherlock Holmes. That’s sort of what The Strange Fate of Lord Bruton by F.R. Jameson reminded me of. Written in the classic Gothic style (minus the difficult language) the story details the mystery of what happened to the slightly unlikeable Lord Bruton. All around a very twisty and interesting tale!
October 19, 2019
The story was keeping me hooked to see what was going on. I thought it was well written and had a steady pace to keep the story moving along nicely. The author has a way of making you feel you are there. Hope to read from the author for a long time. I know I will be stalking their bookshelves for more.
Got for an honest review.
Thank you for sharing your book with us.
Got for an honest review.
Thank you for sharing your book with us.
October 6, 2021
Enjoyed this one even though I had a huge gap between reading. I had no problem jumping right back in. I love love loved the connection to a previous novel by this author. While reading I was hoping for it, and he didn't disappoint. Not as scary as some others but I appreciated the back story of Breakspear. It's exactly what I wanted in my review of the novel, I got here :)
February 13, 2020
The author presents a period tale in authentic form and narrative voice of what happens when a noble who has spent his life sowing seeds of violence and discord; inevitably, he reaps a bitter harvest.
March 9, 2020
Great book!
This book draws you in from the very first page and you don't want to put it down. Being written in the traditional gothic horror style, it's both gripping and chilling.
This book draws you in from the very first page and you don't want to put it down. Being written in the traditional gothic horror style, it's both gripping and chilling.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews