Book Review: "Summoned to the Seance" ed. by Emily Vincent

Full Title = Summoned to the Seance: Spirit Tales from Beyond the Veil edited by Emily Vincent

I think that you're probably sick and tired of reading about me being obsessed with the British Library's output of things like 'Tales of the Weird' or, in the past collections such as 'Crime Classics'. But, I think this is important because recently I have become a bit sketchy on whether these are the best of the output. Of course, we have had some great anthologies in the distant past and over the last few years. However, these ones that have come out in late 2024 and early 2025 have not lived up to their hype at all. Unfortunately, though this collection has some stand out stories, this can also be said of Summoned to the Seance.

The opening story is Charles Dickens' Well-Authenticated Rappings which I thought was both good and nowhere near as good as Signal-Man. In this story, the narrator explores the peculiar phenomenon of spirit-rapping, a popular craze during the Victorian era. The story, told with Dickens’ characteristic wit and scepticism, recounts instances where individuals claim to communicate with the dead through mysterious knocks and taps. Among these anecdotes is the story of a family plagued by incessant rapping sounds, which they attribute to the supernatural.

As the tale unfolds, Dickens interweaves humour and social commentary, subtly mocking the credulity of those who embrace such occurrences as proof of life after death. The narrator, adopting a rational stance, often hints at more mundane explanations for the strange noises. Ultimately, the story is less a chilling ghost tale and more a satirical reflection on the human tendency to seek the extraordinary in the ordinary, capturing the Victorian fascination with spiritualism and its underlying absurdities. I mean, I understood why he was writing it this way and Dickens' writing is always awesome to read because of the lengthy descriptions and atmospheres. But I don't think it is a good idea to open a horror anthology with a story that has so much fun and wit in it. You really do set it up to be ridiculed by the reader.

In Jean Lorrain's The Spectral Hand, the narrator recounts a chilling and otherworldly experience during a visit to a secluded estate. The story centres on an enigmatic hand that appears to haunt the property, manifesting as a ghostly, disembodied presence. This spectral hand moves with malevolent intent, seemingly connected to a tragic and violent event in the estate’s history.

As the narrator delves deeper, they uncover a tale of betrayal and vengeance, with the hand symbolising the lingering power of unresolved guilt and retribution. The eerie encounters escalate, culminating in a terrifying confrontation that forces the narrator to flee, forever marked by the experience. Lorrain’s atmospheric prose creates a haunting blend of decadence and dread, capturing the supernatural as an unsettling intrusion into the decadent, aesthetic world of fin-de-siècle France (and you know how much I love and adore studying fin-de-siècle Europe!) . The story lingers as a meditation on guilt, punishment, and the persistence of the past. This one was probably my favourite out of the whole anthology. It was cold, it was decadent and it felt like it was alive. The only problem I had is that I think it is the shortest story in the whole book.

Following this and later on in the anthology, Jessie Adelaide Middleton's At a Séance, the narrator recounts an eerie experience during a séance hosted by an acquaintance. The gathering is intended as a light-hearted exploration of the supernatural, but events take a darker turn when the medium channels an unsettling presence. This spirit appears to focus its attention on one of the attendees, revealing intimate and disquieting details about their past.

As the séance continues, the atmosphere grows tense, and scepticism among the participants gives way to unease. The climactic moment comes when a physical manifestation occurs, terrifying everyone present and leaving the recipient of the spirit’s attention visibly shaken. The story explores themes of spiritual vulnerability and the thin boundary between curiosity and fear, weaving a tense and atmospheric narrative that reflects the period's fascination with séances and the mysteries of the afterlife. Again, a great story with a wonderful shift in atmosphere and yet, it is still a short one. As soon as I got into it, it was over.

There are many more stories in this anthology but these are the three that stood out to me. I wanted this anthology to be better, I really did. Where it was good, it was really good. I especially liked the story Playing with Fire by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. However, there was so much fluff that some of the stories really just began to sound the same. I wish I could have liked it more; it seemed like it was going to be so good.