A clement evening in the garden accompanied our discussion about Robin’s Ghostly Goings On themed choices
Reading: The Haunting of Hill House (1959) by Shirley Jackson
It was, he opined, an atmospheric, subtle and creepy exploration of madness, acceptance, and the supernatural.
Shirley Jackson cleverly allows readers to draw their own conclusions as the notorious Hill House starts to affect its visitors
Roland enjoyed Dr. Montague, a scholar looking to research a haunting; his playful assistant Theodora; Luke, the heir to Hill House; and the more fragile and damaged Eleanor however felt a promising start gave way to boredom.
Tristan felt it was boring and full of caricatures.
Nigel appreciated the growing sense of unease, and how it was slightly leavened by Mrs Dudley the housekeeper, whose pedantic insistence on a strict timetable is very funny, and latterly by Mrs. Montague, wife of the doctor, and her friend Arthur, who are hilarious and believe they are attuned to spiritual vibrations but both lack even the most basic levels of self awareness.
Nick welcomed the humorous interludes but felt the book collapsed midway
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| Keith "felt dated" |
Keith felt it was dated but ambitious
Hamish felt the humour did little to reduce the growing sense of dread and foreboding, or the impact of a fittingly memorable conclusion.
The Haunting of Hill House is a brilliantly told old school ghost story where the fear and apprehension primarily reside within the mind.
Nick 1.5 / Tristan 3 / Nigel 8 / Keith 4 / Roland 2 / Robin 7 / Hamish 6
Listening: Robin’s Ghost Playlist
Quality maintained with The Specials - always evokes the 80s inner city riots
We’d never given Mumford & Sons floor space having been negatively influenced by the fact that so many people hate them coz they’re privileged - alright we supposed but we couldn’t escape our conditioning
Ghosts by Japan - always been a favourite. Still sounds magnificent. Strange, other worldly vibe and David Sylvain’s vocals are perfect
Ghostpoet is wonderful. Another nice selection
Bruce Springsteen is another artist we’ve never really enjoyed, the odd song aside, The Ghost of Tom Joad is, objectively, fine but still couldn’t get enthused
Ghosts by The Jam is great - but then The Jam are always wonderful.
Ghost Riders in the Sky by Johnny Cash is another firm favourite
Laura Marling is someone we feel we should like more. We do like her but cannot feel passionate about her. Her “Ghosts” is alright. Nick had a ticket to go see her before this infernal lockdown commenced.
Radiohead’s Give Up The Ghost was a new song for many. Rather lovely innit?
Birdy was v pleasant if a bit anodyne - there’s a lot of this stuff around
Nick Cave’s Ghosteen is too polite and mannered. We like to hear the Bad Seeds rock out
Placebo and Sleeping with Ghosts is a good closer. Another new one to many of us, and a goodie
Watching: The Devil’s Backbone (2001) dir by Guillermo del Toro
A splendid film. The cast are excellent.
Orphanages are inherently scary and creepy. Santi aka "the one who sighs" was well done
The Spanish Civil War on the margins of the story was powerful and convincing
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| Nick reliving Pompey penalty miss |
The orphans were supposed to represent the Republicans
Subtitles were terrible though - v American (eg chickenshit, faggot etc)
The baddie was proper bad - and we loved the way the gold was ultimately his undoing as he was reunited with Santi in a watery grave
Nick 8 / Tristan 7 / Nigel 8 / Keith 4 / Roland 6 / Robin 8 / Hamish DNF
Endorse It
I May Destroy You (BBC iPlayer)
Beck (musical artist - see Guardian best tracks list)
The Eddy (Netflix)
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020) film (Netflix)
Khruangbin (LP)
Graham Swift - We Are Here Now (Book)
Succession (Sky TV)
Seek (Plant and insect app)
