A Sarban Anthology
Feb. 7th, 2007 12:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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darkling_talesWell, a moderator sometimes has to take a break from making community members jump through promo-related hoops ;) so here are my thoughts on a fantastic book recently reprinted by Tartarus Press,The Doll Maker And Other Tales Of The Uncanny, by the elusive author Sarban. Sarban (real name John William Wall) is a master of the dreamlike supernatural tale with tints of the pagan, who somehow seems to have fallen through the net of public recognition for several decades since his (relative) heyday in the 40s and 50s. However, he has nothing to envy writers like Walpole and even Machen.
This volume contains three pieces - the novella The Doll-Maker, and two shorter works, The Trespassers and A House Of Call. The first tale is definitely the high point of the collection. It tells the story of Clare, a teenage girl forced to spend the Christmas holidays at her boarding school. As if that wasn't bad enough, she also has to spend the time cramming for her University entrance exams without any help, after the tragic death of her assigned tutor. But academic help is at hand when the headmistress arranges for her to visit Mrs Sterne, the chatelaine of the nearby Brackenbine Hall, for some language coaching. However, Mrs Sterne's dashing son Niall soon proves to be something of a distraction. As the bond between the mischevious, enchanting young man and the girl strengthens, Niall introduces Clare to the fruits of his strange hobby - carving lifelike dolls of young women out of a special wood from peculiar dwarf trees...
I personally get a horror kick out of anything to do with dolls, or miniature versions of things, so I loved this novella. However, it also has many more general qualities that should endear it to any fan of ghostly tales (though there are no conventional hauntings in this book.) The reader loses themselves in the beautifully described stillness and darkness of the winter countryside and woodland, and the sylvan world of dripping, swishing leaves, early dusks and strange lights twinkling in the forest shadows is suffused with black magic. However, unlike many pagan horror stories The Doll-Maker also thrills by the richness and diversity of its characters. Sarban appears to know the peculiar yearnings,frustrations and hyper-real daydreams of a teenage girl inside out, which is quite a feat since the concept of the 'teenager' wasn't even around then, and such young women can't have had much of a 'voice'! And the power-play between the controlling Niall and the confused Clare is fascinating - will Clare manage to break free where other girls have failed? The process by which the heroine slowly comes to realize that Niall is no Mr Right is subtle and believeable, with the reader kept guessing right until the end of a genuinely bizarre, even decadent plot.
Talking of decadence, it has been pointed out that many of Sarban's stories contain an element of sadomasochism - this is apparently especially strong in some of his other stuff (e.g.Ringstones and The Sound Of His Horn) and in the second story, The Trespassers, the author abandons the power struggle of The Doll-Maker in favour of some out-and-out domination involving two teenage boys and an enigmatic, savage young Amazon girl who seems to be a prototype for Xena, Warrior Princess. The fear factor is pretty low in this tale, but it is a nice little pastoral idyll with the added spice of ancient mythology. The final story, A House Of Call, shares the same values as the other works, and again we are treated to one of the best descriptions of a twilit, wintry English moor that I've ever read. All in all the collection is pretty much unmissable for any fan of pre-50s horror.
But what of Sarban himself? The people at Tartarus have cobbled together a nice little mini-site about Mr Wall. He worked as a diplomat, though he came from a working-class background, and constantly felt dogged by feelings of inadequacy in the stifling class-conscious Britain of those days. So no M R James! Other than that he seems to have led an unassuming life, like nearly all the great authors in this field.
Obviously if any of you have read anything else by Sarban, I'd love to hear your thoughts! I think a comparative study between him, Blackwood and Machen would be a lovely thing to read, though I don't think anyone has written one yet :(
This volume contains three pieces - the novella The Doll-Maker, and two shorter works, The Trespassers and A House Of Call. The first tale is definitely the high point of the collection. It tells the story of Clare, a teenage girl forced to spend the Christmas holidays at her boarding school. As if that wasn't bad enough, she also has to spend the time cramming for her University entrance exams without any help, after the tragic death of her assigned tutor. But academic help is at hand when the headmistress arranges for her to visit Mrs Sterne, the chatelaine of the nearby Brackenbine Hall, for some language coaching. However, Mrs Sterne's dashing son Niall soon proves to be something of a distraction. As the bond between the mischevious, enchanting young man and the girl strengthens, Niall introduces Clare to the fruits of his strange hobby - carving lifelike dolls of young women out of a special wood from peculiar dwarf trees...
I personally get a horror kick out of anything to do with dolls, or miniature versions of things, so I loved this novella. However, it also has many more general qualities that should endear it to any fan of ghostly tales (though there are no conventional hauntings in this book.) The reader loses themselves in the beautifully described stillness and darkness of the winter countryside and woodland, and the sylvan world of dripping, swishing leaves, early dusks and strange lights twinkling in the forest shadows is suffused with black magic. However, unlike many pagan horror stories The Doll-Maker also thrills by the richness and diversity of its characters. Sarban appears to know the peculiar yearnings,frustrations and hyper-real daydreams of a teenage girl inside out, which is quite a feat since the concept of the 'teenager' wasn't even around then, and such young women can't have had much of a 'voice'! And the power-play between the controlling Niall and the confused Clare is fascinating - will Clare manage to break free where other girls have failed? The process by which the heroine slowly comes to realize that Niall is no Mr Right is subtle and believeable, with the reader kept guessing right until the end of a genuinely bizarre, even decadent plot.
Talking of decadence, it has been pointed out that many of Sarban's stories contain an element of sadomasochism - this is apparently especially strong in some of his other stuff (e.g.Ringstones and The Sound Of His Horn) and in the second story, The Trespassers, the author abandons the power struggle of The Doll-Maker in favour of some out-and-out domination involving two teenage boys and an enigmatic, savage young Amazon girl who seems to be a prototype for Xena, Warrior Princess. The fear factor is pretty low in this tale, but it is a nice little pastoral idyll with the added spice of ancient mythology. The final story, A House Of Call, shares the same values as the other works, and again we are treated to one of the best descriptions of a twilit, wintry English moor that I've ever read. All in all the collection is pretty much unmissable for any fan of pre-50s horror.
But what of Sarban himself? The people at Tartarus have cobbled together a nice little mini-site about Mr Wall. He worked as a diplomat, though he came from a working-class background, and constantly felt dogged by feelings of inadequacy in the stifling class-conscious Britain of those days. So no M R James! Other than that he seems to have led an unassuming life, like nearly all the great authors in this field.
Obviously if any of you have read anything else by Sarban, I'd love to hear your thoughts! I think a comparative study between him, Blackwood and Machen would be a lovely thing to read, though I don't think anyone has written one yet :(
