#39. Non Fiction Recommended By A Friend – The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale (Paperback)

I love ghost stories. I don’t think Christmas or Halloween would be the same if I didn’t get to read or watch a good ghostly tale. Do I believe in ghosts? I’m not sure. It’s a question that is always open to discussion, especially when darkness falls and you’re staying in a really old house for the weekend! I don’t believe that spirits walk the earth, but then there are some things that defy explanation. There will always be those that can engineer ghostly experiences, but should we quickly dispel those people who would swear to their dying day that they had seen a ghost?  Could it be simply explained that it was just a trick of the light, or perhaps something more obscure? I would love to have the definitive answer, but that would spoil the magic of the ghost story. 

“It is 1938. As the shadow of fascism darkens over Europe, strange things are happening in Alma Fielding’s suburban home in Croydon. Crockery flies off the shelves; stolen rings appear on Alma’s fingers, and white mice scuttle out of her handbag.

 

Nandor Fodor – chief ghost hunter for the International Institute for Psychical Research – arrives on the scene, determined to crack the case. As Fodor’s obsession deepens, and Alma becomes ever more disturbed, the pair find themselves in a treacherous battle of wills...” 

The Haunting of Alma Fielding is not a ghost story in the sense of a fun supernatural tale. The book examines early 20^th century history, what people were experiencing at the time, and what their beliefs were. The narrative is carefully woven around lengthy historical details, but they are so intriguing, you don’t want to put the book down. It is hard to believe whether the episodes Alma Fielding experienced were real, or if they were the work of a very clever trickster. Kate Summerscale has researched these events, and whilst she treats Alma with respect and dignity, the facts are laid before the reader so that they can reach their, hopefully unbiased, conclusions about both Alma Fielding and Nandor Fodor.

Lord Rothermere had brought Nandor Fodor, a Jewish Hungarian journalist, to the UK in the 1930s as an adviser on Hungarian affairs. He was also the chief investigator for the International Institute for Psychical Research, trying to uncover whether weird experiences were governed by spirits. He wanted to find out the truth as to whether there was life after death. Fodor wondered whether strange manifestations were a catalogue of marvels, signs of mental breakdown, or nothing but pranks and petty crimes.

When thirty-four-year-old Alma Fielding, an ordinary housewife, was recovering from a bout of ill health, she reported strange happenings in her bedroom. Objects started to fly about her head. Understandably she was terrified. Events were witnessed by newsmen who came to see what all the fuss was about. They claimed they had seen an egg flying towards them, coal appearing to float above the grate, and a tin opener suddenly tearing a gash across Alma’s thumb. Would Alma finally be the person who could assist Foder with his investigations into the paranormal?

Super Naturally Good Tales!

Winter is the perfect opportunity for catching up on your reading list, especially Christmas when it is dark outside, and inside Christmas lights and flickering candles create the perfect ambience for a ghostly tale. Whilst M R James and Sheridan Le Fanu are my usual Christmas go-to authors, it’s nice when unexpected delights fall into the Christmas reading pile. Here are four thumping good reads to pass the dreary nights of winter with.

Now fans of Tom Burke will know that the author Arthur Calder-Marshall is Tom’s maternal grandfather, I’ve been interested to read some of his work for a while, so I was delighted when I came across a couple of second-hand books written by him.

If you love a good haunted house tale, then this first story is certainly a book for you, it is suitably eerie and will give you the required goose bumps when reading!

The Scarlet Boy – Arthur Calder-Marshall

The tale is narrated by George Grantley. He receives a letter from his friend Sir Christopher “Kit” Everness in 1959, proclaiming it was time for the Everness family to settle down, and would George assist them in finding their dream home. The family specify that the house has to be in Wilchester, close to a day school as their daughter, Rosa, hates the boarding school she goes to, and be a large, run down property with a garden that they can make their own.

George agrees to the task and learns that Anglesey House is up for sale and he thinks it would be perfect. George remembers the property from when he was a child, playing with his friend Charles Scarlet. Although they were friends, George remembered that Charles was a wilful and vicious child, wanting to play games involving torture. It was as though Charles was possessed by the spirit of someone else. He had a tree house in the garden and whilst still a child he fell and broke his neck. George had always been fond of Charles’s mother as she was “beautiful and gracious” unlike his own mother, so he continued to visit the house even after Charles’s suicide.

“A disturbing adult novel of an innocents encounter with unearthly evil...”

George tells Kit that he has found a house for the family, but rumours abound that the place is haunted. Kit takes no heed of George’s warning and so the family moves in…