The Monkey's Paw Bloke

It's both a blessing and a curse to be well known for just one achievement in a long life of literary work. That is the case with Mary Shelley - Frankenstein is iconic, 'The Last Man' and 'The Mortal Immortal' are minor curiosities. The same can be said for William Wymark Jacobs, whose story 'The Monkey's Paw' is familiar to millions. But he wrote dozens of stories, many of them very good. Which brings me to an excellent essay on W.W. Jacobs, which can be read here.

The delightful title - 'The Mozart of the English Ghost Story' - certainly lays down a marker. And the author goes a long way to justify his high opinion of a writer much admired by Wodehouse, among others. As often happens, Jacobs moved between the comical and the Gothic, as was also the case with John Dickson Carr and of course M.R. James. Comedy and horror are closely allied.

Jacobs’s story The Boatswain’s Mate was made into an enjoyable comic opera in 1913, with libretto and music by Ethel Smyth. One wonders why, with the continuing popularity of Dad’s Army, no one has televised Jacobs’s beautifully plotted and very spirited stories. Perhaps their endings, which often turn verbally on a penny, would be difficult to bring off visually.

Well worth a read, and the blog is a repository of information, opinion, and some classic stories available to read online.

Don't do it Homer!