E.F. Benson

With M. R. James, amongst the finest ghost stories in the language--a review of E. F. Benson's collected short stories.

Memorable, "How Fear Departed from the Long Gallery," "The Room in the Tower," and "Mrs. Amworth."  While I don't agree with the blogger in Benson's wider range (M. R. James has quite a range from "Casting the Runes" to "Count Magnus" to "'Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad,"  and Lovecraft also had a large range from "Cool Air" to "Whisperer in the Darkness" to "Color Out of Space" not to mention the central position of the Mythos. 

But that said, I cannot argue with the reviewer's admiration of the quality and range of Mr. Benson's wonderful collection.  Well worth one's time if one is into October Reading.  And what is particularly nice is that Benson does offer us, occasionally, the real and true, dyed-in-the-wool ghost story--a rarity even among purveyors of the ghost story.

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