Dark Entries

Though often categorized as horror fiction, Robert Aickman's stories are so distinctive and so great that the only productive analogies people use for him are not the typical horror fiction writers (who often hugely admire him) but such actual literary greats as Poe, Kafka, and Dinesen. You often finish his stories not knowing quite what happened until you re-read them, and even then the strange ambiguities are so deeply unsettling that it's hard to explain the effect Aickman has had on you. For years he has been a well-kept secret among fantasy and horror fans, but Faber Finds's plans to reissue his stories and his one novel (THE LATE BREAKFASTERS) and one novella (THE MODEL) in 2014 in honor of his centenary should make him much more widely known, at least in the UK. DARK ENTRIES, which sports a gorgeously illustrated cover, is a fine place to start with Aickman because it was his first solo collection published in his lifetime (he had published a collection of stories with his one time girlfriend Elizabeth Jane Howard in the 50s), and features some of his finest stories, such as his deepest exploration into gender differences, "Choose Your Weapons," and the most famous (and anthologized) of all his stories, "Ringing the Changes."The latter is a beautiful example of Aickman's mastery of the genre of the "strange tale" (as he preferred to call his work--he didn't care at all for the descriptor "horror fiction"). The story opens with a couple, mismatched in age, making a vacation trip to an out-of-the-way town in East Anglia that had been an important seaport in medieval times, before the harbor had silted up and pushed the town away from the sea. The town is largely deserted, and the few citizens the couple come across make oblique references to the couple being in danger; in the mean time a local old church begins ringing its bell for no apparent reason, and as the day wears on and the mystery of the town deepens, the ringing bell is joined by others, which intensify the overall sense of dread. When the truth about the town's abandonment and the reason for the bells is finally revealed, it is so almost offhandedly, as a kind of throwaway cliche: but then the truth of the statement (and the inability to turn back) digs in for both the couple and for readers. As is typical for Aickman's fiction, no other explanation is overtly given for the horrific event other than that it is happening, and the reader must try to make sense of it based on the circumstances of the story: the city's position almost displaced from time, the couple's age gap, the psychological condition of the husband and wife, etc. Even then you're never sure--and thus Aickman's story lingers longer in the imagination than the basic plot might in the hands of another fantasy writer (even H. P. Lovecraft, who also deals with a visitor stumbling onto the horrific truth about a seemingly nearly-deserted coastal town in his fine story "The Shadow over Innsmouth"). Robert Aickman is one of the finest British writers (and international masters of the strange tale form) in the 20th century: it is terrific seeing him made available to a broader audience.

Ever since I read a short story by Robert Aickman in an anthology, I have actively sought out all his work. Not only is his prose absolutely gorgeous, but his immense talent for writing what appears to be an ordinary story that slowly dissolves into a chilling, dreamlike nightmare puts him in a league of his own. While not all the stories in this collection, Dark Entries, are a home run, the ones that work, really work. Of the six stories, my favorite are "The School Friend", "Ringing The Changes", and "Bind Your Hair", all of which are quite unnerving at times, and worth a second and third read. I love taking my time with his work, reading it slowly, devouring it like a fine wine. Aickman is really an incredible talent that finally, in the last decade, is getting the recognition he deserves. He doesn't have a large body of work, but what he has, for the most part, is something to treasure. For readers wanting to avoid jump scares, violence, and gore, the subtle maturity and delicate frights of Aickman should be a welcome discovery.

Aickman is one of those writers who has his counterparts in screenwriters for those indie films that are best described as surreal or "symbolist" -dark-mysteries. There's no what I call fundamentalist horror - with the supernatural grossly imposed on physical reality, such as epitomized in Stephen King (thank god!). On the other hand the trademark British toned-down action woven through the labyrinth of Mystery, whose elements have in turn been transmuted into symbols, amount to each story's requiring a second read.At least a second read. Otherwise, each piece ends with an abrupt fall from the stratosphere of the disturbingly possibly-supernatural, back onto the surface of the mundane with a very anticlimatic bump."Dark Entries" was my first reading of Aickman; and I can't criticize him down to fewer than 4 Stars: For part of me must have much affinity with the Euro-style of dark, symbol-driven story, inasmuch as I myself have written at least one short story with a texture and paradigm so much like Aickman's that, if not for the "American" tint of greater intensity in the symbolism itself, could pass for one of his. If Euro-subtlety, and an ability to navigate the longitude of Mystery with the depth of symbolism is your thing, Robert Aickman is for you.

