The next story in Uncertainties IV continues the theme of dysfunctional families. This is interesting in itself, as the traditional ghost story often concerns dubious shenanigans between relatives. One thinks of M.R. James' 'Lost Hearts', or 'The Tractate Middoth'. But here there is a greater sense of intimacy, as in Brian Evenson's innocent but haunted boy who becomes obsessed with his late great-grandmother.The old lady said a few things in her native tongue that haunted the narrator, who eventually teases out the truth - or versions of it - concerning a dead child. There are some nice foreshadowings, as when the old lady uses a pencil to communicate as she can't speak. This hints at spirit writing by mediums. The central idea of the myling - a kind of half-ghost of an unwanted child - is arresting, and the ending is sufficiently ambiguous to allow a rational get out. But only just.
This is another excellent story, and all credit for Timothy J. Jarvis for choosing it. More from this running review soon, I hope.
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