Episode 64 Blind Man’s Buff by H R Wakefield

Blind Man's Buff by Herbert Russell WakefieldH R Wakefield was born in 1888 in Sandgate, Kent, England and died 1964. He was the son of the Bishop of Birmingham. He was educated at the prestigious Marlborough College and then went to Oxford University where he studied history and played cricket, golf, hockey and football. He was secretary to Viscount Northcliffe and served with the Royal Scots Fusiliers when the First World War broke out and was promoted to Captain. After 1920 he settled in London and worked as chief editor in a publishing house. His wife was American, Barbara Standish Waldo, and he met her when she was in London as her family were wealthy and took a house in London each year for the season. He divorced her in 1936 and married again in 1946. Older now, during the Second World War he served as an air-raid warden.H R's brother Gilbert was a successful playwright.Wakefield was famous for his ghost stories during his life. He published seven volumes of ghost stories during his life. His work was appreciated by August Derleth, H P Lovecraft's disciple and some of his stories were published in Weird Tales. His main influences were M R James and Algernon Blackwood (both of whom we have featured on the podcast.)The poet laureate John Betjeman considered Wakefield in the second rank of ghost story writers after M R James, which was praise indeed. However, M R James wasn't as fond of Wakefield's work. H P Lovecraft on the other hand showered Wakefield in praise and said he reached the heights of horror.Wakefield strongly believed in the paranormal, and it is perhaps because of this he was drawn to write in this field. He claimed to have had personal experiences of supernatural phenomena. This story, Blind Man's Buff, plays on the primal fear of the dark and what might lurk within. In that play on phobia it struck me that it was similar to Marghatina Laski's The Tower, which we read as https://player.captivate.fm/episode/6682b629-19d6-4cff-ab73-24a1ed629ab8 (Episode 13)Tony's Ghost Story BooksMy latest book, London Horror Stories is available on https://amzn.to/2YSSHPb (Amazon UK) and https://amzn.to/2NgZHQu (Amazon US). Ghost and horror stories with a sense of place. It's available free for Patrons.It's doing moderately well and the audiobook will be coming in stream soon through Author's Republic, which you'll be able to get on Audible.If you've read it and like it, could you please leave a review on Amazon?All purchases, recommendations and support of London Horror Stories is massively helpful to me.Support Tony on Ko-fi!The show is only possible through the support of appreciative listeners. If you'd like to show your appreciation for the podcast, why not nip over to Tony's Ko-Fi page and buy him a coffee? There are also some free tracks there for download, and others to buy.Go https://ko-fi.com/tonywalker (here) to visit Tony's Ko-Fi page.For Hardcore Lovers of The Podcast: Pledge via PatreonThe regular support of patrons via Patreon ensures that podcast hosting gets paid every month. If you feel you'd like to be a committed supporter, please sign up at the https://www.patreon.com/barcud (Patreon page).Music by The Heartwood InstituteYou can listen to the album from which this is taken https://theheartwoodinstitute.bandcamp.com/album/witch-phase-four (here). Please support hauntological music!Start Your Own Podcast!I am very happy with the wonderful responsive support and constant innovation of my podcast host, Captivate FM. If you want to start a podcast, you will be supported by them all the way.If you use https://www.captivate.fm/signup?ref=tonywalker (this affiliate link) to Support the show

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