'My Dancing Days Are Over' by Paul StJohn Mackintosh

I continue my reading of The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Mazes (Sarob 2020) Here is a neat little prequel to 'Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance', originally published in Ghosts & Scholars #34 (2018). I enjoyed it the first time, and it stands rereading.

The central premise is simple. The 'valentudinarian' Mr Wilson from whom Mr H. inherits Wilsthorpe writes a brief account of his involvement with his grandfather, James Wilson, who built the maze and the Temple of Friendship. There's an imaginative take on what the sinister chap was up to, and we discover why this warning was never received by Humphreys.

While a slight piece, it's atmospheric and recalls for me the power of the original story. In both cases  a man is confronted by a terrible truth, an inheritance that is tainted. One survives, the other pays the highest price.

Next up is 'The Outsider' by Rick Kennett.