Thomas Carnacki is a fictional occult detective created by English fantasy writer William Hope Hodgson. Carnacki was the protagonist of a series of six short stories published between 1910 and 1912. These stories were printed together as Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder in 1913.
Somewhere along the way, William Meikle picked up the torch and continued the tradition begun by Hodgson more than a century ago. Carnacki - The Edinburgh Townhouse is Meikle's third such collection.
The basic formula for these stories hasn't changed in over a hundred years, yet the stories are fresh as anything being written today.
The Photographer's Friend - The tale of a studio photographer with an unusual problem. An image which appears in all of the photos he takes, potentially destroying his livelihood. ...a bloated, gray form, almost the size of a soccer ball and hunched like a squat curmudgeonly toad, which was there in every photograph...
Fins In the Fog - The story of a shark with revenge on its mind. Featuring Captain Gault, a pirate, of sorts, who is being chased by a shark, even on land.
The Cheyne Walk Infestation - One of Carnacki's dinner parties is attacked by creepy crawly thingies.
An Unexpected Delivery - Thomas Carnacki is questioned by Scotland Yard in the death of his old friend George Edwards as a cursed locket comes into his possession.
A Sticky Wicket - I love the title of this tale of a problem at a local cricket club where the home team seems to be at a mysterious disadvantage.
The King's Treasure - A King's treasure and a curse to boot as Carnacki's friend and pirate, Captain Gault, is once again over his head with the occult. "Aye," Gault replied. "Every time we try to make a dive. I've got blasted air giving out, lines getting fouled, anchors not taking grip on the sea bed, and suits springing mystery leaks; Any one of them I'd be able to shrug off as a minor problem, but all of them at once? It's too much to be mere happenstance.'
Mr. Churchill's Surprise - One of my favorite tales in this collection. One of Carnacki's infrequent encounters with Winston Churchill. What you are about to see is the best kept secret in the country at the moment, and we must ensure it remains that way. Apart from my chaps on guard here, there's only ten people know of it, and you are the tenth.
The Edinburgh Townhouse - A delightful tale of a haunted townhouse with a touch of romance.
A Night In the Storeroom - What lurks in the storeroom beneath the British Museum Library? "There was another grunt, louder than ever, and a shuffle, followed by a high screech as crates were roughly shoved aside as if they were empty."
Into the Light - Winston Churchill once again calls upon the services of Thomas Carnacki. In this tale we learn that summoning a demon is one thing and controlling it is quite another.
I greatly enjoyed the storytelling which often takes place after a nice meal with friends and retiring to the library for drinks and smokes. The style is not dissimilar to that of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, even though the tales themselves are decidedly different.
Now I'm going to have to go back and read Meikle's previous Carnacki collections, Carnacki Heaven and Hell and Carnacki: The Watcher At the Gate.
Carnacki: The Edinburgh Townhouse and Other Stories in both paperback and ebook formats.
From the author's bio - William Meike is a Scottish writer, now living in Canada, with twenty novels published in the genre press and over 300 short story credits in thirteen countries. He lives in Newfoundland with whales, bald eagles, and icebergs for company and when he's not writing he drinks beer, plays guitar and dreams of fortune and glory.
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