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darkling_talesAs a big fan of M R James, I'm always on the look-out for authors in the same mould, be they modern or contemporaries of the man himself. But although I thought I'd made a pretty thorough investigation of the 'James gang' (a literary nickname for the small group of pre-war ghost story authors directly influenced by James) until this year I somehow managed to overlook one of its main members, an author called M P Dare. After a (now deleted) LJ friend wrote a review of the recent Ash-Tree Press edition of Dare's collection Unholy Relics, I thought I'd give him a go myself.
The stories in Unholy Relics all share the same narrator, Gregory Wayne, an expert historian and student of dusty manuscripts in the Jamesian style, who shares a household mercifully devoid of women with his like-minded friend Granville. Despite their retiring dispositions, the two 'confirmed bachelors' (stop sniggering at the back) stumble into supernatural adventure at the drop of a hat. Their tussles with the occult are normally prompted by the discovery of some old document, unearthed object or abandoned ruin, and all these tales have a strongly antiquarian flavour.
The stories vary in quality and tone. Unsurprisingly, my favourites were the ones where Dare drops any pretence at whimsy and goes for the jugular, such as 'Unholy Relics' (which draws on intimate knowledge of a gloomy Toulous cathedral) and 'Borgia Pomade' (about an evil beauty product, no less.) 'The Nun's Tragedy' has a puzzling and Lovecraftian climax quite at odds with the rest of the collection, but in its first half Dare's use of architecture to create a mood of malevolence is second to none. 'The Demoniac Goat' is pagan horror which, to my mind, is only improved by the flashes of unintentional humour the subject matter provides! Even so, Dare's way with the nasty detail prevents it from descending too far into farce. In fact, I was generally impressed by how savage many of the hauntings are; the academic atmosphere may seem refined, but Dare isn't pulling any punches and the ivory tower the bachelors inhabit affords them scant protection against the horrors of the world.
Of the light-hearted tales, I quite liked 'The Nymph Still Lives', a pagan flight of fancy reminiscent of John Buchan on average form, but didn't have much time for the others (humorous horror is really not my thing!) However, all the stories are pleasant to read. Although he can't claim James' exalted academic status, Dare's handling of antiquarian material has a ring of authenticity to it which is sadly absent from many modern James imitations. Neither does he make the common mistake of sticking too closely to the Jamesian template: Wayne and Granville can seem rather fusty at first glance, but after a while their sense of fun starts to show through and does a lot to make up for their less appealing features, such as their attitudes towards women and the 'lower orders' (which in any case I found more comical than offensive.) And to be fair, both those demographics feature far more heavily in the collection than they do in the works of James, with several appealing female characters and even - gasp! - a sympathetic story about a quarry labourer.
A more serious flaw, to my mind, is Wayne's tendency to explain the hauntings he encounters according to his doctrine of 'thought-forms'. Although he never provides a complete explanation, for me, any such attempt at analysing hauntings in a scientific or logical manner is the kiss of death for a ghost story. Fortunately, Wayne's remarks on the matter are usually fleeting and tacked on at the end of stories, so they don't impede the tale's progression too much, and the stronger stories aren't too badly affected.
Although this 13-story collection is patchy, Dare's deceptively simple, chatty writing style and obvious (though never overwhelming) erudition make Unholy Relics well worth a read for any devotee of antiquarian ghost stories.
But what of the man himself? Little is known about Dare; he was apparently a genuine student of the occult, but also devoted himself to the unusual pastime of stealing books from libraries, churches and bookshops, a hobby which earnt him at least one stay in prison. Apparently the author's photograph in the Ash-Tree Press edition displays Dare posing in nothing but a tiny pair of underpants, while nonchalantly smoking a cigarette by a country gate. Tragically, I could only afford an old copy of the original 40s edition, which contains no photo at all. But I'm beginning to suspect that Dare had a much more interesting life than M R James!
As you can imagine, Dare doesn't have much of an online presence, but he has a page on the Vault of Evil boards containing a full list of the stories and some amusing chit-chat about the man.
The stories in Unholy Relics all share the same narrator, Gregory Wayne, an expert historian and student of dusty manuscripts in the Jamesian style, who shares a household mercifully devoid of women with his like-minded friend Granville. Despite their retiring dispositions, the two 'confirmed bachelors' (stop sniggering at the back) stumble into supernatural adventure at the drop of a hat. Their tussles with the occult are normally prompted by the discovery of some old document, unearthed object or abandoned ruin, and all these tales have a strongly antiquarian flavour.
The stories vary in quality and tone. Unsurprisingly, my favourites were the ones where Dare drops any pretence at whimsy and goes for the jugular, such as 'Unholy Relics' (which draws on intimate knowledge of a gloomy Toulous cathedral) and 'Borgia Pomade' (about an evil beauty product, no less.) 'The Nun's Tragedy' has a puzzling and Lovecraftian climax quite at odds with the rest of the collection, but in its first half Dare's use of architecture to create a mood of malevolence is second to none. 'The Demoniac Goat' is pagan horror which, to my mind, is only improved by the flashes of unintentional humour the subject matter provides! Even so, Dare's way with the nasty detail prevents it from descending too far into farce. In fact, I was generally impressed by how savage many of the hauntings are; the academic atmosphere may seem refined, but Dare isn't pulling any punches and the ivory tower the bachelors inhabit affords them scant protection against the horrors of the world.
Of the light-hearted tales, I quite liked 'The Nymph Still Lives', a pagan flight of fancy reminiscent of John Buchan on average form, but didn't have much time for the others (humorous horror is really not my thing!) However, all the stories are pleasant to read. Although he can't claim James' exalted academic status, Dare's handling of antiquarian material has a ring of authenticity to it which is sadly absent from many modern James imitations. Neither does he make the common mistake of sticking too closely to the Jamesian template: Wayne and Granville can seem rather fusty at first glance, but after a while their sense of fun starts to show through and does a lot to make up for their less appealing features, such as their attitudes towards women and the 'lower orders' (which in any case I found more comical than offensive.) And to be fair, both those demographics feature far more heavily in the collection than they do in the works of James, with several appealing female characters and even - gasp! - a sympathetic story about a quarry labourer.
A more serious flaw, to my mind, is Wayne's tendency to explain the hauntings he encounters according to his doctrine of 'thought-forms'. Although he never provides a complete explanation, for me, any such attempt at analysing hauntings in a scientific or logical manner is the kiss of death for a ghost story. Fortunately, Wayne's remarks on the matter are usually fleeting and tacked on at the end of stories, so they don't impede the tale's progression too much, and the stronger stories aren't too badly affected.
Although this 13-story collection is patchy, Dare's deceptively simple, chatty writing style and obvious (though never overwhelming) erudition make Unholy Relics well worth a read for any devotee of antiquarian ghost stories.
But what of the man himself? Little is known about Dare; he was apparently a genuine student of the occult, but also devoted himself to the unusual pastime of stealing books from libraries, churches and bookshops, a hobby which earnt him at least one stay in prison. Apparently the author's photograph in the Ash-Tree Press edition displays Dare posing in nothing but a tiny pair of underpants, while nonchalantly smoking a cigarette by a country gate. Tragically, I could only afford an old copy of the original 40s edition, which contains no photo at all. But I'm beginning to suspect that Dare had a much more interesting life than M R James!
As you can imagine, Dare doesn't have much of an online presence, but he has a page on the Vault of Evil boards containing a full list of the stories and some amusing chit-chat about the man.
