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b"I\\u2019m fond of E F Benson\\u2019s writing and once again like the Room in the Tower this has a dreamlike quality. The horror is produced from some kind of vision that the narrator, Everard, has.\\xa0 He has a vision of antiquity, and a horrible antiquity at that, of little Picts! (My ancestors!!!)It\\u2019s a funny story in that it purports to be a Christmas Story and certainly the first part has all the elements: the snow outside, the cosy country house, the fire.Then we go back to a year before and I\\u2019m unclear why, because we have Country House at Christmas: Vision: Then October in the Scottish Highlands lost in the mist.\\xa0 There is just a presentiment of horror and in that it is almost Lovecraftian, albeit\\xa0 more subtly. I think this story would be more correctly characterised as a weird tale rather than a ghost story. Certainly there is no ghost as such.The horror is unexplained other than to say he was horrified by the bestiality of the inhabitants even though they don\\u2019t harm him. He should live round here.There are folk horror themes in that it references horrid rural people with their vile lives that scare good urban chaps like Everard. The Scottish gillie Sandy (what else!) shows a primitive fear of the little folk.He also has a way of layering clauses within clauses in his writing which makes it hard to read out loud!Proust does that too. I won\\u2019t be reading him.So, not my favourite though it is a Christmas Story to be read just before Christmas.Onward!Check out the Website. It\\u2019s growing. http://bit.ly/ClassicGhostStoriesPodcast (http://bit.ly/ClassicGhostStoriesPodcast)There\\u2019s always the matter of support. You can buy a Classic Ghost Stories Podcast T-shirt now via the website. How \\u2018bout that?And there\\u2019s Kofi https://ko-fi.com/tonywalker (https://ko-fi.com/tonywalker)And Patreon https://www.patreon.com/barcud (https://www.patreon.com/barcud)I\\u2019m off on a boat to Amsterdam tomorrow. You bet your bottom dollar I\\u2019ll be looking out for ghosts among the Christmas lights!Tonyhttps://www.patreon.com/barcud (Support the show) (https://www.patreon.com/barcud)Support the showVisit us here: www.ghostpod.orgBuy me a coffee if you're glad I do this: https://ko-fi.com/tonywalkerIf you really want to help me, become a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/barcudMusic by The Heartwood Institute: https://bit.ly/somecomeback\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices"