Joan Passey’s Cornish Horrors: Tales From the Land’s End is a well crafted theme anthology focusing upon strange and horrific tales relating to Cornwall. The stories in this collection were written over the better part of a century, ranging from the 1830’s all the way to 1912. They vary in subject matter, tone, style, and even the presence of the supernatural. The unifying elements are Cornwall and the out of the ordinary, a set of standards that creates an excellent assortment of stories for the reader.
“My Father’s Secret” is an anonymously published story from the 19th century. The tale is one of a man looking back at his life and history, wondering if he is a werewolf. He spends much of the tale relating a family history that lends some credence to this idea.
On page 50 there is a sentence that seems to be incomplete: “She never recovered her senses, and a few days after I was born.” This is in fact not an incomplete sentence, as becomes clear in later paragraphs. It is merely a slightly unusual use of the language.
The use of language is one of the highlights of this story, with careful and selective description leaving much in the mind of the reader, lending a monster that has become something of a cliché terrifying due to the scant details. This is all the more impressive for he’s more than a century and a half old. The use of family history, explaining the reasons that our narrator thinks he might have this problem, not only justifies the story title but also humanizes the man and his particular set of concerns.
Another interesting story in this collection would be “A Ghostly Visitation” by E.M. Bray. This is a very short piece, letters or journal entries from a young woman staying in a boarding house while she is in Cornwall. Similar to a great many gothic stories, this little piece might not be seen as directly horrific, but certainly includes the disturbing and supernatural.
There is some small moralizing in this piece, particularly related to religion and the supernatural; however, it is a credit to the author that even in this the reader is left with more questions than answers. The atmosphere and feeling of living in a boarding house, even for a short time, is impressively evoked in an extremely small word count. Further, whereas “My Father’s Secret” was almost entirely explanation in backstory, this piece features almost a complete lack of explanation as to any of the history that might explain the present goings-on.
As with most books in the British Library Tales of the Weird series, this volume features a wonderful introduction as well as short pieces about each story and it’s author, if known. These are each quite illuminating, and certainly appreciated to add context to the individual stories.
While there are tales by extremely well-known authors in this collection, it is the lesser known that seem most fascinating and impressive. For someone looking for stories featuring a darker Cornwall, this collection is absolutely not to be missed. For people looking to find a collection of older horror stories, this is also a very good pickup. The tales are interesting and all the more enjoyable for their surprises.
(British Library Press, 2021)
