To celebrate the release of our second Self Made Hero book of M. R. James adaptations – Ghost Stories of an Antiquary Vol 2 – we’re going to be counting down to Christmas in true Jamesian style, with a new haunting image and nugget of info every day.
On top of that, we’ll be giving away a copy of the book via Twitter every Sunday in the lead up to Christmas. Check the #MRJ2GIVEAWAY hashtag for details of how to take part.
Helen Grant writes Gothic thrillers, ghost stories, and occasional articles about M.R.James. Her website is at http://www.helengrantbooks.com/ or alternatively she can be found on Twitter at @helengrantsays
Helen’s new book Ghost will be published in 2018 by Fledgling Press.
The Wolves of Cernogratz by Saki (Hector Hugh Munro)
recommended by Helen Grant
Saki was contemporary with M.R.James and some of his stories have a supernatural element. The Wolves of Cernogratz, set around Christmastime, is perfect seasonal reading, a blend of the uncanny and the poignant.
It is Christmas, and Baron and Baroness Gruebel, the recent owners of Schloss Cernogratz, are entertaining guests. The conversation turns to the legend that when a member of the now extinct Cernogratz family dies in the castle, the wolves will come and howl all around it. The despised and aged governess reveals that she is, in fact, a Cernogratz, who changed her name after the family became so poor that she had to go out to work. The nouveau riche Gruebels are, naturally, reluctant to believe this. Then the old governess falls gravely ill, and the wolves come slinking out of the forest…
Like all Saki’s stories, The Wolves of Cernogratz is very sparely written, at a little over 1700 words, and yet it vividly conveys everything about the situation and the dynamic between the characters. The Baron and Baroness are sneeringly callous towards their old servant, and yet the Baroness herself, although she “had the usual number of grandfathers…never, never boasted about them.” When the wolves begin to howl, the Baroness impulsively visits the governess’s sick bed, and finds the window standing open in spite of the freezing air; as she goes to close it, saying that the old woman will die of cold, the governess retorts, “I am dying in any case,” with splendid disregard for her own impending death. She then orders her employer to “Go away” – and the Baroness is obliged to obey, clutching the rags of her dignity about her. It is a supremely satisfying moment.
Christmas is, after all, the season of goodwill; as festive tales go, The Wolves of Cernogratz is singular in that the greatest kindness done to its poor old heroine comes not from her fellow man, but from the supernatural realm.