Spinach

Fiction ~ short story
Published in Hutchinson's Magazine, May 1924
Collected in Spook Stories (1928)
6,570 words
(First read 17/08/2012) 

So-called automatic writing

Spinach is one of EFB's rare comic spook stories¹.  Or rather, it starts off promisingly as a comic story, degenerates into a humdrum spook story, and only comes alive again in the last paragraph.
Brother and sister Ludovic and Sylvia Byron are a couple of phoney mediums ... oh don't listen to me, here's Fred's opening paragraph, the best in the story:

Ludovic Byron and his sister Sylvia had adopted these pretty, though quite incredible, names because those for which their injudicious parents and godparents were responsible were not so suitable, though quite as incredible.  They rightly felt that there was a lack of spiritual suggestiveness in Thomas and Caroline Carrot which would be a decided handicap in their psychical careers, and would cool rather than kindle the faith of those inquirers who were so eager to have séances with the Byrons.

Spinach (not actually relevant)

EFB has great fun describing their methods and results, as he always does when poking fun at fake spiritists.  Anyway, one of their top customers, Mrs Sapson ('a large, emphatic widow'), arranges for them to go and spend a holiday at her recently vacated cottage near Rye².  There they discover that they have genuine mediumistic powers and are actually able to photograph the extremely 'fresh' ghost that besieges them, though one suspects he would have manifested himself to pretty much anyone who happened to be available.  I'll not give away the climax ~ just say that I found it only mildly amusing.
So: starts well, long saggy middle section, ends well.  It's available online here.

¹ For the others click on the 'comic spook' tag.
² Yes, actually named as such, for once.

Mrs Andrews's Control

Fiction ~ short story
Published September 1915
Approx. 3,200 words
(First read 26/12/1994)

Mrs Henry Andrews and her husband live in extreme happiness and comfort together at Oakley¹.  Mrs is a chronic faddist: having worked her way through every diet in the book, she moves on to matters psychical.  Cartomancy, Christian Science, astrology, palmistry, and (her husband having now joined her) finally they hit on automatic writing².  Sadly, though they produce reams and reams, none of it is intelligible.  Success arrives when they decide to hold a pencil together rather than one each.  A 'control' by the name of Pocky quickly 'comes through' and makes himself useful, advising Mr A on his investments, etc.  But what is this? ~ 'the German war' breaks out³, Pocky becomes 'patriotic and truculent', changes his name to Pocksky and throws his weight behind the Russians before the author administers the coup de grâce.  A thoroughly fun read, Benson at his satirical best.  Available online here (in The Countess of Lowndes Square and Other Stories) and in Fine Feathers and Other Stories (1994).


¹ EFB's novel The Oakleyites appeared in the same year: it too featured a Mrs Andrews much like this one ...
² Psychography is the technical term, apparently.
³ The actual term EFB uses: luckily it never reached Capri.  I know, I know, I'm unkind to him on this subject, and it's utterly uncalled-for.