[j. d. worthington]

In addition to Collins' Little Novels, I've been reading E. G. Swain's Stoneground Ghost Tales. Swain was an acquaintance of M. R. James, and wrote a series of tales "in the Jamesian manner". Well, sort of. There is much of the sort of thing James did here, but the stories are overall much tamer (James's ghosts could be quite nasty) and the stories' charm lies in their telling and in an occasional phrase or image that does send a genuine chill. I'd say they're well worth reading just for a well-told tale; the sort of thing one might tell in a circle of friends around a campfire or at a party when the subject of ghosts came up. But once in a while, there is a stroke of genius there, as well....