The contributors to The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Follies and Grottoes are an erudite lot, as you might imagine. Katherine Haynes' contribution is an interesting trip down some of the byways of the Romantic movement.
A writer, Estelle, discovers a lost manuscript by the novelist Thomas Love Peacock, author of such satires as Nightmare Abbey, Gryll Grange, and Headlong Hall. Mothrot Hall is, it transpires, a fiction based on a real place, Minnow Court. It is now a boarding school, and Estelle sets off to explore the house and its environs. She uncovers some unsavory details of the Minnow family, and explores a grotto. A nice twist is Estelle persuading some of the schoolgirls to pose as a character from Peacock's book, in the grotto and around the grounds. The idea is to use the pictures to help promote the upcoming book.
Gradually the various strands of the story come together. The enigmatic girl chosen as the model, Lydia, starts to fascinate Estelle. Strange glitches appear in the digital photographs, but only those taken in the grotto. There are hints of a haunting and perhaps something else. Mystery predominates, as opposed to horror, and there are also some lighter touches, such as invented names for Peacock characters.
So, another entertaining tale from this anthology. I hope to have more to say about it very soon.
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| Thomas Love Peacock (1785-1866) |
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