Chris Priestley

In un pomeriggio di inizio inverno, Zio Montague racconta ad Edgar una serie di storie raccapriccianti, in cui ogni racconto è legato a un curioso oggetto presente nello studio dello zio.
La casa in cui si svolge il racconto principale, fa strani rumori, è molto fredda, ed è l'ambientazione perfetta per le storie che racconta lo zio di Edgar. Ogni storia presenta un bambino, e ogni storia finisce con il destino infausto.
Ho davvero apprezzato questo primo libro della trilogia di Chris show more Priestley, Tales of Terror #, che purtroppo leggo per ultimo, avendo letto già anni fa gli altri due libri.
Spesso sono scettico sulle antologie di racconti horror, ma questo è stato meraviglioso dall'inizio alla fine, poiché si tratta di una raccolta di racconti molto brevi, ma tutti con una meravigliosa atmosfera spettrale.
Una raccolta deliziosamente disturbante di racconti nella classica tradizione vittoriana, che ricordano le storie di fantasmi di M.R. James o i racconti più oscuri di J.S. Le Fanu.
Le eccellenti illustrazioni di Gorey si aggiungono all'atmosfera. show less

This ghost story is the first person account of a young man, who as a child spent the Christmas holidays with his legal guardian at Hawton Mere, an ancient, brooding and foreboding manor house in the empty fenlands of Cambridgeshire, and of the events that still haunt him to this day.

This is one of the creepiest ghost stories I have read to date. The prose is very clear and precise, and the events are seen through the innocent eyes of a young boy. The imagery is vivid and atmospheric, a show more sense of dread and unease pervading the house, turning it into a character in its own right. The subsequent events unfold with a chilling predictability, with the setting in the snow-covered fens masterfully adding to the sense of desolation. Unfortunately a few plot inconsistencies mar the overall enjoyment of this tale, but Chris Priestley's name is definitely one to look out for. I will certainly never look at priest-holes again in the same way. show less

Opening Sentence: ‘…It was the first railway journey I had ever made alone…’

This is the second ‘Tales of’ book I have read by Chris Priestly, and once again I was deliciously scared! Priestly is a master of telling chilling stories, and a trip down the hall to the powder room at night is no picnic after reading one of the macabre tales.

Set in England during the Boer War, Young Robert is travelling to boarding school by himself. His step-mother takes him to the station and she has show more a little dream that something scary will happen to him at the tunnel’s mouth. Robert is a bit embarrassed by all this and insists on getting on the train. There are four other travellers in his carriage and Robert soon drifts off to sleep. When he wakes up all is quiet and the other passengers are sleeping and a young woman all dressed in white with red hair is now sitting opposite him and she is wide awake. Then Robert notices that the train has stopped – at the mouth of a tunnel!

To pass the time the lady offers to tell Robert some stories – but they are stories that are quite frightening. Each tale has a strange and nerve-jangling twist like the governess who discovers that the problem child in her care is not what she seems; a creepy boy who terrorises a young lady for a reason; a really nasty nun gets her comeuppance and the step sister who takes the ultimate revenge. There are killer plants, ghosts, evil fairies and cracks in the wall – Chris Priestly’s imagination knows no bounds.

There is a moral message in the eerie tales, lessons to be learned and the ultimate twist as Robert gradually becomes aware that there is something not quite right going on. A perfect Halloween read – young readers, as well as old, will love these creepy, and often gruesome, stories – however more sensitive people, such as myself, may find some of them truly frightening – so supervise if in doubt. show less

Would you (or your child) read a book of short stories? Probably not. You would most likely just flick through it, read a couple of the stories, and then set the book aside in favour of something else. But you would read Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror – from beginning to end – because Chris Priestley has created something quite ingenious. His latest work – a deliciously stylised and decidedly creepy read – is not quite a collection of short stories and not quite a novel, but show more something in between. The overarching mystery of Uncle Montague is used to segue between each story, and keeps the reader turning pages all the way through, just as they would with a novel, while simultaneously leaving them free to enjoy each story in its own right.

As with any collection of short stories, the quality of the tales varies. Some of them are clever, with a wicked sting in the tail – 'The Gilt Frame', for example. Some are not quite as impressive – like 'Jinn' – and some are just plain weird – like 'Offerings'. Whilst the overall quality is good, it is imperative that, in a book such as this, each and every story pulls its own weight – and not all of them do. Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror is perhaps the darkest children's book I have ever read, and at times it risks becoming a little too dark. Any story that further drags at the mood of the writing without giving something back – and there are a couple of these – would be better off cut from the book altogether.

At the end of the day, these tales are no more frightening than those which might be told around the fire at a school camp. I have complete confidence in the ability of young readers to cope with each and every one of them. What makes Uncle Montague so irresponsible is that he tells Edgar tale after tale after tale, battering him relentlessly with misery. This book then, should be read one story at a time – perhaps each night before bed over the course of eleven nights. In moderation, Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror will thrill and chill you – in excess, it will only numb and depress you.

Chris Priestley should be congratulated; he has taken a risk, and created an enjoyable and original book that will appeal to many (albeit not all) young readers. Don't read it all at once – but do read it after dark, under the covers, with a torch. show less