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Take Aickman's cold hand into a strange literary world
Robert Aickman (1914-1981), though he wrote plays and was active in the preservation of England's waterways, is best know for what he referred to as his "strange stories". Those seeking easy genre labels will, no doubt, insist on filing these stories away in the horror section. While this is not a completely inappropriate classification, it is more often than not misleading. At their best, Aickman's "strange stories" often possess many of the qualities of the horror genre (being weird, eerie, grotesque, etc.) while also sidestepping the conventional trappings of the field. My favorite Aickman stories leave me with a sense of unease and grim wonder beyond the ability of any other author I have ever read, the "horror" springing from subconscious realms and working upon those same areas in the psyche of the reader. Themes of alienation, squandered time, and sexual tension seem to be common in Aickman's work and "Cold Hand in Mine" contains elements of all three.

The book contains eight pieces:

"The Swords", "The Real Road to the Church", Niemandswasser", "Pages from a Young Girl's Journal", "The Hospice", "The Same Dog", "Meeting Mr. Millar" and "The Clock Watcher".

The most conventional piece in this collection, and thereby the most atypical for Aickman, is the award winning "Pages from a Young Girl's Journal". This is a fairly straightforward vampire narrative and, while certainly worth reading, not my favorite Aickman story.

All of the pieces in this book, in fact, are worth reading if you are interested in uncommon and literate fiction. There are, however, standout stories. For me these are (in order of appearance):

"The Swords" - An uneasy tale of sexual awakening, exploitation, and high sideshow weirdness with a strange young lady named Madonna (long before and definitely not the pop star).

"The Real Road to the Church" - A quite unconventional "ghost" story in which an unfulfilled woman comes face to face with. . .herself?

"The Hospice" - A motorist lost and low on gas spends a night in the title establishment. A tense and claustrophobic story that impresses itself upon one's mind like a bad dream.

"The Same Dog" - Love lost and cycles beyond human perception.

These four are Aickman at his unsettling and ambiguous best. You will find yourself captivated, moved and shaken by these stories and, if you are at all like me, you will not be sure what has actually happened in the narrative or why it has effected you. Rereading is almost imperative with Aickman's work if you seek to understand it.

Buy this book today if it is available (and consider yourself lucky if it is - it is a tragedy that Aickman's work is so difficult to come by).