A Pad in the Straw Christopher Woodforde 9781908274090 Books
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A Pad in the Straw Christopher Woodforde 9781908274090 Books
This evening I finished reading a short story collection from 1952 titled "A Pad in the Straw," by Christopher Woodforde. I first became aware of this book after reading one of the stories from it in another collection Dread and Delight: A Century of Children's Ghost Stories; the tale made such an impression on me that I thought I'd search out more by the author.I was not previously familiar with the slang term "A Pad in the Straw," which actually means "something amiss" (though it could also handily serve as a reference to the demonic little figurines made from straw that feature in one of the stories). As for what the book is about, well, let's just look at the back cover:
=========================================
"If you have ever stood in a lonely churchyard at dust, or thought the dark heart of a wood an eerie place at such a time, you will sense the magnetism of these subtly told stories, which have in them the prickle of terror.
"Most readers of ghost stories feel they have had their money's worth if the horrors are well done: Dr Woodforde not only creates the necessary atmosphere in which ghosts walk, but also tellingly mingles the past with the present. His haunted England can lie just off the noisy bypass or behind an aerodrome, where one might discover a church, or the library of an old manor, brooding on its sinister secret. The reader's interest never flags for these are tales of the supernatural told by a man of sensitive and subtle mind who knew exactly where suspense resides."
=========================================
I really enjoyed the twenty selections, which mostly have a subtle, classic ghost story/horror feel to them. Several of the tales are a bit vague, telling the reader WHAT happened while leaving the exact explanations/details as to WHY these things occurred to the imagination. Now, I find it rather irritating when an entire novel is written this way, leaving too much for the reader to puzzle out---but for these short stories, the style totally works. In fact, I would say the most effective, memorable, and creepy selections here are those which are just a bit misty around the edges, leaving some things unsaid. I'll definitely recommend this book for those who enjoy a good spooky (but not graphic) tale.
I became curious about the author, and found some information written about him by by Richard Dalby (from "Ghosts & Scholars 14: Writers in the James Tradition Number 11"):
==========================================
"The Very Reverend Dr Christopher Woodforde has always been regarded as one of the more controversial and unusual members of the 'James Gang'. His 'curious' and fantastic stories were originally narrated to schoolboys under his charge, and although they were revised and written for a much wider public, many readers still tend to pigeon-hole them as juvenile tales.
"His collection of twenty stories, A Pad in the Straw, was published in 1952 by J.M. Dent & Sons as a follow-up to their William Fryer Harvey titles Midnight Tales and The Arm of Mrs Egan, and similarly marketed as eerie "strange tales for the connoisseur". A Pad in the Straw was brought to Dent's attention and introduced by the eminent literary critic Lord David Cecil, who championed many other neglected writers (notably Barbara Pym) and - like Woodforde - was a Fellow of New College, Oxford.
"Although Woodforde has been compared to Harvey (especially when A Pad in the Straw and The Beast with Five Fingers were reissued by Dent as 'Aldine Paperbacks' in the early 1960s), he is certainly closer to MRJ with a distinctive antiquarian flavour, frequent settings in East Anglia, a vivid sense of the atmosphere of country churches and of the wealth of tradition symbolised by their medieval antiquities and everyday adjuncts: 'hassock and cassock, paraffin and pew'."
==========================================
A PAD IN THE STRAW has to my knowledge only been printed twice, once in hardcover and once in paperback. It's rather difficult to find today (a quick internet search yielded fewer than ten copies for sale on-line, with prices to match the rarity). So, this is one of those titles that it's worth keeping an eye out for.
I have to say, the paperback artwork combines just about every spooky cliché there is: glowing eyes, cemetery at night, open coffin with skeleton, see-through wraith in white, a bat, gothic ruins, leafless branches against a night sky, full moon partially hidden behind scudding clouds. Wow, what else can you fit in there?! And---it's absolutely marvellous---I love it! They just don't design book covers in this style any more; I think it's great. The hardcover dustjacket design is fine, but the paperback is more fun.
