‘The Burial of the Rats’ – Bram Stoker (Penguin)

 

Page Count: 138 Pages

‘The bones were still warm; but they were picked clean. They had even eaten their own dead.’

This spine-chilling collection from Bram Stoker showcases five haunting tales, including the newly discovered ‘Gibbet Hill’. From ‘Dracula’s Guest’, thought to be the original excised opening of Dracula itself, to the sinister ‘The Judge’s House’, each gripping story will leave you breathless, perhaps afraid to turn out the lights. Dare you explore the darkness?

Like I said yesterday, I came across ‘The Burial of the Rats’ (in Waterstones) and had the exact amount of change on me. That was all it took :o) A little bit impulsive of me but that’s half the fun of spending time in bookshops. And again, other than ‘Dracula’, I’d never read anything else of Stoker’s so it felt like a good time to do something about that.

Well, that’s exactly what I did, and…

I’ll be honest, none of the stories left me particularly breathless and when I went to bed last night, I still turned the light off. There were a couple of stories though that left me a little stunned and considering there are only five stories collected in this (very slim) volume, I’ll take that. The other three stories weren’t bad by any means, just didn’t leave the same kind of impression on me. And I know I always say this but that’s ok. It’s a rare collection where every story lands the same with the reader. The way I try and look at it is that my varying reactions, to each tale, means that other readers will also have varying reactions and that means there is something here for everybody.

Anyway…

This collection feels more like an ‘autumn or winter’ read (you know, when you’re tucked up in the warm, reading something ‘dark and cold’…) but I read it over a ‘slightly too warm’ June afternoon and still came away with a sense of being alone in the wilderness (urban or otherwise) with something inexplicable just about to occur. And again, I’ll take that. Not every story was a winner but there was enough about each one to keep me reading the whole way through. Let me tell you about them…

‘Dracula’s Guest’

In which an English tourist decides to go against the advice of the locals. stepping way off the beaten track to go hunting for an abandoned (and possibly haunted) village on the worst possible night…

You can tell that I wasn’t too impressed by this opening tale and if this was the excised original opening for ‘Dracula’, I’m not too surprised that it didn’t make the final cut. This is a tale that is positively overflowing with just the right kind of atmosphere (if you want oppressive and brooding, you’ve come to the right place) but there doesn’t seem to be an awful lot of point to it and the ending leaves a lot more questions than I felt it should have done. Maybe ‘Dracula’s Guest’ would have read differently if it had been left as part of something longer?

‘The Judge’s House’

In which a student looking to get some revision in, ahead of exams, picks a haunted house to stay in while he revises; again, against the advice of everyone who knows better…

Ignore my slightly sarcastic tone here, I actually loved ‘The Judge’s House’ and to be honest, this should have been the title of the collection. It’s easily the standout tale here, I’m just a little annoyed at coming across another lead who thinks he knows better than everyone else ;o)

Anyway… ‘The Judge’s House’ is just chilling, both in the buildup and how the finale plays out (it really could play out either way, thanks to some unexpected allies). If there’s one story here that would encourage me to seek out more of Stoker’s short fiction, ‘The Judge’s House’ is it.

‘Gibbet Hill’

In which a man, on a day trip, learns a hard lesson about talking to strangers…

I liked the weirdness of this tale, how something unexplainable can be right in front of you and you don’t even realise until it’s potentially too late (and some of the imagery employed here is pretty unsettling). The choice of narrator kind of gives the game away though so the ending felt like an anti-climax from where I was sat.

‘The Squaw’

In which a tourist makes an enemy of a particularly vengeful cat…

‘The Squaw’ is the other standout tale here; not as hard hitting as ‘The Judge’s House’ but still a step above the other tales here. As soon as Hutcheson tells his tale of the Squaw, you know what’s coming but Stoker really nails the balance between that inevitability and keeping the final spectacle a secret until the right moment. By the time I got there, I was on the edge of my seat and Stoker made the wait worthwhile.

‘The Burial of the Rats’

In which an English tourist, in Paris, falls foul of the underworld and learns that Parisian criminals have a novel way of disposing of incriminating evidence…

Another tale that is brimming with atmosphere, and some grotesque imagery (along with its implications) that unfortunately comes slightly at the expense of the plot. ‘The Burial of the Rats’ takes its sweet time to get going but when it does, proved to be worth sticking around for. Just a bit of a shame that the immersive background (gorgeous as it was) took precedence. That may well be a matter of my preferences though, anyone else here read this tale?

Not a bad read, all in all, then. If I come across any more of Bram Stoker’s short fiction, I’d definitely be inclined to give it a go based on what I read here.