In her first collection, award-winning author Helen Grant plumbs the depths of the uncanny: Ten fathoms down, where the light filtering through the salt water turns everything grey-green, something awaits unwary divers. A self-aggrandising art critic travelling in rural Slovakia finds love with a beauty half his age-and pays the price. In a small German town, a nocturnal visitor preys upon children; there is a way to keep it off-but the ritual must be perfect. A rock climber dares to scale a local crag with a diabolical reputation, and makes a shocking discovery at the top. In each of these seven tales, unpleasantries and grotesqueries abound-and Grant reminds us with each one that there can be fates even worse than death.

This book was provided for free by the Author and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

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Last year, I read and reviewed Helen Grant’s novel Too Near Dead, and she was kind enough to offer me a copy of her short story collection, The Sea Change & Other Stories, to review. I’d be very impressed with Too Near Dead and couldn’t say “yes please!” fast enough! As expected, this short story collection was a wonderful read. Keep reading to find out what made it so great!

The Sea Change & Other Stories is Grant’s debut collection, featuring seven short stories that were written for contests and other publications. There’s a lovely little “Story Notes” section at the back of the book, which was a fascinating read. I love when authors include these notes about short stories as they give you so much insight about the stories which I personally find adds a deeper dynamic to the stories. It was very interesting to read about how each of these stories was created and for what reason, especially as I had no idea about some of the origins of some of them.

Here are my thoughts on each of the individual stories.

Grauer Hans

In a town in Germany, a woman looks back on her childhood, recalling the bedtime ritual of her mother singing her a lullaby. As she got older, she began to recognise that it was the same one, and as children are wont to do, they questioned such things. All the while, she’s aware of an odd creature visiting the house each night, a sweet-looking thing that doesn’t alarm her nearly as much as her mother’s odd responses when she begins to ask about the lullaby. Grant builds up the atmosphere in this suitably creepy fairytale-esque horror story as the narrator takes us through the events over a few years, but the real creep factor doesn’t hit until the very end. That’s when Grant hits you with the true horror of the story.

The Sea Change

Starting relatively normally, a woman goes on a dive with a partner who owns a dive shop. It’s clear from the start that something is going to happen as the narrator is dropping hints to the reader, and emphasising that the man’s attitude was unique to him. I liked the way that Grant drew on her own experiences as a diver to write this story, especially to use the murkiness of the water to create the sensation of something dark and dangerous. The idea of not being able to see clearly underwater versus being able to do so elsewhere in the world adds a distinct Gothic feeling that is very specific to British horror.

Naturally, something happens on the dive, and her partner starts to act oddly. He starts taking dives on his own, which is a big no-no in the diving world. The entire story is from the perspective of an outsider, and by using that view, Grant builds up the thrill of the mystery. We know something is happening; we know something odd and possibly supernatural is happening. They dived down to investigate a wreck, so there’s the added idea of history, ghosts and who knows what down there in the murky waters. Add some cryptic words uttered, and the reader is left with more questions than answers. Just how the perfect horror story is supposed to end.

The Game of the Bear

What I didn’t know when I read this was that the start of this story is written by the author M. R. James.  It’s an unfinished story which was transcribed from James’ manuscript and first shared in 2007 in the M. R. James Ghosts and Scholars Newsletter. The newsletter then held a competition to complete the story, and Grant’s entry was the winner. The original unfinished story is 1700 words long, and you can read a copy of it here to give you an idea of how the story begins.

For those who haven’t read it, the story starts out seemingly innocent. Two elderly gentlemen are sitting reading while children are playing elsewhere in the house. One of them suddenly screams just outside the door, and one of the gentlemen proceeds to shout at the children to go do something else. The man, their uncle, sits back down and apologises for his grouchiness. It’s the jumping out and screaming as they play a game called “the Game of the Beast”, which bothers him. This could, of course, have a normal explanation, but as the man begins to explain to his friend, it becomes clear that this isn’t one of those situations.

Grant’s take on the unfinished story is a slow burn, setting up the scene of a pesky relative that seems more an annoyance than anything truly dangerous. The story plays with the idea of gaslighting, although, while the woman is usually the one becoming hysterical, it’s a man. Nothing is as it seems in this story that begins with a child’s game and gets much darker by the end.

Self Catering

There is no other way to describe this one other than absolutely brilliant. It’s a slight departure from Grant’s usual style as she mixes humour with her characteristic horror. Tricked into booking a holiday that weekend by his irritating co-worker, the protagonist thinks he’s found the perfect travel agency until he realises that they give a whole new meaning to the self-catering option. I loved the little word clues dotted throughout the story, and I’m still chuckling about this one; it was just so good. Definitely the highlight of the collection for me!

