Officiële naam: Everett, Henrietta Dorothy
Pseudoniemen en naamsvarianten: Douglas, Theo (pseudonym)
Huskisson, Henrietta Dorothy (birthname)
Geboortedatum: 1851
Overlijdensdatum: 1923
Geslacht: female
Korte biografie: Henrietta Dorothy Everett (1851 - 1923), who wrote under the nom de plume 'Theo Douglas', began her writing career at the age of forty-four. During the next twenty-five years, from 1896 to 1920, twenty-two books appeared bearing the name Theo Douglas, published by seventeen different publishers. Her true identity wasn't revealed until 1910. The Death-Mask and Other Ghosts was first published in 1920 and it is one of her only books to omit the name 'Theo Douglas'.

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At least half her 22 novels had fantasy and supernatural content. In Iras: A Mystery (1896) an egyptologist unwraps an ancient Mummy, the beautiful Iras, who awakens from suspended animation. They fall in love and marry, but Iras is gradually transformed back into a mummy as seven magic pendants are removed individually from her necklace by various means. The Soul of the heroine of Nemo (1900) possesses and animates an Automaton against her will. One or Two (1907) is a grotesque account of the success of a fat woman in making herself thin by spiritualist means. Malevola (1914) is a psychic-Vampire story: the mysterious Madame Thérèse Despard is able to draw into herself the beauty and vitality of another during the process of massage. TD reverted to her own name for her final book, a collection of traditional Ghost Stories, The Death-Mask, and Other Ghosts (1920; exp 1995). Other works include Three Mysteries (1904); A White Witch (1908); Cousin Hugh (1910); White Webs (1912); Hadow of Shaws (1913); The Grey Countess (1913).

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The crimson blind : and other stories door Theo Douglas

This collection of supernatural stories is by Henrietta Dorothy Everett or H.D. Everett, aka Theo Douglas, who was well-known in her day but mostly forgotten now. She was one of the last writers of Victorian ghost stories, and this collection reflects that–World War I is often mentioned in the stories. Sometimes the reference is incidental–a character is described as going off the war–but a couple stories directly involve the war. In “Over the Wires”, a soldier searches for his fiancee, who has gone missing in the tumult of the war. “A Perplexing Case” deals with two men injured in the war.

Everett’s stories are very readable and well-constructed. For example, in the longest story in the collection, “The Next Heir”, she effectively balances various supernatural concepts, which hasn’t always worked in some other ghost stories that I’ve read. She tends to avoid the tragic or shocking endings that are common in ghost stories–not that every ending is happy, but many violent ends that could happen given the situations don’t occur. Although the book was pleasant and went fast, I don’t know how memorable most of the stories will be except for the first one–”The Death Mask”. Although this story is short and you can tell where it’s going after a bit, it was memorably creepy. I also liked “The Crimson Blind”, which had a different take on a concept I’d seen before–various disturbing events are observed on the blind of a house. “The Water Witch” was a melancholy story about a lonely wife who is affected by the hauntings in her new house. One notable thing about that one was the rather unsympathetic, judgmental narrator, the sister-in-law of the wife–I wasn’t sure if she would have been as unsympathetic at the time the story was written.… (meer)

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DieFledermaus | 1 andere bespreking | Jul 30, 2022 |

The Death-Mask and Other Ghosts door H. D. Everett

Another relatively obscure collection of so-called "Jamesian" ghost stories. The problem with most of these is they are really not actually; what would better describe them is Victorian supernatural stories that happen to be contemporaneous with [a:M.R. James|2995925|M.R. James|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1254798756p2/2995925.jpg]. They partake of little of the Jamesian dictum that the ghosts need to be malevolent and the chief menace seems to involve the protagonist's ability to be easily frightened. Granted, there was certainly a heightened sensibility when these stories were written that doesn't date them well beyond their quaint novelty today. By contrast James's stories often remain potent even today. Still they are well written if not particularly memorable.

There are less expensive collections of these stories out there than this ridiculously dear Ghost Story Press edition. I know there is a Wordsworth mmpb and I think the ebook of the original edition may even be in the public domain in the US. As it is, other than the dj, this edition is unimpressively produced except for its rarity, there being a lot of dropped, incorrect, and misplaced words in the text.… (meer)

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Gumbywan | Jun 24, 2022 |

The Crimson Blind and Other Stories (Tales of… door H. D. Everett

The Crimson Blind & Other Stories by H. D. Everett is an excellent collection of Victorian-style ghost stories written during the years 1896-1920. Though fairly standard themes and settings are prevalent amongst the sixteen stories, they all somehow still seem fresh and intriguing, due largely to Everett’s conversational narrative style and her flowing storytelling craft. Unsurprisingly, the ravages and human toll of World War I figure in many of the ghostly tales, that being fertile ground for the day’s authors within the supernatural genre. Standout stories in this anthology include: (1) Richard Quinton, in line to inherit a sizable estate, learns that the property comes with strange encumbrances in “The Next Heir”; (2) a young couple on holiday experiences an uncanny encounter in the heartbreaking “Anne’s Little Ghost”; (3) a widower finds that the presence of his deceased wife persists in “The Death Mask”; (4) a surprise companion joins Tom Pulteney during a dangerous trek along “The Lonely Road”; and (5) Ernest Carrington receives a eerie series of telephone calls in “Over the Wires”.… (meer)

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ghr4 | 1 andere bespreking | Dec 19, 2018 |

Lonely Haunts: Six Ghost Stories / The Death Mask… door Thomas Graham Jackson

Fans of obscure or long-forgotten ghost-story writers will most certainly welcome this collection by Coachwhip, a "one-man publishing venture" with a lot of very cool titles.

Lonely Haunts is composed of twenty stories written by two different authors, neither of which I've ever heard of before reading this book. The first author is Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, who reveals in the preface to his collection that his stories "were written in idle hours for the amusement of the home circle"; he also notes that M.R. James (noted here not by name but as "the author of Ghost Stories of an Antiquary") lays down two conditions for a good story of the kind." The first is that the "setting of the scene must be in ordinary life...so that one may say "This might happen now, and to me," and the second is "that the ghost must be malevolent," a rule that Jackson decided to "violate" in two of his stories. I'll leave it to potential readers to discover which stories those are. There are, of course, six tales here all of which make for great ghostly reading.

The second author is even more obscure, since Jackson was actually renowned for his architectural work, and that is Mrs. H.D. Everett, whose The Death Mask and Other Ghosts was published in 1920. As the back-cover blurb of my book notes, her tales are a mix of "...ghost stories, with family haunts, communication from the other side, malevolent curses, and more." This is certainly true -- there is a good and varied selection of tales here that keep the reading fun without becoming too repetitious, which is always an issue in any ghost-story collection by a single author. Some tend to follow along the same lines, but even so, they are definitely original in the telling.

Overall, Lonely Haunts is a lovely, haunting, and seriously page-flipping collection, and even better, it's my introduction to two more obscure writers, which is a major big deal for me. Not all of the stories reach greatness, but I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't highly entertained by the entire book. Anyone can read what's current or read tales from the past that are already very well known, but for me there's so much more pleasure to be had in discovering forgotten writers and their stories that I never knew existed.

Coachwhip guy -- keep up the good work! I've read two Coachwhip collections now and have been blown away by both. Highly recommended for that reader who wants something new in old ghostly fiction.

more at my reading journal.… (meer)

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bcquinnsmom | Nov 27, 2016 |

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