Aickman said he wrote strange stories not horror stories and the point is rather well taken.There is no blood or gore in these stories . While somewhat chilling they are not deeply scary.They are unsettling and rather creepy.The writer of the supernatural tale always faces a dilemma, do i explain everything or nothing.I appreciate a certain ambiguity but I think Aickman 's stories would benefit from a little bit more explanation or clarity.While fascinating,I'd have to admit, in only two of the stories, did I sense that I really comprehended what was going on.In others, I was just guessing.Not a bad thing but not fully satisfying.However , this is the second book of Aickman stories I've read.I read The Wine Dark Sea around twenty years ago and I have to admit ,I'm not done.

This is the first in a series of reprints of Aickman's work by Faber and Faber. Which, I must say, is quite fortunate! These are dark and subtle tales by a true master of the craft! While I can't say this is something I'd suggest for someone who typically likes the usual fare of more explicit horror, if you enjoy M.R. James or Arthur Machen then this should be up your alley.These tales typically slide between definitions, leaving the reader with a few more questions than answers when they're through. At first, this might be frustrating. Sometimes we're left without a definitive ending, or all the pieces we need to reach a decisive conclusion... But, what is suggested is often far more horrific than what is seen. There are no duds among Aickman's work. Only those that resonant more powerfully depending on one's inclination. A master amongst masters.

A really curious read this was. Taken on the writing alone, it is evocative, well-crafted and impeccably well done. In building a picture in the reader's head, I can think of few others who do it with such an assured hand at the wheel. Less a horror experience, more a gentle detour into a strange realm of palpable unease.Where it falters is less in the journey than in it's destination. At least taken on the evidence of the six short stories in this collection, the writer seemed to be less concerned with their endings than with the journey beforehand. Sometimes they end on just the right note of ambiguous closure but more often they just seem to stop without much of anything to recommend them.His dedication to not going full horror is certainly noteworthy and consistent throughout. Holding just that right tone of disquietude is no mean feat but I feel it underserved the storytelling more than enhanced it. As it is the stories are good but I feel for the most part they stop just a few degrees short of greatness.There's a strong sense of place and time here, in the quintessential mid-20th century Britishness of it all, harnessed to great effect in it's characters and locales. Whether it is an unusually barren seaside town, the misty saturated Autumnal countryside or the quiet city street that just seems a little too far off the beaten path, there is a masterfully crafted sense of isolation and off-kilter idiosyncrasy. A sense that it's characters have strayed outside not just the permitted path but something more fundamental altogether.It's a solid if perhaps unspectacular recommendation from me. A case study in how to effectively build a mood on the page, set the scene and layer on the tension. Certainly there's enough here to encourage me to check out the author's other work and see where it goes. In my experience as a reader it certainly occupies a unique niche of its own quite unlike more full-blown horror so worth checking out on that basis alone.

How likely are you to read a book that has been recommended to you?I'm very likely. In fact, some recommendations hold such weight, that I'll keep on reading a book, expecting to find the good parts. That's exactly what happened with Dark Entries. I saw Neil Gaiman's quote on the cover, and another one by Peter Straub in the book description and I wanted to see why they liked this book so much. Two authors that I like and respect, their recommendations sold me this book.This time, the recommendation failed. As soon as I started reading the book, I had a feeling that author wasn't for me. Although the book was written in the 60s, the style is pompous - unnecessarily hard-to-read and heavy. But I keep reading, after all, maybe I would find greatness in the next short story.There are six short stories in Dark Entries. And I didn't like any of them. Not much happens, the characters are shallow and uninteresting, and the plots are vague. Not once I felt compelled to keep on reading. I didn't feel many emotions at all either, not even a bit scared or tense. This book wasn't for me and I don't recommend it. All six stories are forgettable; the writing is so full of fluff and hard to read that it's not worth your time.

I picked this up because I had seen so many plaudits for Aickman for being a "magician" with horror and thriller storytelling. Kim Newman on the back of my copy notes "...the best, the subtlest and creepiest author of ghost stories". I didn't finish it - not because it was too scary or creepy but because Aickman's writing is clearly of its time and I suspect he was a very...old-fashioned...gent. I think that's a polite way of saying misogynist.

I enjoyed these stories, having read about Aickman in a recent newspaper article and deciding to buy on my Kindle. There are some strange and disturbing short stories in this book which I read exclusively in the dead of night, at, dare I say,it the witching hour. They were gloriously gothic in a mid-twentieth century way, and left a feeling of unease by the end, although admittedly endings do not seem to be his strong point. Perhaps he preferred to leave the ready off-balance, wondering what had actually just been described and leaving loose ends to prey on the mind afterwards. I shall try some more.

Robert Aickman has a knack of presenting “ghost” stories in such a subtle way that one almost forgets to be frightened. Beautiful writing.