Strange stories indeed. The subtitle, Edward Gorey’s enigmatic cover illustration, and the opening quote (“In the end it is the mystery that lasts and not the explanation.”) all serve to give the reader a preview of Aickman’s opaque, haunting style. Rarely is there overt horror; instead, a subtle sense of lasting disquiet and dread. As Fritz Leiber put it, Aickman “has a gift for depicting the eerie areas of inner space, the churning storms and silent overcasts that engulf the minds of lonely and alienated people.” The eight stories in this collection provide a great introduction to Aickman’s own areas of inner space.
“The Swords” – A virginal narrator, a disreputable carnival in Wolverhampton, a mysterious performer called Madonna, who is perhaps a distant relative of Olympia from E.T.A. Hoffmann’s “The Sandman”. There’s a great sense of unease and disappointment in this one.
“The Real Road to the Church”, or, perhaps, to the churchyard, since Aickman seems to be referencing corpse roads, the traditional paths on which coffins were carried and on which the spirits of the dead were also said to travel, “until their souls were purged”. In this tale, the unfulfilled Rosa has moved to a house on a Channel island, which, as she comes to learn, is the spot where the corpse porters are changed. This story is especially dreamlike, and less especially disturbing than many of Aickman’s works.
In “Niemandswasser”, young Prince Elmo and his friend Viktor fall under the mysterious influence of a lady (or something) in a lake. Despite some high points, “Niemandswasser” didn’t fully immerse me.
“Pages from a Young Girl’s Journal” is a rarity for Aickman in that it has an identifiable monster – although the story is about the girl, not the vampire. For more thoughts on this one, see here.
“The Hospice” – I think this was the first Aickman story I read. It is one of the more frequently anthologized ones, probably because, while mysterious, it’s more accessible than most (and it’s a great story). Traveling salesman Maybury runs out of gas in a bad spot, where the only place to go for help is far from ideal.
“The Same Dog” tells the story of a childhood friendship cut short, an eerie house, and an eerier dog. It’s another highlight of the collection.
In “Meeting Mr. Millar”, the narrator tells of a new lodger in the house in which he’s renting rooms. “A haunted man”, Mr. Millar attracts strange visitors, disquieting sounds and stenches.
Finally, “The Clock Watcher” involves the narrator’s German wife, whose growing collection of clocks seems to have a menacing life of its own (“It doesn’t sound like a cuckoo, at all.”). You know it won’t end well, but then again, this being Aickman, it rarely does.
Some weird stories are read once, enjoyed, and forgotten. Aickman’s strange stories are unique, memorable, and so allusive and illusive that they can be returned to again and again.
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