Antique Dust cover art

Antique Dust

Ghost Stories

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Antique Dust

By: Robert Westall
Narrated by: R.C. Bray
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About this listen

"Dealers are undertakers of a sort. When a man dies, the undertaker comes for the body, and the dealer comes for the rest. I deal in dead men's clocks, pipes and swords. Passing through my hands, they give off joy, loneliness, fear...I have known more evil in a set of false teeth than in any so-called haunted house in England."

So speaks Geoff Ashden, a regular guy trying to make an honest living as an antique dealer, but who has an uncanny knack for finding cursed objects and haunted places: a sinister Georgian clock carved with obscene and satanic designs, a hideous doll with deadly powers, a pair of old spectacles that let their wearer see a little too clearly, an ugly house with a terrifying secret, a church full of graffiti scrawled in decomposing human flesh. In this collection, award-winning children's author Robert Westall delivers a set of chilling tales for adults and proves himself, as Orrin Grey writes in the new introduction to this edition, "an obvious successor to that godfather of the English ghost story, M.R. James."

©1989 The Estate of Robert Westall (P)2016 Valancourt Books Ghosts Horror Haunted Scary

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Critic reviews

"Creepy...develops a sense of palpable evil...well worth the time of readers who prefer slyly civilized British ghost stories." ( Kirkus Reviews)"Fiendishly clever, spine-tingling short fiction" ( Publishers Weekly)"Marvelous M. R. Jamesian-style ghost stories." (Michael Dirda, Washington Post)
All stars
Most relevant  

Where does Antique Dust rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Most probably in the top 3. I just loved these stories. I am not easily impressed - especially with modern, ghost/horror (so-called) short stories. Consequently, I can't remember when I was last compelled to write a positive review.

What other book might you compare Antique Dust to, and why?

Very difficult to say. The stories do have a Victorian feel to them and, as a reader/listener of M.R. James, I would say they are somewhat of the same vein (e.g. The Haunted Doll's House). The stories are, however, very original.

Which character – as performed by R.C. Bray – was your favourite?

No favourite - all enjoyable. I do have to say that although R.C. Bray does a fine job, I would have preferred a narrator with an English accent (his American accent is very softened but there are some parts of the narration that calls for more specific English pronunciations and/or regional accents).

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Emotional? Not really - but then I am a bit of an ice-pack. These stories are better than emotional, they are interesting - intellectually and creatively speaking.

Any additional comments?

Commendable work by Robert Westall. I hope he brings out some more anthologies - about antiques and 'ghosties', or 'ghosties' and antiques - whatever your preference Mr Westall.

Excellent Ghostly Short Stories!

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the narrator just wasn't right for the book, being an american there was so many words with the wrong pronunciation, and the attempt at English accents was just so off putting!

wrong narrator

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I hadn’t read the synopsis of this book properly and was expecting one novel length story. This is actually a series of short , but not too short spooky tales. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend . Some I enjoyed more than others but all were good. The was the narrator says ‘aga’ is a bit funny but it’s only in one of the tales and it was amusing rather than irritating.

Really enjoyable anthology of spooky stories

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Listener received this title free

awesome book and narration, but the sound effects play far too loud and the narration is absolutely drowned out in one part of the 2nd story. great otherwise

problem with 2nd story.

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Why, oh why do audio book publishers insist on using American narrators for everything?! Don't get me wrong, I like R.C Bray as a narrator and if this was a book set in America or simply a fictional book set in a fictional world I would enjoy listening to it, but it isn't. This book is set in Britain with British characters, surely they could have tracked down a British person to narrate it. Having an American narrator speaking with a thick American accent (with the occasional attempt at a - very bad - British accent) just completely ruined this book for me.

Could have been great.

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Would you consider the audio edition of Antique Dust to be better than the print version?

I wouldn't read the print version so I would say yes.

What other book might you compare Antique Dust to, and why?

Some of the better quality selection of ghost or paranormal stories, but this one is unusual in that all the stories are connected to an antique dealer who forms the central character in the stories.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Liked Clocky Watson and the ending of the story featuring him.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Not sure, can't think of anything witty enough. Antique Dust should speak for itself.

Any additional comments?

Definitely worth a listen and the narrator was very good.

Surprisingly good selection of stories

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Listener received this title free

As much as I applaud Valancourt for rescuing many a forgotten gem of supernatural fiction and gay literature from oblivion, I am disappointed by this audiobook version of their edition of Westall's fine collection of ghost stories. Why choose a performer with a pronounced American accent for that quintessentially English subgenre of supernatural fiction, the antiquarian ghost story? Bray makes these stories, set in rural mid-England, sound like hardboiled detective fiction.

Poor casting

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