Literary Hauntings

Tartarus Press have just announced publication of Literary Hauntings, a guide to the real locations of 267 fictional ghost stories in the UK and Ireland. I worked with Ray and Ros at Tartarus on this project, and have contributed some of the entries. 

This was great fun, involving rereading many classic tales and looking out for clues, in a tantalising game of literary detection. It is surprising how often a story seems to be well-rooted in a particular local landscape, but not in a way that you can pin down. And then, of course, there are those that begin after this fashion: "It was in the year 18-- that I made my way to my great-uncle's lonely house in the remote moorland of ---shire," or "When I became the cathedral organist in the ancient and picturesque city of Westchester, I little thought . . ."

Groan! 

Even so, there were other authors who were surprisingly specific in some of their locations. H R Wakefield, for example, clearly has in mind a particular hotel in Ireland for one of his ghostly fishing yarns, which I was able to locate, but he also set another one, unexpectedly, at a reservoir near Tring, Hertfordshire.

One of the insights the guide demonstrates amply enough is that the literary ghost story is not only set in the obvious places such as ruined abbeys, crumbling castles, churchyards and remote country. There are all sorts of venues here, including railway stations (and trains), a golf club, a football ground, and suburban back-streets. 

Similarly, though we hope we've identified the topography of many well-loved classics in the field, the guide also discusses unfamiliar pieces, and modern and contemporary, even experimental, stories. 

Each entry provides a short summary of the relevant story and the significance of its setting, and we have in each case provided a postcode which will take you as exactly as we can to the place in question. We also say whether there is public access. Whether you will want to visit after you find out what is supposed to be there is a matter for your discretion . . .

And whether you keep the book in the glove compartment or back seat of your car, or in your rucksack, for intrepid adventures while out and about, or simply indulge in armchair browsing, we hope you'll find plenty to enjoy in the guide.

(Mark Valentine)