deliberately making light of.
The editor of the website had made a kind of pilgrimage to the area to track down the settings for the main Herefordshire story ‘A View from a Hill’. Although the story seemed to be set in the general area of Garway, the village itself didn’t appear to feature, even under a different name.
‘I love this guy.’ Jane was glowing. ‘Greatest ghost-story writer ever. Because he just … well, basically, he just … he didn’t do ghosts.’
‘What did he do, then?’
‘Entities. He did entities. Creeping things. Indefinable things, exuding … malevolence. In traditional settings, like old churches and deserted shores and places with burial mounds. According to the website, he once said there was no point at all in writing about the supernatural if it wasn’t evil.’
‘Doesn’t that kind of invalidate the Bible?’
‘He meant fiction, Mum.’
‘Wow,’ Merrily said, ‘
there
’s a step forward for you.’
‘I mean
complete
fiction. Anyway, he wasn’t exactly anti-religious. His old man was a vicar, in Suffolk. He was brought up in the Church. He might even have gone that way himself if he hadn’t got into academic research and teaching and stuff.’
‘And did
you
know he came to this area?’
‘Well, no! I just
didn’t
! It’s incredible.’
‘But you’ve read all the stories.’
‘Erm …’ Jane fiddled with the mouse. ‘Not
all
of them, to be completely honest.’
‘You totally love him, but you haven’t read all his stories.’
‘OK … mainly, I’ve just seen the TV versions.’
‘I don’t remember us watching them.’
Remembered them being
on
. Usually around Christmas, and mostly before Jane had been born.
‘Erm … I didn’t mean
us
.’ Jane’s face had clouded. ‘I saw them at Irene … Eirion’s. His dad had a complete set of the videos, and we watched most of them one night, one after the other. It was … it was pretty good. We were on our own and we scared ourselves silly.’
‘That must’ve been a long night. Watching them all.’
‘Not that long.’ Jane looked away. ‘They only lasted half an hour each. Or a bit longer.’
Oh, Jane, Jane …
Merrily guessing they’d watched them tucked up together in Eirion’s bed, when his parents were out.
‘Anyway,’ Jane said. ‘The TV versions were obviously set in East Anglia or somewhere. To be honest, I bought the book but I only got round to reading a couple. And I didn’t read the foreword, otherwise I’d’ve known about him coming here. Obviously, I’m now going to read everything. I’m going to find a biography. It’s amazing.’
‘Mmm.’
It was certainly a complication. Did Fuchsia know M. R. James had been to Garway? It was not unlikely.
‘So …’ Jane sat back, hands behind her head. ‘What’s your angle on this, Mum?’
‘Oh, it … it’s just somebody else who scared themselves silly.’
‘In a house belonging to Prince Charles?’
‘Did I tell you that?’
‘Not directly, but I just happened to click on
history
…’
‘And found the Duchy of Cornwall website.’ Merrily nodded, resigned. ‘Right.’
‘Didn’t mean to snoop, but this one was interesting. And you know it never goes any further, with me. Not any more.’
‘I’d’ve told you all about it, if you’d asked.’
‘I know, but … Anyway. Sorry. So, like, the house is at Garway,then. With the Knights Templar church. How did you get on to M. R. James?’
‘Because … there’s a mention of a Templar preceptory in one of his stories – “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad”.’
‘That one is
really
scary. In the TV version, this professor, he’s not what you’d call sociable and he just goes around kind of mumbling to himself on this grey beach, and then he—’
‘Do you know of any more? Any more stories mentioning the Knights Templar?’
‘No, but I could email this website and ask this Rosemary Pardoe, who obviously knows,
The editor of the website had made a kind of pilgrimage to the area to track down the settings for the main Herefordshire story ‘A View from a Hill’. Although the story seemed to be set in the general area of Garway, the village itself didn’t appear to feature, even under a different name.
‘I love this guy.’ Jane was glowing. ‘Greatest ghost-story writer ever. Because he just … well, basically, he just … he didn’t do ghosts.’
‘What did he do, then?’
‘Entities. He did entities. Creeping things. Indefinable things, exuding … malevolence. In traditional settings, like old churches and deserted shores and places with burial mounds. According to the website, he once said there was no point at all in writing about the supernatural if it wasn’t evil.’
‘Doesn’t that kind of invalidate the Bible?’
‘He meant fiction, Mum.’
‘Wow,’ Merrily said, ‘
there
’s a step forward for you.’
‘I mean
complete
fiction. Anyway, he wasn’t exactly anti-religious. His old man was a vicar, in Suffolk. He was brought up in the Church. He might even have gone that way himself if he hadn’t got into academic research and teaching and stuff.’
‘And did
you
know he came to this area?’
‘Well, no! I just
didn’t
! It’s incredible.’
‘But you’ve read all the stories.’
‘Erm …’ Jane fiddled with the mouse. ‘Not
all
of them, to be completely honest.’
‘You totally love him, but you haven’t read all his stories.’
‘OK … mainly, I’ve just seen the TV versions.’
‘I don’t remember us watching them.’
Remembered them being
on
. Usually around Christmas, and mostly before Jane had been born.
‘Erm … I didn’t mean
us
.’ Jane’s face had clouded. ‘I saw them at Irene … Eirion’s. His dad had a complete set of the videos, and we watched most of them one night, one after the other. It was … it was pretty good. We were on our own and we scared ourselves silly.’
‘That must’ve been a long night. Watching them all.’
‘Not that long.’ Jane looked away. ‘They only lasted half an hour each. Or a bit longer.’
Oh, Jane, Jane …
Merrily guessing they’d watched them tucked up together in Eirion’s bed, when his parents were out.
‘Anyway,’ Jane said. ‘The TV versions were obviously set in East Anglia or somewhere. To be honest, I bought the book but I only got round to reading a couple. And I didn’t read the foreword, otherwise I’d’ve known about him coming here. Obviously, I’m now going to read everything. I’m going to find a biography. It’s amazing.’
‘Mmm.’
It was certainly a complication. Did Fuchsia know M. R. James had been to Garway? It was not unlikely.
‘So …’ Jane sat back, hands behind her head. ‘What’s your angle on this, Mum?’
‘Oh, it … it’s just somebody else who scared themselves silly.’
‘In a house belonging to Prince Charles?’
‘Did I tell you that?’
‘Not directly, but I just happened to click on
history
…’
‘And found the Duchy of Cornwall website.’ Merrily nodded, resigned. ‘Right.’
‘Didn’t mean to snoop, but this one was interesting. And you know it never goes any further, with me. Not any more.’
‘I’d’ve told you all about it, if you’d asked.’
‘I know, but … Anyway. Sorry. So, like, the house is at Garway,then. With the Knights Templar church. How did you get on to M. R. James?’
‘Because … there’s a mention of a Templar preceptory in one of his stories – “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad”.’
‘That one is
really
scary. In the TV version, this professor, he’s not what you’d call sociable and he just goes around kind of mumbling to himself on this grey beach, and then he—’
‘Do you know of any more? Any more stories mentioning the Knights Templar?’
‘No, but I could email this website and ask this Rosemary Pardoe, who obviously knows,
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