Nathair Dhubh

Grant introduces an alternative type of narration in this one, capitalising on the oral storytelling by starting the story as though it is one side of a conversation. Set in a pub, an elderly gentleman is approached at a table by a group of young men who have been out climbing. Recognising them by their gear, he starts a conversation with them about climbing, recalling his own history as a climber when he was a youth back in 1938. He explains that was the last time he claimed, and after that last time, he “never had the heart for it”, suggesting something happened. As he tells the lads to sit back, the reader does the same, settling in for another of Grant’s mysteries.

The familiar format of storytelling continues from then on as the old man takes us back to 1938, telling us about the last climb he did along with his friend Tom. We know something happened on that climb, and as Grant drops hints about his friend, we know that it involves him somehow. It’s a long trek towards an answer, and the top of the mountain, with Grant building up the anticipation with every step. There’s a lot of climbing jargon in this one, and Grant explains in the story notes that while she only has some experience, it was the idea of the type of equipment that climbers used in the 20s and 30s that fascinated her. I didn’t find the jargon or details about climbing to be a deterrent; rather, I found that it juxtaposed with the supernatural. It was something certain and logical versus the superstitions of the mountain.

Alberic de Mauléon

This was another story that I was enlightened about after reading the story notes. This story is a prequel to M. R. James’ “Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book”, which, if you’re interested, you can read here courtesy of Project Gutenberg. Not knowing didn’t affect my enjoyment of the story, but it may provide a different enjoyment or angle to reading it. I read up about it after to get context, and this prequel tells the story of how and why Alberic created the scrapbook that features in the original M. R. James story.

Even without knowing anything about the original story, this is an interesting one. It’s about two twin brothers who share two things: a likeness and a love for the same woman. The elder brother has inherited everything and appears to have spurned his younger brother, who, as the younger of the two, ended up devoted to the church (a fate that would have been switched if Alberic had only been born a few moments earlier).  The story begins with his brother announcing and boasting to him of his new engagement to the woman Alberic clearly has feelings for, and it is later revealed that she returns them. The details of the love triangle take place off-page, and this story is mostly about repercussions and choices.

Once again, Grant expertly weaves a story to create a dark and ominous prequel. I was very aware of how she utilises time in this one, telling the story of Alberic and his brother over several years. Most of the other stories in The Sea Change & Other Stories take place in a much shorter time span. As a result, this one feels a lot darker in another way; it has more of a human essence to it. 

The Calvary at Banská Bystrica

The final story in The Sea Change & Other Stories is more in the vein of a typical horror story. Following a similar format to other stories in this collection, a man is discussing the disappearance of his brother with a friend. Unlike the previous stories, there are two narrative voices in this story. The original narrator is the unnamed friend who is discussing the disappearance of Robert Montague with his brother. Robert’s brother is lamenting that until he is found, dead or alive, he cannot claim his inheritance. Such a thing would seem harsh if it were not for the fact that Robert was a nasty person, an opinion backed up fervently by the narrator. As they’re talking, Robert’s brother admits that he doesn’t think his brother will ever turn up, and this prompts him to admit that he tracked his brother’s last known location down from a series of letters he sent.

The letters are shown to our narrator, who doesn’t hesitate to pass judgment on their contents and confirm how odious Robert Montague is. Bit by bit, the torch of narration passes from one character to another until the friend is a passive observer just like the reader, and the story is told completely from the perspective of Robert’s brother as he recalls his trip to Slovakia in detail.

This story reminded me of a classic Victorian ghost story, although with the mention of budget airlines, I’d say that it was set in a more modern time. It had the same characteristics though; a strange location, a British character not speaking the language and relying on a translator, ignorant of local customs and folklore, religion, gothic and, of course, ghosts. This story was full of suspense, and Grant uses the unknown, the unfamiliar setting of Slovakia (at least to the narrator), to create a sense of drama. He is in another country, doesn’t speak the language, looking for his brother, and he’s trusting a local to translate for him, and taking him at his word because he’s being polite. Pretty much every instinct in me as someone familiar with horror was screaming at him. In the end, it didn’t go as badly as it could have been, and it was a much more ghostly ending, not that it wasn’t any less chilling!

The Sea Change & Other Stories is a fabulous collection of short stories that truly showcases the range of Grant’s talent as a writer. None of them is alike, and as I was reading them, I was astounded by how unique each one was from the other. This was a treat to read, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves short stories, especially horror and ghost themes.

Thank you for reading my book review for The Sea Change & Other Stories by Helen Grant. 

What story from The Sea Change & Other Stories sounds interesting to you?

Don’t forget to check out the rest of my reviews if you’re looking for some more book recommendations 🙂 You can also now sign up for my newsletter to get an email each month with a list of my new reviews!

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