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A Pad in the Straw Christopher Woodforde 9781908274090 Books Reviews
This evening I finished reading a short story collection from 1952 titled "A Pad in the Straw," by Christopher Woodforde. I first became aware of this book after reading one of the stories from it in another collection Dread and Delight A Century of Children's Ghost Stories; the tale made such an impression on me that I thought I'd search out more by the author.
I was not previously familiar with the slang term "A Pad in the Straw," which actually means "something amiss" (though it could also handily serve as a reference to the demonic little figurines made from straw that feature in one of the stories). As for what the book is about, well, let's just look at the back cover
=========================================
"If you have ever stood in a lonely churchyard at dust, or thought the dark heart of a wood an eerie place at such a time, you will sense the magnetism of these subtly told stories, which have in them the prickle of terror.
"Most readers of ghost stories feel they have had their money's worth if the horrors are well done Dr Woodforde not only creates the necessary atmosphere in which ghosts walk, but also tellingly mingles the past with the present. His haunted England can lie just off the noisy bypass or behind an aerodrome, where one might discover a church, or the library of an old manor, brooding on its sinister secret. The reader's interest never flags for these are tales of the supernatural told by a man of sensitive and subtle mind who knew exactly where suspense resides."
=========================================
I really enjoyed the twenty selections, which mostly have a subtle, classic ghost story/horror feel to them. Several of the tales are a bit vague, telling the reader WHAT happened while leaving the exact explanations/details as to WHY these things occurred to the imagination. Now, I find it rather irritating when an entire novel is written this way, leaving too much for the reader to puzzle out---but for these short stories, the style totally works. In fact, I would say the most effective, memorable, and creepy selections here are those which are just a bit misty around the edges, leaving some things unsaid. I'll definitely recommend this book for those who enjoy a good spooky (but not graphic) tale.
I became curious about the author, and found some information written about him by by Richard Dalby (from "Ghosts & Scholars 14 Writers in the James Tradition Number 11")
==========================================
"The Very Reverend Dr Christopher Woodforde has always been regarded as one of the more controversial and unusual members of the 'James Gang'. His 'curious' and fantastic stories were originally narrated to schoolboys under his charge, and although they were revised and written for a much wider public, many readers still tend to pigeon-hole them as juvenile tales.
"His collection of twenty stories, A Pad in the Straw, was published in 1952 by J.M. Dent & Sons as a follow-up to their William Fryer Harvey titles Midnight Tales and The Arm of Mrs Egan, and similarly marketed as eerie "strange tales for the connoisseur". A Pad in the Straw was brought to Dent's attention and introduced by the eminent literary critic Lord David Cecil, who championed many other neglected writers (notably Barbara Pym) and - like Woodforde - was a Fellow of New College, Oxford.
"Although Woodforde has been compared to Harvey (especially when A Pad in the Straw and The Beast with Five Fingers were reissued by Dent as 'Aldine Paperbacks' in the early 1960s), he is certainly closer to MRJ with a distinctive antiquarian flavour, frequent settings in East Anglia, a vivid sense of the atmosphere of country churches and of the wealth of tradition symbolised by their medieval antiquities and everyday adjuncts 'hassock and cassock, paraffin and pew'."
==========================================
A PAD IN THE STRAW has to my knowledge only been printed twice, once in hardcover and once in paperback. It's rather difficult to find today (a quick internet search yielded fewer than ten copies for sale on-line, with prices to match the rarity). So, this is one of those titles that it's worth keeping an eye out for.
I have to say, the paperback artwork combines just about every spooky cliché there is glowing eyes, cemetery at night, open coffin with skeleton, see-through wraith in white, a bat, gothic ruins, leafless branches against a night sky, full moon partially hidden behind scudding clouds. Wow, what else can you fit in there?! And---it's absolutely marvellous---I love it! They just don't design book covers in this style any more; I think it's great. The hardcover dustjacket design is fine, but the paperback is more fun.
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